Simple, delicious spring vegetables really just need the simplest of bright accompaniments, and this dip really hits the bill.  It is tangy with lemon and perfectly creamy and even has a sunshine-y yellow hue. I love this at room temperature as a dip for lightly steamed asparagus spears or artichoke leaves.  Put it can also [...]

The spring brunch season starts with Easter, then moves onto graduation parties, wedding parties and long vacation weekends.  That’s where this recipe comes from.  It was a request for Easter brunch – pickled asparagus to garnish Bloody Marys.  I of course complied.  Because quick pickles like these are so easy, but add a very special touch.  [...]

I am a little bit of a kitchen gadget geek. Particularly when it comes to gadgets that claim to make things easier. I love my strawberry slicer, my cherry pitter and my onion chopper, but when it comes to the cabinet-space sucking larger gadgets, I tend to think twice. But a few years ago, I [...]

I am something of a chicken salad savant.  I came late to the party, having an unreasonable and unfathomable aversion to mayonnaise in my youth and childhood.  That, and little exposure to good chicken salad.  I only choked down bad, plastic-container chicken salad out of politeness at parties and luncheons, and maybe a school cafeteria. [...]

I like the easy way out.  I’ll admit it.  When I see a recipe so simple that even I think it might not work, I have to try it out.  The temptation to create something wonderful from a minimum of effort is too great a lure.  This must be why I copied down a recipe for [...]

These tangy nuts are a great nibble with a glass of wine or to snack on during the day.  Wrap attractively for great little happy gifts.  Look for whole raw cashews in the bulk section of whole food stores or upscale markets.  Already roasted nuts won’t soak up the lemon juice. Lemon Garlic Cashews Zest [...]

For awhile there, Meyer lemons ranked as one of those items that featured in all the food magazines and cookbooks, but not on the shelves of stores outside major cities. So when the slightly orange-tinted lemons started popping up here a few years ago, I bought them like crazy, often without really knowing what to do.  [...]