first
When I was growing up, eggs were strictly for breakfast. Occasionally, they were hard boiled and turned into egg salad or deviled eggs. They were never considered party fare for guests. It wasn’t until I started spending time in Italy and saw people ordering artichoke frittatas as a first course that I realized they make […]
This is another recipe that you will see different variations of on my blog. Just in case you wondered, I test recipes several times before I post them. I want to be sure they work and that my tasters rate them as totally delectable. These are crostini composed of a vegetable spread called Ajvar (available […]
This is another one of those recipes that I can put together using pantry staples. I always keep different kinds of olives in my pantry, frozen puff pastry thawed in the refrigerator and whole milk ricotta or soft goat cheese in the cheese drawer. Even though I make my own tapenade, you can even use […]
I always keep a few packages of frozen puff pastry in my freezer and one in my refrigerator, thawed, ready to use. I don’t want to have to wait for the pastry to thaw if I have spontaneous inspiration or last minute guests. This is a recipe that came from one of those inspirations. I […]
Many years ago, I had the good fortune to be in a cooking school in Tuscany, at Badia a Coltibuono Lorenza de’ Medici’s home, with Lorenza herself as my instructor. This experience totally changed the way I thought about planning a menu and cooking. One of the things Lorenza did when preparing a salad was […]
This is a composed salad. It looks like a work of art, Dutch Old Masters, when you present it; but then when the guests dive in, it morphs into a Jackson Pollock: a mess of colors and shapes. A composed salad can include anything. I choose seasonal ingredients, keeping in mind what I know my […]
This is my friend Brent’s favorite appetizer. It is one of those super simple recipes that is easily scaled up or down, depending on the number of guests. I’ve made it for huge parties and intimate dinners for two. Every time I served it, there wasn’t a piece left. The nice thing about this recipe […]
If you read my recipe for White Pizza, you know how easy it is to make great pizza at home. The question now becomes what type of ingredients will you use for toppings. The choices are limitless! This is totally different from the White Pizza and different from a typical cheese and tomato pizza. Most […]
I love homemade pizza! I have often made it completely from scratch, even the dough. If you don’t have time to make the dough, which requires time for the dough to rise, this is a great alternative: Readymade raw pizza dough can be found in most supermarkets or at Trader Joe’s! The secret to a […]
Last year just before the Moroccan Feast was to take place, I had an infestation of termites in my living room. Termites are very common in California. They like to eat wood, as wooden frames in doors or windows or in my case carved wooden beams in my living room. We tried an organic approach […]
