Sunday, February 27, 2011

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Panna Cotta & Florentines


The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Grilled Tofu in Mustard Caper Sauce


I got this recipe from a neighbor of mine and she got it from a recipe by Ina Garten, also known as the Barefoot Contessa.  I think it came from an old issue of House Beautiful.  The original recipe involves fish and creme fraiche.   It’s really delicious but all that cholesterol is not so good for my body so I adapted the original recipe because I thought is was so delicious.   I replaced the creme fraiche with a combination of non dairy sour cream and non dairy creamer.  I used grilled tofu instead of the fish.  

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake


I asked Mr. RK what flavor cheesecake he would like for Valentines Day and he very quickly said chocolate raspberry.  I used to make him cheesecakes for his Birthday, when I could still eat dairy and eggs, but I haven’t attempted to make one in years.  My original cheesecake recipe came from the McCormick Spices of the World Cookbook.  What I loved about this recipe was the sour cream top layer that you add at the end.  I had to change the original recipe, a lot, because I’m allergic to eggs but I left the sour cream top as it was written.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Spring is Just Around the Corner


In the San Francisco Bay area we have these glorious two week of spring like weather every year at the end of January or the beginning of February.  Then, the storms start up again and we have gray rainy weather on and off for most of February, March and April.  
Today, at noon, it was 76 degrees in the shade at my house.  This amazing weather in the middle of winter causes the trees to bud out.  This is a picture of my almond tree, my peach tree is also starting to develop buds.  The down side of this weather is if the trees bloom and the rains start before the bees can do their job of pollinating the flowers, we won’t get a crop of almonds, like last year.  

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Bean and Vegetable Soup


Soup is the perfect winter comfort food!  It warms you up, it’s inexpensive, low in fat and calories, and simple to make.  We been a little “under the weather” with colds this weekend, so tonight I made some soup.  Soup always makes me feel better when I’m sick.  This basic bean and vegetable soup is so easy to make, there is no reason to ever buy canned soup.  This recipe is very flexible, on purpose, because it allows you to use up the leftovers you have in your refrigerator.  Another excellent benefit.