Is it any surprise that my ideal adventure has nothing to do with camping or wild animals? I'm a city girl, born and bred.  Roaming around a neighborhood filled with ethnic grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, and bookstores is heaven to me.
On one trip to New York City,...

Quand j'avais mes enfants jeunes et un boulot à temps plein, notre souper ne variait que très peu d'une semaine sur l'autre. Être sur le pilotage automatique n'était pas excitant, mais ça prenait beaucoup moins de temps et de réflexion que de planifier de nouveaux repas. Cela avait...

Next Sunday is Cinco de Mayo. Best known in the U.S. as a time to eat Mexican food and drink plenty of margaritas or Mexican beer, the festival actually began as a celebration of the May 5, 1862 victory of a small Mexican army in the state of Puebla against...

Do you ever get home at night, famished, and wonder how quickly you can get food on the table before everyone starts gorging on crackers or worse? If "think fast, cook faster" is your motto, then pasta primavera is your friend.

Of course, I don't mean to suggest that you...

There are lots of good reasons to make chicken soup. If you're in a cold climate there is the weather-food imperative. If you're sick, it can cure whatever ails you, or at least helps you feel better. While it is not a replacement for modern medicine, if you've tasted excellent...

Ricotta cheese is amazing. Although you'll see many recipes that suggest substituting cottage cheese, don't do it if you have a choice. Ricotta is the real deal and you're missing a wonderful treat if you settle for anything less. Even better, make it yourself.

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When I saw leftover applesauce in my refrigerator, my thoughts turned to applesauce muffins. It seemed like a good idea, but within a few minutes I realized that this was not a well-trod path.  I couldn’t find a recipe in any of my cookbooks or online for applesauce...

I love ratatouille, a French vegetable stew typically made with garlic, yellow summer squash and/or zucchini, onions, peppers, eggplant and tomatoes.  The vegetables are cooked in several stages, so it is a bit time consuming to prepare, but the reward is a fragrant and delicious vegetarian dish that you can...

What could be better when you're behind on your holiday chores than making cookies while you sleep? If there isn't enough time left between now and whenever you need a batch of cookies to bring to a friend or family member's house, I can't add hours to your days, or make...

When I had young kids and a full-time job, our dinner rotation varied only slightly from week to week. Being on autopilot was not exciting, but it took a lot less time and thought than planning new meals. It had another advantage; it kept our food budget relatively...

If I'm being honest, my love affair with meatballs used to be an eating-only relationship. Although I was loathe to admit it, I had serious meatball-making issues.  Either they wouldn’t hold together and cooked up into meat sauce or they were rock hard. It took a leap of faith...

If you've never tasted fennel, put it on your bucket list.  My mom taught me to love it and I've passed that favor along to my kids.  Of course, they'll also tell you that fennel can be controversial.  I used to put raw fennel in their school lunch...

Some people remember their friends' birthdays and less important, but still memorable, moments such as the first time they tied their own shoes. I do remember my own birthday, but famously forget those of even my closest family members and friends. (Don't even think of asking me what I ate...

Should I hide the fact that one of my favorite (and most requested) cakes is made with a mix?  Should I be embarrassed that it's so simple to make that my mom -- in her inimitable fashion -- calls it "Stupid Cake"? After all, as she says,...

I love skewering food.  (I have also been known to enjoy impaling ridiculous people with a sharp barb or two, but that’s not nice and I shouldn’t brag about it, as my mother will be sure to tell me if she reads this post.)   Anyway, food-on-a-stick is great fun...

I know you can whip this up in minutes because I did it one recent Sunday afternoon. We had out-of-town visitors and were enjoying a late-morning sightseeing trip when it became clear that lunch was in order. Everyone else was being polite about how hungry they were, but my stomach...

Homemade foods are usually better than packaged versions sold in grocery stores.  And homemade versions are usually cheaper than their store-bought counterparts.  Homemade may take a bit of time and a few supplies, but in my book, the rewards are frequently worth the effort.  And so...

In recent years, it seems as though the variety of Chinese restaurants has expanded exponentially. From "dives" in shopping centers with fabulous cooks and authentic recipes to "white tablecloth" restaurants in fancy parts of town, I have my pick of all types of province-specific eateries.

But when I was growing...

The best salad for a picnic or barbecue on a hot day -- whether it is July 4th or later in the summer -- is one that you can prepare beforehand and that won’t spoil in the heat.  Here’s one that fits the bill -- plus it’s easy to make...

Don’t be put off by the name of this appetizer.  Although the words caviar and pie may seem incongruous, in this case they meld beautifully together.  Think elegance and home-cooking goodness, joined in the best kind of edible yin-and-yang.  The recipe comes from my friend Jamie, who has served it...