I saw a table at the market the other night groaning under the weight of a mountain of summer squash. Squash that looked like it wanted to avalanche its way into my basket. I took pity, grabbed a bunch and made my way home. I ended up using a couple that night in a favorite nothing-to-it zucchini recipe. So, I thought I'd share the recipe with you, along with a few non-recipe related links. First, the zucchini. It's a single-skillet kind of thing. Coins of zucchini are browned in a pan, but the
This past week has been pretty swell. I feel like I'm finally easing into summer, something I wasn't sure was going to happen. I spent a couple nights under the stars with WB, cleaned off the back patio, grilled more meals than I cooked indoors, put some finishing touches on the manuscript, ate mint soft serve at Il Cane Rosso, made tofu burgers twice, saw whales migrating north, and picked up a few vintage baking pans in an antique shop in Healdsburg. That being said, I think the thing that
I'm pretty sure the last thing anyone needs is another oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I mean, the sense I get is that most people have their OMG favorite recipe, and tend to stick with it. Except, perhaps, for those times when you're lured away by an off-beat recipe incorporating something like corn flakes, or, I don't know - toffee. But those are just flings, right? ... Anyhow, I wasn't planning on posting this recipe, I was just playing around with a bag of Massa Whole Wheat Flour, and
For those of you with summer blackberries on hand, you must must must try this recipe. It doesn't lake long, and you are left with enough sweet & spicy, chile-infused blackberry syrup to keep your taste buds tingling right into August. I clipped the recipe out of an issue of Gourmet Magazine years ago. Actually, here we go, it was September 2007. I switched up the chiles, made a few other tweaks, and have been using the syrup to spritz up sparkling water all week. It's also great swirled into
This cake came out of the oven and I immediately thought to myself, "this cake is so unattractive, no one is going to want to eat it." It was as if the cake could read my mind, and at that point gave up entirely. Over the next ten minutes it exhaled, deflating into what I can only describe as a compact, sway-backed, brick of chocolate-fudge. Or what I'll forever think of as chocolate ugly cake. I set it aside, went out for the night, came back the next morning, and cut off a thin slice. The
I was browsing the shelves at Omnivore Books the other day when Celia, the owner, pointed out a medium-sized hardback with a texty cover and orange spine - Teaching Dad to Cook Flapjack ... I flipped through the first few pages, bought it, and brought it home with me (thank you Celia!). Written by Miranda Gardiner, the book started as a how-to cooking manual written for her father not long after her mother passed away. He was on his own, in his sixties, and learning to fend for himself in the
I had a good amount of mozzarella in my refrigerator this week. We grilled pizzas on Memorial Day, and didn't end up using it all. So, I thought I'd share a farro recipe I threw together later in the week. It's made with farro, bocconcini, a bit of homemade creme fraiche, and herbs from last weeks farmers' market - the ones that nearly escaped by hiding behind a row of condiments in the refrigerator. Do you use farro much? I can't get enough of it. I love it's chewy nuttiness and the way it goes
I finally had a chance to sit down this morning and sort through the pile of notes, menus, books, and magazines I brought back from my trip to Portland. There is a loaf of six-seed soda bread baking in the oven, a slab of butter on the counter waiting for it. I was thinking I'd share some highlights (and a couple photos) from the trip to Oregon, write up the soda bread recipe for you, then give the pot of left-over soup waiting on the back burner the signal that it's time for lunch ... If you
I thought I might loop you all back into the realm of Super Natural Every Day , to share a bit more of the play-by-play that goes into the making of a cookbook like this one. In case you missed previous (related) entries, I wrote this to kick off the series, then this one about how I approach the manuscript. Today I thought I'd share a bit about choosing a cover. It looks like we have a cover design that (fingers-crossed!) I hope you like as much as I do, and I'm excited to share some of the
I'm just wrapping up a quick trip to Portland, Oregon - but I made this just before I left. You all know by now how I love a rustic, family-style dessert. And really, the list of desserts that fit the bill better than a simple fruit crumble is short. For those of you who've never attempted a crumble, it's quite simple. Start with fresh seasonal fruit, top it with crumbled dough, and into the oven it goes. Before you know it, golden-topped dollops of baked goodness are crisping up in a shallow