Airplanes and Apple Pecan Muffins

I'm in the airport security line. Passengers are taking off their shoes and jackets, putting their laptops and liquids into bins for the x-ray machine. TSA employees are calling out reminders to remove belts and money from pockets. It was a morning flight, so in the bin along with my purse and toiletries, was my breakfast. "Oh, I'm sorry, those muffins can't go through," says the TSA guy. I take a beat, trying to figure out what he's talking about. Then I smile, "Oh, because they look too good, right?"

February 26, 20122Comments

Baking Fruit

Baked Strawberry Shortcake Doughnuts/Donuts

You've heard of the Donut Man in Glendora, California right? If not, let me introduce you, because what they do there, you need to know about it. The Donut Man is famous for their fresh strawberry donuts -- that's right, they take a glazed donut, slice it in half and sandwich in an enormous portion of fresh strawberries (or peaches, later in the summer) in goo. It's ridiculously deliciously goo-d. Today, I was thinking about those doughnuts and meant to stop by Top Pot on the way home for a couple of glazed and then I promptly forgot. Instead, I came up with these baked strawberry shortcake doughnuts (or in this case: short, cake doughnuts). Doesn't it look like one of those spongy dessert cups they sell right next to the strawberries in the produce department?

February 20, 20121Comment

Fruit Travel

In Season: Get Your Dekopon On with Sumo Citrus

If you ever want to know the backstory on a fruit, David Karp is your man. Last year, he wrote about the arrival of the dekopon, a Japanese variety of mandarin, just entering the market in California and I was all over my local stores in Washington trying to see if they'd carry them. No such luck. So when Karp heralded the arrival of this year's dekopons, marketed as "Sumo Citrus," in last week's LA Times food section and it coincided with a trip down south to visit a friend, I knew we had to find a Whole Foods in her neighborhood.

February 14, 20123Comments

Baking Dessert Recipes

Ovaltine Nutella Cookies

World Nutella Day coincided with the SuperBowl this year and they basically cancelled each other out on the food front for me. I did make guacamole. You can't have the Superbowl without guacamole. Anyway, I've been playing a little catch up, so instead of just going the Nutella route, I did one better and came up with these Ovaltine Nutella cookies, because, well, just because.

February 9, 20121Comment

Main Course Restaurants

The Berliner – Doner Kebab in Seattle

The last few days have been completely amazing in Seattle. Sunny as all get out. You don't know how exciting sunshine is until you haven't had it for awhile. On Saturday in all that beautiful sunshine, we headed downtown with a plan to stuff our faces, first at Sweet Iron, a newish liege waffle place we hadn't yet tried, and then to hit The Berliner, a doner kebab joint in Pioneer Square.

February 7, 20120Comments

Book Reviews Recipes Side Dishes

Bulghur Pilaf from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty

Getting more whole grains in your diet is easier than ever with the wide availability of bulghur, quinoa, barley and spelt, but it's also easy to fall into a rut with the most basic preparations for these grains. My regular bulghur pilaf is pretty simple, relying on onion, crimini mushrooms and chicken stock for its flavor. That simplicity makes it a great side dish when your main, say baked chicken, has a more dominant flavor profile. But why should a side dish have to take a back seat?

February 6, 20120Comments

Main Course Recipes

Korean Inspired Coca-Cola Braised Pork in the Slow Cooker

It's almost February. We're in the thick of winter, when a slow cooker should be getting a real workout. But strangely, I haven't been using mine that much. I like doing soups and chilis on the stove, but the truth is, the slow cooker is almost a magical appliance. You throw in a few things, cover it with the lid, abracadabra and 6-8 hours later, you have something amazingly delicious. It took this Coca-Cola Braised Pork shoulder to remind me just how magical it can be. I'm not even going to feign modesty and say, "Oh, it's pretty good, you might like it." I'll just say it, this pork shoulder is super tasty. It's not just good, it's gooooooooood.

January 30, 201211Comments

Baking Recipes

Banana Maple Date Scones

If you grew up in Southern California, you're probably no stranger to Hadley's. It's an institution out in the desert, and it's synonymous with 1 thing -- dates. When I was a kid, we'd drive out to Palm Springs, passing the dinosaurs off the 10 freeway, and stop off for a date shake. Medjool dates are wonderfully sweet and sticky and they're amazing when whirled up with milk and vanilla ice cream in a blender. But my dates were headed to breakfast, in these banana maple date scones.

January 25, 20122Comments

Recipes

Rainbow Chard & Red Potato Hash…or Home Fries?

I popped out of bed at 5 a.m., an ungodly hour for a Sunday. Knowing we wouldn't have a hankering for breakfast for at least 3 hours, I put some black beans on for a speed soak with a mind to make this Southwestern Hash for breakfast. I'd actually thought ahead for once and boiled the potatoes the day before. So while the beans were doing their thing, I went and did my yoga and came back, only to discover I didn't have any bell peppers in the house - not red, not green, not anything. It was a snowy/icy/slushy/no-driving-if-you-can-avoid-it week in Seattle, so the cupboard was a little more bare than usual. Time for Plan B.

January 22, 20121Comment

Appetizers Baking Recipes

Baked Not Fried: Spring Rolls

Upfront, spring rolls should be fried. Really, they should. But sometimes, you don't want to deal with the oil, or you want to eat about 4-5 of them without [as much] guilt. Just remember, when you cut corners, you give something up. These are not going to be a miracle replacement for fried spring rolls. You good with that? You sure? Ok, let's talk baked spring rolls.

January 17, 20120Comments

Michelle