From Scratch

I’ve been tagged a second time in a meme to provide seven random facts about myself. I hate starting sentences with “I” and, frankly, that’s been one of the most difficult aspects of blogging. (There are two bonus facts.) My pals titus2woman and linshaolin both tagged me, and while they’re infinitely more interesting than I […]

I enjoy a challenge so when my friend and fellow blogger, linshaolin, (see Breakdown in the Fast Lane in the blogroll) requested some deviled eggs recipes I was happy to give it a try, even though I hate mayonnaise, as I’ve mentioned more than once.
I had two goals: to come up with tasty and satisfying […]

When the high temperature flirts with 100 degrees, as it has this week, the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven. All too often though, when I  need a dessert during a heat wave, I forget the option of icebox cakes, those no-bake concoctions that can be heads and shoulders above […]

The first cookbook I ever bought — that’s it on the left – was chosen for one simple reason: it explained how to boil an egg.
I was a sophomore in college, hooked on chef’s salads, and decided to try making them myself. The catch was that I did not know how to make a hard boiled egg. […]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is on his “farewell tour” — he leaves office in three days. I can’t think of a better friend this country has had in recent years.
Yes, he’s been called “Bush’s poodle” at home but Dubya and his despicable warmongering surely hastened the end of Blair’s time at 10 Downing St. […]

When fresh, sweet corn is available, locally-grown or from warmer states, I make this wonderful side dish over and over. It takes little more time than the five minutes needed for the couscous, a pasta not a grain, to steep. In winter I use frozen corn and it’s almost as good. And when I haven’t got fresh chives, like […]

I love this quote from Julia Child, in Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom:
The perfect vinaigrette is so easy to make that I see no reason whatsoever for bottled dressing.
Neither do I. Not only does home-made vinaigrette taste so much better, it eliminates the chemicals and high fructose corn syrup in most bottled dressings. (Corn syrup is so […]

This a curried ground meat dish from South Africa, and although there are other spellings of the name, this is the way it came to me years ago. I’ve made it with lean ground beef and with ground chicken but really prefer it with lamb, which I’ve used here. I usually cut the recipe in […]

I was going to wait until tomatoes are at peak season to post this, but it occurred to me that by the time they’re abundant in The Little Snowball, they’ll be past peak in most other places. So here it is, my very favorite Jacques Pépin soup recipe, good cold as well as hot. It’s from […]

I believe I’ve been away from Washington, DC too long. Until last Wednesday, I’d never even heard of salted oatmeal cookies, let alone had one, and they seem to be quite the thing in Washington. It’s not that they contain salt like nearly every other cookie, rather they are salted on top the way we […]

It’s Father’s Day in the US and I am reminded of the Biblical line about the sins of the fathers. Or, as John Cole of the Scranton Times-Tribune sees it, the sins of the son?
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If you’ve ever wanted to ask a presidential candidate a question, comb your hair and get ready for your close-up. YouTube and CNN have teamed up for two live presidential debates with questions coming from ”we the people”. Anderson Cooper tells it:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=B5mDCDAkOlQ
And the second debate, the Republicans, will be September 17 November 28.
YouTube has a special page […]

As much as I admire Anthony Bourdain, I disagree with his sentiment, expressed in Kitchen Confidential, about organic foods. In a nutshell, he’s not impressed and said something along the lines of, Just because it’s grown in manure doesn’t make it better.
That’s true, of course, but for me organics go way beyond that. Not only […]

When I had sour cream left over from the dark chocolate cupcakes, I made this simple dip but didn’t post the recipe because I felt it was too simple. Last night, when I picked up another lime and some more sour cream to make it again, I realized I should share it because I can’t remember the […]

Season 3 of Top Chef begins tonight and two episodes of the latest round of The Next Food Network Star are under our belts, and I’m scratching my head, at least figuratively, over the challenges that enable winners to advance in these competitions.
Food Network first. It was apparent immediately that many of this year’s challenges […]