When we remodeled our house four years ago, I dedicated a large kitchen cabinet for cookbooks. At the time, my collection all but filled the space. Over the last few years, my obsession with buying cookbooks and food magazines has the cabinet bulging at the seams. Many of the books get a quick look and become lost in the collection. Others keep my attention and end up with dog-eared pages and … [Read more...]
Kale-Sweet Potato Salad with Cornbread Croutons and Crispy Shallots
I usually associate salads with summer and warm weather. After all, a salad can be very cooling on a hot, sweltering Atlanta day, and there have been plenty of those days this year. We're finally getting a break from 90+ degree days with mornings in the high 50s and highs of low 80s. Those crystal clear days with low humidity always signal the start of fall. I eat salads all year round, and as … [Read more...]
Creamy Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
Have you ever read the labels on popular store-bought salad dressings? I always look at ingredients in the products that I buy, and I find it a little scary to read the long list of unnatural ingredients I see on salad dressing labels. I always go for brands that only include all natural ingredients, but those dressings are usually pretty pricey. Today, I'm making the case for preparing your … [Read more...]
Chopped Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette + a Calphalon Giveaway
A few weeks ago, our house was selected for a Calphalon photo shoot. As part of their digital media campaign, they were photographing their Calphalon Elite Nonstick Cookware. Roughly 15 people, including an Ad agency executive, a Calphalon executive, a food photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist, and a hand model, took over our kitchen for a four-day shoot. As a food blogger, I was … [Read more...]
Spinach Salad with Candied Walnuts and Golden Beets
I vividly remember sitting in my freshman comp class many years ago on a cool October day. Professor Kemp began the class by assigning a 300-word essay on any topic to be completed by the end of class. Never being a quick thinker, I wasted the first fifteen minutes of class trying to think of an interesting topic for my essay. Desperately watching the time and realizing that a good idea just … [Read more...]
Celery Caesar Salad
I've always thought of celery as a background ingredient, chopped and sauteed with onion and bell peppers before ending up as a minor player in a soup or stew. Being a big fan of celery, however, I've been spotted before with a stalk in one hand and a container of peanut butter or hummus in the other. I thought today's post should move celery out of the shadows and into the spotlight, so I've … [Read more...]
Green Goddess Chicken Salad with Fennel and Red Pepper
I'm old enough to remember the Green Goddess salad dressing craze from the 70s and 80s. Anybody else remember it? Made popular in the 70s by Seven Seas (now part of Kraft Foods), this herb-tinted dressing got its start at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Executive chef Philip Roemer created the dressing as a tribute to actor, George Arliss and his hit play, The Green Goddess. It's a shame … [Read more...]
Crab and Corn Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette
Free weekends at home without some special event or out-of-town guests come at a premium this summer. While I love travels and house guests, blogging during the week with a full time job poses a challenge. I've talked with other bloggers about getting ahead and having four or five posts in the works, and they agree with me that getting ahead never seems to happen. I'm always struggling just to … [Read more...]
Grilled Thai Beef Salad
On our trip to Asia last year, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with a old friend and colleague that I worked with years ago. Su, a native of Thailand, came to the United States for college and started her career in IT at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We became great friends and because we were both food enthusiasts, we shared many meals together. I learned a good bit about … [Read more...]
Spring Salad with Goat Cheese and Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette {and a Giveaway}
When spring rolls around I start thinking about entertaining. I love nothing more than an intimate dinner party with close friends. Cooking for people that I care about brings me so much joy. We're having some of our best friends over for dinner on Saturday night and the forecast for Atlanta calls for a high of 78 degrees. This will be our first opportunity of the year to dine on our … [Read more...]
Grilled Salmon and Corn Salad with Lime, Buttermilk, and Cilantro Dressing
My family arrived in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend for their annual summer visit. My 90-year-old Mom and my 86-year-old Dad are real troopers for making the road trip to visit their number two son. I'm so grateful that they're still able to visit. I purposely planned a relaxed agenda for the weekend so there was a good bit of sitting around, eating, some football watching, and a little … [Read more...]
Golden Beet Salad with Pistachios and Goat Cheese
I think beets get a bum rap. I admit the staining power of red beets can be a little off-putting. I can understand that the slightly earthy taste, which I really like, would turn some people off. However, I'd like to make the case that if well-prepared and combined with other ingredients, they are quite delicious. Aside from being delicious, beets possess many health-producing characteristics. … [Read more...]