sage + squash pancakes

If you were hanging around the food blogosphere or Twitter universe anytime in October, you may have noticed fellow bloggers committing to eat unprocessed for 31 days. While I didn't participate in the movement officially (roughly 97% of my diet is already unprocessed), it happened to coincide with the week that I ran out of cereal.

Cereal is the one processed food I've never wanted to give up. I love it too much. It's crunchy, slightly sweet and pairs beautifully with milk. I even switched to almond milk on a whim this summer, which made me feel even better about my cereal habit. I used to eat the sugary stuff, like Frosted Flakes and Frosted Mini-Wheats, then gradually reduced the sweetness with Honey Nut Cheerios and finally, Multi-Grain Cheerios, which I found to be perfectly wholesome (you know, minus the corn, additives and ingredients I can't pronounce). I bought the giant pack at Costco that lasted me a month and savored my bowl every morning, and sometimes in the afternoon as a pre-dinner snack if I knew we'd be eating later. I really didn't think I could go without it.

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smoked salmon and potato salad

I used to be one of those people that was adamant about my dislike for dill. It just wasn't my herb. Ina Garten had a phase where she added it to just about everything and I always omitted it because on the few occasions I did try it, something didn't sit well with my palate. But I've evolved. I won't go so far as to say it's my favorite herb, or even my second favorite, but I can certainly appreciate its unique qualities. It was featured front and center in this salad by Cook Your Dream. Because the original recipe looked so beautiful, I decided to use the dill. I winced for a moment when tasting the dressing, but when the sour note hit my tongue, I rather enjoyed the pickled flavor. Then I imagined it smothered on boiled potatoes and smoked salmon and realized it would be alright.

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garlic peanut noodles

My evenings have changed a bit. Ever since welcoming an almost three-month-old puppy into our home, dinner has become less of a special event and more of a chore to fit in between taking Emma outside and keeping her occupied with chew toys. We still enjoy our meals, but they're often interrupted.

As the name of my blog expresses, I advocate for easy home cooking every night of the week, a philosophy even more important now that my time is more limited. Easy, quick cooking recipes are essential for most of us, which is why I was so happy to see this dish on Ashley's blog a few weeks ago.

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chocolate-cayenne dessert cookies

The November issue of Food & Wine stopped me in my tracks last week. First, there was a turkey on the cover, reminding me that Thanksgiving (and all the good food that goes along with it) is fast approaching. Second, there were so many recipes I wanted to try, I must have dog-eared every other page.

Because I wanted to make these cookies so desperately, I was thrilled to find exactly 1/2 cup of cocoa powder left in my tin. It was meant to be. And although Dorie calls these cocktail cookies (and they certainly could be), I like the idea of savoring them for dessert alongside the last sips of red wine.

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cooking without a compass

I imagine we all have moments where our cooking acumen is tested, when we are forced to rely on instinct and practice instead of recipes from trusty blogs or cookbooks. This is where I stood one Sunday afternoon. We were a week into house training the dog, somewhat ragged, and had a friend coming over for dinner. I had already planned the weekend's meals but when I made the Hungarian goulash I wanted to serve, it wasn't quite right, and I'm not fond of serving guests anything I'm not extremely certain about, so I saved it for dinner the following night. 

What, then, would I serve for dinner? Walking to Chipotle or our neighborhood sushi restaurant crossed my mind (the easy way out), but then Andrew reminded me I had bought shrimp for something later in the week, and in preparation I had just cooked the beans, so the decision was almost made. Except for the inconsequential detail that I had no recipe.

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