Birthday love

Yesterday was Kenn’s birthday. I came home bearing a fresh bouquet of peonies, since it is that very brief season in which they do not cost 4875988492490 dollars.

I then made gnocchi alla romana and lemon roasted broccoli and coconut panna cotta with a berry coulis. The first and last recipes are [...]

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Hurray for LA

We drove down to LA last weekend for family things, and I think it was one of the best LA visits ever. It almost made me love Los Angeles. I guess visiting all your favorite old haunts within a couple days will do that.
I didn’t particularly like living in LA, mainly [...]

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Pesto

Last night, we had a couple friends over for dinner. I made a big salad with champagne vinaigrette, roasted tomatoes stuffed with fresh mozzarella, and two pizzas. One had roasted peppers and broccoli, the other had thinly sliced potato, gruyere, and homemade pesto.
This pesto recipe from Heidi Swanson is the only one [...]

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Homemade granola

We go through a hell of a lot of granola in our house. While we normally buy it in bulk from the local co-op (why yes, I do live in san francisco), when I was a poor grad student I started experimenting with making it myself. Sometimes it was really good, sometimes… not [...]

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Chocolate-swirled coconut almond risotto

I am a big fan of rice pudding. It’s one of those desserts that I really get strong cravings for. It’s so warm and wintery and comforting. This is sort of a variation on that theme, only way more decadent.
We were out of our usual breakfast yesterday (granola) and I didn’t feel [...]

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Stone Fruit and Pumpkin

My posting has been spotty lately not because I have nothing to talk about, but because I have been so busy: sewing, knitting, spending time with friends, and eating well. Above is the mini french toast I made to have with some of my homemade stone fruit preserves.
Also… pumpkin butter! I followed this [...]

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Handmade Wedding: The Dessert

Ok, I didn’t make my own wedding cake. But we are lucky enough to have a very dear and generous friend who is also a pastry chef. Jojo was just amazing through the whole thing. And we are also lucky enough to have a couple of other friends who live nearby and [...]

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Stone Fruit

When I came back to the trip, I had to work out some hardcore nesting instincts. So we took a trip to the farmer’s market and bought bags of beautiful stone fruit, which I cooked into some tasty preserves that should last us through winter: pluot with vanilla and black pepper, nectarine with port, [...]

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Cupcakes are the path to happiness

Sometimes all you need are beautiful cupcakes like these from Kuidore to remind you of how happy life can be. sigh.
More beautiful food at this delightful Singapore-based blog

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The Fig Cafe

On our getaway, we stumbled on a place called The Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen. We had a wonderful brunch: “Fig Royales,” made of sparkling wine and fig syrup; spiced french toast with fig maple syrup and seasonal berries; and eggs florentine.

It was as delicious as it looks.

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