In the 1980's Chicken Marbella was all the rage. Here is a 2022 version, quicker, easier and lighter! It’s 1982. I live in a two-bedroom apartment on the Seine with a view of the Eiffel Tower. At night the Bateaux Mouche (riverboats) light up the ceiling of my bedroom as they pass slowly down the river, wowing the tourists with highlighted Belle Epoque architecture. I shop in the outdoor market on the Rue de Passy, where there is a bakery filled with baguettes and croissants for our morning treats. You would think I would be knee deep in French cooking. And I was, except just then I ...
CARAMEL PUMPKIN BLONDIES
Last week my daughter sent me a picture of some caramel sea salt chips she found in Trader Joe’s. She knew they were right in my sweet spot (pun intended!) I am a caramel lover. I will pick it over chocolate any day. Add a little salt and that’s perfection. And of course, I did have a good use for these wonderful morsels of goodness. When we owned The Carolina Bed & Breakfast in Asheville, NC, I used to make some killer pumpkin blondies for our guests. The recipe included both white chocolate and butterscotch chips which melted down into the batter and formed a ...
CHANGING SEASONS WITH FRESH FIG CAKE AND FIG JAM
This lovely, not-too-sweet-cake is inspired by my new home, and the fig tree growing next to my back porch. It's not a fancy cake, there is no icing to make or spread. The flavor comes from fresh figs. Some are chopped and added to the batter and the remainder are cooked down into a light jam and spread between the layers. The result is a moist, light cake which is slightly remniscent of a Fig Newton in taste (although not in consistancy). September is almost over and Fall is upon us. While I miss the already cold nights of my home in the mountains, there is much to learn and enjoy ...
COOKING ON THE FLY: TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI GALETTE
Tomato and Zucchin Galette in its simplest version: commercial pie crust and a few ingredients from your pantry come together to create a rustic pie rich in the flavors of summer. I’ve been busy. I am not kidding about that. In the space of one month Rick and I are selling a house, buying a house, finishing building a house and renting a house. It wasn’t meant to happen this way. These things were not supposed to all come together at the same time. Because they have, life has been a mad dash to get everything ready. We have been masters at planning: our days are scripted, our ...
Honey Roasted Almond and Fresh Apricot Bars
Using the contents of my cupboard I created these Honey Roasted Almond and Fresh Apricot Bars as a final treat for a picnic in the park. The honey almonds add some sweet and salt to the flavor, the apricots are a bright pop of fruit and the bottom crust gives a buttery finish to each bite. It has been a crazy spring! In March, we took our first family trip since returning from Anguilla in March of 2020. Later, in the last week of May, we got married, went on a short honeymoon, came back, and bought a house in Charlotte—all in the space of ONE week! And then life slowed down ...
THE BEST STRAWBERRY PANCAKE I EVER MADE
What makes a pancake a pancake? Is it how it is cooked? The ingredients? When you eat it? Does it matter? This delicious “pancake” may or may not meet the common definition of a pancake, but it will knock your socks off for its delicious strawberry filled flavor, the slightly crunchy top, and the soft, pillowy interior. As a former Bed & Breakfast owner, I have cooked a lot of breakfasts in my life but it’s been a while since I made a dish that got the reception this one did at our Easter Brunch. And since I told you I would share any recipe I thought worth your time, I could ...
FIVE YEARS ON: THIS BLOG MAY REACHED THE END OF ITS USEFUL LIFE
One day you wake up and you look around you and you think “I can’t do this.” You break the bonds of many years and say no. People are upset. They are angry. You are alone. You drink too much. You play word games in the middle of the night and a friend in London or Texas asks you why you are up. Your cat sleeps on your stomach and his warmth is the closest thing you have to a human touch. But you keep on. You work on changing yourself. Learn to say no and learn to say yes. Learn to listen. Learn to ask about other’s feelings and to talk about yours. Don’t react. ...
BANANA BREAD LIKE MAMA USED TO MAKE
It has taken me some time, and I have eaten a lot of banana bread, but I have finally come up with a recipe that produces a loaf like my mother used to make. It is moist and rich with the flavor of banana, studded with good sized chunks of apricot and a faint bite from pecans. It was a childhood treat and a grown-up’s memory until my sister told me she thought the recipe came from the Joy of Cooking. My mother’s edition of The Joy Cooking would have been a very old one. The original was published in 1931 and, while my mother may not have had the first edition, she would ...
MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE SAUCE — BROWN FOOD TASTES GOOD
Mushrooms, carrots and onions come together in a delicious vegetarian Mushroom Bolognese Sauce which proves the saying that "Brown food tastes good." It just doesn't photograph well! I watch a lot of cooking shows and one of my favorites is “The Worst Cooks In America”. In this show Chef Anne Burrell takes a group of people, who hide their feelings about not being able to cook behind jokes and ridiculous (sometimes outrageous) behavior, and she turns them into decent home chefs. As their cooking gets better, they drop a lot of the façade and become increasing involved in learning a craft. I ...
JANUARY DUMP COOKIES
I don’t know about you but I am sweeping the remains of this January out! Cold, snowy, disease ridden, oh-my-god-will-covid-never-be done-with-us-January is history. And in celebration I went through my cupboard and made some cookies out of every remnant I could find of the previous month. They started with my Murray cookie recipe and ended up somewhere in the next stratosphere. I dumped January into a bowl and sweetened it up. Two fats: butter for flavor and Crisco (vegetable shortening) for texture. Two sugars: brown sugar gives depth and cane sugar gives a little extra ...