Gazpacho is the quintessential summer soup, showcasing the season's darlings of ripe tomatoes and crisp cucumbers. This version uses only cucumbers for a gorgeous green hue. I served this as the second course at a few private events with Anni of The Quail & Olive. Years ago I had the pleasure of having gazpacho at our Spanish friends' house! And I asked her her secret because the color was beautiful. Two words: olive oil. She said to add more olive oil than I would think nece

This month the Movies & Munchies crew is throwing it back to the 80s for a double feature. I invited the group to watch either, or both: Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Goonies. I actually watched them both and decided to post, first, a recipe inspired by Ferris Bueller's Day Off. On the Screen image from Amazon.com I am pretty sure that I saw this in the theatres when it was released in 1986! And it is an immoirtal classic; Jake and I definitely introduced our boys to it wh

Here we are at the seventeenth installment of our 2026 Alphabet Challenge that was started by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. As in years past, we post every two weeks with a recipe inspired by a certain letter. It's like Sesame Street for grown ups! And I love it, so, here we are with the letter 'q'... Q is for... Baked Quail Egg XO Sauce Appetizers by Food Lust People Love Cauliflower, Onion, and Pancetta Quiche by Karen’s Kitchen Stories Fresh Corn Quiche by A Day

Stacy of Food Lust People Love, Sue of Palatable Pastime, Rebekah of Making Miracles, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, and I coordinate this low-stress group; we only participate when we are inspired.I am hosting this week. I told the group: "August 19th is Potato Day! Let's share any recipes that feature potatoes. Roasted, mashed, sliced, fried, whatever!" The Rest of the Spud Spectacular Appe Batata Vada by Sneha's Recipe Baked Herby Potato Wedges by Sizzling Tastebu

I am catching up on some countries I never posted for Eat the World. This is from Slovakia. I'll be honest: I was tempted to skip Slovakia given that it was once a single country with Czechia - yes, I am old enough to remember when it was called 'Czechoslovakia' - and I previously shared Zelňačka (Czech Sauerkraut Soup) and Kapustnica (Slovak Sauerkraut Soup) looks remarkably similar. But I decided that was cheating and found a different recipe to make. Zemiakové Placky What

I am catching up on some countries I never posted for Eat the World. This is from Ecuador. I had never heard of this dish, but it looked filling and delicious. It was! I researched and discovered that this is a traditional hominy dish from the highlands region of Ecuador with the entire province of Azuay claiming it as their specialty. It is traditionally served with slices of queso fresco and black coffee. I served it with fried plantains, a corn tortilla, and black coffee.

I am catching up on some countries I never posted for Eat the World. This is from Australia. Dagwood Dogs. That's really corndogs for us non-Aussies. Years ago, my kids discovered a love of corndogs so much so that as a hot lunch option at school, R picked a corndog for his first time at not bringing a lunch from home in kindergarten. He sang a little ditty everyday for a week: "five days to corndog day...three days to corndog day..." all the way to "today is corndog day!" C

I am catching up on some countries I never posted for Eat the World. This is from Guyana. Guyana, a country on South America’s North Atlantic coast, is known for its dense rainforest. It is English-speaking and its residents love cricket and calypso music; culturally, it's connected to the Caribbean. Hot pepper sauce is a staple in any Caribbean household, with each cooking having his or her own method or process. I was inspired to make my own hot sauce. My version ferments f

I am catching up on some countries I never posted for Eat the World. These are two dishes from Scotland. Cullen Skink The name of this rich soup comes from the fishing village of Cullen, in Northern Scotland. "Skink" is a soup made originally from a shin of beef; it is sometimes called Smoked Haddock Chowder. 1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and finely diced 1 onion, diced 2 shallots, diced pat of butter splash of olive oil 4 potatoes, washed and diced

I am catching up on some countries I never posted for Eat the World. This is a dish from Lesotho that I have been making for over fifteen years after I first made it for a South African-themed dinner party. Bobotie is a slightly sweet, spiced dish with ground meat in an egg custard with bay leaves floated on top. I've made bobotie before - for Brian's South African birthday soiree back in 2010 - and it was a hit. So, when I realized that this is also a traditional dish in Les

This month the Eat the World crew is traveling by tabletop to Norway. Let's be real: if you were watching the World Cup, there is no way you didn't walk away with a little bit of a crush on that team and those players! So I picked it as our destination. Read more about the Eat the World project here. Memories of Norway Unlike most of the countries in our Cooking Around the World Adventure or this Eat the World challenge, I have actually been to Norway. A couple of times, actu

Stacy of Food Lust People Love, Sue of Palatable Pastime, Rebekah of Making Miracles, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, and I coordinate this low-stress group; we only participate when we are inspired. Sneha is hosting this week and asked us to share recipes using fresh vegetables. I am always eating vegetables! This is a delight to share, especially since it requires absolutely no cooking! Here's the rest of the crew's offerings... Creamy Italian Ranch Corn & Green Bea

This is the dessert I served for a private event on the patio at The Quail & Olive. I love mixing the unexpected in most of my dishes, but especially in my desserts. Vinegar on your dessert? Yep! LEARN THIS PROCESS! Panna cotta is a creamy, delicious treat that works well as a dessert canvas for whatever flavors you want. The base is cream-based, but I have added in goat cheese, yogurt, and even coconut milk into mine. This version uses an elderberry-orange jam at the bottom.

This month the combined wine writers are sharing Summer pairings with Spanish wines. Our host is David of Cooking Chat. I have long been a fan of Spanish wines. Both reds and whites. I see I have poured a 2017 Losada Bierzo. made of Mencía grapesl a 2018 Enrique Mendoza Alicante La Tremenda Monastrell; a Pazo Cilleiro Albariño Rias Baixas that friends brought back from Spain for me; and a 2019 Alvaro Palacios Camins del Priorat just to name a few. So, I am looking forward to

Here we are at the sixteenth installment of our 2026 Alphabet Challenge that was started by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. And I am all caught up!! Woohoo, As in years past, we post every two weeks with a recipe inspired by a certain letter. It's like Sesame Street for grown ups! And I love it. So, here we are with the letter 'p'... P is for... Airy Focaccia with Pecorino Romano and Herbs by Karen’s Kitchen Stories Bacon and Pork Patties by Food Lust People Love Ital

If there's one thing from Portugal that I like more than their wine, it's their seafood dishes. One of our family favorites is Carne de Porco à Alentejana, a dish with pork and clams. But Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato is also a favorite. It has a simple, but wonderful buttery, garlic flavor. Ingredients 1 to 2 pounds live clams in the shell (I used Littlenecks) 3 Tablespoons olive oil 8 Tablespoons butter 4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled and diced juice from 1 organic lemon 1 Tablespoon

I have been doing a dive into Portuguese recipes in preparation for a book group later this month. Everything I serve will be vegetarian since one of the members is strictly vegetarian, but I am loving the flavor profiles of the other dishes. So, we are eating a lot of Portuguese dishes this month. Carne de Porco à Alentejana is a classic dish from Portugal's Alentejo region that uniquely combines marinated pork with clams. This dish is traditionally served over a bed of cube

I missed a bunch of weeks of the 2026 Alphabet Challenge that was started by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. As in years past, we post every two weeks with a recipe inspired by a certain letter. It's like Sesame Street for grown ups! And I love it though I have been remiss at participating regularly this year. So, I am playing catch-up. Here I am at letter 'n.' And that means I am actually caught up! N is for... Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Beef Stew with Noodles A Day i

I missed a bunch of weeks of the 2026 Alphabet Challenge that was started by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. As in years past, we post every two weeks with a recipe inspired by a certain letter. It's like Sesame Street for grown ups! And I love it though I have been remiss at participating regularly this year. So, I am playing catch-up. Here I am at letter 'm'... M is for... Grilled BBQ Meatball Skewers from Jolene’s Recipe Journal Mambazha Pulissery from Mayuri’s Jik

I love when farmers' markets abound with all the summer darlings: zucchini, summer squash, peaches, tomatoes, and fresh corn! Stacy of Food Lust People Love, Sue of Palatable Pastime, Rebekah of Making Miracles, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, and I coordinate this low-stress group; we only participate when we are inspired. Wendy is hosting this week and gave us this prompt: "Corn is ripe and ready for the pickin'. Please share your favorite "corny" recipe with us tod