Happy Friday! While you enjoy that first cup of coffee, take a look through some of our favorite posts from this time last year. We have fourteen easy and tasty meals that only use six ingredient, a copycat recipe for making Wendy's chocolate frosties at home, ten low-budget pantry items you should always have in your kitchen, and oh so very much more. Take a look!
This has felt like an unusually busy spring, and I'm sitting here struggling to remember the last time my husband and I actually had ourselves a real date. We'll both be at home tonight without a thing on the calendar, so I'm thinking of surprising him with a spontaneous date night. Here's what is on the menu!
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On warm weekend afternoons you'll often me in the backyard, gardening, reading or catching up with friends on the phone. Because it feels just a bit too early to pour a drink for myself, I've rounded up a few good non-alcoholic drinks that refresh — all without the booze.
Every cook has them: the meals we turn to when we are busy, sad, stressed, or just too damn lazy to cook a real dinner. But what is a real dinner anyway? In the midst of a bustling week, sometimes there is nothing more dependable, more real, than sitting down and eating a simple, satisfying meal that you managed to pull together in under 15 minutes. Here are my five favorite ways to feed myself well with almost no work.
MoreEarlier today I showed you my vegetarian dinner party, where for the main course I served a creamy watercress soup with lemony-goat cheese dumplings. If you're looking for other festive vegetarian main dishes to serve at a party, here are a few ideas. From corn and black bean tostadas to asparagus risotto, you can get as fancy or laid-back as you want.
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It's been unbelievably sunny and warm in Seattle, and last week we were invited over to a friend's for a backyard barbecue. These friends were house-sitting for a couple that owned a fancy grill and we made great burgers, grilled asparagus and a simple salad. It was almost enough to make us want to buy our own barbecue this summer — but not quite.
May is usually the month when your local CSA starts gearing up for the soon-to-come avalanche of summer bounty. Whether you live in warmer climes and are in the throes of strawberries, peas, asparagus from your year-round box or you're just starting up again after having the winter off, it's an exciting time for fresh, local produce. But it can be a challenging time, too, especially when unfamiliar or overly abundant vegetables show up. Read on for a roundup of tips to help you manage your CSA experience.
MoreDon't get me wrong, I love a good green salad. But there is a whole world of quick, easy vegetable side dishes that don't involve lettuce. With recipes like sesame roasted snap peas, baked chili-spiked sweet potato chips and grilled cabbage with spicy lime dressing, you now have no excuse. Get out of that salad rut tonight!
MoreEarlier today Dana offered some thoughts on organizing your cookbook collection. She admits that how you choose to organize your cookbooks is all about personal preference, but if you need some visual inspiration, where better to look than our Kitchen Tour archives? Here's a quick peek at how 15 different cooks find ways to store their beloved cookbooks in the kitchen.
MoreA reader recently expressed her frustration with the available selection of ugly, plastic cake keepers. She wanted something pretty she could display on her countertop, but also something with a lid to keep things fresh. Well, there are plenty of options that marry those two functions! Here are 10 lovely places to start:
















































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