String Beans Provencal
The word “Provencal,” like “Tuscany,” sets off a chain of associations: sweeping vistas, weathered farmhouses, trestle tables laden with oozy cheeses and ripe figs. In lieu of such wonders, I give you our back yard, two weeks ago, when the wild roses were blooming . The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook…
On tuna salad (tuna salad sandwiches)
— For years tuna salad sandwiches, along with hot dogs and fish sticks, were the go-to food when feeding large numbers of American children, especially in school lunchrooms. These sandwiches were comprised of cheap white bread filled with a few limp pickle chips and an oval of tuna fish,…
Zucchini & Tomato Baked Pasta
Zucchini and tomato baked pasta is one of those recipes that reads long and complicated but is neither. It’s also vegetarian and easily made vegan, should the need arise. Still not sold? Zucchini and tomato baked pasta improves with keeping, meaning it may be prepared ahead of time. The dish…
Halvah Muffins
Welcome new readers and thank you for being here. I know some people signed up for the mailing list. Please bear with me while I ensure that runs smoothly. — As part of my ongoing campaign to help my husband put on weight, I bought a box of pistachio halvah…
White Beans
A year ago this month my husband John was admitted to the hospital, spending part of that time in the ICU. After three weeks, he was discharged with a diagnosis of diverticulosis and told to eat more fiber. Longtime readers know John has a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy. He’s…
Simple Spring Pasta
Simple Spring Pasta isn’t going to win any awards in the novelty department, but who needs additional novelty right now? I for one would welcome a few hours of (hunts frantically for an adjective, fails to find one) ….serenity? Quiet? Normalcy? (That’s a good one.) There….serenity. I have to…
It’s been a while….
The truth is, I haven’t had the heart to write. Or cook. I realize people aren’t reading this blog for political content–likely you come here to escape that–but I can’t pretend to be untouched by recent events. No matter how you feel about what’s happening in the United States,…
Peppers and Onions
Constant readers may find this recipe similar to a post from last September. While the recipes are comparable, there is no point in posting the same recipe twice. This only irritates you, my readers, while using up valuable time and energy better spent on fresh material. With that, on with…
Laurie Colwin’s Buttermilk Cocoa Cake
Let’s get to the point: buttermilk cocoa cake requires no eggs. Not, mind you, that the eggs, or lack therof, were my motivation for baking buttermilk cocoa cake. What sent me paging through my ragged copy of More Home Cooking was a quart of buttermilk, bought with the best…
Butter-Poached Radishes
Very honestly, I am struggling with the importance of radishes at this moment. I know. Everyone needs a break from ugliness of reality. But offering that break without acknowledging the reality is troubling, to say the least. Friends, we are in serious trouble. And now, on with the show. —…
