My husband and I still remember that first meal we had at Rover's. It was August, 1988. We were both having grumpy weeks, didn't like our jobs, whatever the grievance. So we played hooky that lovely sunny day and walked onto the Bainbridge ferry to escape a bit, wander Winslow, [...]
It's kind of funny to me that this month I've been talking up game-day snacks as much as I have. A few years ago my cookbook Gourmet Game Night was released and I spent a lot of time explaining that the "game" I had in mind was Scrabble or dominoes, [...]
Spanish potato chips cooked in extra virgin olive oil, crackers made with pilsner and porter beers, crunchy seaweed snacks coated with rice flour, and countless variations on flavored popcorn--it was quite the snacker's paradise among the vast array of products at this year's Fancy Food Show, which wrapped up this [...]
It was a simple enough question, but it caught me off guard. "Can you recommend a cookbook for the basics, for someone starting out in the kitchen?" Paraphrased, that's what was posed to me by someone a few weeks ago at one of my book signings. Um. Well. Gee. I [...]
Having just completed a few months of heavy-duty (and fun) promotion of my latest book, it's probably no surprise I've been deeply engrossed in salty snacks lately. When demonstrating or sampling a recipe from the book , the key is to represent the books recipes exactly as written to give [...]
You know, me and my kitchen -- we're pretty close. I've been with this one for over a dozen years and we've been through a lot together. Lots of laughs and fun times, some long cooking marathons, writing a bunch of cookbooks (10 maybe?), a few challenges working to get recipes [...]
It happened for the umpteenth time a couple of days ago. Part of the daily routine, keeping up on news of the day, checking out a restaurant that just opened in my neighborhood, I'm scanning the menu online....then, BAM! One of my all-time biggest menu peeves: "Wild Mushroom Quesadilla: crimini mushroom, roasted poblano, chevre....." Blood pressure [...]
I love living in Seattle for just a huge range of reasons...... But one that's standing out for me right now is its simple geography. Not that it's on the Puget Sound, or framed by two mountain ranges or in the Cascadia zone that creates a distinctly lush environment for [...]
Based on Twitter feeds and Facebook chats, it sounds like many of us around the country were feeling a sort of solidarity with all those on the eastern seaboard being ravaged by frenetic megastorm Sandy. Honestly, the blustery weather we're having in Seattle would have been enough on its own. [...]
"Should I pick up some candy on the way home?" my husband asked this morning. "No." "So...we'll just turn off the lights again?" Yep. Can't believe I'm admitting it. But really, I just don't care much at all for this holiday. Never was into the whole idea of costumes & [...]