the new healthy
I started off my year by doing the Bon Appétit Food Lover's Cleanse – a two week menu that highlighted whole foods and shirked things like refined sugars, flours, and most dairy. Not only was it delicious but it was eye opening and while I don't think I'll be giving...
cleanse cocktails part two
While I was in the midst of the Bon Appétit Food Lover's Cleanse a couple weeks ago I had written about one of the cocktails they had included with the plan (really – how can you not like a cleanse that builds in cocktails?) – the Winter's Revival. Feeling, er,...
dessert on the cleanse
When I make dessert it's usually a special occasion and I attack it with gusto – figuring that anything that is going to impress is probably going to take a couple days to make and there's most likely a lot of butter, sugar, eggs or chocolate involved. Or all of the...
cleanse cocktail
Cleanse cocktail? Isn't that an oxymoron? It conjured up visions of a drink that would include kale and vinegar with maybe some cayenne and garlic and that would involve plugging my nose to gag down. Boy was I happily surprised when I scanned the ingredients and it...
persimmon bruschetta
My friend Heather is in the process of moving from Boise to Los Gatos and normally I'd do an intervention – siting that she must be temporarily insane to give up the clean air, easy access to mountains and rivers and a bounty of friends for the high cost of living,...
poached pear and frangipane tart
I didn't even know how to pronounce it, let alone know what it was but on the glossy pages of the cookbook it looked beautiful, was seasonal and once I figured out that frangipane was a filling made with almonds, butter, sugar and rum – well what's not to love about...
the silkiest carrot soup. ever.
There's a soup swap that we've been invited to the last couple of years and while "swap" may sound innocent enough, my husband Devin and I both translate this into "competition". You can read about how the event works here but what's most important in our minds is...
cranberry margarita
I read somewhere once that a good host should always greet their guests at the door with a drink in their hand. That it automatically puts everyone at ease and sets the tone for the evening. This is protocol I can live with. For dinner parties, it's usually a glass of...
nat’s roasted mushroom soup
It's something we have talked about doing for months, if not years, but you know how it is – even the best intentions aren't enough sometimes. That's when I just have to make it happen. Pick a date, put it on the calendar and make a point to carve out the time. Awhile...
goat cheese, pesto and dried tomato torta
Dip season (aka: the holidays) are coming up and this is one that I have made for years that is always a major crowd pleaser, plus with its red and green colors, it suits the season. If you need to put this together in a snap, it's easy to buy all the components and...
say {goat} cheese
I love cheese. It's that simple. Really, what isn't better with a little cheese? And I know I won't hear any arguments on that from my cheesehead husband. But while loving cheese is simple, making it seemed anything but. Ricotta appeared to be the training wheels of...
state & lemp
The past few years, there's been a lot of doom and gloom. Heartbreaking stories of lost jobs, businesses and homes. Perhaps that's what makes it all the more special when two guys go out on a limb and open not only a new restaurant, but a totally new concept to the...