From the category archives:

Meatless

Sweet Potato, Chili and Lime Soup

This Sweet Potato, Chili and Lime Soup is so chock-full of the good stuff, it literally burned up the immersion blender. No matter, squishing harder thru the sieve produced the chili-good results.

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Cherry Tomato Crockpot Soup

When a friend hands you 100+ homegrown, very ripe cherry tomatoes, just say THANKS and grab the slow cooker. This Fresh Cherry Tomato Soup crockpot recipe is a great idea, if I do say so myself. Sure, I could have made a ton of salsa, or salads out the wazoo, but I worked for the [...]

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Comfort Food ~ Chile Cheese Pie

Today, I could write flowery “there’s a touch of autumn in the air” prose. Noooo, this is about cheese. And sour cream. Things suited to be baked up with rice, chilies and hot sauce for a Chile Cheese Pie.

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Fresh Beets and Farfalle

This has been a Big Summer o’ Beets. Not complaining; here’s another beet-infused recipe. Honesty, if I tried harder I would find a whole wheat bowtie pasta, but this is DAMN GOOD. There, I said it – we attempt to eat whole wheat but luv the white stuff. Fresh Beets and Farfalle is a [...]

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Gorgeous Green Greek-ish Salad

Some lovely things, I’ll just never be in real life — Southern is one. Another is Greek. I love Greeks. My high school/college posse included two Greek brothers, John and George, who provided a peek into an ethos far removed from mine. They may have been native Californians, but they were GREEK. Loud. Multi-generational home. [...]

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Jalapeno Lime Coleslaw for a Crowd

OOPS, forgot to take a “hero shot” photo of my Jalapeno Lime Coleslaw before we dug in at Laura and Jeff’s July 4th gig. No worries, it looks like any other coleslaw, but but but… has a tang and a punch, really worth checking out yourself.

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Red Lentils, Tomatoes & Mushrooms ~ A Hearty Bowl ‘o Vegan Eats

Following on the heels of a flubber-inducing two week holiday (read my going Vegan for a day on cruise), it was time to detox from all the great grub. Mushrooms convinced me I needed to cook them pronto; they were growing frantically. What, YOU don’t grow your own mushrooms?

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Cruise Eating ~ What Most Passengers Will Probably Never Do

Say hi to two cool Texans we met on our cruise: Kevin and Teri. OK, enough about them… Let’s talk cruise food: on cruises, you eat often and well. Anything. Any time. From modest all-American hot dogs to heady caviar-lobster-prime rib blowouts. So here I was, Day 3 of a Regent Seven Seas Voyager journey [...]

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Fresh Herb and Mushroom Risotto for Meatless Monday

My Monday breakfast was leftover Fresh Herb and Mushroom Risotto. And if I hadn’t pigged out this weekend (Temecula… upcoming post), I would have topped this with a poached egg. Leftover risotto makes me as happy as just-prepared. I luv makin’ it and I luv eatin’ it. Today, my challenge to you is to throw [...]

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The Best Baked Corn Recipe I’ve Tried

Interesting what a smidge of sugar does for a savory corn recipe. This was published last Christmas in Parade magazine. I appreciated the short list of staple ingredients. When someone refers to a recipe as “Best,” that doesn’t mean much anymore. But when Larry goes back for a second portion, whoa… yes, I’d say this really [...]

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Champinones Rellenos ~ Guest Post by Julieta of Lindaraxa’s Garden

FROM JULIETA: I am delighted that Patti has asked me to share this easy tapas recipe for Stuffed Mushrooms, or Champinones Rellenos, with her readers. My name is Julieta and I blog about my cooking and recipes at Lindaraxa’s Garden.

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Mom’s Scalloped Potatoes & Her Thing About Butter

Let’s see if I paid attention to how my mom, Gloria, made her scalloped potatoes. She was always peeling potatoes; there were seven of us. And she had no recipe box if I remember, just a mental arsenal of foods we would consume without debate. There were no extra items for any fussy eater. Either [...]

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Baked Olives in Cheese Appetizer

Another Wisconsin inspiration. Dinner party at Barbara and David’s, the Wisc. connection is Barbara. Her mom was from Kewaunee, Wisc. My parents are both from Kewaunee, Wisc. If this doesn’t sound odd, we all live in Los Angeles, including the folks, who only reconnected when we kids made the hometown discovery. Kewaunee is an teensy [...]

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Menus for Meatless Mondays

These will be two busy weeks. Saturday, I conduct Camp Blogaway Day Camp. The following weekend, another camp takes place, Camp GetAway for Mothers & Others. WHEW, but I am still thinking about YOU, my friendly readers. I wanted to post something useful, yet let myself off the hook for cooking, photographing, recipe writing. Aha! [...]

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Pumpkin Cream Soup

My week was bookended by funerals. Tuesday, longtime friend Vicki of Pink-Link laid her Grandma to rest, 100 years old. It was a sweet sendoff. Then Saturday, we said goodbye to Paul Conrad, my parents’ four-decade pal and fellow party animal. In my youth, when their “gang” shot pool at our house, Conrad’s booming “GET [...]

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Grilled Badda Bing Flatbread Pizzas

OK, I admit that my little pizza is not a pretty shape. And… a teensy bit burned on the edge, too. I decided not to Photoshop my mistake, but rather be honest and point it out. My oven rack was too close to the heat in the broiler, that was the source of the problem. [...]

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Mushroom, Basil and Goat Cheese Lasagna Roll-Ups

There’s this thing out there called Wordless Wednesday. I think food bloggers tire of writing posts, but have some nice food photos to share, so they use Wednesday to get caught up. I like the idea. So, consider this an Almost Wordless Wednesday post. I created this Mushroom, Basil and Goat Cheese Lasagna Roll-Ups for [...]

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Simple San Diego Sandwich

It may look unassuming, but I’d been dreaming about this sandwich recently. THIS was the quintessential sammy of my San Diego college years and a defining food for me. Back when I was “college poor,” hanging with cheap friends, I rarely ate in restaurants. But I remember this sandwich, practically every San Diego casual menu [...]

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Lemon and Goat Cheese Pasta

Here is last night’s dinner — an adaptation of the easiest recipe imaginable penned by friend Erika of In Erika’s Kitchen. Her Meyer Lemon Spaghetti with Goat Cheese spoke to me. And I hadn’t planned on photographing the meal; I was just interested in eating it. But Larry said, “no, shoot it.” Wayadaminnit, that’s strange… [...]

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Corn & Cheddar Chowder

It may be summer weather where you are, but it’s still June Gloom here in Los Angeles. Soup is fine. This one of corn and potatoes, seasoned with Mexican spices and topped with cheese is only 233 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving, according to Martha. I tore the recipe out of a [...]

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Crockpot Overnight Apple Oatmeal

I’m just thrilled with the fact that steel cut oatmeal can be easy to make. Waking up to the aroma of hot cinnamon and apples is lovely — breakfast is ready even before the coffee perks! This recipe includes fruit and nuts, healthy.

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Guest Post by Kelly, at The Pink Apron: Broccoli, Apple and Peanut Soup

From Kelly: Patti graciously asked me to pen a post while she is away on vacation. She will be helping me out by sharing a post on mine as well. I write for the blog The Pink Apron, which I consider a marriage of from-scratch techniques and modern flavors. I wanted to share with you [...]

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Guest Post by Elise at Hungry Hungry Hippie: Spaghetti Squash Mexicana

From Patti: Elise of Hungry Hungry Hippie is my ‘lil cousin. She’s vegan, a voracious food blogger, and a cardiac RN in NYC. On top of that, she and Kyle are getting married next summer. My rule in life? Always ask such “Type A’s” for favors like guest posts while I go on a stress-free [...]

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Westwood Village Farmers Market and How to Sauté Mushrooms

One recent Wednesday, I wanted to walk to our Westwood Village Farmers Market but had forgotten the hours. Google, google, google… where the heck is their website? All I found were press releases from last summer’s reopening after a lengthy absence due to construction, and plenty about our OTHER Farmers Market at the Westwood VA [...]

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How to Make Perfect, Best-Ever, Excellent Mashed Potatoes

What you’re looking at are riced russet potatoes (not actually rice). It’s a step before whuupin’ em with butter and milk to make mmmm mashed potatoes. While volunteering this week at Project Angel Food, we prepped 250 lbs. of potatoes for Chef Adrian. Then, they were cooked in a humongous brazier, mashed in a monstrous [...]

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Andersen’s Pea Soup

Pea Soup Andersen’s is a California classic for road trippers up beautiful Highway 101. Heading to our Santa Ynez wine country, setting for the movie, Sideways? Visiting the showstopper Hearst Castle? Blasting thru from LA to SFO? Pull off in Buellton for a bathroom break and incredibly luscious all-you-can-eat split pea soup. I love the [...]

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Paula Deen’s Warm Potato Salad (almost)

What would YOU bring to a potluck of food bloggers? Thanks to blogger In Erika’s Kitchen for pulling this growing group together! I hoped offering a side dish would give me wiggle room to ponder… salad? Veggie? Rice? Pasta? There would be husbands and kids. And of course, really good cooks (those dang food bloggers). [...]

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Vietnamese Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce

How making fresh pumpkin puree got me to prepare Vietnamese Nuoc Cham Sauce is like six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. A) Can’t find Libby’s canned pumpkin. B) Buy fresh pumpkins, roast and puree. C) Cook some sweet things with the puree, burn out, a good supply still in the freezer. D) Decide to [...]

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Thyme and Goat Cheese Tart Topped with Mixed Tender Greens in Champagne Vinaigrette

This isn’t exactly how we eat around our home, putting salad on top of a cheese tart. Yet, as swank as this appeared, our “Thyme and Goat Cheese Tart Topped with Mixed Tender Greens in Champagne Vinaigrette” (whew, the name alone is a mouthful) was neither pretentious nor weird. This was the salad course during [...]

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Lemon Lentils

Autumn ~ the automatic trigger for my tummy to crave comfort food. Ordinarily, that means mashed potatoes or mac n’ cheese, but the ol’ hippie in me decided to cook lentils with lemon. Larry scarfed them down, and he doesn’t have an ounce of hippie in him. Lentils are legumes. Cheap eats. No soaking. Nutritional [...]

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Larry’s Pesto Pizza

This is another installment in my series, “Hands Off, Ladies, He’s Mine.” Larry made dinner again recently and decided to create a spin-off of his most excellent pizza. If you are skilled at making homemade pizza, then you can become comfortable playing with it. Larry does this on occasion, deciding fun toppings and layouts. This [...]

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Tri-Color Bleu Cheese Potato Salad

Picture a Sunday picnic at a countryside winery with good friends who like to cook and eat. Homemade gourmet, local wine and a tinge of sun-kissed cheeks on a glorious Southern California afternoon really makes you believe that “life is good.” Larry and I enjoy Gourmet Clubs, which amounts to three or four couples agreeing [...]

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Mini Basil and Goat Cheese Turnovers

Dinner party for four here. Casual menu: Larry made his Excellent Pizza. I was excited for dessert, Butterscotch Pudding. But while shopping for ingredients, it struck me… I hadn’t planned an appetizer. Wracking my brain (well, not wracking, but thinking harder than normal while shopping), my sis-in-law’s recent pool party snacks struck me as do-able. [...]

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Egyptian Tomato Soup

This is a shout-out to a terrific collection of Aussies and Kiwis (plus a few Americans and one Canadian) from our trip to Egypt. Together, we covered long distances, soaked up history, rode camels, climbed pyramids, got our Sphinx fix, and ate lots of mediocre food. Egyptian food is not so great. Don’t drink the [...]

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Asparagus and Parmesan Risotto

“Anyone can make risotto, it’s impossible to screw up,” friend and former client, Carey, said. We worked together when she was with Waterford Wedgwood. And we worked together before that when she was with Kahlua. My little foodie boutique firm did PR for those brands plus a bunch of others. Carey told me she makes [...]

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Fresh Onion Soup for One

Not French Onion, FRESH onion. This recipe turned out about a thousand times better than I anticipated, and also rendered a masterful little recipe that serves one. Picture this… you are at the beach house, a solo traveler. By Yourself. ONE person. Who wants to be alone. And who hopefully wants to cook because I [...]

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Fresh Basil Quiche with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

It worked, he ate it. TWO portions. I know that Larry is a Real Man, and now I know he will Eat Quiche. Maybe it was the All Butter Pie Shell that put it over the top because nuttin’ tastes bedda dan budduh. We humans really are easily swayed. The stigma quiche picked up via [...]

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President Reagan’s Macaroni and Cheese

Mac ‘n Cheese has recently become a signature family dish, thanks to my sister-in-law, Lynne (who I call “Sissy”). Last Thanksgiving, she brought a whopping slab of it to my sister Gretchen’s big feast; Sissy apparently made way too much for another need and this one was a spare. (Imagine… a SPARE mac ‘n cheese!) [...]

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Chilled Gazpacho

Somebody tell me: why does any vacation now result in me coming home with a “muffin top” (aka pot belly)? I’m technically a lean-ish person, but lately, yikes. Even places with not great food, I channel Miss Piggy. Thus, when we get back home to our “grind of choice” (as my friend, Cathi calls it), [...]

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Funeral Soup

My grammar school friend, Val, lost her mom to cancer and the service was held at Holy Cross Cemetery, where my father-in-law is also buried. Being there made me think about the circumstances of his death, and my pot of Funeral Soup. This is a meatless version, but after I photographed it, leftover Turkey Meatloaf [...]

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