Cute to Cunning: Grilled Peach and Ricotta Salad with Arugula, Walnuts and Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette

My arms were full but they were so cute.  Perched on the edge of a table at the farmers market, you couldn’t walk passed without giving at least an endearing glance at the little cartons of donut peaches.  They would become dinner.

I love salads with oomph.  It’s hard to accomplish without bacon, but it’s possible if you have cheese and grill marks.  Both were at my fingertips.

I started with the cheese.  The thought of creating it yourself in your own kitchen is extremely exciting.  What’s fantastic about homemade ricotta, is that it’s delicious and incredibly simple to make.  I’m not joking.  I’d never tried it before because I hadn’t taken the 3 minutes to buy cheesecloth (the only specialty item required).  That’s actually the hardest step, buying the cheesecloth.  So, once that laborious process is over, you can get into comfy clothes, make ricotta and drizzle the leftover (nutritious) whey on your dog’s dinner.  (Yes whey.)

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The Pearly Gates of Paris: Steak with Tarragon Mustard Sauce and Oven Frites

10 years after a cliché, yet life-changing experience as a backpacker through Europe, I returned.  We went to Paris.  But, I didn’t have to stuff a pack into a locker and wear flip-flops in the shower.  This time, there were chocolates waiting for me on my pillow, along with the weather report for the next day.  I could get used to this.

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A Food Blog with a Dog: One Pot Gemelli with Garlicky Kale

There’s no time to beat around the bush, so here is the long and short of it.  2 weeks ago, I walked into my local pet store to get cat food and walked out with a puppy.  Since that fateful day, our days and nights have consisted of puppy training books, vet visits, thousands of comments uttered such as “good girl”, “No!” and “ouch!”, and more conversations regarding “number 1” and “number 2” than I ever thought humanly possible.  People in the neighborhood actually started talking to us despite the fact that we’ve lived within the same block radius for 6 years.  I’m also still begging forgiveness from the cats.

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Wheat Beer Braised Chicken with Marmalade – An Affair to Remember

Spring is turning to summer, I can feel it.  I remember lazy Saturdays and late sunsets.  Picnics and peaches.  Ice-cold Bavarian wheat beer with a wedge of orange.
I didn’t have an orange but I had kumquat marmalade, beer and chicken.  It seemed dangerous, but it could be a match made in heaven.  Like some sort of forbidden British-Bavarian love affair.