This week’s post was not meant to be another dessert.  I had my heart set on grilling some pineapple slices for a salad I’ve been inspired to make but my plans were foiled.  I’m off my grocery-shopping game.  Over the last few weeks I’ve either walked away with someone else’s shopping cart or have put my items in another.  Usually, when the latter happens I catch myself before I make it to the checkout stand ...

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The title of this post should read Rustic Apple-Banana Tart.  The first word is my catchall term for all my less-than-photogenic baked goods.  My favorite sweet pastry crust never fails me; in fact, most of the time the recipe is not to blame.
It’s this baker.  How could I go from marveling at my perfectly rolled out dough this morning to having a shrunken, irregularly-shaped tart shell?  Me.  I’m the common denominator.
It’s not really all that ...

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Today is not just St. Patrick’s Day–it is also my blog’s anniversary.  Two years.
Two years of sharing not just my adventures in the kitchen but bits and pieces outside of it, too.  Time flies when you’re having fun.
Two years, 200 posts and a new home on the world wide web.  For once, I don’t have much to say except that I’m so happy to be sharing this part of my life with you.  I hope ...

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Thoughts of my visit to Portugal a few years ago always evoke warm feelings for the relaxed, friendly atmosphere of Lisbon, azure skies and equally blue waters of the Algarve coastline.  Also vivid in my mind are the cork oaks that stood proudly along the country roads.  The tree trunks were in various stages of regrowth, some recently stripped to the core for their bark which would eventually become a wine bottle stopper or some ...

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As early/mid April to late June is the peak harvest time for strawberries here in northern California, the fruits–which are actually a member of the rose family–abound.  Strawberries belong to the Rosaceae family, as do apples, pears, quinces, peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, blackberries and raspberries.  I’m not certain how accurate this is but the strawberry is said to derive its name from the former practice of using straw as a mulch when cultivating the rose ...

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