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During a vacation in Italy, a friend I was traveling with ordered prosciutto and melon as an appetizer. I thought of all the delicious choices on the menu, it was the most boring. And then I tasted it. Wow! The contrast between the tissue paper thin, perfectly cured, salty prosciutto and the juicy, ripe, sweet […]
WHAT’S THE STORY ON BALSAMIC VINEGAR? Many years ago, I heard people bragging about how they spent hundreds of dollars on balsamic vinegar. I thought they were nuts. But one day I happened to be in a cooking store when they were having a balsamic vinegar tasting. For the first time, I experienced what everyone […]
I use kosher salt in many recipes. Kosher salt is a variety of edible salt with a much larger grain size than ordinary table salt. Kosher salt is easier to pick up in your fingers and evenly distribute over food. I use it in everything except baking. I use regular table salt in baking because […]
I’ve been making these for many years. My friends can attest to this. I wanted the equivalent of homemade potato chips without all the frying. Recently the New York Times posted a recipe for smashed potatoes that is similar but different. I think mine are better. This is a great recipe to add to your […]
When I was growing up, we only had soup when we were sick. Then, of course, it was chicken soup. Since then, I learned to love simple pureed vegetable based creamy soups. This is one of my all time favorites because it’s simple to make, very versatile and freezes beautifully. Another make-ahead dish. For this […]
I love the idea of taking sweet dessert recipes and making them savory. Creating something unexpected. That’s where the idea of a Savory Goat Cheese Cake came from. Once I made it, I thought why not go further and turn it into a layer cake, and this is the result. Your guests will rave, it’s […]
The idea for Watermelon Tomato Salad came from my adopted daughter Vera. She had eaten a watermelon salad at one of her favorite restaurants in Los Angeles. She raved about it and brought me one to sample. It was delicious but I had an idea of how to make it even tastier. Vera volunteered to […]
Remember the way ice cream sandwiches used to be? Two cake-like chocolate cookies sandwiching creamy dreamy vanilla yumminess. All that and wrapped in paper so they were easy to eat. What a perfect dessert! Sadly they are not like that anymore and I miss that. So I decided to create my own. Since I could […]
If you need to bring something to a summer barbecue or pool party, make this! This is an easy dessert you can put together in 20 minutes the morning of the party. The challenge in this recipe is not overworking the batter and getting sweet delicious berries. Now, I can buy berries all year long […]
GAME PLAN
4 Weeks Before
3 Weeks Before
2 Weeks Before
1 Week Before
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday *
Saturday
A NOTE: *Many of these can also be done on Saturday. The more you do on Friday, the less stress you will have on Saturday.
