Vegetarian Recipes
Every fall we are blessed with a bounty of apples and walnuts. I grew up in what used to be a walnut orchard. At one time our home had 5 huge trees, covering both front and back yards, and yielding...
Yes yes I know it's June and it's not apple season here yet, but we make cooked apples every year and freeze them, we grow our own walnuts and thyme, and this was just plain good, so there. Remarkably it...
The foggy coastline of Northern California is artichoke country. Like finding small hole-in-the-walls that serve clam chowder in New England, here one can sometimes find local diners that sell delicous artichoke soup. I first developed a taste for artichoke soup...
We have a 3 ft by 6 ft patch of arugula growing in our garden and for the last two months I've been looking for ways to make use of it. By the way, arugula (a.k.a. rocket) grows like a...
Winter in California is the season for arugula, along with many other lettuces. A few years ago we planted some in our garden and now each year the arugula re-seeds itself and takes over with a flourish, starting in December...
"You don't have enough sandwiches on your blog," my father declared a few days ago. "Wadaya mean I don't have enough sandwiches? I've got plenty of sandwiches," said I. Dad proceeded to rattle off a list of sandwiches he likes...
Selland's market-cafe in Sacramento is an uncommonly good café and often a source of inspiration for foods to prepare. Recently I had some of their asparagus and loved the texture - slightly crunchy (definitely not mushy!) - and the hint...
Although for the most part we can get asparagus all year long, I usually only get them in the spring, when they are in season. How can you resist, when you see hundreds of them in the produce section, saluting...
My father got bit by the frittata bug this week and made these for us for lunch a few days ago. This is a quick and easy, no-nonsense recipe that makes a terrific frittata in hardly any time at all.
A while ago I got together with Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks to try out one of the recipes from her cookbook, Super Natural Cooking. The recipe we selected is perfect for spring, a pesto made with blanched asparagus, baby...
In California winter can transition to spring in a flash. It seems like yesterday we were beset by chilly storms while the forecast for this week is all sunny and 70s. Daffodils are blooming, as are cherry trees, and the...
Have you ever attempted to make a soufflé and it just didn't live up to your expectations? That's when it pays to have friends who actually know what they are doing. After trying unsuccessfully to recreate a fabulous soufflé I...
Please welcome guest author Garrett McCord. ~Elise As a child I despised the asparagus my mother served. It was steamed to a dreadfully pathetic wilt and tasted, I assumed, no better than the old grass clippings trapped in the blades...
Mark Bittman of the New York Times recently did a write up of simple meals ready in 10 minutes or less. This avocado tomato salad would be my entry, but in five minutes or less, and that would include picking...
Sometimes the simplest things are the most enjoyable. My mother whipped up this quick and easy baby bok choy dish the other night. It was so good I made her make it again the next day so I could watch...
There are certain routines in our family for which I am unendingly grateful. One is that at the dinner table there is always a green vegetable of some sort. I may not have loved some veggies as a child, but...