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
Cauliflower is a funny thing. I never minded it as a kid (and Madison doesn’t either) but I have had plenty of kids at my dinner table turn the stuff down. I know, it’s kinda stinky, looks weird (sometimes all I can think of when I look at it is a boxers’ cauliflower ear. Gross!)
February 9, 2011
Short URLcooking, dinner, family, food, ingredients, inspiration, menu planning, recipes, vegetableIn the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Seasonality, Winter
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
Yes, I know the holidays are over, but I received an email a few weeks ago from a friend who is always baking with her kids and posting the pictures on Facebook. (Love it!) Anyway, I asked her to send pictures and maybe a little story about her Christmas baking and guess what? She sent
January 5, 2011
Short URLbaking, butter, cookies, cooking, family, food, ingredients, recipes, seasonalDessert, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Winter
I recently took part in one of those email recipe exchanges, you know, the ones where you send one of your favorite recipes, (“the best ones are those you can recite by memory”) to 20 people in your address book. Then, theoretically, you sit back and wait for 256 recipes (or something like that) to
December 22, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, beverages, food, inspiration, recipes, seasonalBeverages, Ingredients, Inspirations, Recipes, Seasonality, Winter
Whenever I fantasize about becoming the next Top Chef, (“Heather has no classical training or real kitchen experience aside from four semesters in the university dining hall, but by watching a lifetime’s worth of cooking shows she’s managed to become one of the most foremost experts on cooking for her niece,) I’m grounded by the
December 20, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, christmas, cooking, dessert, food, ingredients, recipesDessert, Ingredients, Inspirations, Recipes, 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
One of my favorite holiday activities is making cookies. Not just sugar cookies (which I’ll be devoting an entire post to later this week,) but cookies that evoke my favorite flavors of the season – citrus, berry and molasses. One of the earliest memories I have of being in the kitchen, (besides pouring a bowl
December 13, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, butter, christmas, cookies, family, food, ingredients, inspiration, recipesDessert, In the Kitchen, Inspirations, 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
Cooking For Madison 