Marsha and I got together on another cooking play date two weeks ago, when we busted out a sampling of recipes for faux Fred’s Steak. Fred’s Steak, a local specially marinated tri-tip from Schaub’s Meat Market, has long been a discussion for Bay Area food folks. We are dying to know how the steak comes [...]
With the end of summer, we hosted a BBQ dinner to celebrate Pat’s 80th birthday. Another great backyard party, with the help this time of my brother and sister-in-law. I served roasted leg of lamb (from Sierra Farms Lamb); Grilled chicken; Farro salad with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes; Savory tomato bread pudding; Green pea, bacon [...]
Recently, we hosted a dinner party and served a lovely (IMHO) variety of spring foods, including spring lamb stew with baby artichokes, Bibb lettuce and parsley salad with anchovy dressing, both after a white bean and sautéed greens crostini appetizer. For dessert, I served a tray of local cheeses including a very ripe Mt. Tam [...]
Last month, we learned to cook pasta the Italian way, at a cooking party to benefit our school. Our hostesses, Lucia and Susanna, from La Bottega in Menlo Park, created a thoughtful menu highlighting three pasta dishes from the north, center and south of Italy – Linguine al Pesto, Bucatini Casio e Pepe, and Caserecce [...]
This weekend, we hosted a big birthday bash in our backyard to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. It was a lovely party (if I do say so myself) and we served roasted Tri-tip, grilled chicken, potatoes and pepperonata, cauliflower, white bean and feta salad, and a green salad. For dessert, Marie Callender’s pies (Dad’s choice) in [...]
Way back, when my daughter was born, my sister Erica brought this meal to us on our first night home from the hospital. She was able to find baby beets and turnips, and the dinner was so delightful, not only because I had been eating hospital food for two days, but because my incredibly busy [...]
corned-beefWith St Patrick’s Day around the corner (ok, tomorrow, if you want to be specific) Corned Beef and Cabbage was on the menu this weekend. Remember my menu plan from last week? We were out all day yesterday and needed to have dinner ready when we walked in the door, so I set up my [...]
Cassoulet does not need to be difficult to taste great. Starting with a recipe from Tante Marie’s Cooking School Cookbook, I have developed a Cassoulet recipe that I dare say, is easy! Mind you, it will take a while, good things always do, but if you go slowly, don’t rush the recipe and give yourself [...]
Our new friends (and neighbors) invited us over for a spur-of-the-moment Paella party this weekend. A chance to socialize and drink wine with our friends was more than we could resist, even on a school night! And, the lure of Paella cooked on the grill was too enticing, almost makes me want to go out [...]
This was not really a traditional dinner party, in the sense that we did not all sit around the table. But we did eat the same thing, Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Smoked Pork Chops. Why, you ask, did we not eat together? This is the first week of school – one child is taking [...]
