The other night I defrosted a pound of ground turkey intending to make a white turkey chili recipe that features green peppers, white beans and tomatillo sauce. It was only once I began to cook that I realized I was out of white beans. That’s odd for me. I consider cannellini beans to be a [...]
 
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The first of my Twelve Parties for 2012, a casual family dinner party, went off without a hitch this weekend. That is, unless you consider one of your guests locking herself in the bathroom to be a hitch. When entertaining with kids, the name of the game is flexibility. Don’t expect to finish a sentence, let [...] My inspiration The first of my Twelve Parties for 2012 is scheduled for this Sunday, January 15. The January party is a casual family dinner party. The family that I have invited for dinner is, like us, very into food. When they had us over for dinner a few months ago, they made us a [...] It seems like most people’s New Year’s resolutions have to do with either money or food. We all want to eat better, cook at home more, spend more wisely and — while we are at it — be more organized too. That’s a lot to accomplish in one year. The good news is that Dominick’s [...] Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com. This weekend we are hosting a small gathering of friends to celebrate Hanukkah, which starts on the night of December 20. The traditional food [...] Are you surprised that I’m recommending soup for a quick weeknight dinner? Do you think of soup as a dish that is labor-intensive or requires a long cooking time? Sure, some soups require you to chop a long list of ingredients and simmer the concoction for hours on end. Those kinds of soups are perfect [...] Italian sausage and peppers in a rich tomato sauce As someone who teaches canning lessons, I often get asked about canning tomatoes. My answer is usually that I don’t recommend it. The exception to my rule is if you grow your own tomatoes. If you grow tomatoes in your garden and have a surfeit come [...] When I don’t spend the afternoon chauffeuring my kids between multiple activities and when my husband is not out of town, I really enjoy cooking a nice dinner. Just this week, I made penne pasta soup with vodka, tomatoes and cream and a white turkey chili with tomatillos. Unfortunately, the magical combination of events [...] Turkey pumpkin chili warms your heart on a chilly fall night. Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. The leaves are flaming out and falling to the ground in droves. In other words, it’s November. November would be my favorite month if it were not for the sense of foreboding that I feel [...] The baby calves at the dairy farm were adorable. What kind of milk does your family drink? Do you pay more for organic? Do you shop around for the best price? When I was a kid, the only question was whether you drank skim or 2% or maybe whether your mom let you have chocolate [...] Slices of brisket in a rich gravy This past week marked the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Last year at this time, I wrote a post about enjoying Rosh Hashanah dinner with my friend and fellow blogger Vanessa AKA Chef Druck and I shared my recipe for sweet carrot tzimmes — the vegetables cut into [...] Beautiful Damson plums I have mentioned before that one of my favorite things about shopping at farmers’ markets is finding unusual, old-fashioned or heirloom crops that are not available anywhere else. At the Oak Park Farmers’ market, I have found garlic scapes, wild ramps, tayberries, gooseberries, squash blossoms, ground cherries and many other new-to-me fruits [...] It seems like the whole country is experiencing a heat wave this week. In Cook County, we are looking at a string of temperatures in the high 90′s and even triple digits. In hot weather, everyone talks about not wanting to turn on the oven. I don’t mind turning on the oven so much, but what I [...] Dessert pizza by the slice Three people in my life are cherry enthusiasts: my dad, my husband and my daughter. Those three dream all year long of the few weeks in July when the cherries are really ripe and exquisite. All three could sit down with a bowl of cherries and eat until they had a [...] In my personal life, I crave stability. You could count the number of serious boyfriends I’ve had on one hand. (Actually, Rahm Emmanual could count the number of serious boyfriends I’ve had on one hand.) I’ve lived in the same metropolitan area for the past ten years. After my judicial clerkships, I’ve had exactly one [...]
Zuzu accompanied me to the Oak Park Farmers’ Market last Saturday morning in exchange for the promise of a powdered doughnut. (I wish I had taken a picture of her face covered in powdered sugar — she looked like a half-made up Geisha girl) We were in the market for cherries, but we quickly [...] Pizza with scapes pesto, tomatoes and fresh ricotta Because it is the season right now, I am reposting this piece from last June with two ideas for using garlic scapes, a fun farmers’ market find. Chances are, if you have a share in a CSA (community supported agriculture) or are a farmers’ market regular, you have [...] This time of year, food blogs are full of recipes for the grill. And who can blame them? Grilling food on a summer’s evening is one of the season’s true pleasures. Plus, meat and vegetables are delicious when grilled and clean-up is a snap. Like many of our friends and neighbors, we usually fire up our [...] A savory potato, asparagus and cheddar tart As a weeknight dinner solution, a savory tart has much to recommend it. It’s a quick and cheap one-dish meal much of which can be prepared in advance. Moreover, a savory tart requires only ingredients that you are likely to have on hand – namely milk, eggs and cheese — and is infinitely adaptable, [...] Yogurt cake with lime zest and strawberries A few months back there was an article in The New Yorker about food allergies called “The Peanut Puzzle” by medical writer Jerome Groopman. Needless to say, my husband and I read the article with avid interest and at least a dozen friends and relatives called or emailed to [...] |
 
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