I'm on a couple of kicks lately. Well - come to think of it - several kicks. I'm just going to talk about two of 'em today. Lately I'm a little obsessed with both iced green tea and fluffy beach reads. It is summer, after all. I've made raspberry lemon iced green tea (good), strawberry mint (also good), and blueberry (pretty color, but needs work). And the books, you ask? Well, I finally read The Help and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Help was exquisite. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was so totally engrossing. Loved it. And... Continue reading

I spotted them at the Snohomish Farmer's Market on Thursday. They were red, stripey, and intriguing. "What are these?!" I asked. "Gooseberries," he replied. "They're great - try one!" I was too much of a weenie to try one then and there, but I was sold nonetheless. I bought a pint, along with blackcurrants (also new to me) and blueberries (how could I not?) I'm not a total chicken - I tasted a few when I got home. Where I could screw up my face in pure torment in private, if necessary. Instead, of course, they were lovely. Unlike any... Continue reading

I'm not Italian. So, totally, not even close. Even if one of my ancestors contributed a teensy amount of Italy to my melting-pot blood, I'm thinking it turned out to be a recessive thing. Which is kind of a bummer, really. I'm so white bread. I don't have the first clue how to say "mozzarella" or "biscotti" like Giada does. Eating that stuff, though, is a different story. I am pretty good at that. Italian food. I don't think there's any cuisine I love more. Espresso, cheese, wine, pasta, pesto, olives, basil, tomatoes tomatoes everywhere. And Panzanella, also known as... Continue reading

I've been holding out on you guys. It's totally a big deal, too. Okay, not really. It's about pizza. The other day when I posted about Pizza on the Barbecue? I neglected to talk about my very, very, VERY favorite kind of grilled pizza. Pizza Bianca - a.k.a. White Pizza. So simple, and so much flavor. We've got the delicious olive-oil-based homemade dough. And then we have white onions. Sliced. Shredded mozzarella. Fresh rosemary. Chopped. And finally, a light sprinkling of kosher salt. Yep, this happened. You just can't tell. Grill to perfection. Scarf it down. Love life. There. Now... Continue reading

If you've visited this blog before, you've probably seen that I'm a huge fan of Bake it Pretty. We're talking seriously cute cupcake liners, straws, vintage-y party supplies, bakery boxes, kitchen twine in terrific colors... heaven. The first time I ordered from Bake it Pretty, I realllly wanted one of the grab bags. Grab bags are so hard to resist, aren't they? Must know what's inside! But resist I did. Sometimes I can be good. The second and third times I ordered, grab bags were sold out. The fourth? In stock! Sold! I ripped open the box, pushed aside the... Continue reading

How do you spell "refreshing?" ... Well, hmm. Wait a minute. This doesn't really work in print, does it? So much for the Rolaids/relief approach. Let me try again. How about some Watermelon-Basil Sorbet, everyone?! It's refreshing. No really. Tongue tinglingly, brain freezingly, coolingly refreshing. What I'm trying to say here is that the combo of icy watermelon and cooling basil is, in a word, sublime. Sprinkle with a pinch of Fleur de sel right before serving, and the flavors leap out even more, and possibly even do a bit of a happy dance on your tongue. I admit, I'm... Continue reading

Baby, it's hot outside. Even here in Seattle, where we've been oh-so semi-patiently waiting for summer to finally get here, we're supposed to see temps in the 90's over the next couple of days. Woo hoo! While we humans like to cool off with icy treats like sorbet, iced coffee, and oh, say, a glass or two of rummy lemonade, our canine friends wouldn't mind a cooling treat now and then, too. And after featuring many many chop-licking goodies that they were only able to admire from afar, I figured it was time to whip up something for them. Lord... Continue reading

As I type, my guy is sulking. Just a tad - he's not much of a sulker, usually. But about 5 minutes ago, he dropped a well-buttered, fresh-out-of-the-oven blueberry muffin on the carpet. The top half, of course. Butter side down. Of course. The dogs, they were happy. My guy? Not so much. Even though there are several more to choose from, he's taking a few moments to collect himself before he tries again. But try he will, because this is the best darn blueberry muffin recipe around. I can say that, because it's not mine - it's Martha Stewart's,... Continue reading

July is National Ice Cream Month. Don't get me wrong - celebrating ice cream is an idea I can get behind - but I have to wonder, who comes up with these things? It's the special days that really get me. For instance, today is I Forgot Day. How do you celebrate this (other than with my general absentmindedness that needs no special day)? "Hey! Frank! Happy... oh crap. I have no idea what I was going to say." We have holidays to look forward to pretty much every day this summer. You can view the whole schedule here. Want... Continue reading

Last summer, I settled in with my new (and always beloved) Sunset magazine and flipped open to a piece about grilling pizzas. "It's easy!" They said. "SWEET! I believe you and must try them!" I said. And so my guy and I made pizzas on the BBQ, and the rest was history. Well, if "history" means we've been making them ever since, and we've served them for family get-togethers and parties (they're perfect for entertaining), and everyone loves them, and they're so, so good. The most important piece of the grilled pizza equation is the dough. The Sunset recipe has... Continue reading

About March-ish every year, I get my first iced coffee of the year from Starbucks. It's usually a sunny day, I may even be braving some sock-less shoes, and I'm feeling the spring fever. My toes and the rest of me are usually freezing by mid-morning, but I'm still practically giddy because, woo hoo! It's officially Iced Coffee Season! Not only does Iced Coffee Season mean summer is coming, it also mean that for the next few months, this coffee drinker is going to be drinking copious amounts of iced coffee. Hey, what can I say. I'm all for straightforward,... Continue reading

I'm kind of into the dorky over-the-top holiday themed stuff. If you were around here for Halloween goodies like Deviled Egg Eyes and Witch's Finger Breadsticks, you know what I'm talking about. I know I'm a dork. I own it, for the most part. Sometimes I think it would be cooler to be, well, cool - but then I look in the mirror or hear the words coming out of my mouth and I laugh at myself. I am what I am. May as well embrace it. But enough about me. How about America, and freedom, and liberty, and justice... Continue reading