For a simple weekend brunch, no matter what the main course, I always crave a side of home fries. The humble potato is truly transformed into something exceptional when fried up alongside slivered onion and whatever else you may please, from the most rudimentary (salt and pepper) to something more hip and funky (green pepper, […]
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My Mother’s Potato-Corn Chowder
“I’ve got to share this soup recipe!” was my first idea. After all, it’s been one of my favorites for (literally) several decades now. Then, quick on the heels of that thought was this one: “Hmmn. No, maybe not. Can’t use that one; too bland. Too boring. Too commonplace. Too–I don’t know–too beige.” And yet, I love that soup. […]
Dog Day: If Vodka is an Elsie, then Beer is a Chaser*
*Or, How Our Puppy Got Her Name Once, several years ago, I read in a women’s magazine that the best time to discuss “serious” issues with your male partner is when you’re in the car, preferably going for a long drive. That way, you are in close contact with each other, it’s quiet and private, […]
Vegan Molten Chocolate Cakes
[Disclaimer: With all the responses I’ve gotten to this cake–good AND bad–I felt it necessary to point out that I created this recipe as a response to all the hype over a particular cookbook that has taken the spotlight over hiding spinach in a chocolate dessert. As I mentioned in the original post about sweets […]
A North American’s Anzac Biscuits (*or, My Ode to the Antipodes)
Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had an ongoing love affair with the antipodes. Well, come to think of it, that would be a one-sided love affair, since I’ve never actually been there. But hey, that’s okay. I’m accustomed to those; my entire adolescence was flush with unrequited love. I’ve dreamt of visiting the Land Down Under since I […]
You Have My Word
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” –Mark Twain I recently started reading the highly acclaimed Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Almost immediately, I found myself laughing out loud as I read page 2, and was hooked. Gilbert’s memoir recounts her travels through Italy (eat), […]
Bean There, Done That: Gluten-Free Brownies
Years ago, when I taught a course called “Feeding Body and Soul,” students were asked to contribute a recipe that had been handed down in their family as a way to illustrate the power of food through the generations. One young woman (who, in her words, had been “raised by hippies”) gave me a […]
Comfort from the Cold: Spiced Brown Basmati Rice Pudding
Somewhere around the first week of December (either that or the 3rd day there’s snow on the ground, whichever comes first), I decide I’ve had enough of winter. Bah! Who needs lawns covered in a glistening, pristine blanket of white? Who needs billowy undulations of snow-covered hills along the roadside? Who needs that dainty spray […]
Turnip and Pear Soup
How can someone, especially someone who purports to be interested in healthy eating and vegetables, reach the ripe old age of 40-something and still never have tasted a turnip? Shocking, I know; but yes, indeed, that someone is moi. I blame it all on Modern American Drama. One of the first courses I took as a university student, it was […]
Lucky Comestible I(4): Sweet Potato-Cranberry Hash
[This week’s Lucky Comestible is sweet potatoes; here’s part 4 in the series. ] Finding recipes that use familiar ingredients in new ways is almost as much fun for me as finding completely new ingredients. For instance, I loved it when I started to bake with all kinds of veggies in cakes, cookies, or other desserts […]