Pistachio Garlic Sauce
I’ve been racking my brains to for a recipe that isn’t pasta. That this took the better part of two weeks bespeaks a profound lack of creativity on my part. A pandemic will do that to a person. The news changes hourly; now we’re told we should wear masks. My…
Seafood Rillettes
Sometimes a recipe comes to you numerous times before you think to make it. Such was the case with seafood rillettes. As a nervous fish cook and somebody whose relationship to canned fish began and ended with tuna, seafood rillettes weren’t on my radar. Aiming for the casual indoor picnic…
Kitchen Note: Rage, Despair, and Baking
Recent events have left me careering between rage and despair. Occasionally there’s a comparatively calm moment of depression, a lull in the mental action, before some tidbit of horrible news sends me bouncing off the walls again. Writing is nearly impossible. How do you sit down and write: “Today I…
Summer Fruit Tarts
Much as the IK would love to blame her recent internet silence on European travel or a fancy sea voyage, she’s been here all along, living her workaday if extremely annoying life. A life which has conspired, at every moment, to prevent her from posting. Rather than detail these piddling…
Kitchen Note: repairing Pot Au Feu
Why not start with a nice NorCal flower picture? I was trying to take flower pictures the other day, and this seems like a good excuse to use them. Here’s another. You may be wondering flowers have to with pot au feu, or boiled beef. Nothing. They’re just pretty in…
Brasato after Judy Rodgers
10-7-16. I’d like to take an editorial moment here to thank a friend who notes that after all my hemming and hawing about the pig’s foot, below, I neglect to include it in the braise. Such are the perils of a one-woman show. I only wish I could pay…
Nearly Nicoise Salad
The recipe authenticity argument is a deep, dark hole we’re not going down today. I mean, if you want to go, I won’t stop you, but you’re going alone. Suffice to say the IK is not remotely qualified to call her salads “Nicoise.” She’s never visited Nice, for starters. People who…
Kitchen Note: Upheaval
John and I live in a 1000 square foot house. It’s fine for two people, only one of those people has four wheelchairs (two regular powerchairs, one soccer chair, one manual chair). These take up much space, as does his standing frame. Still, we manage well enough, most of…
Kitchen Note: Ruled By Cats. Chicken Lady Chicken. Flen.
Meet Napa. Napa is not our cat. Napa was here when we arrived six years ago. I learned her name from a neighbor. Napa knows a sucker when she sees one. She sat on our fence, meowing imploringly until I caved. Ever since, she asks for food by sitting outside…
Potato Gratin with Summer Squash
When people think of assistive animals, dogs invariably come to mind. And while it’s true that service felines are few, we who are owned by cats know better. Lucy, for instance, helps John dress every morning. Those of you not cohabitating with wheelchair users likely have devoted little thought to…