I had something similar to this pie in Italy a few years ago, and I never forgot. Orange and chocolate is a fairly usual pairing, especially in winter. But chocolate and lemon, which I love, is rarer. It is, in my opinion, a truly celestial conjunction! This ricotta pie takes full advantage of the lemon ricotta that pops up in grocery stores here this time of year. If you can find it, fine. If not, no worries, just grab some regular (full fat, please) ricotta, a few lemons and we can go from there. This rich, eggy, decadent, creamy pie is my idea of not just a dessert, but also a winter’s morn ..read more

The answer may surprise you. Apparently, in the country of Georgia, there is something that is often referred to as Georgian pizza, but it really isn’t pizza at all. It is, in fact, Khachapuri. The crust is make with yogurt, and is basically a sort of quick bread. I’m lazy, though, which you know if you’ve been reading this blog for long. That’s why I use Trader Joe’s pizza crust. I stretch it out to fill a cookie sheet, and add a more-or-less traditional filling/topping. The thing that makes this different from any pizza I’ve eaten (and that covers a lot of ground) is the egg. You grate and ..read more

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that even though it is called “and then make soup” it rarely has anything to do with soup. This time, though, it does, actually. Bear with me here. It is more or less what passes for fall here in central Texas, meaning that temperatures are in the low 80s for the most part, and I’m getting close to turning my oven on again. I’m craving fall colors, flavors, and general seasonal je ne sais quoi. No pumpkin spice this time, I promise, but curry seems to fill the bill nicely. I have been known to make soups for all seasons, but any buttern ..read more

First, some thank yous: Thank you to Shveta for arranging the AFBA happy hours, and particularly for this most recent one with Soley and Tequila Sheela. And many thanks to Soley and Tequila Sheela for providing us with the adorable and delicious “Awesome Organic Margarita” kits! How cute is this? adorable (and delicious!) The three bottles come in a cute and well packed box, everything but the glass and the ice (oh, and bring your own lime). We had a grand time, and I learned a lot! And, this mango margarita appealed to my sweet tooth. The fruity, rich, tropical flavors went down all too eas ..read more

Tomatoes, especially home-grown, are a summer joy. This year we’re having a fine tomato season here in central Texas. I bought several bags of Cidery raised produce from my friends at Texas Keeper. They opened for pick-up/take-out (they still are open, and they ship!!) and offered the community all sorts of goodies in addition to their ciders. Anyway, I ended up with a wild variety of tomatoes – large, extra large (this is Texas, after all), some Romas, and some cherryish single bites. They were beautiful, smelled wonderful, and were more than I could possibly eat before they went bad. So, I m ..read more

I must admit that it would be easy to give in to temptation and just bake my heart out, but I’m trying to be reasonable, which if you know me you know is not my best thing! Still, when life hands you lemons… well, you know. So I started casting about for an easy (because I’m lazy) lemon bar-ish recipe. I found a ton of them! Seems I’m not the only one hungering for tart with sweet. This is my riff on the one-bowl idea. (Un)fortunately it couldn’t be simpler. I think next time I’ll add a half tsp or so of lemon extract, and maybe some mini-chocolate chips, and yes, there will be a next time – t ..read more

Oh, that Devils River Whiskey… they’ve come up with something new and once again invited some of us Austin food bloggers to test drink it. As before, they were *very* generous and sent me a few samples of the bourbons we’d already tried, as well as several samples of the new one they wanted us to try. Thanks!! the devil you say! Now I had a plan, really I did. It involved baking brownies with their bourbon. And I thought it made even more sense since this new flavor is not just bourbon, but *coffee bourbon*. And, since I love mocha, you see my thought? But, we all know about those well-laid ..read more

Last week I attended, virtually of course, a happy hour. It was the monthly Austin Food Bloggers Alliance get-together, and this time our host/sponsor was Devil’s River Whiskey. Now, if you know me, you know I’m not really much of a drinker. And if you know me well, you know I won’t drink when I’m out if I have to drive myself home. But you also know I’m curious. So, when the opportunity to participate from home showed up I grabbed it. I must say, the folks at Devil’s River were very generous! They shipped me (and each of us, of course) a variety of their products, each product tagged with inf ..read more

Sometimes the simplest foods bring comfort. For me, one of these things is carrot salad. Now when I was a kid I must admit, I wasn’t a fan. That too sweet even for me shredded carrot and raisin with mayo stuff just wasn’t my cuppa. It was often soggy and just uninspired. I was never really a fan of carrot salad until I had it in France. There you can buy it prepared in the supermarkets in little tubs, if you don’t have a kitchen. Divine! I think the secret is two-part. One is the texture, the other is the dressing. Here’s the thing, this version, which is basically David Lebovitz’s recipe is a ..read more

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, or if you live here (central Texas) you know that February (and hopefully March) is our fleeting spring and therefor is yard clean-up season. I try to jump on it before it gets too hot out, weed while the earth is soft and plant now now now! That said, a girl’s gotta eat, and right now the weather is cool enough that having the stove or oven on is actually pleasant. But, time is another matter and if you know me, you know I don’t have time for fussy recipes no matter what time of year. That is what brings me here today. Yes, I’m a lazy cook. I have ..read more