Pot Roast – the bastion of 1950’s kitchen cuisine. A foundation for countless recipes using leftovers. Gentle reminder of Sunday night dinners everywhere conjuring images of women in pearls and oven mitts. Comfort food at its’ peak. I’ve never really been a big fan of pot roast and not because of the misogynistic images it
February 23, 2011
Short URLdinner, family, food, recipesDinner, In the Kitchen, Menu Planning, Recipes, Winter
So while I appreciate fine food and exotic ingredients, at the core my tastes are pretty pedestrian. In the past, anytime someone has asked me what type of food was my favorite, I was embarrassed to answer, “pub food.” But really, it’s just comfort food and is there anything better than a good burger, homemade
February 18, 2011
Short URLcooking, dinner, family, food, ingredients, recipesDinner, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Winter
I’m a die-hard Top Chef fan. I hinted at my obsession a few months ago, but we do take it pretty seriously around here. In fact, the other night Madison asked me if I could sit with her while she got ready for bed but after taking one look at the TV, decided to ask
February 16, 2011
Short URLchicken, cooking, dinner, family, food, ingredients, inspiration, recipes, success and disasterDinner, In the Kitchen, Inspirations, Recipes
Out of boredom, I challenged myself a few weeks ago to try some new recipes. I had just purchased the newest Ina Garten cookbook in hopes of gaining some inspiration but to be honest, the first time I flipped through it I kinda thought, “hmm.” Clearly I wasn’t in the mood to be inspired. So
February 15, 2011
Short URLcooking, dinner, family, food, ingredients, menu planning, recipesDinner, In the Kitchen, Inspirations, Menu Planning
Boy has my cooking come a long way…… Just recently Madison discovered one of my very first cookbooks – Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Cookbook. Last week as I was working in the kitchen and she was lying on floor flipping through cookbooks – a girl after my own heart – she announced that she would
January 20, 2011
Short URLbread, cooking, dinner, family, food, menu planning, protein, recipes, seasonalDinner, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Seasonality
From a food standpoint, Christmas Eve started off badly. In short, I committed the cardinal sin of farmers market shopping – making a list. I think I’ve mentioned before that I am able to purchase roughly 70% of my weekly groceries at the Vista Farmers Market – one of the best markets in North County.
December 29, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, bread, cooking, dinner, family, food, ingredients, menu planning, seasonal, success and disasterDinner, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Menu Planning, Seasonality, Winter
Every year since I was four the Christmas Elf has come to visit on December 1st, (well not every year – there was that 14-year stretch when there weren’t any kids around.) But for the past three Christmases, the Christmas Elf has come to visit on December 1st. During my childhood he would usually leave
December 16, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, christmas, cooking, dinner, family, food, frosting, recipes, seasonalDinner, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Lunch, Recipes, Seasonality, Winter
This past Sunday I had the entire house to myself. The weather was a little chilly, (for Southern CA at least) and I felt like cooking. Knowing that we had a busy week of holiday-oriented activities on the calendar, I decided to make all of the dinners for the week which was relatively easy (I
December 9, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, bread, christmas, cooking, dinner, family, flour, food, ingredients, inspiration, local, menu planning, protein, recipes, seasonal, starch, vegetableDinner, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Seasonality, Winter
This is actually the first year I’ve experienced my town’s Christmas Parade and let me tell you – it’s everything you would expect from a small town parade. The whole town lined Main Street (yes, it really is called Main Street) and I think there were at least 12 fire trucks, 10 marching bands, every
December 8, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, christmas, cooking, family, food, menu planning, protein, recipes, roasting, seasonal, side dishes, starch, vegetablesDinner, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Seasonality, Winter
I had leftover lasagna today for lunch and it was SOOO much better than it was for dinner the other night (which really, I didn’t think was possible.) But before I begin singing the praises of my (sorta) own lasagna recipe let me give you a little back story about my history with lasagna. As
December 2, 2010
Short URLcooking, dinner, family, food, lasagna, pastaDinner, In the Kitchen, Recipes