I was gifted some lavender, which my friend grew and dried herself. I love the scent of lavender and the wonderful fragrance it adds to baked goods, so I was excited to try incorporating it into my baking. The first step was figuring out how to work with it, and after consulting with a chef…
Tag: Side
Caramelized Cabbage with Bacon
I crave this cabbage dish. How many cabbage dishes can you say that about? But I kid you not. The caramelized sweetness of the cabbage with crispy bacon bits and a touch of spice make it a savory spicy sweet bit of heaven. Do you think dessert cabbage could ever become a thing? Guessipe 1…
Whipped Ricotta Fettunta
I got another ricotta bounty from my cheese supplier (AKA friend who works for the best Italian cheese company ever). There is an Italian restaurant nearby that I used to go to specifically for their Whipped Ricotta Fettunta… until it occurred to me that with the incredible ricotta from my friend I could probably make…
Peperonata
One day I was looking for something to do with some spare bell peppers, and I remembered having peperonata when I was in Italy. It’s a stewed bell pepper dish which often also includes onion, garlic, and tomatoes. All I happened to have on hand was bell peppers and red onion, but it still came…
Quick Stewed Eggplant with Coconut
Cookbook Club – Holiday Year in Review 2021 Our December Cookbook Club is traditionally a year in review event where we pick recipes from any of the cookbooks we’ve used that year. But because of COVID we were only able to gather for about half the year. That meant we had fewer cookbooks to choose…
Salted Egg Yolk Pumpkin
I ate a fried pumpkin dish in a family-owned Chinese restaurant like 10 years ago and have been dreaming about it ever since. The pumpkin had a salted egg yolk coating that I couldn’t get enough of. So when I saw a package of salted egg yolks at the Asian market, I had to buy…
Sweet Pea Soup with Coconut and Ginger
Cookbook Club – In Bibi’s Kitchen In October we used Hawa Hassan’s cookbook In Bibi’s Kitchen for Cookbook Club. Hassan gathered the stories and recipes of bibis (grandmothers) from eight African nations: Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, and Comoros. To get a taste of the foods we tried from these bibis’ kitchens,…
Cheddar Bay Biscuits
My boyfriend’s dad is obsessed with Old Bay Seasoning. He buys it in bulk and puts it on everything. At his prompting, I bought some and my first order of business was to try my hand at making the cheddar bay biscuits everyone talks about. It’s the basic Bisquick biscuit recipe with some cheddar cheese…
Chipotle-Garam Masala Olives
Cookbook Club – Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food September’s Cookbook Club book was Nik Sharma’s Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food. Sharma’s stunning photography showcases his take on Indian cooking in this gorgeous cookbook. To see all the beautiful food, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! I got as far as…
Guava Ricotta Hors D’oeuvres
My cheese hookup came through again… this time with the creamiest, most incredible ricotta I have ever eaten! I just happened to have made guava jam using guavas gifted to me by my neighbors (I feel so lucky to have friends who like to give me food!), and it occurred to me that I could…
Guava Jam
My neighbors gave me some wonderfully ripe guavas fresh from their tree. I love the taste of guava, but I hate the multitude of seeds. I know that some people eat the seeds, but I find them unpleasantly hard. These guavas were so fragrant that I even tried eating one, but the seeds distracted from…
Cheese-Swirled Bread
When I make this bread, my boyfriend will eat the whole loaf in one day. The bread is soft and fluffy on the inside, with a crispy cheese crust on top, and delish herb cheese swirling through the middle. I have tried every combination of cheese and herbs – my favorite is cheddar with green…