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“Cooking gave her structure, it was substantive, meaningful, it brought her accomplishment and independence, everything she’d long desired.  The last thing she wanted was a conventional life.  Julia dreaded turning into the obedient little woman…. Far from resenting the kitchen to which she was virtually chained, she learned to love the feel of food and to […]

Now that we have all eaten our weight in constructed starches and savory desserts, the nerd in me wanted to look into the nuts and bolts of pumpkins… the very thing most of us are still digesting.   Pumpkins are part of the Curcurbita pepo family, a group of North American Squash that includes acorn […]

I loved this quote from Deborah Madison, author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone “Practically speaking, if you’re concerned about the quality of food you eat, cooking be of vital importance for it’s the only way you can really know what you are eating…  There’s also satisfaction in taking responsibility for what we eat instead of […]

All of us, in one way or another, are on the hunt for better skin.  Beauty is important — inside and out.  In my book, it is important to treat your body, your mind, and spirit well by what you put into your mouth and present yourself well to your world.  How you look (no […]

Use a potato ricer to remove skins from fresh tomatoes!!  If you’re like me, you have little necessary tasks when cooking that you just HATE to do.  For me, one of them is peeling the skins from fresh tomatoes.  In fact, I’ll secretly use diced or crushed San Marzano tomatoes sometimes rather than just go […]

Did you know Tonic Water began as an anti-MALARIAL treatment?   Yep. Originally called Indian Tonic Water, it was made by 19th century British colonialists from bitter quinine extracted from the bark of the Cinchona or “fever” tree.  Quinine is an natural crystalline alkaloid with anti-inflammatory, fever-reducing antimalarial properties. Cinchona or Quina trees were “found” […]

Happy Election Day!  No matter which “Good Egg” you vote for today, I thought this was fun food for thought.  Egg Equivalents: 1 ostrich egg = 18-24 chicken eggs 1 emu egg = 10-12 chicken eggs 1 goose egg = 4 chicken eggs 1 turkey egg = 2 chicken eggs 1 duck egg = 2 […]

Just wrapped up a week of travel with my Anni and Dean.  Fitting in the family before I get too big!  We visited my grandparents in Pasadena, saw my Mom, and ‘Trick or Treated’ with dear friends on zany Balboa Island. But the most fun culinary adventures I’ve had in a long while happened in […]

Took the night off! Celery Root and Apple soup with Heirloom Tomato PIzza called our names.  If you live in Sonoma, pop over to the Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen for the best of Fall.