It's rainy, windy and cold in Northern California this weekend so we'll be hunkering down with homemade thin crust pizza tonight and corned beef and cabbage tomorrow. I am very tempted to make the chocolate guiness cake from Nigella Lawson so think that may be on the menu as well. I also think a dutch baby is in our future for breakfast one day this weekend.

We're doing Pi day (observed) at my house tonight with a bunch of friends... homemade pizza pies for dinner and cherry and chocolate pies for dessert :-)

I just whipped up a batch of Leek & Potato Soup with Cheddar Cheese-Chive Tuiles for St. Pat's! It seemed perfect for a grey, dark day like today.

Just made "American Style" Irish Soda Bread. I've had this every year since I was a little kid. I know it's not authentic, but it's a tradition none the less! Oh, and having a great dinner at Wine Vault in San Diego where each course is served with a beer form Stone Brewery. Can't wait! And it's cold in S.D., so I made some chili to snack on over the weekend! Will go great with the bread!

I have a bunch of produce that's about to go, so I'll be baking up a storm...banana muffins, apple cakes, the like. I'm also teaming up with a couple friends to visit and feed a friend who is need of a good comforting meal, so probably something along the lines of macaroni and cheese, or a nice casserole...you know, soul food.

I've been thinking a lot about the classic Tunnel of Fudge cake, so I think the bundt pan might surface this weekend. And tonight I'm going to try a simple veggie tart. Unless I get lazy.

It is a cold and rainy weekend so we are kicking it off with Irish Coffees http://chezus.com/2012/03/15/friday-cocktail-hour-irish-coffee/ - and some comfort food rest of the weekend. Braising and poaching some new dishes!

Because it was an unseasonable near-80° day in Minnesota today, we grilled sausages and served them with guacamole, potatoes vinaigrette, and a friend brought fresh pineapple to grill.

My husband's birthday is Sunday and he has requested cassoulet, so I'm using Mark Bittman's recipe published in the New York Times last month. It's the first time I've made cassoulet, and the first time I've ever really worked with duck. A multi-day education, and I'm having a great time.

For breakfast on Sunday I'm working to replicate one of the best things we ate last year: Savory blue corn pancakes with pulled pork and coleslaw, something we ate at New Orleans' fantastic Green Goddess restaurant.

We're getting ready for the little monkey's 3rd birthday party with all his buddies and their parents on Sunday for brunch. So, we will be cooking up a storm all day on Saturday. The menu includes: frittatas, green salad, fruit salad, bacon, soft pretzels and sugar cookies in the shape of 3s, and of course cupcakes! I hope that we'll remember to have lunch and dinner for ourselves in the midst of all this prep work.

I was in the mood for something light, bright and green so I made this spring stew with asparagus, white beans, fresh ginger, thyme, lemon and white wine.

I'm making grasshopper cupcakes for my "little" sister's 24th birthday. And we're going to grill something this weekend. I don't know what it is yet, but it's been too nice outside not to turn the barbeque on. Just about to head out to the farmer's market to see what looks good!

It's St Patrick's Day, so we're having a dinner party tonight. My husband made a sous-vide corned beef that he corned himself. I'm making colcannon, roasted root vegetables, and Irish soda bread. And, I think I'll make The Kitchn's Cheddar and Guinness Beer Bread too.

I have a bunch of crab at home, so I'm going to experiment with a couple new recipes...posts to come!

Rice noodle bowls with maple miso gilled tofu and lots of spring veggies tonight, Sunday breakfast will be potato and andouille sausage hash with poached eggs, for dinner on Sunday I'm thinking the Kitchn's barbacoa slow cooker beef tacos and there is a recipe for gluten free brownies I've been wanting to try. I will need some sweets to fuel studying for finals this week!

I've got to get the Chocolate Guinness cake started so it can cool to be frosted! Then I'm making a colcannon with cabbage and leeks. I have commission for brunch--my daughter wants a frittata w/asparagus, tomato, and goat cheese.

Irish lamb stew and soda bread today, with whiskey oatmeal creme pies for dessert. The leftovers should get us through tomorrow too, so I can focus on end-of-term projects!

It is so fun to read about everyone's cooking endeavors. I'm making a bunch of really random foods for a project. It is weird but kind of fun to make such an odd assortment of foods that I wouldn't otherwise do. Lasagne, tapioca, burritos, stir fry, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, broth, tuna, mac n cheese, risotto..

Duck with black bean sauce stir fry with noodles, and a cake to use up some lemons. I'm also going to prepare another batch of confit duck legs. I'll try either rinsing the salt off before cooking them this time, (even though the recipe does not stipulate this), or only marinating them for 12 hours instead of 24 hours, as last week's batch was still a little too salty (using only half the amount of salt).

With St. Patrick's Day it's more of a heritage cooking weekend, and many years ago I took cooking classes at Ballymaloe, this afternoon it's scones with some of the expected trimmings. This evening I'm having friends over after a local parade and will serve a vegetarian irish stew with Guinness and seaweed (I first learned to cook with fresh seaweed at their school), colcannon, onion marmalade, Irish soda bread, and a cheesecake with a classic shortbread crust and lemons that are preserved in a way that makes them delicious to eat straight. Irish Whiskey, of course, and coffee if you feel the need to hide your Irish Whiskey...

my first homecooked (& all organic!) boiled dinner is in the oven now...my mom used to cook it when us kids were little; i haven't had a real one in years though. i can't wait to try it!

Last night I made two kinds of cookies, one batch for my honey to bring with on his 200k bike ride today, and one for the folks who are setting up a food coop here (I helped them ready the space for painting today). Tonight I'm making tortellini with pesto, tomatoes, and sauteed zucchini. Tomorrow will be our usual full English breakfast, then I'll do a pot roast in the slow cooker with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts.

Challah. It didn't rise. *sigh*

Lazy weekend - all I've cooked is olive oil banana bread to use up some black bananas that were lurking around. We've eaten out a lot and eaten an awful lot of junk food. Sigh.

Sunday morning sage biscuits and fried egg sandwiches! Nothing makes the weekend special like a delicious brunch!

Roasting two chickens (with sweet potatoes underfoot), brown rice, a cooked carrot salad with lemon and cumin, and pumpkin spice cake from a box (so sue me, I like the stuff). Should be some good lunches coming out of all this.

Friday I went simple, with some thin-sliced pork chops, pan seared, topped with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder for half of them, and the rest with a new barbecue rub I wanted to try. Paired with a broccoli-corn salad and parsley potatoes (no sour cream) it came out quite filling.

Saturday I went most-hog (as opposed to whole hog) and made corned beef (with carrots, onions, potatoes and celery) in the crock pot, the cheddar-guinness bread recipe from here, and also attempted oven-roasted green cabbage (but even after an hour it wasn't cooked so much as edge-burnt.) Still, my fiancee loved most of it, and I learned how NOT to cook cabbage :)

chana masala and saag roti. Delicious!