I baked a batch of gingerbread cupcakes to go with my gingerbread caramels. (Sensing a gingerbread theme this month?? I figured Santa might like choices! 😉 ) I based the recipe on Martha Stewart’s Gingerbread Snacking Cake. It is such a flavorful recipe with the addition of fresh ginger, but I wanted individual cupcakes instead […]
I typically don’t make treats quite as rich as these, but a small bite is all you need to feel like you’ve had a decadent treat. Share them with friends and family since they travel well, or leave them by the tree for Santa. He might like them even better than cookies. 😉 I have […]
Happy Thanksgiving! This stuffing recipe has become a Thanksgiving standard in my family. 🙂 It adds a little spice and a little Southwestern touch to the dinner! I wrote about this recipe in Noon Café’s first year, and I thought I would repost it this year since it still holds up as a delicious addition […]
Turkey doesn’t need to get all of the attention this month. 😉 I thought I would write about one of my favorite chicken dishes, as well. It is so flavorful and moist that it literally falls apart with a fork. This recipe works for a special occasion, but it is easy enough for a weeknight. […]
We celebrated a special birthday at our house this week – Happy birthday to my hubby! We enjoyed Beef Wellington with good friends to mark the special occasion. 🙂 I made the dish last year for his birthday, and it was such a favorite, that I made it again this year. It may become a […]
Happy Halloween! To celebrate, I made a festive autumn dinner tonight of pork tenderloin and squash with a pumpkin seed vinaigrette. I based the recipe on one I found from Bon Appétit. I substituted pork tenderloin for pork chops to make the dish a little leaner. (More room for chocolate Halloween candy later, I figure! […]
At this time of the year, I love to cook with pumpkins. Sweet or savory, I love everything pumpkin. 🙂 (Almost as much as this little guy! Ha!) And right up there with pumpkin, as one of my favorite all time ingredients, is coconut. So this month I tried a new twist on pumpkin pie […]
Halloween is right around the corner! For the past few years, I have made devil’s food cupcakes to celebrate the season. This year I tried them with whole-wheat pastry flour, and it worked out beautifully! The hearty chocolate flavor stands up to the whole grain, and they are still moist and delicious. I think this […]
I love to read a good cozy mystery around Halloween. 🙂 Right now, I am enjoying one that takes place in October entitled The Jasmine Moon Murder by Laura Childs. It is another in a series I started this summer, set in a South Carolina tea shop. In the back of the book are recipes […]
I really enjoyed a memoir that I read last month entitled Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage. A local restaurant owner and food blogger named Molly Wizenberg wrote the book. She and her husband own the pizza place, Delancey, the bar next door, Essex, and she also writes the blog, Orangette. The […]
Rob and I had our big wedding anniversary dinner celebration on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, which is the day of the week we got married. Our actual anniversary date fell in the middle of the week this year, but we couldn’t resist having a small, pared down celebration on the real date as well. […]
The grand finale of our wedding anniversary dinner celebration was a Japanese-style coconut cheesecake. It was light and fluffy, almost soufflé-like, compared to a typical American cheesecake. The coconut flavor was very subtle, but I served it with passion fruit (called lilikoi in Hawaii) for an added tropical taste. This recipe was from a website […]
The main course of our anniversary dinner was another recipe inspired by Roy’s Fish and Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim. We had a macadamia nut and panko crusted ono fish, otherwise known as wahoo. (Wahoo! Sorry, couldn’t resist. 😉 ) It’s a Hawaiian fish with a dense but flaky texture, and a mild flavor. […]
We celebrated our wedding anniversary this year with a special Hawaiian-style dinner. We love to explore foods from all around the world. For Valentine’s Day (also our engagement anniversary), we made a sushi dinner, so we decided to go with a twist on that theme for our wedding anniversary by making a few Japanese-influenced dishes […]
I like to celebrate the little anniversaries that mark special events in our lives. On this date 16 years ago, Rob and I moved into our current house. It also marks my 19th anniversary of becoming a Seattleite! To celebrate, we had a steamed Dungeness crab dinner, which is our favorite Northwest dish. Whenever we […]
It’s Seafair weekend in Seattle! Our neighborhood is right in the middle of the party, which is very fun. 🙂 I watched the air show featuring the Blue Angels from our little swimming beach on Lake Washington. It was pretty awesome to be in the water, on a sparkling summer day, with Mount Rainier out […]
July not only has a big celebration for Canada on the 1st and the USA on the 4th, but France’s Bastille Day falls on the 14th. For a belated celebration, I made French madeleines. They are so elegant, but also very easy to make! I tried a little experiment with this dish, since it is […]
I got hooked on a mystery that was set in South Carolina, and became fascinated with that part of the country. This summer, I continue to read more stories from that region. It’s an interesting and beautiful place that I have not had the pleasure of visiting in person (yet, it’s on my list now!) Reading […]
This is a little off the beaten path, but I discovered this super cute little oven printable, and I wanted to share it! I think it would make a sweet little gift box for candies or a cupcake. Or you can just fold it up to put on your desk, as inspiration while you ponder […]
Click photos to expand. 🙂 Bison hot dogs on homemade hot dog buns… Red, white and blue potato salad… Sparkling wine with blueberries and raspberries floating in the bubbles… A red and blue berry parfait (with an equal combination of non-fat Greek vanilla yogurt and whipped cream for a layer of white)… Fun patriotic decorations… […]