• I Made This Smoothie

    Yes, I made this smoothie. I didn’t really use a recipe; though, if you shuffle through the contents of my brain, you’ll probably realize I memorized a recipe out of Mad Hungry that I blogged about once here. The key to it all is: instead of using ice? You use frozen berries. And the rest…

  • Warm Me Up, Cool Me Down (Your Serving Dishes, That Is)

    There’s an eye-rolling threshold for home cooks when it comes to chef tricks. At some point, a chef will tell the home cook to do something that causes them (at least internally) to roll their eyes. “You want me to peel chickpeas before making hummus? REALLY?” That sort of thing. And I have to confess,…

  • Do You Feed Your Pets At The Table?

    You may think you like chicken, but you should see my cat. When that roast chicken comes out of the oven, Lolita goes nuts. She starts mewling in the kitchen, where I throw her a few scraps, but then–when we’re eating at the table–she sidles up next to me and looks up at me with…

  • Cauliflower Gratin with Gruyère and Goat Cheese

    Cauliflower Gratin with Gruyère and Goat Cheese

    Call me a freak, but I get excited about cauliflower. It’s got great texture and, when cooked properly, can yield lots of big flavor. Most often I roast it in the oven or I caramelize it in a pan; not very often do I boil it, but even boiled cauliflower can hold its own. On…

  • I Can Cook Too

    I’m about to make dinner, but after discovering “On The Town” on Spotify this morning I found myself Googling the show (it’s one of Leonard Bernstein’s first musicals) and reading about Lea Delaria’s scene-stealing performance of the song “I Can Cook Too” in the 1998 revival. There it is above and I liked it so…

  • Frozen Yogurt Toppings Are Worse For You Than Ice Cream

    An observation! The other day we were in West Hollywood, walking after eating sushi at Jinpachi. I saw a frozen yogurt place and I said, “Oooh let’s get some frozen yogurt.” That’s not something I often say; in fact, I’m much more likely to say, “Oooh let’s get some ice cream.” Only, this being West…

  • Sandra Lee’s Fake Tan

    This is not an April Fool’s Joke. The other day I was at my friends’ Jim and Jess’s place and Jess was like, “Oh my God, you guys have to see this.” She loaded up an episode of Sandra Lee’s new show (the one where she recreates fancy restaurant dishes at home, if you consider…

  • Marion Cunningham’s Raw Apple Muffins

    Marion Cunningham’s Raw Apple Muffins

    Three recipes, that’s where I draw the line when it comes to sharing recipes from a cookbook. Anything beyond that, and I’m no longer advertising a book that you should buy and I’m just poaching recipes for my own gain. So it’s with great sadness that I post my third and final recipe from Marion…

  • 4 on 6 Sushi

    4 on 6 Sushi

    Here’s what I’m starting to get about L.A.: L.A. cherishes its secret hole-in-the-wall dining destinations. People would rather eat at a restaurant that nobody knows about yet than one everyone’s clamoring to get into. In New York, things are more open. For example, the restaurant-of-the-moment in New York right now is Carbone and everyone’s Tweeting…