Today's vegetable recipe: An easy-easy recipe for pumpkin dip, just cream cheese, pumpkin and spices. As dips go, unusually healthy with high proportion of pumpkin to cream cheese and sugar. Low carb. October 1, my hometown farmers market makes a magical transformation: the row of farmstands becomes a pumpkin patch playground, the perimeter lined with hay bales. Little ones play bumper tractors as the moms and grandparents look on, often recording the squeals of delight. Out front is a pile -- more of an engineering feat, really -- of many-sized pumpkins, minis to mammoths. When my Lady Dog was a puppy and teaching me to heel, the farmers market water spigot was a frequent destination. During that first October, as we approached, she would warily eye the pumpkin pile, the bulbous shapes, the alarming color, sensing I always figured, the frightening faces of the pumpkins' inner jack o' lanterns. Mustering bravery, she would bark -- furiously, wildly -- pulling at the leash to attack the vicious orange creatures. Isn't October grand?  read more »

Today's quick supper or side recipe: Pasta tossed with an Asian-style sauce of garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, peanut butter, soy sauce. Weeknight quick. Vegan. Low carb (with low-carb pasta). Weight Watchers 5 points. Who else is prone to this? Day One. Spy a recipe calling for some obscure (to us) ingredient, fun! Take note. Day Fifteen. Spot the ingredient in a grocery. Hey! that's what such-n-such recipe called for. Bring it home, add it to the pantry, middle shelf, front row, right in plain sight. Days Sixteen to Sixty. Life. Day Sixty-One. Spy the ingredient again, this time at the back of the pantry during the quite-successful-so-far ambition to actually use , not just store, the pantry's contents. Wonder, Now what recipe was that for?  read more »

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics with Ina Garten Thanksgiving Countdown Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast Homemade Gravy Sausage and Herb Stuffing Celery Root and Apple Puree The Food Network is doing a much better job than I am at getting organized for Thanksgiving. There have been slews of Thanksgiving shows with lots of turkey tips. Here are some of the T-Day shows that have been on: Sunny made a turkey breast. The Neelys smoked a turkey and served it with barbecue sauce. Giada is cooking Los Angeles style. Does that mean she cooks in her bikini while sipping cucumber infused water and nibbling on some green recycled appetizer?  read more »

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!' " Gimme a layered cake to make & I'm in 7 th heaven! As you can obviously guess from my blog posts, I love baking cakes. I have Morven @ Food Art & Random Thoughts to thank for posting such a wonderful challenge.. Dorie Greenspan's 'Perfect Party Cake' . After my first 2 challenges I was pretty much on shaky grounds (what with LMPs & French loaves), I must admit I procrastinated even going to check on March's challenge! Crumbs...by the time I checked, had already begun work on our anniversary cake ( Chocolate Orange Cloud G ateau ; nice one) so felt like kicking myself! The next opportunity was grabbed with both hands & I marched into a cake baking frenzy! As M orven , the large-hearted lady said...put your stamp on it. In her words..." I wanted to pick something that had potential for putting your personal stamp on. Although this is essentially a white cake I know there are some lemon haters among us so feel free to use your imagination. If you inner chef tells you that you need to make a chocolate layer cake then by all means do so." I did just that. My stamp had to be COFFEE!! So, I flavoured the basic sponge with coffee essence & a medium roast instant coffee blend. The icing was of whipped cream, again mildly flavoured with coffee. Drooooooooooooooolicious !! The edges I finished off with a dripping of thick chocolate ganache ; the 2 flavours really compliment each. A few coffee beans completed my stamp!! The theme was worming its way into my mind. Here's what I did. I made an Easter basket of sorts with melted chocolate & filled it up with Easter eggs & crystallised flowers from our garden! This is something that gave me a lot of satisfaction & creative pleasure. I also added a few flowers & butterflies that I piped onto parchment & peeled off when they had set. Thank you Morven for giving me such endless joy...this is actually my passion in life, to be able to fill up a 'cake canvas' & extempore!!  read more »

Yay, orange's season is still in the air!  read more »

With rising food prices, consider spending more time in your kitchen honing your home cooking. It will help stretch your food dollars.

Memorial Day weekend is Marc and my wedding anniversary. (...)

Today's recipe: A cupcake adaptation of a Cook's Illustrated recipe for carrot cake. Light crumb, lightly spiced. Excellent cream cheese frosting. People, as if we need one more reason to share our very best recipes, it's this: should we lose a recipe, we can call to ask, "By chance, did I give you my carrot cake recipe?" and then sigh with relief when hearing, "Yeah!  read more »

Do you ever have a craving for something that goes unsatiated for literally months?  read more »