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.
9:30 PM – I was not thirsty. That is an important observation. Just a few hours earlier, I was one of a collection of food bloggers sampling a new line of frozen soups: Bertolli Premium Meal Soups for Two.
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 [...]
Lucky timing, rain hit the morning after the Valley Performing Arts Center black tie opening. My little satin pumps woulda been ruined! There I was, in line for the potty with Calista Flockhart; Harrison Ford was waiting out in the hall. I people-watched next to Doris Roberts. Moved my tootsies so Beau Bridges could scoot [...]
Close to three weeks touring India with co-travelers meant a lot of talk about food. At one point, we started chatting “signature recipes.” People tend to want to tell you about their best recipes, and I certainly want to have them. That is how I scored Gil’s Clam Chowder recipe.
Feeling FAT? New year, new plans to get the muffin top under control. And seriously, few foods can do it like soup. This is my recipe Roundup of Homemade Soups on this blog. I make a lot of soups. Once upon a time, I worked for the Campbell Soup company as a foodservice sales rep; [...]
It isn’t often that I cook with beef. I’m CHEAP, remember? But Omaha Steaks was having a sale and that’s my (frugal) chance to fill the freezer with steaks and burgers. Somehow I added Tri Tips to that order, apparently part of a package. Hmmm, really cold weather and chunks of beef at my culinary [...]
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! [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A Greek encounter this week: exchanged a quick pleasantry with actress Rita Wilson, but I won’t tell you where (hey, this is LA, celebs are everywhere). I love Greeks and I love Greek food, thanks to college pals, brothers John and George (who were my high school pals, too). Their Yayas cooked yummy stuff for [...]
The Gourmet Club tries to meet four times a year. That’s four couples, each responsible for a theme, a date at their home and wrangling the calendars of the rest of us. We’ve had some luscious eats: Cuban, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Men’s Meal (Hawaiian is upcoming) in the three-plus years this has been going [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Things to cook with pumpkin were getting boring here, so I thought an Asian flavored soup would be different. I took this ‘n that from about five recipes and came up with a pot of flavorful, thick Chicken Pumpkin Lemongrass Soup. What gave it Asian oomph was fresh-cut lemongrass from our patio. And juice from [...]
Another name for the recipe could be, “What’s in the produce bin that needs eating NOW?” With a teensy bit of leftover meat, Asian-ish veggies and some noodles, Noodle Bowl is served. One challenge to this dish is ~ it makes you sweat. Not spicy sweat, but steamy sweat. Great for winter, but we eat [...]
Larry takes me on some pretty interesting dates, like last week’s Laserium Beatles Show (remember the LA Griffith Observatory? Now it’s in Hollywood). As we left the theater, Larry noticed that Beso, Eva Longoria’s uber hip restaurant was across the street, so we stopped in for a wildly expensive glass of wine and some Beautiful [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
I’m not a slave to homemade stock, but I make it when I have the “stuff” that goes into it. Once you do a batch, you will LOVE it. Today’s is earmarked for Vietnamese Pho Soup which requires a special (but totally worthwhile) trip to the local Asian market for “sticks and leaves,” as Larry [...]
This recipe post is being updated for our current almost-winter season. The weather here in LA only got cold this week, so last night’s dinner was steaming homemade chicken noodle soup in the attempt to warm us from the inside-out. If you own a crockpot, print this frugal, filling recipe.
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), [...]
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 [...]
I'm Patti, a longtime food pro who's been married to Larry since the earth cooled. We live and cook in LA, hit the road often for adventure and write about it all here. To receive Larry-approved recipes, travel tips and lifestyle tricks, click here to join my email list.