Paper Palate

I am typically not one to buy celebrity cookbooks. Celebrity has a way of ruining quality, as the recognition of excellence eventually gives way to the need to sustain fame by appealing to the lowest common denominator. I usually buy books based on the quality of the recipes and not on the personality […]

The volume of publications out there that document Italian food, in all of its variety, is staggering. People like their Italian dishes and they love to read about them!
But among the magazines that focus on Italian cuisine, as far as I’m concerned, one stands out above all the rest: The Magazine of La Cucina […]

The May/June 2006 issue of Midwest Living includes an article entitled, “Diva of Desserts,” featuring several recipes from acclaimed pastry chef, Gale Gand. Gand is the co-owner and executive pastry chef for TRU in downtown Chicago. The first recipe featured in this article is one for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Crisps.
I […]

Not being familiar with slow cooking, I thought it would be more helpful if I tested at least three recipes from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook before I rated it. I decided to make things from different categories so I could get a feel for the range of the book. I chose […]

Growing up, the brown bag sac lunch was my nemesis. Every school night my mother would draw smiley faces on the “O” of our last name, overflow the bags with food, stick them in the fridge for the night, and lay them out the next morning to grab on the way out the door. […]

Meat-filled breads are always a surprising pleasure. While they can be a happy filler to a meal at breakfast or dinner, they make a not-so-guilty snack when one is craving carbs; forming more of a mini-sandwich than mere bread.
My grandmother makes a succulent Latvian variety known as Piedogs. Traditionally filled with chopped ham […]

Every once in awhile, whether your personal blog has one reader or one thousand, it is nice to grab a little attention from the local media. Seattle area food bloggers woke up yesterday to a whole lotta newspaper love from the Seattle Times. Special correspondent Providence Cicero featured local food sites including Gluten-Free Girl, Orangette, […]

Mexican Everyday is an excellent cookbook with approachable recipes that can be mostly made with ingredients on hand. Yet, the recipes are not your typical standard fare Mexican. Recipes run the gamut from Salads and Dressings, Main Dish Salads and Soups to Quick Meals from the Grill and a short chapter on desserts. […]

Everything is bigger these days … a womens’ clothing size of 14 is cut larger now than it was in the days of Marilyn Monroe. A small size soda from a fast food restaurant now is equivalent to a large soda way back when. In 1972, Americans spent 3 billion dollars a year […]

Being a lifelong workaholic, I’ve had many different jobs doing many different things, but at the end of last year, I found myself newly ‘retired.’ (I became a stay-at-home-wife). This new freedom allowed me to discover domestic bliss and initially, I started a personal blog intended to chronicle and promote aprons that I had planned […]