Rhubarb Apple Crisp

Summer is a time for sharing the excesses of nature’s bounty among friends. Recently, my friend Loie asked if I was interested in some fresh rhubarb given to her by a neighbor kid. While I’ve never used the celery-like ingredient in cooking, I saw the gift would be a good excuse to be adventurous. It [...]

Tuna Pasta Salad: Remixed

Attend any small town summer potluck and you are sure to find a Tupperware bowl full of tuna pasta salad. These small town pasta creations always seem involve “famous, world class, or Big Dave’s”. Every small town has a Big Dave right? Believe me, I’ve had my fair share of small town potluck pasta salads [...]

Sweet & Tangy Cucumbers

If I see yet another flake of snow this year, I’m going to scream. Pittsburgh was hit pretty hard with several major snow storms and it has been months since I’ve seen something other than white in my front yard. Even Sophie is over it. With the official day of spring just around the corner, [...]

Radish & Spinach Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

I felt like a corporate domestic goddess while sifting through my large stack of food, home and business magazines. As I was tearing out the recipes that inspired me, I was immediately taken back by the simplicity of this salad. True to the photo in the Food & Wine Magazine, this salad was ambrosial in [...]

Grilled Pancakes with Balsamic Strawberries

One of my classic tricks for looking impressive, while entertaining, is to incorporate a little showmanship into the preparation of the food.  No one will notice the pancake batter came from a mix.  What they will talk about in the end is how creative it was to use the grill to prepare such a fabulous [...]

Lemon Vegetable Pasta Salad

When I’m in the kitchen, I get into a zone.  It’s hard to have anyone help me because my head typically spins 100 miles per minute as I’m stirring, chopping and baking.  Time is always of the essence when it comes to styling the food for a photo.  I try to plan in advance how [...]

Whole Grain Pasta Salad

Spring is in the air with a light aroma of charcoal and grilled meats hovering over my neighborhood.  In the back of my mind, I can hear the sizzle of a juicy steak hitting the hot grates of a shiny new grill.  I’m looking forward to this weekend when I will attempt to find an [...]