mango salsa

Happy almost summer, food lovers!  It’s hard to believe we’re a few days away from the “official” beginning; although, in my book, summer’s already here.  Growing up at the beach, we operate on a slightly different calendar marked by the holidays:  the season’s unofficial kick off was always Memorial Day weekend; July 4th the bittersweet middle when the dread [...] Read more »

edamame hummus

One Friday over a month ago, I purchased a half-pint of Trader Joe’s edamame hummus while perusing the aisles.  While this was the first time buying this particular product, picking up something random at TJ’s is a regular occurrence for me.  They have a wide variety of enticing spreads, dips, and sauces in exciting combinations that are seemingly jumping off the shelves into my hand basket – “Try Me! Take me home!  I’ll make your life simpler and tastier!” Read more »

this valentine’s day, i heart my family

I was flipping through Ina's latest cookbook, How Easy Is That?, in search of a snack enticing enough for my (basically) un-health conscious family, but healthy enough to meet my standards for our annual winter family get together / food fest.  Every winter for the past ten years or so, my family and I pack up the car and take a trip to see my aunt, uncle, and cousins in New England for a weekend of catching up, cooking old family favorites, overindulging, and drinking good wine.  They in turn make the trip down to Jersey every August for a similar event hosted at my parent's house.  Food is the main feature of both weekends, but if you dig a little deeper, you'll realize that the food is providing much more than caloric sustenance to this crew. Read more »

om nom bombs: goodness gracious, great balls…

So many cookbooks, so little time...  I'm a self-admitted cookbook enthusiast with an insatiable appetite for both the classics and avant-garde. I collect volume upon volume and liken each book to a piece of art:  the author, the artist; the book, a masterpiece composed of different photos and recipes.  Each of them:  inspiring. Read more »