Recipes

Alex and I started The Wire on hurricane weekend (that’s August 27-28 for those of you not on the East Coast). We were glued to the TV for at least an hour a night, sometimes more, til December. We watched the last episode not long before Christmas. I was heartbroken (spoiler alert!) at the unresolved trouble that had befallen 98% of The Wire‘s characters. But I not unhappy to be unglued.

Full disclosure. I’m not a TV person, not even necessarily for the Oscars or the Super Bowl. I grew up under an iron rule: no…

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SEE ALL OUR QUICKBREADS, MUFFINS, AND SCONES!

If you scroll just a little bit back in our archives, you’ll see that between the two of us, we’ve been taking an awful lot of inspiration from Heidi of 101 Cookbooks.

I’m not going to make any generalizations about why, beyond to say that Heidi’s cooking is original and, well, inspiring. Any explanation of the phenomenon would distract me from showing you why this bread, which I call Oatmeal Quickbread with Walnuts and Heidi names “Easy Little Bread,” is so…

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These past two months, Mag Club ESP has been in full effect. And what was on the menu? Beans, beans, and nothing but beans.

At Julie’s, we had falafel, spicy black bean dip, two types of lentils, white bean and cabbage salad, and hummus. A few weeks ago at Michelle’s, the spread was a little more diverse, but no sooner had I whipped out my Tupperware of Spanish Rice with Crispy Chickpeas than I noticed Kate’s bowl of roasted chickpeas in full crunchy glory sitting on the coffee table right before me.

Roasted chickpeas have become a…

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EGG ON TOP MEALS: Polenta with Fried Capers, Red Pepper, and an Egg; Grits with Old Bay Frizzled Shallots and a Fried Egg; “Eggs in Pipérade” Pizzas with Crispy Prosciutto; Baked Eggs with Tomatoes & Smoky Potatoes; Ginger-Scallion Noodles

There is perhaps nothing I like better than finding leftover quinoa in a Tupperware in the fridge. And if there’s a night when I’ve gone out to dinner with friends while Alex stays home, it’s not unlikely that the next day I will get to feast on the remains of his dinner–unless he’s made himself…

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ITALIAN PASTA CLASSICS: Penne alla Vodka; Tuscan Spaghetti Bolognese; Crispy Spaghetti Carbonara with Dandelion Greens and Pecorino; Linguine Aglio e Olio con Acciuga; Garlicky Angel Hair with Shrimp and Scallops; Sardine Linguine with Sundried Tomato and Olives; Pasta with Spicy Italian Sausage, Broccoli Rabe, and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto; Genovese Pesto Pasta

Recently, I had a bunch of friends over for taco night. It’s such a good dinner for entertaining a crowd–we’ve done it here and here, and my family’s been…

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CHOCOLATE DESSERTS: Airy Chocolate Mousse; Best Brownies; Hot Fudge Sauce; Chocolate Pecan Tart; Raspberry-Chocolate Mini Brownies; Double Chocolate Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chips; Nutella Soufflé

In some old notebook, on some crinkled, doodled-upon page, I have a list of dishes and categories that Phoebe and I brainstormed at a BGSK meeting early last fall. In addition to “lasagna,” and “vodka sauce,” “apple pancakes,” and “chicken tikka masala,” under the heading of Classic Comfort Food I wrote “more everyday cakes.”

Because I used to…

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Top of my New Year’s Resolution list this year was to move out. Being 26 years old and living at home is just not a sustainable state of affairs. And yet, all of a sudden, it was 2012, and I realized I had sustained the situation for seven whole months.

After a week of literally doing nothing but climb fourth-floor walk-ups only to discover that the apartment at the top had a dorm-style mini fridge and no dishwasher, I lucked out and found an adorable studio in Chelsea. When I signed the lease less than 24 hours…

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It might appear in the transcript of my BGSK life that I’ve become a bit of a dinner party delinquent. This is partially, but not entirely true. I still try to have people over for a meal once a week, which is certainly down from the 2-3 night frequency that in part gave birth to this site, but by no means qualifies me as a bore (or so I keep telling myself).

The problem is, I have become a bit of a snooze when it comes to my menu. I’ve been cooking a lot of…

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Consider me slightly late to the party, but recently, I’ve been having a love affair with Heidi Swanson.

Even though I am a long-time devotee of Peter Berley, another vegetarian food icon, in my post-college carnivorous state, I don’t think I gave proper mind to the more veg-centric food bloggers out there. Or, at least, in my own experimentation with their recipes.

One of my private chef clients is vegan, and it’s opened up my eyes and my palate to some very intriguing possibilities – and Heidi has been…

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CHECK OUT OUR 10 Best Super Bowl Snacks AND Vegetarian Super Bowl Buffet!

The Super Bowl is coming up, and it’s bound to be a good game. We hear people are excited.

What do we have to contribute? Cool old Giants sweatshirts, lots of team spirit, some luck to the office pool, and food.

Together with Food Network and a host of other food sites and bloggers, we’re participating in the Big Game virtual potluck. And we’re bringing Pulled Pork Quesadillas, which are colorful, easy to assemble, and based on our favorite game day meat: pork butt. To…

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