Cuisine. Culture. Commentary.
One of the things I love most about Trader Joe’s is their sample station. It’s rare to find samples in grocery stores in the first place so it’s a nice treat mid-shop. At the Union Square location, the store is so packed that you actually shop the outside ring of the store while you’re waiting…
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I had been snacking on my latest cheese purchase, a goat cheese rolled in smoked paprika (I think) but decided I wanted to do something more with it than put it on crackers. The paprika gave it such a unique smoky flavor (one I don’t associate with the tang of goat cheese) that I thought…
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Since we went out on Friday night and were waking up very early (7:30 AM) on Sunday to start watching/celebrating the half marathon, Albert and I decided to make Saturday night date night. We lined up some quality tv programming and I cooked a meal. Albert can be tough to cook for. I wouldn’t exactly call him…
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I remembered on Monday night that I had book club on Tuesday. (That’s the day after in case you’ve been working the kind of hours I have resulting in days that bleed together.) I was right near Whole Foods so I cruised Pinterest for an easy appetizer while I walked to the store. I found…
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I went to a restaurant once that served their guacamole with plantain chips instead of tortilla chips. I loved the starchiness of the chip and because they are less salty than tortilla chips, the guacamole really stands out. Leave it to Trader Joe’s to stock plantain chips on the cheap. I grabbed a bag and…
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While I took a break last year because I was in Curaçao, I have developed a nice little single gal tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day by preparing a nice meal. Treat. Yo. Self. This year I wasn’t single, but I didn’t want to let my tradition go. I told Albert my plans would proceed as…
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Don’t you love it when things are so easy and also sooo good? I certainly do because it’s nice not to always have to work hard to cook enjoyable food. This recipe for dijon tarragon cream chicken took 20 minutes to pull together and tastes like you spent all day cooking it (I find cream…
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Here in the North, shrimp is never the main meal. I pretty much only ever see it as a shrimp cocktail appetizer or as the protein in a pasta dish. But as a Lowcountry girl I’m used to shrimp being the main event. When you can catch the main course for free off your dock,…
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One of my New Years Resolutions is to start a new monthly feature on the blog (and, again, I resolve to revive the last monthly feature I started, Inspiration Station). Cooking with ingredients of the season just feels…genuine. Each month I’ll select one or two ingredients that are in season and highlight them in a…
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It’s rare that I make breakfast on the weekends. I usually either use the weekend as an excuse to grab a bagel or breakfast sandwich from around the corner or to sleep in, lounge around, and make lunch my first meal. But this Sunday I convinced Albert to come over for a proper weekend brunch.…
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Peaches to Apples 