Shortcut Kimchi Cucumbers

When I was little, I got on a kimchi-making kick with my mom. Kimchi takes days to ferment, and can be pretty stinky (we did it in the garage). I give credit to my mom for going along with this for several months – I think she thought of it as good mother-daughter bonding. But…

Grilled Baby Bok Choy

Cookbook Club – Around the Fire For August’s Cookbook Club, we used Around the Fire by Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quinonez Denton, with Stacy Adimando. I chose the Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Ecuadorian Peanut Sauce and Hard-Boiled Egg. Go to my Cookbook Club site to see everything we grilled up at the event. For now – my dish!…

Leek Fritters with Garlic and Lemon

Cookbook Club – Smitten Kitchen Bonus Recipe As I noted in my Buttered Popcorn Cookies post, while the cookies were a total fail, everything else in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook seemed to be quite good (see all the dishes on my Cookbook Club site). The Leek Fritters with Garlic and Lemon would have been my dish…

Spicy Asian Pickles

My mom made these spicy Asian pickles a lot when I was a kid. They are really quick to make, and go great with Asian food. It’s great to have a jar of them in the fridge. My mom says in a pinch, these pickles are good even if they’ve only been marinating for an…

Black Pepper Tofu

Cookbook Club – Plenty For April’s Cookbook Club, we used Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty. I chose the Black Pepper Tofu. Go to my Cookbook Club site to see all the fresh vegetarian fare at our Plenty picnic. For now – my dish! We did this event as a picnic in the park. I was a bit worried…

Creamy Pea Salad

When I was a kid, there was a restaurant my family would go to for occasions like birthday celebrations. The rest of the food was good, but we really went there for the pea salad. Normally a salad would not be the big draw in our restaurant choices, but there was something about this pea…