Latest Posts

Pulling Mussels

Spring, Shoots, and Leaves: Seasonal Styling With Photographer Clarissa Westmeyer

Test shoot: Carrots

A pinch of this, a stir of that

Chicken Croquettes: The Real McCoy

A Taste of Chacala

Thai Flavors Fried Hominy

The Baked Hot Chocolate

Glorious Granola from Eleven Madison Park

Recipe Test Wrap

  • Categories

  • Category Archives: Recipes

    Pulling Mussels

    “But behind the chalet, my holiday’s complete And I feel like William Tell, Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet Pulling mussels from the shell Pulling mussels from the shell”

    Spring, Shoots, and Leaves: Seasonal Styling With Photographer Clarissa Westmeyer

    Another delightful Sunday of test shoots at Kalman & Pabst Photo Group. I’ve been looking forward to working with Clarissa and her elegant touch with lighting for a long time. Spring sprung in the studio, and it tasted every bit as vibrant as it looks. #allnatural #realfood

    Test shoot: Carrots

    I spent the better part of a recent weekend styling test shoots with Cleveland photographer Ricky Rhodes. We worked in the urban comfort of  Kalman & Pabst Photo Group. The shoot was natural ingredient and whole-foods focused, and we kicked the session off by by getting up close and personal with affable bunches of varicolored [...]

    Chicken Croquettes: The Real McCoy

    By this time, I believe everyone is familiar with the McDonald’s “pink slime” Chicken McNugget video. What appears to be a heaving mound of Pepto-Bismol pink soft serve ice cream, barely contained in a cardboard box, we discover, is the fast food giants’ processed chicken matter waiting to be fried into McNuggets.

    A Taste of Chacala

    Back in late October, I plugged into the Google search window, “Iyengar workshop February”.  What turned up was great fortune in terms of discovering a phenomenal Iyengar yoga instructor in NYC’s dynamic Lara Brunn, a truly special lodging in Mar de Jade, (tucked into the base of that lush volcanic jungle yonder), and the tiny [...]

    Thai Flavors Fried Hominy

    When I was a little girl, hominy (reconstituted dried corn), was something that came in cans, waiting for my mother to heat up in a pot on an occasional Saturday morning. She served the engorged soft kernels warm, in bowls with butter, salt and pepper – simple, on its own as one would eat a [...]

    The Baked Hot Chocolate

    In what feels like a lifetime ago, I worked as the pastry chef of the Cleveland restaurant, Moxie. My chef’s jacket was embroidered with the name, Heidi Friedlander. The name has since changed, but my signature dessert of Baked Hot Chocolate, developed for the opening menu, has not. Food writer, Aleksandra Crapanzano, was inspired to [...]

    Glorious Granola from Eleven Madison Park

    A meal at Eleven Madison Park is captivating – an exquisite parade of culinary jewels to be savored mouthful by grinning mouthful, and the delight doesn’t stop when the last trace of dessert is cleaned from the plate.

    Letting Things Fall

      As we ease into fall, the nights are cooler, yet the days are sunny enough to keep a dewey shimmer on the skin. The cooking in my kitchen is reflective of what is available with the seasons. I can’t get enough of the fantastic offerings from our farmer’s markets as my burgeoning refrigerator can attest. [...]

    Layered Summer Vegetable Soup

    The August vegetable explosion is on! Tomatoes are ripe and richly flavored, squash is thin-skinned and tender. All are available in peak abundance at local farmer’s markets. This “soup” of vegetables simply stewed in their own juices cooks, as if by magic, with a simple layering of the ingredients in a pot. I culled this [...]