Food & Wine. Art & Food History at Abi's Farmhouse Kitchen
Something wonderful just happened. Right now. Like 15 minutes ago. I’m on a one hour break from the kids — who after a great beach morning opted to turn into dervishes. So much so that Dean said “go to town! Go! Go shopping. Read something!” Well! You didn’t have to tell this Mama twice. And off I went. […]
I’m stuck in Southwest-SFO Hell. Trying to make it to Santa Barbara for my part in tonight’s fun Opening for the 100 Grand Show at Sullivan Goss Gallery. I am all set. Cute dress, new lipstick… If only we could take off! Trying to not go nuts. So instead, focusing on what to paint next […]
CONFESSION. I am cheating. I am no longer faithful to recipes. I alter, tweak, change, and these days, stuff in whatever vegetable that appears to be wilting in the confines of my vegetable drawers…much like how countless generations of people before me cooked. And it dawned on me that this is a good subject for […]
I am sorry for Radio silence from me here in this old kitchen. Life has been so nuts and it’s odd that on the first day of Harvest 2014 (Merlot blocks came IN today!!) and on this very same day I pulled on my big girl panties and faced my fears: I got my Epidural on the […]
I admit it. I am bribing my kids with frozen blueberries so I can write up this recipe. But a bit of obfuscation is not necessarily a bad thing, right? So when I’ve been honing this recipe from a long-ago Yummy Mummy clipping, I’ve been covertly dosing my kids with big helpings of iron rich, […]
Few things make me glow brighter than a proper tea. Mom and I have actually traveled to some fun places while I was growing up for High Tea. Spots like the Plaza in New York or the Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada. It was even part of my etiquette curriculum in Finishing School. How to […]
Chicken Tikka Masala. Three little words that make any curry lover drool. I read recently that this simple chicken dish is singularly responsible for fostering the love of Indian foods throughout much of the western world. Ironically, this dish of chicken chunks (tikka) originated most likely in the United Kingdom, not the Punjab region of […]
I likely won’t win any parenting awards for this post but Anni has been wonderfully helpful making fruit liqueurs with me. You may remember that during a gorgeous moment on horseback last month, I pretended I was 21 again flying down the field wielding a mallet. Alas, despite my love of Jillian Michael’s workout videos, […]
We have an assh*le in our midst. Pigweed. Pigweed. Pigweed. This evil weed has officially invaded each and every one of our garden boxes. Last year we fought it valiantly but lost much of our later crops as this invasive brute marched on. After several trips to the Sonoma Mission Nursery to consult with minds […]
Baby leaves are sprouting. Mustard flowers blooming. Afternoons are warm and sunny. Spring is here! BUT it is still cold in the mornings (40s being cold here in California) and once the sun dips below the horizon, I still like to have something warm on the stove. Or in this case, the Oven. This is […]
