For my birthday, my girlfriend Patti gave me the book, Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl.  I was intrigued to read it as it was Ms. Reichl’s memoirs of her becoming a restaurant critic, not that I want to become one, just curious as to how people people get their start in such a…

Fiddleheads, you ask, are the unfurled fronds of a young ostrich fern. They are collected in the wild before the frond has opened and sold as a seasonal vegetable in stores and outdoor markets.  They are called fiddleheads because they resemble the curled ornamentation (scroll) on the end of a stringed instrument, such as a fiddle. …

I enjoy reading other food blogger recipes and Peter, from Kalofagas (Greek Food and Beyond), is one I view on a regular basis.  His food postings always show at least three or four photos of each recipe along with tidbits of information allowing the reader to get a feel for the dish from start to…

I’m a big fan of salads especially those that are as simple to make and as nutritious as this one.  Spinach is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Researchers have identified at least 13 different flavonoid compounds in spinach that function as antioxidants and as anti-cancer agents. It is also a source of calcium…

There’s something about comfort food that strikes a chord in all of us. And, quite honestly, who hasn’t experienced a food memory?   It’s that sense of easy satisfaction from being warm, feeling full from a meal and the surroundings from which it was made.  Comfort food invokes feelings of nostalgia and of food that…

Monkfish (also known as the goosefish, anglerfish), is a large, ugly, bottom-dwelling fish found in the coastal Atlantic area. The only edible portions of the monkfish are its muscular tail and its liver. The tail meat of the monkfish is dense, sweet, and very similar to lobster tail meat in both flavor and texture. That’s…

Spices serve an important role in the flavoring food as well as being used for medicinal purposes. I can not begin to imagine what it would be like not to have spices in my pantry just sitting there waiting to be used at a moment’s notice. Pepper is native to India and has been used…

I’ve never been a huge fan of granola until recently. My experience hasn’t always been positive even though I’ve most probably tried several types and yet none really shouted, ‘this is it!’.   My husband and I were away last month and the hotel we stayed in included breakfast. One of the items on the…

I’m sure I saw this meal being prepared on one of Jamie Oliver’s cooking shows but it was a while ago and I can’t find it in any of his books nor is it on the web.  Anyway, I hastily wrote down the ingredients so the quantities are approximate.  This dish is easy to make…

Some nights we enjoy having meatless dishes and this vegetarian recipe leaves you feeling very satiated.  Eggplant features of host of vitamins and minerals and in the skin of the eggplant is a phytonutrient called nasunun.  Nasunin is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage. …

We use our barbecue as much as possible for a myriad of things and with Spring warming the air a bit, the barbecue is on a lot more these days.  There’s a confusion, at least for me, about the difference between a prawn and a shrimp.  To me, they both appear to be the same. …

This is my kind of fast food!  Phyllo (filo or fillo) dough is paper-thin sheets of raw, unleavened flour dough used for making pastries. A popular dessert using filo pastry is baklava but there are oodles of other sweet and savory dishes out there using filo pastry.  When cooked, filo pastry is crispy and flaky…