Posts categorized as Recipes

I went to Trader Joe’s for the first time since the start of the pandemic. I especially get excited over their canned goods, in particular the Grecian eggplant with tomatoes and onions sauce, the chickpeas with parsley and cumin, and — oh!– the canned stuffed dolmas. Spending way too much time in the flower section and buying Trader Joe’s herbal soap is another big draw for me. Then you always find the unexpected. I came across the most perfect, clean, and fresh onions. The shape was flat and wide. The […]

Simple is best in almost every situation. That also applies to cooking.  Minimal ingredients allow you to enjoy each individual flavor and really taste what you’re eating for what it is. I had baby portobello mushrooms in the fridge and I had planned to make stuffed mushrooms but I didn’t have much time last week and I didn’t want to deal with the mess. So, I thought to just sautée the mushrooms in butter. I had basil from the garden on the counter and I garnished with that. The earthy […]

Strawberry Fields Forever!! John Lennon’s reference in the Beatles song is based on nostalgic childhood memories of him playing in the garden of Strawberry Fields, at the Salvation Army Children’s Home in Liverpool near where he grew up. The Beatles spent 45 hours in the studio over 5 weeks, tracking the song and ended up with three different renditions, finally combining two of them. Is this why the lyric mentions  “forever”? It also may have to do with the fact that strawberry fields actually last forever. You plant one container […]

Confession. I’ve made guacamole only a handful of times in the past few years. This is because Key Food, on Beach 87th and Rockaway Beach Blvd. has an absolutely delicious guacamole. Guac is a bit of a chore to make and it’s just so easy to grab the container off the shelf. The one I get has the deli label on it, and they have it on Fridays throughout the weekend. For a person who is “almost vegetarian,” avocados add richness and satisfaction to meals. Not to mention they contain […]

My friend Matt Johnson stopped by to borrow a blow dryer to fix a window screen. (Yes, it’s actually a thing). As a thank you, Matt brought over homemade clafoutis. What is clafoutis? I didn’t know either until I took a bite of this decadent French pastry. The dessert is traditionally made with black cherries and placed in a shallow, buttered baking dish. It is then covered with a thick flan-like batter and topped with powdered sugar and butter. It’s served lukewarm and sometimes with cream. Matt’s been baking all […]

Do brides these days still buy china? I remember when I told my mother I didn’t want china as a wedding gift. She was really annoyed. I explained that I wouldn’t use it often and when I did, I would be so worried I’d break or chip it. Instead without my knowledge my mother bought me a set of wine glasses, champagne glasses and serving plates, hand-painted in Italy with beautiful fish illustrations. Now that is totally me. And I’m happy she did it, because it is a special keepsake. […]

Several months back I treated myself to a weekend subscription to the New York Times. It’s taking over my physical world. I want to read and look through every page so I’ve been saving the sections I don’t get to every week. It’s piling up. The paper has effectively taken over my dining room table and now has expanded to the living room coffee table. And it sort of feels good. Besides enjoying the articles, I get really excited looking at the illustrations, layouts and typographic design. It’s been inspiring […]

I’m in Key Food and I spot these gorgeous, bright purple Chinese eggplants. I had to buy them simply for their beauty. I had no recipe in mind but I knew I’d figure something out.  Oftentimes that’s actually how I shop. I pick the best produce by sight and touch. It’s a fun little challenge too – figuring out what recipe to make with my random purchases. I unpacked the groceries and snapped a picture of the lovely eggplants for Instagram. I captioned, “What should I make with these?” Several […]

On New Year’s Eve I made a decadent tray of ziti. I put the cheesy videos on Instagram stories. Several people messaged me asking for the recipe. I gave them some quick pointers because I don’t have a recipe written down. To elaborate, I want to share my secrets to a delicious ziti here. And I’ll say, it’s more about these tips than it is about following a recipe to the measurement. The Sauce: It’s easy to make a good sauce if you throw a piece of pork or sausage in […]

A friend of mine posted a video on his Instagram story showing sizzling cheese and roasted tomatoes hot out of the oven. It looked decadent – heart-eye emoji sent. He responded and shared the recipe with me. It’s from grilledcheesesocial.com and it’s called Baked Feta Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic and Basil. The blogger MacKenzie Smith, annoyingly beautiful and seemingly perfect, is a two-time Food Network Champ, Cookbook Author, Cheese Expert (really??), and Executive Chef in Florida. She writes that this is a quick after-work meal that is delicious. Well, […]