Many people tell me they have more time for cooking in the summer when the kids’ schedules are much lighter and office hours are reduced. Â Great news! Â I do cook pretty consistently all year, but I find in the summer I have a little extra time for breakfasts other than a smoothie bowl. Â That’s probably why I teach a breakfast class every June. Â This year, this salted chocolate granola recipe was on the menu and it was a HUGE hit!
Whenever I go out for Japanese food, if there are shishito peppers on the menu, I order them. Shishitos are the perfect appetizer since they are light (they’re just vegetables) and pretty healthful. Â Most Japanese restaurants serve them very simply with a dousing of soy sauce or ponzu sauce.Continue reading
There are some food trends that I can’t embrace. Â Unicorn everything, please go away. Â And although it looks cute, I also have no time to cut my fruit into 1/2-inch star shapes and slide them into ombre parfaits. If someone would like to make me such parfait though, I would be over the moon.Continue reading
Do you ever smell a food or something in nature that takes you back to a time in your life or an experience you had? For me, certain smells sum up my childhood, e.g espresso and garlic cooking in oil. And then certain smells are specific to my childhood summers – freshly cut grass (because in NY, you only cut grass in the summer) and fresh tomatoes with basil (again, something we only ate in the summer.) Whenever I get a whiff of tomatoes and basil, I feel instantly relaxed because I know it’s summertime, and back then I didn’t have a care in the world.
I keep doing this thing where I look at the calendar and something major is tomorrow or coming up really soon. Oh no, Father’s Day is tomorrow and I haven’t sent cards or gifts! I am in Seattle right now and then en route to Portland, and I just realized July 4th is on Tuesday. Not only do I not know where we’re going or how we’re celebrating, I haven’t photographed a single striped pie or red, white, and blue fruit plate!! Well friends, this salad will have to do. There’s not a smidge of red, white or blue in it, but I can guarantee this recipe from my new cookbook, “Kitchen Matters,” will be the STAR of your 4th of July BBQ.
It has been quite a week! I had a quick trip to New York where I was able to meet some editors, taped a bunch of videos for NBCNewsBetter, and did a cooking segment out on the Plaza for The Today Show. Yesterday, I returned to my favorite local LA show, KTLA morning news to cook from the book, did a fun Facebook Live with my friend Catherine McCord from Weelicious, and spent the evening at Pages Bookstore in Manhattan Beach for a fabulous party celebrating my new book. Pages, by the way, is the only source for signed copies of my book!  Right now I am taping a cooking segment at Hallmark’s Home & Family which will air on Monday. So exciting!
I’m back in New York and I am super excited because I’m doing a cooking segment on The TODAY Show on Wednesday.  It will be in the 8:00 am hour (usually after 8:30), so set your DVR’s!  I’ll be doing a demo of two recipes from my new cookbook.
The book process is a long one and similar to online dating. You parade yourself around vulnerably, putting your best assets forward, hoping the right companion will ask you for a date. You might have to kiss a few frogs before you find Mr. Right and then you’re an item. DaCapo Lifelong Books and I dated a bit before we got together in August of 2015 and the rest is history!
