As I sit at my computer thinking about this next post, I can come up with any number of credible reasons why I chose to make Pear and Pepper soup this week: The nearness of Valentine’s Day inspired me to create a soup out of bell peppers as red as roses. Because my youngest daughter […]
We held our annual holiday party this week. Although since we hadn’t hosted the party since ’07†, calling it annual is something of a stretch. But enough dwelling on the past. We’re back. Actually, I’m not quite through dwelling in the past. Because the holidays (well, just Christmas, really) have a lot to do with […]
We didn’t eat a lot of Chinese food when I was growing up. There was one take-out place near where we lived as well as the “Chinatown” just east of downtown LA, but we were hardly regular customers. Nor did Chinese cuisine figure into my mom’s home cooking. She made Italian, French, and Mexican food, […]
I know it’s pathetic but I was looking through my old clippings last week and I stumbled upon the first menu I ever wrote for the Los Angeles Times (it’s here if you’d like to see it). It had a Spanish vegetarian theme and featured empanadas, garlic soup, and a great Catalan dish with grilled […]
Sorry for the title but I always loved that screwball comedy as a kid.(Learn more about it here.) The movie’s about the place where they print money and I’m writing about the herb. Get it? (Sigh.) I don’t think Netflix is getting their money’s worth from me. Okay, the fact is nobody minds mint. Most […]
When my youngest daughter saw the soup on the dinner table this week, she groaned. “Cold soup? Can’t you just serve that to the grown ups?” Like most kids, she has pretty narrow parameters about the way she likes foods. She’s more adventurous than her sister, but to both of them, cold soup is a […]
I’ve got a confession to make. I’m not crazy about eggplant. It’s bitter. It’s sort of rubbery. And when you add it to most dishes all it really adds is texture. I’m sorry if I’m offending anyone with these comments. It’s how I feel, and I suspect I’m not alone. I’m talking about you Europe, […]