Today is my friend Ruby’s birthday and since she doesn’t live close enough for me to cook her a birthday meal, I told her she could pick today’s recipe for Pinch My Salt.  She chose a curry rice salad with artichokes that she says my mom used to make.  I have a vague recollection of the salad, but I think it must have had some ingredients I don’t like because I don’t remember eating much of it.  But, since it’s Ruby’s birthday, I decided I could create a curry rice salad that we would both enjoy! Continue reading →

This is almost too simple to be called a recipe.  But since I know that many people don’t think to make their own croutons at home, I thought I’d give you this little reminder.  Homemade croutons are simple to make, they are a great way to use up stale bread, and they taste better than anything you can buy at the store. Continue reading →

And today we have the final recipes in the Holiday Recipes series I’ve been putting on with Amanda and Tyler of What We’re Eating.  At our pre-holiday dinner, Amanda made a delicious cranberry sauce that included persimmons and just a touch of fresh rosemary.  I would never have thought to add rosemary to cranberry sauce, but the combination was perfect! Continue reading →

EDIT: Due to an error with my server, the original version of this post along with all of your comments disappeared!  Talk about bad timing!!  The only choice I have is to start from the beginning and ask you to please leave a new comment if you wish to enter the the contest for the knife giveaway.  All the same rules apply, but I am extending the deadline to allow everyone to catch up to the new development!  Thank you, and sorry for the last minute change!

Remember those gorgeous knives from New West KnifeWorks that I gave away last September?  It’s happening again!  But this time, I have the pleasure of giving away a beautiful 9-inch Chef’s Knife from their Phoenix Line.  And although I’m not keeping it, I just had to test this baby out before giving it away to one of you lucky, lucky people. Continue reading →

So this is the second installment of our holiday recipe series, and I couldn’t be happier to share this dinner roll recipe with you!

In my family, the dinner rolls at our holiday meals are never homemade. For years, my grandmother would pick them up at a local bakery, but at some point we switched to the big bag of dinner rolls from Costco.  And I don’t think there’s anything wrong it.  My sister and I still love those rolls from Costco.  And really, even supermarket bakery rolls taste pretty good if you pop them in the oven for a few minutes. Continue reading →

My goodness, my Guinness! These are some awesome cupcakes!

I’ve been wanting to make some type of Guinness Chocolate Cake every since I first saw these beer cupcakes at Big City, Little Kitchen.  Gena based her cupcakes on a recipe for Guinness Chocolate Cake from Nigella Lawson’s book Feast: Food to Celebrate Life. I don’t have the book so I haven’t seen the original recipe, but I’ve had Gena’s cupcake version bookmarked for a year now. Continue reading →

If you’re reading this post and you haven’t voted yet, I’d prefer that you bookmark this recipe, go find your local polling place, and come back and read this later.  Really!  Go vote!  And please, if you’re in San Diego, don’t let this silly rain keep you from voting in this historic election.

But when it’s all over and we can relax and (hopefully) breathe a sigh of relief, I want you to make these oven-roasted sweet potato french fries.  I’ve made several versions of these over the years but this batch is by far the best.  As usual, it’s the simplest combination of ingredients that makes me the happiest! Continue reading →

It’s time to eat your vegetables!

I really haven’t been eating enough veggies lately.  Bacon? Plenty.  Chocolate chip cookies? Oh yeah!  Pizza? Three days worth.  Cinnamon buns? That was our dinner the other night.

Something’s seriously gotta change around here!  Granted, I have been cooking at home a lot lately.  But if I don’t get back to cooking some of my healthier recipes, I’m still gonna end up looking like I’ve been eating at McDonald’s every night! Continue reading →