Food nourishes the body, but it’s the creative collaboration and conversation that food inspires that nourishes the soul. At least it does mine. That’s my recipe for FoodFixe. Not only do I want to share my favorite dishes, but I hope you’ll share yours, too. Regardless of your experience in the kitchen, everyone has something to bring to the table.
Let’s dig in!
Mikie's Cheesecake Getting married or hosting another special celebration in Montana? Mikie's the original, creating the world's best cheesecake celebration cakes.
Rhys Vineyards Rhys makes luscious Chardonnays, Syrahs, and Pinot Noirs, with grapes grown in five distinct areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Big Basin Vineyards Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California, Big Basin Vineyards specializes in Syrahs.
Sweet Little Sin Adina Barnett makes sinful desserts, including cookies, cakes, and brownies. Everything is made fresh to order, using real butter and eggs. Hers are the perfect indulgence for those who insist on eating dessert first!
It’s Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kick-off to summer. Well, according to the calendar, anyway; you certainly couldn’t tell by the weather here in NorCal. While there’s been nothing a barrage of summer- and grilling-inspired recipes buzzing coming across the channels—social and otherwise—I’m playing catch up from my last month’s worth of cooking, which includes Easter. (Yep, I’m a little behind. Hopefully I’ll get to summer fare before Labor Day!)
Here are three standouts from my recent kitchen escapades—two of which are certainly seasonally appropriate. The one exception, the Three-Cheese Scalloped Potatoes I made for Easter dinner, may not be typical warm weather fare. As far as scalloped potato dishes go, this one is on the lighter side, with not too much cream or cheese but lots of flavor. The recipe was inspired by one I had made at a cooking class several years ago at CasaLana in Calistoga, Calif. CasaLana is both a bed and breakfast and cooking school. It’s a great getaway if you want to both relax and learn something new.
Fall arrived in all its glorious gray gloom this weekend—the perfect weather for soup. (Apparently it rained last weekend, but I was in Hawai’i enjoying sunny and 83°F.) Because I was spending much of my time in the kitchen yesterday experimenting with a new cookie inspired by my recent trip to the Big Island (that’s another post), I opted to make my favorite quick and easy soup—my mom’s Spinach Soup.
As soups go, this one couldn’t be simpler with just three ingredients (if you don’t count the salt and pepper and Tabasco): frozen spinach, sour cream, and chicken broth. My mom only made this soup once, maybe twice, a year, usually to accompany corned beef. Even as a kid, I loved spinach, so this soup is one of my fondest childhood food memories. When I moved out, my mom’s spinach soup was one of the first recipes I requested from her, and it’s been my go-to soup every since. I always keep the ingredients on hand this time of year for those nights when I’m too tired or unmotivated to cook but want something good and homey
Most people have a favorite fruit or vegetable that to them screams ”summer’s here!” It might be corn, or peaches, or tomatoes. For me, it’s basil. My last couple of summers in Colusa, I would get big, beautiful bunches of basil from my friend Lettie, who nurtured a bountiful vegetable and herb garden every summer. A couple times during the season she’d hand me a large bouquet of basil—a mix of different varieties—that I would then turn into pesto. Some of which I’d freeze so I could have fresh pesto the rest of the year.
My memories of pesto go way back. It’s one of the first things I made with regularity when I was in college, having found a recipe in one of my mom’s cookbooks. I had never heard of pesto before but something compelled me to try it. I was hooked. Back then, I used dried basil because fresh basil wasn’t readily available in the 80s. Of course now I can’t imagine such a thing.
There simply are not enough hours in the day. As much as I enjoy cooking, I often don’t have the time to make myself a decent meal during the week. Thank goodness for roast chicken—my favorite convenience food.
Yep, I’m talking about the ones you can buy ready to eat from just about any grocery store and big box store such as Costco. (My friend Elaine swears by the roast chicken from Costco. She says she doesn’t know what they season the chicken with, but it’s addicting. Hence, why it’s referred to as “crack chicken.”) When it comes to needing a QuickFixe for a meal, you can’t beat a hot, juicy, roast chicken.
