Fresh and Healthy Avocado Dip/Dressing

Over the last few years, I've really gotten into making my own salad dressing.  Usually I just whip up a simple vinaigrette with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and different kinds of vinegar, but every once in awhile I'll put forth a little more effort and throw in shallots or herbs or mustard. I really love this Avocado Dressing recipe from The Kitchn because it's super fresh tasting and simple to make. ...

Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca

This decadent dish was featured on the cover of the January/February issue of Cooking Light and I have been eyeing it for weeks.  A slightly "healthier" version of the traditional saltimbocca, this recipe does not call for cheese or dredging the meat in flour and frying in a lot of oil.  Instead it relies on the saltiness of the thinly sliced prosciutto and the tangyness of the lemon to create a rich...

First Meal in the Dutch Oven!

Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I'd be buying a Dutch Oven?  After some careful research, I decided on Martha Stewart's 5.5 Quart Red Dutch Oven for $69 at Macy's.  What a great deal!  And I had a gift card, so I literally paid nothing for this beautiful kitchen staple.  A Dutch Oven is heavy, cast iron pot used in long, slow cooking.  Kind of like a crockpot, except that it is meant to withstand very...

Odds and Ends Casserole

Don't you hate throwing out food?  It makes me feel so wasteful when I realize that I've let all the odds and ends in my vegetable drawer sit for too long and I have to throw them out.  I literally cringe and feel guilty.  At least we live in San Francisco where we can put them in the compost bin to be picked up and put to good use...being composted....somewhere...for something.  I'm actually not too sure how it...

Layers of Flavor: Spicy Squash, Potato and Beef Stew

So, I've been a little obsessed with Butternut Squash lately.  It all started when I made that savory Golden Winter Soup for Book Club.  I ended up with too much Butternut Squash, so I decided to try out this recipe for Squash, Chickpea and Red Lentil Stew in the crockpot.  Notice that I didn't blog about that dish and I'll let you guess why.   So I used the leftover Butternut Squash, but I didn't have quite...

Hosting a Weekend Brunch

One of my favorite things about living in a city environment is Brunch. Brunch is huge.  It's a way to get together with friends, celebrate the weekend, and provides an excuse to start drinking at 11am.  Which brings me to the part I love most about Brunch:  multiple beverages.   Water, Coffee, Juice, Champagne...take your pick or take them all.  And I will take all of them. Recently, my lovely friend...

Soup: A Mouthwatering Work of a Culinary Genius

Last night we had our first Paperbacks and Pinots Book Club of 2011.  We all gathered at Taylor's apartment to discuss Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius.  I had actually already read this book about two years ago, but I spent the last few days of my commute to Oakland browsing through the novel to refresh my memory.  I love this book mostly for its humor, but I also enjoy the fact that it...

Rustic Apple Tart

The Hub and I have made some really fantastic friends through work over the years.  Isn't it nice when you actually like the people you work and spend 80% of your day with?  There is a group of us who all happen to live in the same area of the city, so we like to have little dinner parties and rotate who hosts.  I always look forward to these fun evenings!  Last week, our friends Trisha and Andy hosted our...

Like Father, Like Son: Todd’s Fish Tacos

As I mentioned last week, my father in law, Todd,  is a really fantastic cook!  It's easy to see where The Hub gets his creative streak in the kitchen.  While we were back in Wisconsin, Todd made us some really delicious Fish Tacos, adapted from this Giada DeLaurentis recipe.  I decided to replicate the dish for a little dinner party we had last week with our friends Erika, and  Jim and Abby, who are...

Snickerdoodle Heaven

A few weeks ago I had a Snickerdoodle at a friend's holiday party and since then, I just haven't been able to get them off of my mind!  I've never been a Snickerdoodle kind of girl, but the buttery, cinnamon-sugar aftertaste haunted my brain until I broke down and made a batch of my own yesterday while I watched Sex and the City 2 (don't judge) waited for The Hub to return from Europe. I'd never made...