A Savory Moment by Life At The Table

Turkey, Pear, and Apple Salad   Ready to be a hero in the kitchen? Start by stepping out of the green salad rut with a combination of mouthwatering foods you may not have considered before: turkey, apple, pears, and cranberries.   Flex That Protein Superpower with Turkey   Ideally you’ll want to use turkey leftovers for this salad. My saying is cook once, eat twice. Even better if y...

Mission Possible: Pan-Roasted Broccoli Cream Soup   Mission Impossible was a popular TV series in the late 60s and early 70s about an elite covert operations unit. Instructions were delivered on a self-destructing tape recorder, always preceded with the words, “Your assignment should you choose to accept it.” Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to transform a controversial vegeta...

Vegetable Stock: Always a Good Investment   In the kitchen, whether you are a conservative recipe follower, or more of a risk-taker, knowing how to make a basic vegetable stock is an important investment—and an essential part of cooking.   Taking Stock of Your Foundation   Stock is the foundation for many soups and sauces. The quality of these dishes depend on a good foundation just...

Busting the Myth That Cooking For One is Hard Today 42% of adults in the US live alone, up from 39% in 2007 . Often I hear that cooking for one is harder than cooking for a family. Given that single households are a growing demographic, it’s my duty to bust this myth.   The Key To Busting the Myth: Your Attitude Towards Cooking And busting the myth that cooking for one is hard begins with exa...

  Pantry Staples for Easy Healthy Cooking Let’s be real. If you don’t have the basics on hand, you’re not cooking. You’re driving through, taking out, or ordering from home on an app. Those options are not your best move when your health begins with what’s on your plate. A well-stocked pantry isn’t about being fancy, it’s about being ready: Ready to pull a meal together without overthin...

  The Foundation: Pantry Essentials That Get Dinner Started A well-stocked pantry is essential to answering the most important question of each day, “What’s for dinner?” Break the cycle of eating out, taking out, or driving through when 5 o’clock rolls around because you’ve got it covered with a well-stocked pantry.   The bold flavors and finishing touches of a dish that makes your taste...

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Bowl with Feta and Mint News bulletin: Contrary to popular belief eating healthy is not a drag! The secret to success is branching out and sampling new foods. Step outside the box and try my sweet potato and quinoa bowl with feta and mint. A Delicious Medley It’s a unique combination of delicious and nutritious ingredients. The sweet potato is rich in fiber and vitamins, an...

Leftovers Meet Your Match: The Frittata Do you have leftovers in your pantry that you’re wondering how to use up? Consider the frittata. The French have their omelet , an elegant and delightful folded or rolled egg dish that Napoleon Bonaparte loved. And, in fact, once commanded an entire village be scoured for enough eggs to make omelets for his army.   Thank the Italians for the Egg-iliciou...

Seeing with New Eyes in the Kitchen   The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average American household spends $7,729 on food each year. Of this total, $4,363 is spent on food at home. Fresh food like meat, dairy, and the all-important category of fruits and vegetables were just $2,231 of these total dollars. Curious what this has to do with seeing with new eyes in the kitchen? &nbsp...

Cowlitz River Salmon Marinade   Fishing, I’ve concluded, is a lot of doing nothing interspersed with moments of adrenaline rushes. My first and only salmon fishing experience began at 3:30 am for a two-hour drive south from Seattle to the Cowlitz River . My baited hook was dangling in the water and the sun was gently warming the crisp, cool morning. Then came the battlecry. The end result was...

Live Life in the Present at the Table   My great-grandparents lived in Old East Dallas in a small house with a big porch and a porch swing to match. After lunch on Sundays the adults would sit on the porch and yak. The house did not have any air conditioning, only an attic fan. Sitting outside was way more comfortable than inside. When no one was around I would sit on that swing for long peri...

The Most Delicious Weeknight Spaghetti Sauce When you think of Italian food, you immediately think of all things tomato. For starters you think tomato sauce, pizza, and bruschetta, which is toasted bread topped with a tomato mixture But, is everything as it seems? Tomatoes and Italian food seem to go hand-in-hand. But did you know that tomatoes are not indigenous to Italy. Cue the record skip. &nb...

Cheesy Cornbread with Jalapeños   Why did the potato start an argument with the cornbread? It was an agi-tater. I’m not sure what the potato was arguing about, but there’s no argument from me when it comes to professing a love for cornbread.   Southerners Love Their Cornbread Cornbread is especially loved in the south. We serve this beloved bread with just about anything and everything....

Go to Town on a Go-to Meal, Try Chili Mac   Have you ever noticed how often we use the words “go-to”? Go is an action verb and we are a culture that loves action. We say “go-to town” to express positive energy and excitement like I’m going to go-to town on those chocolate crinkle cookies. When things aren’t going well, we say it’s “going to the dogs.” This expression o...

Anyone Can Cook, Even a Rat! Before I went to culinary school, I worked in corporate America 20+ years as a single mom raising two daughters and I cooked most of our dinners during the week.   Gathering at the home table every evening was the only way I could make sense of my life as a single parent. It was how we did life together. Except Thursdays.   That was our one night out and it was always...

Thai Green Curry with Chicken What harmony is to music, the balance of five basic flavors is to Thai cuisine. That’s sweet, salty, spicy, sour, and bitter .   Thai Food Complexity Each dish on a Thai family’s table is a carefully-crafted flavor profile. And the combination of dishes, create a harmonious mealtime experience composed bite-by-bite. Thailand does not have distinct food categories...

Make Short Work of Cleanup in the Kitchen Which kitchen activity landed in the Top 20 of a recent survey of America’s most disliked household chores ? Doing the dishes. It’s no surprise.   As Rare as A Rainbow-Colored Unicorn People who love to clean after cooking are as rare as a, I don’t know, perhaps a rainbow-colored unicorn. But the harsh reality is cleaning up is a necessity. So how do...

Vietnamese Summer Rolls: A Fresh Favorite for Every Season The name leads us to believe that this food is intended for rising temperatures while the cicadas sing (well if you’re in Texas you’ll hear them sing!). The truth is, you can enjoy this tasty roll as a simple snack, a delicious appetizer, or a full-fledged meal any time of the year.   What’s In A Name? Summer rolls are a traditional V...

Fill Up On Color: Eat the Rainbow “Somewhere over the rainbow way up high. There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby” What does a song about childhood dreams and rainbows have to do with cooking? Everything. Let me correct that statement. It has everything to with cooking AND eating well! And too few of us are doing just that.   We’re Not Eating Enough Vegetables and Fruit The Ce...

Homemade Oats and Honey Bars How would you like a tasty, healthy helping of fiber and antioxidants without a hassle? I’ve got you covered with homemade oats and honey bars. Try some delicious, nutritious homemade oatmeal bars to hit the spot.   Quick and Yummy: A Win-Win Or maybe you’re searching for a simple snack that’s appealing and healthy? Or perhaps you just don’t like to be bothered wi...

Eat Oats for a Power Punch of Health Benefits Avena Sativa: the beautiful botanical name for the common oat. This fabulous grain is extremely versatile and comes with a power punch of nutrition . Let’s dive into the health benefits of eating oats.   A Little History Lesson First, just a note of the history of oats. Originally considered a nuisance, oats would spring up in a wheat or a barley...

Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes From ancient times to modern day, nothing beats a plate of hot pancakes for breakfast. This homemade buttermilk pancake recipe will help you create some amazing pancakes are just a few flips away using common pantry ingredients.   How Did Pancakes Come to Be? Believe it or not, pancakes, have a long and rich history. This is testified to through the belly of Otzi...

Reclaim Your Kitchen and Dining Room   Is your kitchen really a kitchen? Has your dining area been taken over by clutter, or, worse yet, converted into an office or a media room? If so, it’s time to reclaim your kitchen and dining room, both of which are two very important pieces of real estate in your home.   Busy Lives Clutter Our Spaces It’s easy to clutter up our living spaces given...

Homemade Ricotta Cheese: Easy, Peasy Here’s a riddle for you. Which cheese is twice-cooked and delicious as a dip, spread on toast, or layered in lasagna. It’s ricotta !   The Rich History of Ricotta Ok, ricotta is technically not a cheese, but a cheese curd that is twice cooked. The word “Ricotta” means “recooked” in Latin. The process for ricotta actually begins with whey, a by-product in t...

Buy Food, Not Product You invested time and effort at the grocery store into deciphering nutrition labels. And, you made the best investment you could in purchasing nutritious food. You even remembered to bring your reusable grocery bags. Woohoo! Here’s the bad news, what you just purchased may not be real food. It’s a shocker, right. Not everything available at the grocery store is real food. If...