My family's lack of enthusiasm for apricots frustrates me. Peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries - all the other stone fruits they will eat with gusto. (Stone Fruit, by the way, is the name of my rock band.) Apricots, on the other hand, will sit in the fruit drawer until I come along and turn them into a dessert. (You might ask why, in that case, ...
Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Kabobs
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ZiplocBackToSchool #CollectiveBias Have you seen your children’s back-to-school supply list yet? Does it include a box of Ziploc® brand bags with Easy Open Tabs? My children’s lists always do. While you are at Kroger or Food 4 Less ...
Penne with Black Olives, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Feta and Spinach
I've loved California Ripe Olives since I was a little girl when I used to eat them off the ends of my fingers at Thanksgiving dinner. Black olives are prized for their unique flavor, striking black color and firm texture. But did you know that California Ripe Olives are as good for you as they are tasty? An essential part of the Mediterranean ...
July 2015 Chicago Food Swap Recap
The Chicago Food Swap met on July 18 for a warm midsummer swap that ended with a bang. Naturally, I am referring to the thunderstorm that hit just as everyone was leaving the swap. I don't know about everyone else, but I got drenched on the short walk to my car. Luckily, my swap items were all protected. Another reason to package your items ...
Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)
This recipe is everything summer cooking should be. It uses the bounty of the season. It is made ahead of time. And it's best served room temperature. Easy, fresh and beautiful to look at -- what is this amazing recipe you ask? It's panzanella, an Italian bread salad. So many cuisines have ways to use up leftover bread -- from French toast ...
National Ice Cream Day: Strawberry Balsamic Basil
July 19 is National Ice Cream Day! Did you know that? Summer seems to have finally arrived in Chicago, after a cool and wet June. So it's time to pull out the ice cream maker that has been languishing in my Small Appliance Ghetto all winter. My family loves strawberry ice cream, but as I have mentioned before, I prefer strawberries when they are ...
Bastille Day French Recipe Round-Up
Today is le quatorze Juillet, or Bastille Day, the French national holiday. In honor of this festive day, which is celebrated throughout France with parades and fireworks, I am rounding up all of my French-inspired recipes. I hope that one of these inspires your Bastille Day celebration. I am a devoted Francophile. A French major in college, I ...
Beginner Peach Jam
We have all had the experience of watching our farmers' market or CSA fruits and vegetables start to get a bit long in the tooth as the week wears on. Maybe you bought two quarts of peaches thinking you would make a cobbler and then time got away from you. Maybe the member of your household who you can usually count on to eat all those cherries ...
Penne with Pesto and Peas
In one of her early books, Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa fame, has a recipe for pasta with pesto and peas. Now don't get me wrong: I love Ina as much as the next girl. To this day, I am holding out for an invitation to spend the day cooking with her in the Hamptons. But her recipe for pasta with pesto and peas is all kinds of wrong. ...
Arugula with Grilled Peaches, Hazelnuts and Parmesan
The July meeting of the Chicago Food Swap is less than two weeks away. I am very excited about this particular swap. Not only is it the height of the season for local produce, which means all kinds of delicious homemade and homegrown swap items, but we also have an amazing sponsor for this event: Villa Gabriella Organic. Villa Gabriella imports ...
Grilled Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers with Creamy Harissa
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GrillWithATwist #CollectiveBias With the Fourth of July around the corner, many of us are planning a backyard barbecue to celebrate this favorite summer holiday with family and friends. These days, planning a party can mean taking into ...
Jam-Filled Hand Pies
I recently spoke at one of my favorite conferences for food bloggers, Eat Write Retreat. The topic of my session, naturally, was food swapping. Zuzu helped me put together my first-ever Keynote presentation -- that's like Power Point for Macs -- with a lot of photos and jazzy effects. Maybe a few too many jazzy effects, but that is the risk you ...
Southwestern Tuna with Rice, Corn and Black Beans
My love for tuna is well-documented. And when I think tuna, of course I think Bumble Bee, the brand that was always in the pantry when I was growing up. While I adore a tuna salad sandwich for lunch as much as anyone, I also know that this healthy, lean source of protein is an incredibly versatile ingredient that can star in all kinds of dishes, ...
Skirt Steak Soft Tacos with Chipotle Crema
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KingOfFlavor #CollectiveBias Is there anything better than a summer weekend? My family just wrapped a perfect summer weekend of baseball, swimming, and a cookout with friends. Of course, it was also Father's Day, so I had to make a ...
Cold Strawberry Soup
Did you happen to catch me on Fox-32's morning program, "Good Day Chicago," discussing ways to preserve the strawberry harvest? You will recognize many of the projects I mentioned from last week's strawberry posts. It was such a fun segment to film and I always love talking about the Chicago Food Swap. I have one last strawberry recipe to give ...
How to Use a Flat of Strawberries: Strawberry Mango Fruit Leather
Another day, another strawberry post. I'm still working off that same flat of strawberries I bought at the farmers' market last week. Today's project is homemade strawberry fruit leather. You may recall that I tried my hand at mango fruit leather a few months ago. That project was fun and easy and everyone enjoyed the results. So when faced with ...
How to Use a Flat of Strawberries: Strawberry Vanilla Syrup
This is my second post in a series on how to use a flat of strawberries in five days. Every year at this time I remind you guys that at many farmers’ markets the price for a flat of strawberries, which is eight quarts, is the same as the price for six individual quarts. That is a great deal, but only if you actually use all the berries before ...
How to Use a Flat of Strawberries: Strawberry Maple Granola
It is time for my annual post on how to use a flat of strawberries in five days or less. Every year I remind you that at many farmers' markets the price for a flat of strawberries, which is eight quarts, is the same as the price for six individual quarts. That's like getting two free quarts! But buying a flat of strawberries is only a ...
Cucumber Salad with Yogurt and Mint
With summer comes the desire to eat cool, crunchy salads. My interest in Middle Eastern cuisine has give me a new appreciation for humble cucumber. So often cucumber is relegated to the side: an afterthought thrown in to provide a hint of green or an element of crunch. Here in a refreshing, herbaceous salad, this unassuming summer vegetable is ...
Green Garlic Chimichurri
I almost hesitate to call this sauce chimichurri because it deviates in a few key ways from the traditional Argentinian recipe. You know how the food police can be! But then again, any condiment with this much parsley and garlic and that goes as well as this one does with grilled meat deserves to be called a chimichurri. Chimichurri is simply a ...
How to Shop at a Farmers Market
With May right around the corner, farmers' markets are starting to open up all around the country. Sadly, I still have a few more weeks until my beloved Oak Park Farmers' Market, home of delicious, freshly made doughnuts, begins. I can hardly contain my excitement. For those of you in warmer climes, the wait may be much shorter. As a home ...
Costa Rica with Kids
My family just returned from an amazing week in Costa Rica. We stayed on the Papagayo Peninsula in the province of Guanacaste, which is located in northwestern corner of the country. Costa Rica was the tropical paradise we had hoped it would be. The Pacific ocean beaches were stunning with fine sands, blue water and gentle surf. The landscape ...
Can-It-Forward Day August 16
This Saturday August 16, Jarden Home Brands will host the first annual International Can-It-Forward Day with special guest, renowned chef and Bravo’s Top Chef judge, Hugh Acheson! I ate at Chef Acheson's Atlanta restaurant Empire State South last year and it was one of the more memorable meals of my adult life. Being a southern guy, Hugh knows all ...
Cheddar Jalapeño Corn Pudding
My family cannot get enough sweet corn during the summer months. Once the sweet corn appears at the farmers market in late July, you can put me down for a dozen ears a week. Why buy fewer than twelve ears when corn is so inexpensive? I cook all dozen ears at the same time. Once the water is boiling, or the grill is hot, it is no extra work to cook ...
Scenes from the Farmers Market
At least once every year, I like to bring my camera with me on one of my early Saturday morning trips to the Oak Park Farmers Market to capture the abundance. Mid-July is a heady time at the farmers market. The tables are groaning with fruit from the Michigan orchards. Stone fruits of all kinds, from cherries to apricots to peaches and plum, ...