Happy New Year! Although the 52 Kitchen Adventures are technically over, I have another unusual ingredient to share with you… No, that’s not some odd sea creature. It’s a Buddha’s hand, a fragrant cirton shaped somewhat like a creepy hand. Some of these citrons come with the “fingers” more spread out, although according to tradition, [...]

It’s week 52! While the 52 Kitchen Adventures are officially over with this post, as I mentioned here I will continue blogging. And I have at least 1 more unusual ingredient coming up: Buddha’s hands. Thank you all for taking this journey with me. It’s been fun but I have to admit I’m glad to [...]

As I transition from unusual ingredients to more everyday cooking, I thought I’d bridge the gap in the 2nd to last Kitchen Adventure by sharing something I’d normally do in the kitchen: bake with 2 local, seasonal ingredients, feijoa and Meyer lemon. Feijoa, also known as pineapple guava and guavaseteen, are the small elliptical green [...]

There’s only 2 more weeks left of this 52 week challenge (more on that later this week) and I’m running out of steam. A couple of days ago I realized I had nothing planned for this week – nothing written, nothing photographed, not even an ingredient chosen, much less purchased. I wandered through my local [...]

We recently celebrated my friend’s birthday in style – her wonderful husband prepared a 5 course dinner party using Thomas Keller recipes. Russ and I arrived early to help him cook and set up. The 5th course, Braised Prime Beef Short Ribs with Root Vegetables and Sauteed Bone Marrow (we omitted bone marrow, as we [...]