I have a kid. That means that every recipe I make either comes with a helper (known as the Tiny Kitchen Assistant) or his alter ego, Captain Distracto, who wants me to play baseball or Legos or do anything other than cook as dinnertime approaches.
Most of the meals are kid-friendly and easy enough to make in 30-45 minutes on a weeknight. The rare, time-consuming “weekend recipes” will be noted accordingly. Believe me, if I can make dinner six nights a week, you can, too.
Where do my recipes come from? Many are things that I’ve made for ages. Some are modifications of a single recipe; I link to or reference the original recipe wherever possible. Others are a strange hybrid of recipes that I find online; if I want to find a good stew recipe, for example, I’ll look at half a dozen and pick and choose the elements and techniques that work best for us.
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Recent Recipes
Snickerdoodles
I love snickerdoodles, but I struggle with the fact that every recipe I’ve ever liked uses shortening. I’ve decided that I need to get over my aversion to Crisco, accept that I only do this once a year, and just plow ahead. Ingredients 1 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 3/4 […] Read More
Oatmeal Bar Cookies
This is my variation on the classic Quaker oatmeal cookie. I make it as a bar because it’s easier to bake one batch than shuffle trays in and out of the oven. This year, the Tiny Kitchen Assistant and I, unable to decide whether to go with Cranberry White Chocolate or Dark Chocolate Macadamia, opted […] Read More
Chewy Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Those who know my Tiny Kitchen Assistant know of his love of all things mint chocolate, from the mint chocolate chip muffins that he came up with as a preschooler to the bright green ice cream from Marianne’s in Santa Cruz. So when he said, “Hey, I have an idea for a really good cookie!” […] Read More
“Why Not Make Chicken Soup” Soup
The other night, after finishing with our store-bought rotisserie chicken, my husband decided to take the carcass, toss it in our large stock pot, cover it with water and simmer. I steered clear of this process, what with being kind of squeamish about meat that resembles its original critter, so I didn’t realize that the […] Read More
The Turkey
I know that people swear by all kinds of turkey cooking methods, but this is the only method I’ve ever used and it works beautifully. I don’t stuff my turkeys. I don’t baste. I don’t put anything under the skin. And in spite of all of the anecdotal evidence that says that my turkey should […] Read More
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