I love a dish that looks elegant and skillful, but in actual fact is a breeze to knock together. And this tart fits the bill. It plays into that fantasy of one those supposedly last minute dinner parties pictured in glossy magazines, where a pair of perfectly matched hosts and a group of soigné guests, none of whom appear to have eaten a dessert their entire life, … [Read more...] about Blueberry Country Tart with Buttermilk Whipped Cream
Fruit and Vegetables
Coronation Chicken Salad
This weekend, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee – sixty years on the throne. When she was crowned (she became Queen when her father died in 1952, but the coronation was June 5, 1953), Britain was still recovering from the wartime devastation, and rationing was still in effect for many foods. But it was, of course, necessary to create and elegant meal to serve … [Read more...] about Coronation Chicken Salad
Summertime Mint Dressing
If I could create my own personal fragrance, or have some sort of mechanism that made everywhere I go have a certain happy, peaceful scent, the primary element would be fresh garden mint. It smells like summer to me. And sweet tea. And the South. And all good things. I suppose the variety is technically spearmint, but I think of it as Southern mint. I have always grown … [Read more...] about Summertime Mint Dressing
Strawberry and Cream Cookies
The spring obsession with strawberries continues. As the season settles in, I look for other ways to enjoy the little red jewels, as I have almost eaten my fill of them plain from the bowl I keep in the fridge, filled every week at the famers market. And so I turn to baking to find as many ways to enjoy then as possible. My first and best experience with fresh strawberries and … [Read more...] about Strawberry and Cream Cookies
Creamy Hominy Bake with Green Chiles and Cheese
My primary memory of hominy is a quick Sunday night dish my mom used to whip up with eggs and sausage, but I love hominy as a more unusual side for a good Mexican meal. I recently made this dish for a gathering of my parents’ friends, and when they realized it was hominy, I got a few looks. One friend told me she hadn’t had hominy since early childhood, when it was served in … [Read more...] about Creamy Hominy Bake with Green Chiles and Cheese
