PANTRY

Bread of the Month: Mastering great garlic bread

[I]’ve eaten a lot of good garlic bread, even making some myself (often an herb-infused-in-olive oil version), but I had not eaten GREAT garlic bread until I sat down at the table of Liboria Salerno (for more about her, please see blog entry, “Presenting Pavlova to a ballerina” of 6/16). […]

Bread of the Month; Shifting on shortcake

[T]he strawberry shortcake I grew up with and loved was always more cake than short. That is, a golden vanilla layer cake like those found frosted for birthdays, but without the icing, soft and fluffy, easily absorbent of all the succulent red strawberry juices circulating over and under it. I […]

Bread of the Month: Crafting a creamy cornbread

[I] believe in good recipes, ,those tried-and-true reliables we turn to when we want something we know we can count on. I have a few of these now in the cornbread realm, but, I’ll be honest, when it comes to cornbread, I’m always open to a new variation or version. […]

Saving black bean soup for a rainy day

[M]y heart sinks a little every spring. Sounds odd and somewhat off, but when you consider California’s rains conclude in late spring, maybe you’ll understand. There is so little weather here, and the change in seasons is merely by light and feel and temperature, so our winter and spring rain […]

Bread of the Month: Considering a muffin with flax appeal

[I]’m not sure where flaxseeds currently sit among the healthy food trend “it girls.” For awhile, it was nearly insisted upon to put flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, flaxseed meal or some other interpretation in nearly everything, from cereals to smoothies to breads. I believe now that chia seeds are claiming more […]

Trying out two winter tonics

[I] like the word “tonic.” It has a reality-based sense of comfort and a tinge of humor for the extent it’s been applied to things that aren’t necessarily…good for you. What it seems to connote most, for me, is something you can make to heal yourself. Whether it’s a hair […]

Bread of the Month: Reaching for a star

[I]’ve been thinking a lot about stars lately, in part, because of the season, but even earlier in the year than that because I noticed a very bright star in the sky that I’ve come to look for every morning. Sometimes this star is companioned by a crisp slice of […]

Reliving my cookie period

[I] don’t know that everyone goes through a cookie period, but I did. It was extensive, lasting from the ages of 7 to 18 and boy, was I prolific. Like many little girls, the first recipe I asked if I could make was chocolate chip cookies — the Tollhouse recipe […]

Writing her way into our kitchens

“Food is not fuel. It is not nutrition. It is fun, educational, horizon expanding, delightful. It is consoling, transporting and a comfort. If you want a happy eater, run a happy kitchen. These things take time, but so do all good things.” — Laurie Colwin, “More Home Cooking: A Writer […]