The ground is still wet, but the weather has warmed up and what do we discover in the garden? The garlic has sprouted! The little green sprouts are six inches high. Of course, plenty of weeds are also up. Last fall, in a light drizzle and muddy soil, we planted garlic. Hope was our business […]

Crepes are sunshine: round, yellow, and hot. On a dreary February day, think of the sun and eat crepes! My first taste of a crepe au Grand Marnier was taught to me by an eight-year-old French boy, who declared them to be his favorite! Crepes are street food in Paris and the kiosks always have a bottle of […]

Hot air is dramatic, especially when caught in a web of custard. This beautiful, thrilling sweet souffle is the easiest and fastest dessert to get a “wow” response. First, make a sabayon sauce (egg yolks, sugar, and alcohol cooked in a double boiler). You could stop there and just eat the delicious sauce on berries. […]

A simple, well-designed tool can make kitchen prep easier, faster, and better. In addition to a sharp knife, there are probably ten tools that I use every day: Microplane grater, garlic press, lemon press, bench knife, dishers, Swiss vegetable peeler, the amazing ginger grater, the thin-and-flexible “fish” spatula, and, my all-time favorite, “the blue-handled spoons.” These two […]

The worst part about New Year’s Day is the resolutions. People go on diets. They stop eating food that tastes good and try to eat food that tastes bad (so that they won’t eat too much of it). They say no when I offer tastes of delicious food. Every morsel of food that you put […]

An elegant dish to serve for the holidays is duck. Since duck parts are not readily available, I have to buy whole ducks and bone them, which is actually an advantage, because one duck can make four dishes. Make duck stock (and then soup) with the bones. Make duck liver pate with the liver. Make duck confit with the […]

Are you a planner or are you a last-minute cook? Planners like slow-cookers because they know at breakfast what they are going to eat for tonight’s dinner. They probably also know what they are going to eat a week from tonight. I am not a planner. At 6 pm, I still don’t know what I […]

The turkey has landed! This 22-pound bird roasted for 3 hours (first hour at 400 degrees, then the next 2 hours at 325 degrees) to an internal temperature in the breast meat of 155 degrees. In answer to the yearly questions: No, I don’t brine (brining is only necessary if the bird is going to […]

Roosters are sometimes identified as “useless roosters.” They consume, but they do not produce and multiple roosters in a coop can create an unsettled environment (see the picture of the rooster chasing the hen!). When we buy chickens, hens cost $5, but the roosters are free. (If you buy chicks, the sex cannot yet be determined, […]

Last night, we took a Kitchen Conservatory staff field trip to eat desserts at Sidney Street Cafe. Why? Because one of our own, Christie Saali (who started working at Kitchen Conservatory in 2000) is now the pastry chef at Sidney Street. We had to eat each and every one of her delectable desserts. Pictured here […]