Eating out is a wonderful treat, and you can create the same experience at home. Imagine making a simple meal and feeling like you are dining at a Trattoria in Italy! My son and I had a wonder meal at Trattoria del Pennello in Florence yesterday evening. We ate outside and the setting was beautiful. […]
A topic I write about often is The French Paradox. It's an intriguing “phenomenon” about how the French, in general, maintain good health and weight despite consuming a diet rich in croissants, cheese, bread, cream sauces, and butter – not to mention those delectable desserts! You can read more about the French Paradox here. But […]
Sunday is market day here in the summer. A trip to the farmers' market is a weekly routine, even when I don’t feel like going—like today. I’m busy preparing for a trip to Florence, and it's really the last thing I have time for. Normally, I buy almost everything I need for the week at […]
Even though I enjoy cooking, some days, it just doesn’t feel manageable. That’s when I call in my “sous-chef.” My husband, Pierre, loves helping out in the kitchen, and I’m grateful I can step aside and let him take over. Sometimes he comes up with an idea, or I share what I had planned, give […]
A secret to always being prepared with a dinner plan is to think about what you can cook and have on hand as a versatile ingredient. There are so many things you can prepare in as little as ten to fifteen minutes that can be used in multiple ways. This routine has saved me a […]
Have you ever opened your calendar to find your day packed with meetings, leaving only slivers of time for essential tasks? It feels like one wrong move, and you'll drown in the day's demands. And then there's the inevitable 'What's for dinner?' dilemma. That’s today. It's a work-from-home day, which, pre-COVID, for many, was often […]
It was my birthday the other day, and while I love dining out, we usually choose to stay in. I find it’s the perfect time for a treat like champagne and king crab legs, which are ridiculously easy and quick to prepare and cost a fraction of the price of going out. While I’m all […]
If you're feeling at a loss for dinner ideas for the week, instead of searching for new recipes, draw inspiration from what's in season. I start my dinner plan each week based on what I find at the farmers' market over the weekend. Seeing what is fresh and in season is a great way to […]
Quite often, we get dinner crashers—but they are always welcome! Usually, the unexpected dinner guests are my children's friends, and there is enough to go around. When there isn't enough on the menu to feed a few more mouths, I add a simple course like fruit or the French cheese course for dessert so there […]
The fridge is pretty bare today, but I want to avoid a grocery run since tomorrow is Farmers' Market Day when I stock up for the week. During my morning kitchen check-in, I found steak and peas in the freezer and some fruit and lettuce in the fridge. The dinner plan is simple: thaw the […]
A quick kitchen check-in is part of my daily routine. It takes just a minute and avoids the last-minute scramble of figuring out what's for dinner. Today, I know I'll be home late and won't have much time to cook. We don't want to eat out, so I'm looking in my refrigerator and cupboards for […]
Today is Sauce Day. Every month or so, I make a pot of tomato sauce. I use some the week I make it and freeze some, too. There's a good reason the Italians have a routine of making tomato sauce – it tastes better than jarred sauce, and you can serve it with anything! Vegetables, […]
