Butternut Squash Polenta Squares with Sage Walnut Pesto

I served these at my New Year’s Eve party.  They were one of those, rare “please please please let this idea in my head work” hail marys that actually turned out exactly as I had imagined.  A Festivus Miracle indeed. I don’t have a recipe, but I can tell you they were easier than they [...]

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Smoky Braised Mexican Kabocha Squash

I saw this vegetable at the farmers’ market and thought it was a pumpkin.  Turns out, it’s not a pumpkin.  It’s a red kobacha squash, also known as a sunshine squash.  The guy at the stand assured me it was delicious though, so I figured it would sub just fine in this recipe.  It’s also the [...]

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Parsnip Chips

  In the November 2010 Food & Wine, the magazine claims that vegetables are the next big thing.  Now, I love my Food & Wine, but seriously, how desperate were they when they came up with that line?  In any event, in promoting vegetables as the next big thing, they had a recipe for parsnip [...]

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Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps

As I have mentioned a few times, I’m signed up for a CSA through Marin Sun Farms.  Each month, I get 4 pounds of a braising or roasting cut and 5 pounds of ground meat.  It’s taken me a few months to find a variety of things to do with the ground meat.  I can [...]

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Corn, Mushroom, and Poblano Tacos

Back in May, I spent a weekend in Sonoma with some friends.  We rented a giant house in Guernville and relaxed for four days, drinking wine, lounging by the pool, driving around Healdsburg, and playing Taboo.  We took turns cooking and one night, a few of us teamed up for Mexican.  I made my sweet [...]

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Peach and Beet Salad

One of my favorite blogs is Not Eating Out in New York.  The blogger, Cathy Erway, always uses such lovely, fresh produce and comes up with some of the most interesting combinations.  She was the creative force behind one of my favorite dishes last year, sweet potato gnocchi with arugula and hazelnuts.  So, when she [...]

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Roasted Tomato Soup

It has been freezing here in Berkeley for the last week or two and a warm bowl of soup was just what I needed.  I found some lovely San Marzano tomatoes at the farmers’ market and this recipe from Epicurious got rave reviews, so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s a lovely soup.  [...]

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Grilled Corn, Onion, and Tomato Salsa

I made this ages ago for a party but have had a busy few weeks and no time to post.  Better late than never, I guess! I was inspired by an Epicurious recipe for a corn and tomato bruschetta, though I changed it up quite a bit to make it more like a salsa.  It [...]

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My easiest recipe yet

These. Cut up feta, cucumbers, and watermelon into cubes.  Put on skewers.  Eat. Make lots because your guests will gobble them up.

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Peaches Wrapped in Prosciutto with Basil

We had a small group of friends over for drinks recently.  A few old friends, a few new friends, lots of wine and Hangar One raspberry vodka.  And of course, food. Dates wrapped in bacon is sort of a party stand-by of mine, but I wanted something a little more seasonal.  I saw this idea on Epicurious [...]

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