Sometimes, a little freshening up is in order. I put this chopped grilled vegetable salad on my weekly dinner planner and when I pulled the image for it, I cringed a little. The photo did not do it justice at all. This salad is one of my absolute favorites and one that I posted almost 5 years ...
French Onion Soup Recipe
If it wasn't winter before this week, it sure is now. Not in Southern California, of course. But for the rest of the country. Although people in LA dress like it's zero degrees when it's 55. It's totally funny. I cracked up when I saw this post on Pinterest last week: So I figured that ...
Healthy Green Bean Casserole Recipe
I was talking to a few ladies in my class this week about the Thanksgiving meals we remember from our childhoods and how they have evolved, if at all. We celebrated with my mother's family some years and with my father's family other years. Even though my mother's family is Italian-American, their ...
The Best Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
I had such a lovely weekend visiting my older daughter at college. I was sitting with my husband and all three of the kids talking about Thanksgiving. You all know how much I adore planning this holiday and having a full house all day long. My favorite part is when the kids help me in the kitchen, ...
three pea sauté with (or without) turkey bacon recipe
There was a time when I would watch those cooking competitions on Food Network and criticize anyone who used bacon in a recipe. "Well, yeah it's going to be good now!" I would shout at the tv. I could have done that. Try making something awesome without bacon. That's talent! I also feel this ...
brussels sprout sliders recipe
During the holidays, I find myself saying quite often, "Oh, what the heck. It's the holidays," as I add a handful of cheese or have an extra cookie. But the "holidays" aren't just one day. They start around Halloween and stretch until New Years Day, at which point most people I know declare the ...
turkey and brown rice stuffed bell peppers recipe
In all my classes since Labor Day, everyone seems to be so motivated to get back into a cooking and dinner routine! Although, now that I think about it, people that come to a cooking class ARE motivated to cook. So maybe the entire universe isn't looking for new dinner recipes, but I am. And I am ...
roasted summer vegetable tian recipe
After Barcelona, we went to Aix-en-Provence, which is the center and heart of Provence, France. I adore the South of France! We had a guide for the day since I don’t know the area well and I had no time before we left to do proper research. I absolutely love hearing about the history of European ...
Mediterranean Fish Stew Recipe
I had some friends over for dinner recently on a Friday and remembered that it is Lent. Lent starts about 40 days before Easter on Ash Wednesday and ends the day before Easter. It is a very holy time for many Christians and I remembered observing as a child. Traditionally no meat is eaten on ...
Pasta with Shredded Grass-Fed Brisket Recipe (slow cooker version, too!)
Just because I don't eat meat, doesn't mean my family doesn't love it and ask for it. So I will make it on occasion, but my rule is that it has to be grass-fed. Read my other brisket post about why. I make beef more in the winter than in the summer because it has a very warming thermal nature, ...
moroccan chicken with dates recipe (slow cooker version, too!)
You all know I live in Southern California and perhaps you know we are having a very mild, but super dry winter. We actually have a serious drought happening here. And you might also know that 99% of my entire family lives in the New York/New Jersey area. And they're having a veerrryy different ...