cdkitchen > feeddaily blog
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My husband and I entertain frequently in our home. Our invitations are generally met with a quick "yes" unless I tell our guests that we are including okra on the menu. Usually this information is followed by a long period of dead silence on the other end of the phone and then a revelation that they are not available that evening. "Oh, did you say this coming Sunday? Darn it, I just remembered that I have to wash the car that night... trim the dog's nails... rearrange the flowerpots on the patio..." And I completely understand. For years, I too was an okra...
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Jelly rolls. While I had never made 'em before, I had looked in awe at many a party and picnic where these delightful dessert rolls appeared: pumpkin, apple spice, even raspberry crème. Yet they all looked to be tons more work than my standard cake-and-cookie fare. Then it just so happened that my daughter and I were in the kitchen looking for something new to try on an evening when we both felt like cooking something delicious - and yes, even trying our hands at something new. So I pulled out one of our kids' cookbooks and asked her if there was anything she'd like to
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Last summer, in Switzerland, I nearly drove my boyfriend off the road. Something had caught my eye as we wended up the hairpin turns leading to the slopes of Verbier in the Swiss Alps. I couldn't help it, I squealed in delight craning my neck to get a better look. Luckily, John managed to pull the car over to the shoulder without sending us over the edge. What had I seen that sent me into a fit of excitement? Fresh baskets of chanterelles. Okay, I know a chanterelle is a mushroom. Aside from the revered truffle, mushrooms aren't exactly the sexiest food...
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It is a rare and happy occasion to discover a restaurant serving food that evokes a specific fond memory. The meatballs that taste just like your Italian grandmother's. The pie that your mother made in the summer. The taco that is the mirror image of one had on a Mexico vacation. A single bite, like Proust's madeleine, can take you back to places long forgotten. So it was for me nearly two years ago, the first time I crossed the threshold and descended the stairs to Zabb Elee in Manhattan's East Village. This was not a random discovery. Instead I had tripped across...
by
Ah, September. Vacations are over, summer homes are locked up, children are back in school. For me, September means the end of wild summer travels, a new home in New York City, and a return to a semblance of normalcy. No more scouring the shelves of a sparsely stocked African grocery store for vegetables, now I will have bags full of produce to lug home from the farmer's market once a week. No more eating in for necessity to save money as we did in Switzerland, now we will cook at home because we want to.
by
Just the other day we were surveying the ingredients we needed for making sushi, and the dark-green, shiny sheets of nori caught my daughter's attention. "Mommy, this would be fun to cut! I could make a picture collage if it's OK to cut this." How could anyone say no to such an inspired quest for creativity? That crinkly texture did indeed look enticing to cut. In fact, it got us both thinking of the ingredients stored in the pantry in a whole new light, and we searched out some other interesting collage candidates. Armed with heavy...
by
The great thing about having a hobby (or in my case a passion) such as cooking is that your friends know what to give you for all those important gift-giving occasions, from birthdays, to Christmas, to the small vacation souvenir. If you're lucky, well traveled friends and family will make sure that your cupboard is stocked with enough tools and materials to keep creative juices cooking at least until the next round of gifting occasions appears on the calendar.
by
As I was picking beans a few weeks ago, I looked up and saw my neighbors walking with three hogs down the center of our gravel road. Their little jiggly butts (point of clarification--the hogs' butts, not my neighbors') slowly swaggered down the street. I was more than curious. Why would anyone take a hog for a walk? According to my neighbor Elizabeth who was getting the hogs ready for competition at our county 4-H fair, walking the hogs helps prepare them for showing and firms them up a bit. Judging from the junk in those piggies' trunks, it looked like they needed to...
by
Over the last couple of months, my eating habits have changed dramatically. It is as if my body has been taken over by a force not entirely within my control. And this is for a very good reason - I am happy to share the news that I am now in my fifth month of pregnancy! By year's end (well hopefully by this year unless he decides to take a little longer) we will have our first child, a baby boy. And we'll have a considerably different lifestyle. So you might ask, how has my diet changed? Well I have gone from being particular in one way that I eat to being particular in...
by
There are a few times in life when you stumble across a recipe that makes a lasting impression on you. It's when you can then take that recipe and share it with someone else that the circle is complete. I never understood chefs who hold onto their recipe box with a death grip. If all it took to be a brilliant chef was to follow a recipe word for word and line by line, the world would be full of brilliant, well-fed people. No one would be forced to eat frozen prepared meals or canned pasta to survive. It takes a sense of adventure and a certain love of cooking to make a recipe really...
by
Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are the first to catch my eye when I'm shopping for produce. Their dazzling colors quickly grab my attention. Not so for the mushrooms. Their beige and brown colors are less attractive, making them easy to ignore. But these little fungi deserve more than a passing glance. Despite their humble appearance, mushrooms have a lot to offer the healthy eater. The most commonly consumed mushroom in the US is the white button mushroom. With approximately 100 calories per pound (yes, you read that right, per pound!), they're filling and delicious.
by
So how's the brown baggin' going? Have you come up with a variety of sandwiches or combinations that work for your kids? You know, when we make sandwiches at our house, the favorite is ham and cheese. Everyone's happy when the bags of deli meat and cheese are fresh and ready. But that's not always the case. There are times when we run out, when we forget to buy it - and occasionally we need a change from the same old, same old. And that's when sandwich salads come in really handy. Made from leftovers, sandwich salads are an ideal way to prep for...
by
September is the time of year when two worlds collide; we say goodbye to the waning days of summer and welcome the brisk months of autumn. This transition is not always smooth, but it never ceases to excite. Cool, dewy mornings can evolve into long warm evenings. Clear skies can quickly turn ominous with the crash of thunderstorms overhead. Like a warm front meeting a cold front and the drama that ensues, so our world of food benefits from the clashing of opposites.
by
Although official figures are hard to come by, my dating experience has taught me that expectations for nubile women are changing dramatically with each new generation. Over the past couple of years I have had a number of young women stay overnight in my guest room ('cause I don't shack-up on the first or even second date). On the morning after I have heard, more than once, variations of this sentence: "I did not make the bed. Is that OK? I really don't know how to make them." I admit I no longer make-up my own bed every day. However, growing up my mother taught me to...
by
It's that time of year when poor students--undergraduate and graduate alike--are clamoring to get together to reacquaint themselves with each other. It's also that time of year when married couples invite everyone they know to assemble in their backyard to test out the newest bug-zapping technologies. If you're the single guy, getting an invitation to one of these gatherings can really throw you for a loop.
by
I have a confession to make. As a former seafood snob, I never gave tilapia the chance it deserved. When this type of fish became popular in the late 1990's, I tasted it once and relegated it to the category of cat food. The tilapia I had at that time had a mushy texture and muddy taste, similar to catfish, which just didn't agree with me. So while tilapia became ubiquitous on some restaurant menus, cooking shows, and at the seafood counter, I crossed it off my list. And most "serious" chefs seemed to feel the same way. Although it is commonly found on more mid priced menus...
From The Editors At CDKitchen: Feed Daily
by
My husband and I entertain frequently in our home. Our invitations are generally met with a quick "yes" unless I tell our guests that we are including okra on the menu. Usually this information is followed by a long period of dead silence on the other end of the phone and then a revelation that they are not available that evening. "Oh, did you say this coming Sunday? Darn it, I just remembered that I have to wash the car that night... trim the dog's nails... rearrange the flowerpots on the patio..." And I completely understand. For years, I too was an okra...
by
Jelly rolls. While I had never made 'em before, I had looked in awe at many a party and picnic where these delightful dessert rolls appeared: pumpkin, apple spice, even raspberry crème. Yet they all looked to be tons more work than my standard cake-and-cookie fare. Then it just so happened that my daughter and I were in the kitchen looking for something new to try on an evening when we both felt like cooking something delicious - and yes, even trying our hands at something new. So I pulled out one of our kids' cookbooks and asked her if there was anything she'd like to
by
Last summer, in Switzerland, I nearly drove my boyfriend off the road. Something had caught my eye as we wended up the hairpin turns leading to the slopes of Verbier in the Swiss Alps. I couldn't help it, I squealed in delight craning my neck to get a better look. Luckily, John managed to pull the car over to the shoulder without sending us over the edge. What had I seen that sent me into a fit of excitement? Fresh baskets of chanterelles. Okay, I know a chanterelle is a mushroom. Aside from the revered truffle, mushrooms aren't exactly the sexiest food...
by
It is a rare and happy occasion to discover a restaurant serving food that evokes a specific fond memory. The meatballs that taste just like your Italian grandmother's. The pie that your mother made in the summer. The taco that is the mirror image of one had on a Mexico vacation. A single bite, like Proust's madeleine, can take you back to places long forgotten. So it was for me nearly two years ago, the first time I crossed the threshold and descended the stairs to Zabb Elee in Manhattan's East Village. This was not a random discovery. Instead I had tripped across...
by
Ah, September. Vacations are over, summer homes are locked up, children are back in school. For me, September means the end of wild summer travels, a new home in New York City, and a return to a semblance of normalcy. No more scouring the shelves of a sparsely stocked African grocery store for vegetables, now I will have bags full of produce to lug home from the farmer's market once a week. No more eating in for necessity to save money as we did in Switzerland, now we will cook at home because we want to.
by
Just the other day we were surveying the ingredients we needed for making sushi, and the dark-green, shiny sheets of nori caught my daughter's attention. "Mommy, this would be fun to cut! I could make a picture collage if it's OK to cut this." How could anyone say no to such an inspired quest for creativity? That crinkly texture did indeed look enticing to cut. In fact, it got us both thinking of the ingredients stored in the pantry in a whole new light, and we searched out some other interesting collage candidates. Armed with heavy...
by
The great thing about having a hobby (or in my case a passion) such as cooking is that your friends know what to give you for all those important gift-giving occasions, from birthdays, to Christmas, to the small vacation souvenir. If you're lucky, well traveled friends and family will make sure that your cupboard is stocked with enough tools and materials to keep creative juices cooking at least until the next round of gifting occasions appears on the calendar.
by
As I was picking beans a few weeks ago, I looked up and saw my neighbors walking with three hogs down the center of our gravel road. Their little jiggly butts (point of clarification--the hogs' butts, not my neighbors') slowly swaggered down the street. I was more than curious. Why would anyone take a hog for a walk? According to my neighbor Elizabeth who was getting the hogs ready for competition at our county 4-H fair, walking the hogs helps prepare them for showing and firms them up a bit. Judging from the junk in those piggies' trunks, it looked like they needed to...
by
Over the last couple of months, my eating habits have changed dramatically. It is as if my body has been taken over by a force not entirely within my control. And this is for a very good reason - I am happy to share the news that I am now in my fifth month of pregnancy! By year's end (well hopefully by this year unless he decides to take a little longer) we will have our first child, a baby boy. And we'll have a considerably different lifestyle. So you might ask, how has my diet changed? Well I have gone from being particular in one way that I eat to being particular in...
by
There are a few times in life when you stumble across a recipe that makes a lasting impression on you. It's when you can then take that recipe and share it with someone else that the circle is complete. I never understood chefs who hold onto their recipe box with a death grip. If all it took to be a brilliant chef was to follow a recipe word for word and line by line, the world would be full of brilliant, well-fed people. No one would be forced to eat frozen prepared meals or canned pasta to survive. It takes a sense of adventure and a certain love of cooking to make a recipe really...
by
Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are the first to catch my eye when I'm shopping for produce. Their dazzling colors quickly grab my attention. Not so for the mushrooms. Their beige and brown colors are less attractive, making them easy to ignore. But these little fungi deserve more than a passing glance. Despite their humble appearance, mushrooms have a lot to offer the healthy eater. The most commonly consumed mushroom in the US is the white button mushroom. With approximately 100 calories per pound (yes, you read that right, per pound!), they're filling and delicious.
by
So how's the brown baggin' going? Have you come up with a variety of sandwiches or combinations that work for your kids? You know, when we make sandwiches at our house, the favorite is ham and cheese. Everyone's happy when the bags of deli meat and cheese are fresh and ready. But that's not always the case. There are times when we run out, when we forget to buy it - and occasionally we need a change from the same old, same old. And that's when sandwich salads come in really handy. Made from leftovers, sandwich salads are an ideal way to prep for...
by
September is the time of year when two worlds collide; we say goodbye to the waning days of summer and welcome the brisk months of autumn. This transition is not always smooth, but it never ceases to excite. Cool, dewy mornings can evolve into long warm evenings. Clear skies can quickly turn ominous with the crash of thunderstorms overhead. Like a warm front meeting a cold front and the drama that ensues, so our world of food benefits from the clashing of opposites.
by
Although official figures are hard to come by, my dating experience has taught me that expectations for nubile women are changing dramatically with each new generation. Over the past couple of years I have had a number of young women stay overnight in my guest room ('cause I don't shack-up on the first or even second date). On the morning after I have heard, more than once, variations of this sentence: "I did not make the bed. Is that OK? I really don't know how to make them." I admit I no longer make-up my own bed every day. However, growing up my mother taught me to...
by
It's that time of year when poor students--undergraduate and graduate alike--are clamoring to get together to reacquaint themselves with each other. It's also that time of year when married couples invite everyone they know to assemble in their backyard to test out the newest bug-zapping technologies. If you're the single guy, getting an invitation to one of these gatherings can really throw you for a loop.
by
I have a confession to make. As a former seafood snob, I never gave tilapia the chance it deserved. When this type of fish became popular in the late 1990's, I tasted it once and relegated it to the category of cat food. The tilapia I had at that time had a mushy texture and muddy taste, similar to catfish, which just didn't agree with me. So while tilapia became ubiquitous on some restaurant menus, cooking shows, and at the seafood counter, I crossed it off my list. And most "serious" chefs seemed to feel the same way. Although it is commonly found on more mid priced menus...