Italian Bread for the Holidays
Try this on for size: an easy yeasted bread, Italian in nature with nuts, figs and more that is wonderful toasted with butter for breakfast or eaten as an anytime snack. This is Bisciola. When I first discovered bisciola, pronounced bih-SHOAL-ah, it was presented as yeasted fruit and nut bread. I’ve come to find it’s [...]
Cherry Tomato Jam with a Sicilian Twist
We got back from our month in Spain and low and behold, my cherry tomato plant was loaded! We ate lots of tomato items on this trip. A more savory style tomato jam popped up frequently on tapas, pinxtos, and the Spanish version of tostada, basically a toasted piece of bread or baguette with items [...]
Impromtu Prickly Pear Spotting
Chumberas, or higos chumbos are everywhere in the lower areas of Spain´s Sierra Nevada mountains. A chumbera is a prickly pear, the fruit of the cactus. People are picking and selling them in arid areas of Andalusia where they grow well. We ran into a man who made his own tool for picking. He kindly [...]
Peach Salsa That Rocks
Last Sunday I went to the Marin farmers’ market at the Civic Center. It was my last Bay Area stop after two days of glorious hiking on Mt. Tamalpais and staying at the West Point Inn. The first market booth was a presentation of the most beautiful assortment of peaches, nectarines and plums I’ve ever [...]
Zucchini Parmesan Bread
Here we are in July, and it feels like spring outside–low 80s, a light breeze, and tomato plants just starting to flower. Despite the lack of tomatoes, there are some plants in the garden that love this weird summer weather and none more so than the zucchini. I’m only allowed to have one plant each [...]
Watermelon Popsicles
I grew up slurping Otter Pops and staining my tongue neon blue. These days, I’d rather color my lips with blueberries—especially frozen into an icy popsicle. I’ve had some of the best popsicles recently from FatFace, the genius gourmet treats from Jaymes Luu. She’s had a stand at the Davis Farmers’ Market for a few [...]
Pineapple Mango Chutney
Seems everyone is learning to make jam these days. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones growing up with a mom who canned everything so I taught myself (and continue to learn something new with every batch). My food preserving gears shifted last week when I decide to make a topping for a ham. I [...]
Making Minty Mojitos
At last–it’s warm outside again! I’ve been craving summer cocktails even though it hasn’t felt much like summer in the last month. So now that it’s finally heating up, I need to stock up on simple syrups. If you like to make cocktails, or even mocktails, simple syrup is a must-have ingredient. We use it [...]
Baking with Kids: Applesauce Muffins
I’ve been on a bit of a muffin kick lately, thanks to the weird weather. I suggested them in desperation one day when it was raining (again!) and we needed some warmth. Turns out, though, that muffins are great to bake with my daughter. She gets to stir, it’s an educational activity, and we both [...]
