Some of you have been concerned that recent recipes have been too healthy and light. Well, fret no more, friends. This one suffers from no such delusions: it’s rich and oh my, it’s good. [Read more →]

This soup started out as gazpacho, at some point in our cooking past. Maybe it could still be called gazpacho, I haven’t consulted with the Wordwide Soup Taxonomical Organization (if such a thing exists). It’s the ideal tonic at the end of a hot day, with its deep red color and a sweet/sour snap. True, you do have to generate a little heat roasting the veggies, but it’s well worth it, I’m telling you. (I can tell you because even though this is Valerian’s recipe, I’m writing it up today).

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This recipe was born when we invited my in-laws for a Hungarian picnic. Traditionally, the protein part of the meal would be cold cuts: thinly sliced Hungarian paprika sausage or the famous Pick/Hertz winter salami.  You can’t get those here, though,  and substituting sugar-soaked ham was not an option for me. The other popular Hungarian custom for picnics is to take their big kettle and cook goulash, fish soup, bean stew or paprikash. I would be all for this, but I do not think it will make the California firefighters happy.  The grass is so dry that you can light it up just by looking at it. I also had doubts that the picnic grounds would be happy to see some crazy Hungarian making a huge pot of goulash while burning their turf, and I definitely didn’t want to risk expulsion from the Marin Cheese Factory. Where would I get my healthy dose of Camembert?  So under pressure, I threw together this recipe, with a very Hungarian result. It’s maybe best served warm, but kept cool in the picnic basket, it makes a great sandwich filling. [Read more →]

With our respective families 6000 miles apart, one thing Valerian and I have done together a lot is travel. And with two kids added to the mix now, we arm ourselves seriously when we head out to the airport: books, toys, changes of clothes, and of course, snacks. Lots and lots of snacks. When your kids start to get squirrely, sometimes a treat that would normally be off-limits is just what you need to get through the last hours of a 14-hour flight.

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We planted peas among our roses to improve the soil, and we actually are getting a nice little crop of fresh peas right now! The kids love to spot the chubby pods that are ready to pick, and they’re still at the age when shelling peas is more fun than work. This recipe is most delicious with the freshest peas you can find, but of course sometimes those will be ones from the freezer.

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