I’ve been maintaining this sourdough starter at my house in Sicily for the last year and a half. I really didn’t want to throw it down the drain when we had to move but I was a little leery of packing it in my luggage and taking it on the plane. I don’t think I would have been allowed to carry it on board with me and I was worried about it being discovered in my checked luggage during a random search or at customs. Although it’s pretty much just flour and water, I was sure it would somehow cause a problem! Continue reading →

Aren’t these the cutest little tarts you’ve ever seen? Believe me, they tasted even better than they look! I ended up making three things this morning to take to Thanksgiving dinner: cranberry and goat cheese tartlets (pictured above), three cheese tartlets with bacon and fresh thyme (pictured below), and a butternut squash casserole (forgot to take photo). All three were terrific but my sister and I both agree that the flower-shaped cranberry tartlets were both the tastiest and prettiest of the three. Continue reading →

The vegetarian three bean chili from the other night turned out really great! As I had mentioned, I decided to try topping the chili with cornbread batter and baking it. I’ve never done this before but several of you talked about it during our weekend cornbread discussion and it sounded like a pretty good idea to me! Continue reading →

I really had no intention of writing about muffins today. But thanks to jet lag I was awake at 2:30 a.m. again and by 6:00 I was fully caffeinated with lots of new recipes brewing in my head. It was nice and cool and foggy this morning, perfect weather for a warm and spicy batch of muffins. Continue reading →

This is still on the stove and I’m not quite through fiddling with the seasonings so I won’t give you the exact recipe just yet. But it’s a simple one that I just threw together so you really don’t need an exact recipe! Continue reading →

I’m asking you! Tell me what meals you make that just aren’t complete without some cornbread on the side.

This morning my sister informed me that she has a huge box of cornbread mix (probably from Costco) that has been sitting in the cupboard for a while. She requested I make some meals over the next few weeks that go well with cornbread so that we can use it up. I immediately thought about black-eyed peas because that’s one thing that I can’t imagine eating without cornbread. But of course, I like cornbread with all kinds of different bean recipes! And lots of soups, too. Continue reading →

Finally, the traveling is over! We arrived in San Diego this morning and are now getting settled in at my sister’s house. The best news? I have a fully stocked kitchen at my disposal and two more people who are willing to eat my experiments! New recipes coming soon!