Tonight we are having good friends over, or should I say some good friends are coming over - because really, it wasn’t our invite, it was theirs. They want to cook for us, (who would say no to that?) and it was our place or theirs, so I chose ours. Bigger Kitchen, bigger table, and I have no idea what to expect because they won’t tell us.

What I do know, is that it will be a gourmet meal, because Carlos is a Gourmet Chef. No, really. He is one of those guys who knows 7 languages, has started umpteen restaurants and then sold them, and is now a personal chef for a family that flies him all over the world… or wherever they want to go that week.

He gets a day off and wants to cook for us? Um… HELL YEAH!

I was told to get my ‘cooking gloves’ on (English is not his first language), so perhaps I will learn something tonight that I didn’t know, or taste something I have never tasted.

I will let you know all about it later - or perhaps tomorrow. I may fall into a total food coma and end up drooling on the couch, unable to formulate complete sentences, or even whole words.

God I hope so.

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A friend asked me how I cook ribs today - so I thought it was something necessary to have early on in this blog.

Five years ago, I had no idea how to cook ribs. It was another of those things (read; obsession) that I had eaten or ordered somewhere, and decided I had to learn how to do.

I tried many different techniques… and it is a technique much more than a recipe, and finally found one that works for me. This recipe is everything that you could ever want out of ribs… tender, juicy, flavorful, easy, and relatively quick for good ribs.

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Ok, this will be a shorter post simply because it’s late and I can’t fit everything into my day that I want to.

For my birthday today, I got a new laptop, and I am soooo freaking excited to be typing while sitting in the living room, with other people, leaning back, feet up in a recliner, that I can’t even tell you!

Usually I am sitting in a back room that I use as an office, in a fairly decent setting, but separated from everyone.

But - back to my birthday!

So, I wanted to go to this really wonderful local restaurant that serves an incredible duck dish, but some friends of ours went there three weeks ago and the menu had changed.

Huge bummer, because I don’t know where to go now to get duck.

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I remember the first time my virgin, Pho Soup lips touched that delicate blend of indescribeable flavor. It was my Oprah ‘Aha’ moment of a cuisine so unfamiliar, of a spice combination so.. well, (I hate to say it) foreign, and yet so soothing. So balanced. So complex and deep.

The day I had my first ‘Pho’ Orgasm’ (lovely play on words) (more…)

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Five years ago I had never met a Mango. In fact, I had no idea what was, but I was at the ‘Asian Store’ and saw one for less than a dollar and decided to try it.

Of course, I didn’t have a clue what to do with it. I had no idea what a ripe mango felt like, and in my trepidation, I let it sit on my kitchen counter for perhaps 5 days. I had a birthday party planned (for me) with a mexican theme and didn’t even know how many ways I could have included the poor, ripening mango on the counter. (more…)

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Every soup has its variations but it seems that lentil soup has no definitive taste, texture, or ingredients. I have seen Lentil Soup Recipes with tomatoes, spinich, red wine vinegar, bacon, egg, flour, and even parmesan cheese. I have seen recipes with 2 quarts of water calling for anywhere anywhere from 1-5 bay leaves… 1 quart of water, HAMBURGER (ick - sorry), various vegetables and even potatoes. (more…)

I live in Tempe, Arizona, home to about 175,000 people, of which approximately 40,000 go to Arizona State University. I moved here from Seattle, Washington for many reasons… too many to list… but I do remember that there was one thought that crossed my mind (more than once), and that was that I would no longer have to worry about either Earthquakes, Sunamis, Volcanoes, or Terrorist Attacks… All of which, I felt, were real threats for most of my adult Seattle life.

Since 9/11 (especially) disaster preparedness has been a thought in the back of my mind. I have read some very interesting articles about what you should have on hand to get you through the long days after a natural/man made/terrorist induced calamity. I have read quite a bit… but, alas, I have never implemented any of it. Not one plan… Not one preparation.

Then, when we moved here to Arizona, (more…)

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There is no better comfort food than that of a good bowl of old fashioned chicken and dumplings. That being said, there is nothing worse than an under cooked, or rubbery dumpling in your bowl, much less one being dropped from your mouth back into said bowl.

I adapted this recipe from one of Tyler Florence’s recipes a couple of years ago, and if I could, I would have it every day. Ok, maybe not every day… but I do love me some goooood soup!

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Garage Sale Cookbooks are the best in the world. Often times they are really old, which, with food knowledge and changing diets, would mean just 20 years older or more. In those cookbooks you get recipes that you can’t find anymore, anywhere… Recipes with all the fat … PLUS, or even ’shortening’ which I am fairly positive my 18 year old has never even seen. Wait, I did use it for the frosting for my Wilton Cake Decorating Classes… but I digress.
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Tonight I am having one of those dishes that you crave for a week but you are out of an ingredient, or there is a special ingredient that you have to go to a special store to get… and the store isn’t on the way to, or even remotely close to, anything in your world… so you remember it only when you are at the regular grocery store, and then mutter ‘Damn’ under your breath.
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