Mascarpone Meatballs & Farmer's Market Pasta

These mascarpone meatballs are so tender and flavorful they just melt in your mouth. Fragrant with herbs and just a hint of spice they pair beautifully with a variety of sauces for pasta or just sop them up with a crusty loaf of bread for a quick and filling lunch.I love them paired with fresh vegetables and a roasted pepper sauce - my Farmer's Market Pasta.

Like many people I have beautiful memories of my Mom making tomato sauce and meatballs. It was an all day affair that mostly involved shooing me out of the kitchen. This was probably wise since when Mom wasn't looking I would take one of her worn wooden spoons and scoop out a meatball to eat. So hot I would almost burn my tongue, but so worth it for the way they fell apart when bitten into, sauce dripping from the wooden spoon.

Roasted Asparagus Soup with Truffle Scented Croutons

Does anything else announce spring like asparagus soup? It's very color is evocative of the budding trees and nascent blades of grass peeping out from under the dry brown cover of their older brothers lost to winter chill. Then the flavor - fresh and bright like early morning but with a warmth that says, "I know it's still chilly out there, girl. Here, let me wrap you in my velvety soup love and keep you warm."

Confession time: I was a picky eater as a child. Gasp! You're shocked, I know. And here's the kicker: not only did I love to eat (yeah, big surprise), I didn't know I was a picky eater! I ate everything my mother made me. I just didn't realize that she only gave me food she knew I would eat. Oh, those crafty Moms! My Mom (both my parents, really) were adamant that their children not grow up to be rude and spoiled brats. If someone else cooked for you, or invited you to their home, you ate as much as you could, even if you wanted to die inside, and you thanked them for it.

Steamed Artichokes - Preparation Technique

I still remember my first ever artichoke. I was probably 12 or 13 and visiting my childhood friend Holly in California where she and her parents had moved a few years prior. Her mother prepared herself a steamed artichoke with hollandaise sauce. She asked if we wanted a taste, most likely assuming we would wrinkle our noses and go back to giggling about cute boys.

Boy was she wrong!

We devoured that thing. From the first tentative taste, dipped cautiously in the thick, golden sauce, to the last hedonistic morsel, watery artichoke scented juices running down our arms, drunk with the buttery pleasures of hollandaise... I was in love. 

A Cake Family Christmas

'Twas the morning of Christmas, when all through the house came the fragrance of breakfast
onion and bacon casserole and a boozy fruit cake made a tasty repast.

Mom's breakfast casserole. Photo by JDHH

Roasted Parsnips with Cranberries and Orange

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of my favorite time of year for holidays. Not only is it the lead-up to my favorite holiday of all - Christmas (be sure to enter my holiday giveaway) - but it boasts some of the best seasonal cooking of the year. Thanksgiving is one time of year in particular when tried and true family recipes come out in full force. Americans plumb the depths of our collective holiday consciousness to recall favorite side dishes, desserts, and traditions.

Stuffed Risotto Cakes

There is nothing more satisfying to a frugal cook than making a new meal out of leftover ingredients. While preparing the grilled eggplant involtini last night I knew I had more than enough for two meals, but we don't tend to enjoy eating the exact same thing two days in row. This is when I put on my crown as Queen of Leftovers and get to work.

Indulge me first, if you will, in a little trip down memory lane... it's important for this recipe.

Food for the Soul

Most of us recognize that a special meal shared with family and friends tastes better than the same meal eaten alone. Some of us have friends with whom we can happily explore a new restaurant, share recipes together, ask for cooking advice or friends on whom we test-run our new recipes. If we're really lucky we also have a friend with whom we can cook (as opposed to other friends who, although they are good cooks, we simply don't mesh well in the same kitchen).

I am incredibly fortunate to have several wonderful friends who share my love of food and cooking. But one in particular is quite simply, the platonic love of my life - my dear friend, Gaby.