adventures of an american housewife in the south of france

What’s Cooking?

With all the rain the last few weeks, we've basically been housebound.  Hunkered down on the couch with blankets and cooking up lots of good food.  I thought I'd share some of the yummy meals we've been eating recently. Roasted Red Kuri Pumpkin & Coconut Soup *recipe found here  Autumn Vegetable Roast *toss with olive oil, s&p, garlic, and chili flakes.  bake at 400º for 30-40...

Summer Recipes: No Cook Zucchini Side Salad

My Summer Recipe series continues with another cold, healthy solution to your hot days.  Ready for the simplest way to prepare zucchini?  I've noticed a lot of Zucchini Salads in cooking magazines and blogs recently so I decided to try it myself.  Seriously this is so easy, Figaro could probably do it.  You don't even have to cook it!  I don't get too excited at the prospect of eating raw zucchini, but I swear,...

Super Sad True Book Club

The only thing super sad about this month's book club is that I didn't read the book, Super Sad True Love Story:  A Novel by Gary Shteyngart.  Jillian picked this book about a May-December romance set in futuristic NYC and I actually can't wait to read it at some point.  Everyone really enjoyed it, but between work, play and the fact that I'm working through a 900 page John Irving novel, I just didn't have time...

Crunchy & Colorful Winter Salad with Red Onion Vinaigrette

I try to eat a salad for lunch everyday but, let's face it, salads get boring.  A typical lunchtime salad for me includes romaine or spinach leaves with cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, carrots and lowfat feta.  Simple, easy to make the night before, and light on the calories.  This week I decided to mix it up by making a Crunchy and Colorful Winter Salad with Red Onion Vinaigrette.  I swapped out the boring...

Thai Cooking School: Crispy Spring Rolls

Last year at this time The Hub and I were on our belated 3 week honeymoon trip to Thailand.   It was the most memorable trip  of our lives and best vacation we've ever taken.  It changed us for the better and was the catalyst for jump-starting Step 2 of our Life Plan, which I hope to tell you all about very soon. We had so many amazing adventures in Thailand, but our fondest memory is the day long class we...

Southwestern Corn and Black Bean Salad

Last week we had our monthly Book Club meeting with an extra bonus celebration for Kate's Birthday.  We read The Glass Castle which is a raw and startling memoir about a family moving around the US living in poverty.  The author's parents were clearly mentally ill and the children were forced to fight for their own survival.  I've read a lot of memoirs in my day and this was one of the most interesting and eye...

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. ...

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...

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...

Vegetarian Inspiration – Stuffed Acorn Squash

Last week we had our dear friends Marq and Dawn over for dinner.  They are both vegetarians so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe from The Kitchn that I have been eyeing:  Stuffed Acorn Squash.  Little did I know that Marq does not actually like acorn squash.  When he admitted this to me I told him, "too bad, I already bought them so now you have to eat them."  You can say that...

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