morsels & sauces

These past two months have been busy.  I knew that something had to give in my booked life.  I knew that something could not be my running schedule or my yoga classes, so this blog became what I let go.  And such a reminder to let something go, that not everything had to be attended to, was sweet indeed.  However, I have missed writing about food here, even if my readership is small (but mighty! just like my stature), and I have missed sitting down to think about the role food plays in my life in specific but all of our lives in general. These past two months I have been focusing on my dad, who has been sick, and thinking a lot about my family, as strange as that fabulous little grouping of people may be.  I flew back to the heartland to spend a couple of days with Dad as he was recovering from surgery, and I am happy that next week he is flying out here for a much-needed vacation and chance to recuperate.  This sprin...

In addition to the Baba Ghanouj that I made for the book club meeting, I made this little quinoa dish.  Life has been insane (as I will detail in an upcoming post), but two months ago I not only made this dish, but it also comes from a cookbook that I have not used here before.  I received this lovely book as a Christmas present--and the great news is, this recipe isn't even on page 210, so you know you will be seeing this cookbook here again!--and I am delighted by it and its premise.  Maria Speck , the cookbook's author, is a food journalist and culinary school instructor in addition to writer of this fabulous book.  Greek and German by upbringing, she provides a Mediterranean flair to a Northern European focus on whole grains. And in our current climate of whole-grain-and-sometimes-gluten-free cooking, this cookbook is a nice addition to the culinary bookshelf. An ancient Andean crop, quinoa is actually a seed not a grain, but it cooks up like a...