What is Cook the Part?
CTP Book Cover What is Cook the Part? COMING SOON! Cook the Part is a revolutionary cookbook and entertaining guide that is in development. Seven themed menus are completed and I have three more to go. With Cook [...]
Mexico just celebrated their bicentennial of INDEPENDENCE, so you must cook Chiles En Nogada
This blog entry is being contributed by my dear friend, Barbara Zaugg, with whom I love to cook. She will be teaching me how to make CHILES EN NOGADA this year. In past years she has cooked these for us. [...]
Cooking with your house guests
Bobi and Bella helped with the pasta dinner on Saturday night. We made fresh pasta dough (recipe in an earlier post) and we used the dough for two types of ravioli: veal and sausage and cheese. These were served with [...]
Something I learned from my cousin, Helen, about cleaning mushrooms
My cousin, Helen, recently taught me to clean mushrooms in a very effective way. My method was to use a mushroom brush, a very specialized tool. Her method for cleaning mushroom is to use a wet paper towel to wipe off [...]
Tomatoes (3) – the final word on tomatoes
Caprese Salad Many of us love the standard Caprese recipe, which I make as follows: 5 large vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced 1/3 inch thick 2 pounds fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4 inch thick 1 bunch fresh basil (about 20 to [...]
Making Pasta is a Piece of Cake…
Pasta dough in a ball Rolling out the dough using the pasta maker Filling the raviolis in the press Finished Raviolis read to be cooked Egg Pasta Dough (From the "Handmade Pasta [...]
Celebrate Oktoberfest
Next weekend is the opening of the 200-year anniversary celebration of Oktoberfest. Gary, my husband, and Eric, our son, are traveling to Munich to participate in the festivities. For those of us who are staying in San Diego, [...]
Tomatoes Harvest Part II: Pizza Marguerite
I promised more recipes for your tomato harvest. This one is so simple and yet so delicious. Make a batch of pizza dough in your bread machine described here. I use 1/2 of the batch for a thin crust. Roll [...]
What’s so special about cooking with friends and family?
Team cooking is a blast! It's fun and a great way to entertain. You can achieve so much more than a single cook can accomplish. It takes the stress out of hosting dinner parties. Prepare great meals at [...]
What to do with all those great tomatoes during the harvest: Pico de Gallo
We have at least 4 or 5 ripe tomatoes in our garden every day, along with a cup or so of the small grape tomatoes. This is the time to enjoy them. If you aren't growing them in your garden, [...]