We’ve had record breaking heat in Seattle this summer. Until yesterday, it had been over 80 degrees for over 2 weeks. We North westerners are not equipped for this. Most don’t have air conditioning, so we start to get surly from lack of good sleep. We start dreaming about renting a hotel room, so we…
Seasons Change
So much has changed since I started this blog. My children have grown up, I’ve moved to another city, I have a career that involves sitting at a desk all day, and we’ve started eating a plant-based diet almost exclusively (yes, even my salami loving husband). These big changes happened gradually, which makes them easier…
Very Berry-licious
Twice this summer I’ve come across flats of berries that were too cheap and too beautiful to resist buying. We are lucky in this part of the world to have a plentiful supply of affordable berry goodness all summer long, but I’m never sure what to do with them when I have them in large…
Behold the Power of the Cauliflower!
It’s hard to get excited about eating your vegetables this time of year, but in the dead of winter, you can always count on the cauliflower to cheer you up a little in the kitchen. They are usually reasonably priced and are wonderful to have around because they can be used as a main dish,…
Can You Have Too Many Tomatoes?
If you garden in Western Washington, you know that you can never count on a big crop of tomatoes. You feel lucky most years if you get any to turn red at all. So, when my mom hauled down 15 tomato plant one day last spring, I didn’t get too excited. In fact, I though…
Ribollita
This recipe is a request from my Aunt Diana. It’s not a hard request to fill, because this soup runs right along the lines of my philosphy of simple, but awesome food. Ribollita embodies this by taking simple, inexpensive ingredients and creating something that will make you crave it all the time. This recipe is…
Rigatoni with Sausage and Cauliflower, yummy, yummy.
I was a vegetarian for a quite a while, but there was always one temptress drawing me back into the meat world, sausage. Sausage is just awesome and I could seriously eat it every day if given the chance. It is the one thing that you can depend on to be at least edible no…
Cauliflower Soup
I just can’t eat enough soup in the winter time. It’s fun to make and most of the time it’s a guilt-free meal. I grew up eating mostly chicken based soups and chili’s, but after marrying an Italian, I got to experience a whole new spin on soup. Italians eat soup as a first course…
Lost in Translation
Now that I’m no longer in Italy, I’ve decided to take on a new project to satisfy my yearning for authentic Italian food. When I left Italy, I brought back the ultimate souvenir. Well, two actually. The first is my dog Pluto, who hails from the hill town of Cortona and the second is the…
Happy New Year
The holidays are over, at least for a while, and now we’re back to all work and no play mode once again. That sucks and I always find January a little bit depressing, without much to look forward to, except of course, a good meal. Dinner is to me a little celebration every night. We…
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