Lisa on September 19th, 2011

Today’s post is more of an ideas post than an actual recipe, but it’s an idea that you can take in uncountable directions, be that sweet or savory or as a main dish or a dessert. Another neat thing about this culinary concept is that you get to play the part of a pastry chef [...]

Continue reading about Crepes: So Much Easier Than You Think

Lisa on April 15th, 2011

Until I took my first bite of this fruit-filled crepe, I had forgotten about blintzes, but then fond memories of the frozen blintzes from Trader Joe’s came rushing back.  If you haven’t had a blintz, though, don’t worry — you’ll still be amazed by how creamy, rich, and sweet these crepes are.  Happily, they’re a [...]

Continue reading about The Blintz Reborn

Lisa on January 6th, 2010

I got the “rice browns” idea when I was flipping through a Spanish cookbook and reminiscing about the glorious tortilla españolas I’d had at the tapas bars in Spain.  Unlike the Mexican corn-based flat tortillas, the Spanish version is a thick omelette consisting of eggs and fried potatoes.  It’s deceptively and simply glorious.  (And it’s [...]

Continue reading about Swapping Starches

Lisa on November 23rd, 2009

In the States, we eat it with jam or in cookies.  If we’re getting really creative, we might throw in an apple or a stalk of celery with raisins.  (Remember your childhood “ant-on-a-log” snacks?)  In other regions of the world, though — notably Africa and southeast Asia — peanut butter is incorporated into everything from [...]

Continue reading about Sweet, Savory, and Everything in Between

Lisa on December 9th, 2008

Dates are one of the many useful products we harvest from palm trees. (Other palm species include coconut palms, sago palms, and açai. Surfers are intimately familiar with palms in the form of the carnauba wax, and crafters may have used raffia or rattan, both of which are derived from various species of palm.) Though [...]

Continue reading about Your Guide to Date(ing)

Lisa on September 20th, 2008

The little green teardrops sit in trays, lost between the piles of apples and pears–easy to overlook if you’re not scrutinizing every aisle. Worse yet, most of us can only relate figs to the Newtons of our youth. Fresh figs, however, are nothing like those doughy, overly-sweet cookies. Look for figs are that are quite [...]

Continue reading about Figs: the Forgotten Fruit

Lisa on August 7th, 2008

In the course of researching cocktails for an article I’m writing, I inadvertently stumbled upon one/created one that I really liked.  It takes the concept of strawberries and balsamic vinegar to a whole new level of sweet and sour (which is why I decided give it this name): Heaven and Hell 5 fresh strawberries or [...]

Continue reading about Heaven and Hell