Paper Palate

Baked Alaska is one of those legendary desserts that a lot of people want to try, but seem to be intimidated by. I was one of those people until I noticed this recipe in a local newspaper insert called Relish Magazine. This version of Baked Alaska seemed like a winner… with store bought pound cake, […]

Whenever I go on a trip, I like to pick up a book or two to read.  Often I end up with a handful of magazines to read and skip over the books.  Recently, I was getting ready for a trip and while browsing at a local bookstore Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping […]

I happen to be what I like to call organized in a very chaotic way. I have a very deep desire to find my inner organized self. I know she’s in there… she used to be the only self I had but that was all pre-kids/pre-chaos. When it was just me and my little life, […]

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”  Mahatma Gandhi
This quote so closely describes the essence of a new book by Chef Kurt Michael Friese, A Cook’s Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland.  Upon discovering the Slow Food Movement in 1999, Chef Friese realized the importance of being able to shake the hand of […]

Are you tired of your kids asking you to buy Twinkies and other prepared baked goods when you grocery shop? The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Snack Cakes may be the solution you have been looking for all this time. 
As with the other Complete Idiot’s Guides, this one shares tips throughout the book with small icons to make […]

With an increasingly busy schedule this fall, I am sure I’ll be relying on my favorite kitchen tool – the pressure cooker! I fell in love with the pressure cooker almost a year ago. A friend had been telling me about all these fantastic meals she prepared in hers. She finally convinced me to come for dinner and […]

We’ve had some unseasonably cool weather the past week or so here in New Jersey. Since it’s been so glorious outside of an evening, eating outside is the perfect way to enjoy the weather. Usually, by August it’s so hot and humid that dinner inside where the air-conditioning is on is much more appealing. 
In my search […]

I’m a huge fan of Cooking Light, I’ve been subscribing to the magazine since 1997.  I can generally count on the recipes to be tasty and fairly simple to make. I also like that they provide the nutritional information, which makes it much easier, when you are counting calories, to keep your meals reasonable without going […]

Small dishes from the realm where paper meets palate.
In the May/June ’08 issue of Draft magazine, Bruce Paton helps everyone with the often daunting task of what wild food should be paired with each obscure micro-brew. He suggests pairing wild blackberries with Maylon’s Dragoon’s Dry Irish Stout, trout with Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale […]

The bounty at farmers’ markets in northern California gets ridiculous in late spring. Organic strawberries, sweet English peas, and purple artichokes already appeared on the stands here in San Francisco. Going to the market and selecting beautiful produce is no problem–the challenge is being overwhelmed by the options.
That’s where The San Francisco Ferry Plaza […]