The title of this posting comes from the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Shish Ka Bugs” (see it here) in which Bugs, for obvious reasons, ends up serving a pot full of raw carrots to a king who demands Hasenpfeffer (a rabbit stew). What the heck does that have to do with a blog about soups? Well, […]
This week’s soup, which isn’t a soup at all, came about because I felt like pandering to my kids. Or, if you have a less sardonic outlook, I made turkey chili because I knew my kids would like it and I felt like treating them. The answer lies more in the notion of parental mood […]
It was one of those weeks when things just went wrong. I thought we’d already gotten through the rough part of the month what with taxes and the big 12-course wine dinner. This week was supposed to be all fun: My daughter’s birthday party, softball games, Easter, warm weather. I’d even bought a big box […]
From what I always understood, second childhood was supposed to be that time when I lost control of my faculties and could no longer take care of myself. (As opposed to now?) Well, forgive me for nitpicking but that sounds more like childhood number five, or at the very least, three. Second childhood is what […]
I cut things a bit close this week. My family and I had been on the road all last week for spring break and when we got back I had to come up with a soup fast. My first instinct was to go classic—a time-tested soup I could whip up in no time at all. […]
I went back to Caputo’s this week. It had been several months since I’d been to the Chicago-land grocery chain in part because I had found inspiration elsewhere. But with the change of season, I figured it was time to see what fresh offerings my favorite produce market had to offer. I had visions of […]
If something works for me, I stick with it, even if it sometimes seems a little weird. Earlier in this culinary adventure I turned one of my favorite salads, the Caprese (visit post)—a traditional Italian dish consisting of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese—into a soup. It turned out great. This time, with spring officially upon […]
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, […]
Anyone who’s read this blog more than twice (Thanks, Mom.), knows that my all-time favorite soup making appliance is the immersion blender. It’s great for pureeing soups, making salad dressings, tapenade, even smoothies. What the immersion blender doesn’t do is—slice, dice and julienne. For that I use my less favorite kitchen tool: the mandoline. Correction: […]
