I have officially packed my winter clothes away. Brian and I had a bread salad with dinner on Sunday night. I am nursing blisters on my feet from wearing shoes without socks for the first time in months. Spring is in the air– and that means rhubarb!
I picked up my first few stalks of the season last week, and they were lovely– so astringent, beautifully pink, with just the right amount of pucker. I made a bit of compote with them. No, not the compote that is dowdy, and full of dried fruit. This compote was bright and cheery, scented with vanilla with just a kiss of sugar. I ate it as a topping for Greek yogurt during the week, and then had it as a scrumptious embellishment for buttermilk pancakes on the weekend.
The recipe is over on iVillage. Happy Spring!
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Did everyone have a splendid Thanksgiving? Was it filled with turkey, pie, and maybe a little bit of booze? Was there enough food? That is a silly question. If your Thanksgiving is anything like mine, it is all about abundance. Abundance is great; but after the turkey is packed up, the sides are nestled in their Tupperwares, the brussels sprouts two ways (yes, you read that correctly) are chilling in the refrigerator, and each guest has his or her own care package to take home, and you still find yourself looking at a bowlful of homemade cranberry sauce, what are you to do?
Make scones, of course!
For the past two years one of our guests has made the most delicious cranberry sauce, based on this recipe. The cranberries are tart yet sweet, flavored with just a hint of orange, and blooming with those warm spices of [...]

I grew up in the suburbs, and have lived in one city or another for most of my adult life, so I had never had the pleasure of eating a fresh egg before. And I mean fresh.. like straight from the chicken fresh. But this all changed for me last week, when a generous neighbor gave me a few of his.
I live in a residential neighborhood in New Haven, CT– the kind of place where you are happy to have a car for mobility, but can still walk to a market only blocks away. It is hardly the sticks, and it’s not really the sort of place where livestock is prevalent. But this hasn’t stopped a neighbor of mine from raising a few chickens, coop and all, and sharing the wealth.
He gave me five perfectly incongruous eggs, ranging in color from barely tan, to a buttery [...]

Maybe you have seen them sitting in the glass case at a Mexican Panaderia, a sweet roll, with a sugar crust, that is often brightly colored. If you’re anything like me, you may have been turned off by the neon hues, and ordered something else. Well, I didn’t know what I was missing. I should have said, “One concha, please!” My mornings would have been a lot brighter.
Conchas are named for their resemblance to a conch shell, and for those of you who have yet to try them, they are a soft, sweetened roll that is topped with a crumbly, flaky, sugar-based shell. Take one bite, and bits of the sugar shell come off, gently spilling down your shirt– what a delicious mess to eat! The roll is very similar in taste to brioche bread, and it is made rich with the addition of [...]

Last weekend brought my very first clafoutis. Cherry and blueberry, eggy and deee-licious! A well-trod recipe requiring just a handful of ingredients, and a pile of fruit, clafoutis is easier to make than a pie (my other summertime favorite), yet equally as delectable. I even included a copy of my recipe in the book. Have a lovely long weekend folks!

from Nosheteria

All popovers are not created equal. Awhile back I made a recipe for oatmeal popovers by Marion Cunningham, whom I normally adore. With finely ground oatmeal, and a dollop of orange marmalade baked in the bottom, they sounded superb. Well, turns out they weren’t. They never really puffed (or popped as it may be), and I had a muffin pan of full of deflated batter with marmalade that was too bitter for my taste. Oh well, every cookbook writer is allowed a dud every now and again.
When I was at the market last week, the strawberries finally looked good– rosy, with a sprightly green stem– not a crinkly brown one. I bought a basket, and ate almost all of them plain. But with the final few, I decided to make a more classic popover to redeem the oatmeal debacle of late. And [...]

I always buy all of the November food magazines. I like to see what menus the editors have planned for the gluttonous holiday, Thanksgiving. Sometimes I find a recipe for yams that looks tempting, or a new way to shred my brussels sprouts, but usually I stick to the tried and true standbys that I love to make each fall. What can I say? I am a traditionalist. But the magazines stay dog-eared, pages crumpled beside my bedside table for the whole month of November.
But this November was different. Amongst the recipes for Fennel, Red Onion and Focaccia Stuffing, which I won’t be making, I saw a recipe for homemade ricotta cheese in Food and Wine magazine. Well, I love a good project. And if that project involves a mess of milk, a bit of cream, and not a whole lot else, well– [...]