Picture found here. That salad looks mighty good…it’s pear, walnut, greens, tomatoes, red bell peppers, and feta cheese. Always one to give credit where credit is due, here’s a recipe for a delicious vinaigrette that I especially like with an herby salad.  Really easy, really good.  Many years ago, in the late 90s, I worked with Cherry and Dorothy (who used to be my blog friends, but Dorothy quit hers, and Cherry blogs even less often that I do, as she works many hours and has 2 little ones….1 of whom is almost 1!  I also worked with Don, who is NOT my blog friend, but he’s a good guy,…

OK, first things first. My celebrity crush is Curtis Stone. We went to San Francisco to have him sign a copy of his cookbook back in ’07, and he was utterly charming. And now he’s engaged to, and has an adorable baby with, Lindsey Price, who played Janet on Beverly Hills 90210 back in the day. It’s like two parts of my world coming together in one beautiful place, and I’ll confess…when I picture Curtis and Lindsey barbequing in the back yard, they’re in the Walsh house. So what? Anyway, I’m a fan of Curtis on Facebook, and sometimes he puts delicious pictures up, of recipes from his new cookbook.…

Yesterday found Ted and me at the grocery store, trying to figure out what to have for dinner. I kind of wanted salmon, so we got that. We had leftover mashed potatoes at home, and ingredients for salad, so all we had to worry about was the main course. Mango salsa is very easy to put on salmon, but they were out. So we just bought the salmon and came home, and looked around in the fridge to see what we had. Oh, look, pesto! Yay! So I looked online and found this recipe, which has lovely pictures and a blog post all her own, and she gives original credit…

A few weeks ago I was driving around delivering meals to the old people, and sort of listening to a program on our local NPR station. It was a pretty interesting program, but I was getting in and out of the car every couple of minutes, so I missed a lot of it. Anyway, the host was interviewing a panel of guests, and the topic was eating for a longer life. If you’re so inclined, you can listen here. There was talk about when to eat, the recommendation being to allow at least 12 hours, 16 if you can manage it, between your last meal of the day and your…

Totally cheating here, because this is a different cake. But I like the fact that it’s in a bundt cake shape, and I think that would be a pretty presentation for this cake as well.  Ted made it in a square pan, as requested by the recipe.  Maybe the cake is too dense and moist for a bundt cake pan, I don’t know.  I found the photo here. I mentioned the lovely Apple Cake that Ted made for Valentine’s Day, and the world sat up and took notice.   Since you’ve behaved, I’m rewarding you by posting the recipe here.  Ted found it here.  The author of the blog says she…

This is a sad, pathetic picture of a delicious, wonderful dinner. We scarfed it down too quickly for me to take a picture of the whole plate of chicken and veggies, so you get the leftovers in a cold bowl. Sorry. One of my gifts for Christmas was the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I was thrilled, because I’ve tried a few recipes from Deb’s blog, and I’ve enjoyed them quite a bit. Last night I decided to try my first recipe from the cookbook, and then I decided to pair it with another recipe from the cookbook. Why not, right? Because I’m nice that way, I suggest you try them. Then,…

I may have mentioned that Ted is now working for a small local company, writing, directing, and editing a show called, “Fresh From the Farmers’ Market”. The show spotlights the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market, and plays on a local station on Sundays at 4:30. They did a Hanukkah show, and one of the things they talk about is applesauce. From listening to the show over and over again (Ted edits the show at his desk, which is right next to my work desk, all in our bedroom. Bad feng shui, I know, having your office in your bedroom. Worse feng shui would be being homeless because I don’t…

I’m not sure where I came across this recipe…actually, it wasn’t this exact recipe, it was another, but then I found this one, and I liked it even more, because it doesn’t have sage. I’m not a huge fan of sage. I like it in small doses (like in a browned butter sauce for butternut squash ravioli, which actually might taste like this, so sage would probably be good), but not a ton. I’ve overdone the sage in the past, and regretted it. But when I saw it, it sounded so nice and autumnal, plus pumpkin has a lot of vitamins and adds a creamy texture, so you need less…

Last week, I saw an episode of America’s Test Kitchen (registration required, but it’s free) where they took on an all time favorite of mine, baked potatoes. They showed a couple of different ways that people salt bake potatoes, one with egg whites and salt, one where they entirely cover the potato in salt, and then the winning recipe, where you simply put the potato on a bed of salt, and then bake it, covered in foil. They purpose of the salt is that it makes the potato light and fluffy inside, with lots of potato flavor. I was intrigued and knew I had to try it. Happily, Ted’s brother…

This last week I was trying to think of a nice side dish to serve with a lovely grilled lemon chicken recipe, and for some reason, I thought, ‘rice salad’. Rice salad isn’t an idea that I come up with too often. Generally we have straight rice, or potatoes, that sort of thing. A few weeks ago I took some leftover salmon and made a lunch out of it, tossing it with a few other ingredients, and I decided to throw some leftover rice in there, and it was delicious…so I thought I’d give it a try. Did a quick internet search, and found a Lentil and Rice Salad from…