High-Altitude Baking: Tender pastries filled with summer fruit and hints of cinnamon. We moved last weekend to a new rental condo in one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever lived, Lake Tahoe. Tahoe personifies summer: a deep azure-blue lake dotted with boats, idyllic white sandy beaches, and heavily forested mountains laced with hiking trails. As a special treat, we now have a deck that backs up to tall pine trees close enough to reach out and touch, and a stream that meanders ...
Very Berry Mini-Pies
Two-bite mini pies loaded with blueberries, blackberries, and a dab of cream cheese. Streusel topping includes ground flax seed and cocoa nibs. I’ve forgotten how to relax. How to flop down on a beach with nothing better to do than feel the heat of the sand between my toes, half-listen to nearby chatter and squeals muted by the waves, and just let my mind wander aimlessly. After weeks of jam-packed days filled with long “to do” lists to get our house on the market, I feel guilty about ...
Avocado and Roasted Tomatillo Soup
Easy, refreshing soup of smoky roasted tomatillos, spicy chipotles in adobo, creamy avocado, and tart lime. Someday, if I ever write a cookbook, it will be on soup. Too narrow? I respectfully disagree. Too seasonal? No way. It's a wonderful way to celebrate each and every season. Butternut squash and roasted cauliflower soups in the fall and winter; spring lettuce or strawberry soups in the spring; fruit soups in the summer. Soup is the ultimate in make-ahead meals. I can make a ton of ...
Strawberry – Rhubarb Syrup
Sweet-tart, minty syrup with accents of ginger and lime. Perfect with club soda for a summery non-alcoholic drink. It's odd, but I never sampled rhubarb's goodness until just a few years ago. I don't know why, really, because it turns out I've been missing out on something pretty terrific. I guess for starters, I have absolutely no memory of my mom cooking with it. Or anyone else's mom for that matter. By the time rhubarb crossed my path, I was well into adulthood with set opinions ...
Grilled Fennel-Bean Salad & Lemon Dressing
Grilled fennel salad with cannellini beans and tomatoes tossed in a lemon-sage dressing, topped with Parmesan cheese shavings. Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all! Today I'm excited about a guest post I'm doing on RecipeLion, a recipe and cooking website from Prime Publishing that offers recipes, videos, healthy eating advice, party ideas and cooking techniques from top chefs, home cooks and experts. They have a focus on healthy cooking and eating, and when Matt asked me to share a ...
Bowl of Mango Sunshine
Refreshing fruit soup to celebrate lush, tropical mangos with accents of coconut and lime. On a warm afternoon or evening, nothing hits the spot better than diving into a cold, refreshing fruit soup. Soups made from strawberries, cherries, or plums at their peak of ripe, full flavor are all favorites. So when Food52 staged a competition last week for mangos, the first second thing I thought of was a mango soup. (Full confession: the first thing I thought about was a dessert, ...
Strawberry Cream Cheesecake Tians
Small tians luscious strawberry cheesecake bites lightened with ricotta cheese for a perfectly easy dessert for spring and summer. One of my favorite desserts is strawberry cheesecake with a graham cracker crust. It's so simple, and so satisfyingly good. When the weather turns warm, and I want to increase my time spent outdoors, I look for easy dishes that don't compromise on flavor or presentation. This dessert fits the bill. I can make it in about 20 minutes, layer it up, and glide ...
Blueberry Buttermilk Corncake
Buttermilk corncake studded with blueberries and topped with streusel. Also, tips for baking at high altitude. Today marks the beginning of a new series I’m calling High Altitude Baking, which until I can think of something shorter and catchier, can be found under a new tab fittingly called High Altitude Baking. We spend, on average, a week every month in one of the little towns that dot the shores of Lake Tahoe, arguably one of the most gorgeous places on earth. The lake is roughly 6200 ...
Farmhouse Rosemary-Parmesan Flatbread
Easy flatbread with the flavors of parmesan cheese and rosemary. Flatbreads have a long history and can be found in some form in most cultures. Lavash, piadina, focaccia, Afghan bread, matzo, rieska, and tortillas are just a few examples. A variety of ingredients can be added to the dough, but at their simplest, flatbread is just flour, water and salt mixed together into a disk and rolled into flat, thin sheets. It’s generally unleavened, although pita bread and many pizza doughs ...
Swiss Chard and Lemon Ricotta Pasta
Pasta tossed with swiss chard, lemony ricotta cheese, and parmesan cheese. Bacon lardons are optional. Have you ever thought about the words we borrow from food and cooking to express ourselves in general life? I had some fun with it this morning... Let’s say some big cheese at work chews you out over being a couch potato because you sit around the office all day, happy as a clam. Adding icing to the cake he says you cherry-pick what you want to work on, your ideas are ...
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Cardamom
Ultimate comfort dessert with a filling of strawberries, rhubarb, ginger, cinnamon and cardmom, and crisp oat topping. Transitions can be unsettling, and as we move into this spring season I'm feeling completely untethered, arms flapping in the wind. We rent a condo in the mountains where we spend lots of time with my husband's stepchildren and their families. In the short three years we've been there, we've created a lot of wonderful memories, and created relationships with all of them ...
Warm Farro Salad with Spring Vegetables
Warm farro salad tossed with asparagus, fava beans, balsamic roasted tomatoes and goat cheese. Going back and forth between the mountains and the Bay Area this time of year gives me food cravings whiplash. In the Bay Area, we're well into spring with heaps of fresh asparagus, fava beans, strawberries, and spring onions at every farmer's market. The days are warm and sunny, putting me in the mood for salads and grilled veggies. A quick three-hour drive puts us in the mountains, ...
