The surroundings of Alemany Farm in San Francisco do not bring forth feelings of pastoral tranquility. On one side is 12 lanes of high speed traffic (Interstate 280 and Alemany Blvd), which showers the area with waves of noise. On another side, a large housing complex—a vast space of buildings, cars and concrete. Layers of […]
A Week of Eating
[updated below] Last week, Sam of Becks and Posh suggested a dare in which participants photograph everything they eat between Monday November 20 to Sunday November 26 (her week is here). And I thought, “why not?” My Week of Eating The picture above is the “everything” collage for the week; below I present daily collages […]
SHF 22 – Preserving Summer with Plum Jam
It’s the middle of summer, and one of the plum trees in my backyard (the youngest one, the one that the squirrels can’t climb) was so heavy with fruit that the limbs are sagging. However, much of that weight seemed to be skin and pit, not flavor or flesh. So what to do with this […]
IMBB #27 – Soy Trilogy
During my Eat Local Challenge in May, I went without soy for an entire month (except for soy sauce), and during that month my I cooked several Japanese-style meals. So IMBB #27, with its “Joy of Soy” theme, comes at a perfect time. My contribution is a trilogy of soy in distinctly different forms: sauce, […]
Weekend Herb Blogging – Thai Basil
For Kalyn’s Weekend Herb Blogging I’m going to take a look at Thai Basil (Ocimum basilicum, bai horapa in Thai, sometimes called anise basil or licorice basil). Thai basil has bright green leaves and purple stems, with a distinctive aroma that immediately makes me think of Thai food (the herb is also commonly used in […]
VRC: Most Requested Recipe – Masala Chai
While catching up on my RSS feeds today, I ran across Alysha’s Virtual Recipe Club at The Savory Notebook, and this month’s event inspired me to finally finish the first part of a post I have been working on for a while. So here it is, my most requested recipe, masala chai. Or as I […]
Apricot-Pecan Squares
After finding the patience to wait for butter to soften, apricot-pecan squares come together easily. The bars are fairly sweet, with a butterscotch background. The apricots and pecans offer textural and flavor contrast. I used unsulfured Blenheim apricots from Trader Joes (Buy California Grown, and all that), and they were a bit too tough for […]
SHF 13 – Yeasted Chocolate Cupcakes
It was pretty late when I started the Sugar High Friday # 13 – The Dark Side project (dark chocolate), so one of my criteria was that I would not need to use my KitchenAid mixer. I found something interesting in Pastries from the La Brea Bakery, by the amazing Nancy Silverton. Called “Crotin de […]
Apricot Souffle Recipe for IMBB #20 – A Souffle that Was Years in the Making
(Updated 10/2/16: fixed broken links) Many years ago I came across a beautiful set of prints of recipes written by Alice Waters in 1968. This was before she opened Chez Panisse (1971) and before she became Alice Waters. The printmaker was the masterful David Lance Goines, creator of posters for Chez Panisse’s annual birthday celebration […]