Let's talk a little bit about comfort. Lately I've been baking a lot for comfort. If I'm feeling listless, or uncertain, it gives me a wonderfully concrete task to focus on. You have to walk to the market with purpose, and make actual choices instead of meandering with your hands in your pockets, eating too many cheese samples and asking questions like "how late are you open?", to indicate that you could possibly buy something at some distant point in the day, instead of just eating all the aforementioned samples.
Read moreSWEET CINNAMON-SUGAR CREPES
I don't like to exit my bed any earlier than I deem absolutely necessary. The other morning though, I thought about cooking a lavish breakfast -- no milky oatmeal, no buttered toast -- but a real, honest-to-goodness meal of pillowy waffles, or plump blueberry-strewn pancakes. And let me just say, that got me out of bed right quick.
Read moreTOMATO & BASIL ONE-POT FARRO
"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato" [lewis grizzard]
Thank you, Lewis Grizzard, for those words of wisdom. I'd add that it's also difficult to think of something more pleasant to cook on a weeknight than this one-pot farro. Warm, comforting, and easy to adapt to any flavor combination you like, this recipe is a brilliant trick for taking a handful of ingredients and melding them all into something far more complex-tasting than the sum of its parts. And you only need to wash one dish!
Read moreFARMER'S MARKET SALAD!
We're here, promise! It's just that summer has begun and (on good days!) most of my meals look a lot like this:
wonderful farmers' market mixed greens
pickled beets (a favorite!)
purple rice
hard-boiled egg
dill
pea shoots (new discovery I'm diggin')
celery
cucumber
pepper, sesame oil, and balsamic
PARMESAN-PINE NUT BISCUITS
"Nine times out of ten, you probably aren't having a full-on nervous breakdown -- you just need a cup of tea and a biscuit." [Caitlin Moran]
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