My obsession

I have noticed, as I have perused magazine articles, cookbooks and blogs, that those who find food more than just fuel tend to move from one recipe induced obsession to another. This is the pattern that most often occurs in my experience:
Step 1. I read about a new recipe (or see it when I am lucky enough to have time to watch Food Network). I think, 'I should try that. It's different, I have most of the ingredients or could come by them easily enough and it sounds so good.'
Step 2. I pull the recipe out of a magazine and place it in my 'to make' pile. (PS I would not recommend doing this as I have found that they get lost and/or misplaced. It is easier to just leave it in the magazine) After reading and rereading the recipe several times over so I know what I need for it, how much time it will take, etc. it somehow makes its way to my menu sometime in the next month. That, or, if I am especially excited about this particular recipe, I just randomly decide one night to make it. So I go out and buy any ingredients I need and make a night of it.
Step 3. We decide that it was decadent. So much better than a restaurant. So much cheaper than a restaurant, and just absolutely delicious.
Step 4. Repeat with minor alterations.
Step 5. See step four.
Step 6. See step five.
You get the idea.
Take for instance, gnocchi with peas and chanterelles. In case you are wondering, chanterelles are mushrooms (you know who you are out there). I look at the recipe and decide to leave them out, because my husband is not a big fan of mushrooms. Now, he would eat them if I made this dish, and he probably would really like it, but I don't keep mushrooms around all that much because they are not that popular with the family (oftentimes our dinner party includes my mom, dad, and teenage sister). So, I would probably substitute something safe, like proscuitto, ham or bacon, that has been fried up real crispy and tossed in with the peas and cream sauce.
The possibilities are endless. It is great with tuna in place of the meat. No truffle oil? I use plain extra virgin olive oil. I had extra gnocchi, so I threw them in the freezer before I cooked them and just threw them into the boiling water frozen. 
The next time I went to make gnocchi, a sad thing happened. I couldn't find the recipe I had pulled out of the magazine. So, I looked up the recipe online, and lo, and behold, discovered a recipe for gnocchi with butternut squash, mushrooms and sage in brown butter. Again, we omitted the mushrooms, but I had a butternut squash sitting on my counter, waiting to be roasted and pureed for muffins and soups. I cut up the leftover and reserved it to use in this recipe.

The recipe also called for purchased herb gnocchi, but part of the joy of eating it is making it from scratch. So I continued searching until I found the recipe I had used before. I found it, and combined the two. I heated olive oil and some butter in a saucepan and cooked the sage in it. I then removed the sage with a spatula and dumped the roasted squash in. I had cut it into about 3/4 in. pieces, and I sprinkled the entire thing with salt and pepper. I waited until a nice crust had formed and then turned them in the pan. The aroma was delightful. The sweet, mellow flavor of the roasted squash combined with the browned butter and some freshly grated Pecorino Romano is absolutely seductive. Sprinkle the crispy sage leaves on top and you have a comfort meal to cozy up with on a cold winter night.

The funny thing is, gnocchi won't be my favorite for long. As a matter of fact, I feel it being slowly replaced by something else...

In the Beginning...

It all started when I was a little girl. While there are many things that get lost in the albums of memory, there are some things that seem to have taken root in my mind. I can remember many, many meals we had when I was growing up. My bedroom may not be a distinct memory, but I can recall the kitchen in almost every house we lived in.



Our birthdays were celebrated by and with food -we were allowed to choose what we wanted for each meal on our special day. My grandma loved to cook, I found a copy of Gastronomique on her kitchen shelf. I remember canning peaches with her, making jams and jellies, and baking cookies at her house on Christmas with my cousins.


My grandpa was an avid gardener, and his kale, green and red bell peppers, tomatoes, corn and even artichokes were a constant source of interest for me. He would meander around his garden, moving a hose, patiently training a tomato vine, pulling off some dead leaves or branches. He raised birds and would feed them greens from his garden because it would make their coats brighter. His orange and lemon trees made for wonderful snacks when the southern California heat made you crave sweet fruit juice. The flavor of store bought lemons cannot compare with the mild flavor of the large, soft-rind citrus my grandpa would grow.



As I made my way through adolescence, cooking and baking were always a great part of us. My mom would make homemade candies that were the rave wherever people were lucky enough to be where they were: peanut butter cups, toffee, fudge and chocolate covered caramel cookies. Her coffee cake was another staple, that last minute quick cake you could throw in the oven when company was unexpectedly coming over or if you just wanted something delicious to nibble on. You only needed an egg and a few other pantry items and voila! there it was, with its delicious, crunchy, buttery topping and tender cake it was the perfect dessert or a delightful way to start the day.

And so I was destined to be a 'foodie'. I began cooking for my family when I was about 12 years old, and my love for food has grown from there.

This blog will be all about food and only food. If I try a new kitchen product, I will post it here with a detailed review. Any new recipes I try, cookbooks I read, or methods I find, I will write about them and include pictures and links. If you have suggestions or question, please e-mail me! I have tried lots of recipes and if I don't know the answer, I will try to find someone who does!

So, here it goes...