Kara’s Easy Cauliflower Soup: A Tale of Two Soups

I’m up in my cabin in the mountains and invite our friend Keith over for a glass of wine and supper. I decide to have Kara’s cauliflower soup with a loaf of French bread which sounds very easy and I’ve been meaning to try it ever since she emailed me the recipe. I forgot to…

Dinner Party Chicken with Mushrooms and Artichokes

Sometimes R. has looked back longingly on my company chicken du jour casseroles from the past. (And this is so far in the past that we were married to other people at those chicken dinners.) I found one of the old recipes and cooked it the other night.  R. gave it a 6. What can I…

Beatrice’s Brazilian Stew: Warmth for Cold Nights

This is delicious – a fish stew flavored with cilantro, lime, red pepper and garlic that tastes very rich but mainly is just vegetables and fish. My friend Beatrice served it at an elegant little dinner party (with bread and salad), but it also works for a very casual evening with hungry friends helping themselves…

Sudden Supper: One Pot Pasta

I came up with this one evening when R. and I arrived home hungry with nothing planned for dinner.  It was made out of what was in the fridge and turned out to be really good. So last night I made it for friend who came over at the last minute for dinner. I asked…

The Orange Dinner

Ever since a disaster dinner the other night, I’ve been thinking of adding this new category to the blog. I didn’t want to depress anybody but on the other hand, sometimes misery loves company. Two nights ago I had a total culinary meltdown. Normally I try out a new dish just on R. and I…

Smoked White Fish with Friends

I’ve had a smoked white fish from Costco sitting in the fridge since the holidays. I thought I’d serve it for the Christmas Buffet but Googling what to do with it scared me (bones were apparently a problem) and what with shelling those four pounds of shrimp for the buffet, I never got around to…

At War With Darth: My New Rice Cooker

Part of learning how to cook is the acquisition of new stuff. Or so I tell myself as I give in to my wee  bit of a shopping addiction in the kitchen department at T.J. Maxx.  Some stuff is really helpful, like my previously mentioned (and photographed) zester.  And my immersion blender which I’m in…

A Guy Dinner: Meat and Potatoes for R’s Birthday

For my husband’s birthday, two days after Christmas, we had another dinner party. A very easy one, with red meat included because that’s what he wanted, and also carrots which he loves and I’d never cooked before. In spite of my oh-my-God-I-don’t-want-to-overcook-this-beef panic and the carrots, it turned into a very simple dinner. Here’s the…

Mashed Potatoes That Will Save Your Sanity

I don’t mean to be overly dramatic but it’s true. This recipe can help you avoid going crazy in the kitchen while cooking big holiday dinners. When I prepared my first Thanksgiving dinner years ago, mashing potatoes at the last minute gave me a full blown panic attack. How are you supposed to mash potatoes…