Last updated on May 11th, 2019 I have a habit of inviting people over for dinner, but then making them wait over an hour to eat while I prepare it. I’m imagining all of my hungry friends shaking their heads yes in unison. One day I’ll get the timing right (as in, I’ll stop waiting until…
Sides
Oboro Tofu: Silken Tofu Curds
Last updated on April 19th, 2020 Is there one restaurant dish that you could eat for dinner every night? For me, that’s the oboro tofu from Eiji that Angi introduced me to a few months back. Many food-loving folks in SF are probably shaking their heads yup right along with me. It’s a dish that doesn’t boast with…
Ginger Miso Acorn Squash with Toasted Pistachios
Last updated on September 19th, 2018 My mom’s here for the week hanging out with me (and doing dishes) while Lucas is in China. I’ve been spending my days jumping between meetings and stretches of dissertation writing, so when I popped over here to tell you about this Ginger Miso Acorn Squash dish, I was stumped. I turned…
Apple and Sausage Cornbread Stuffing with Sage {gluten-free}
Last updated on November 27th, 2019 Even though I’ve dreamed of city life since I was just a kid hoping to one day make it big in the movies, I’m a small-town country girl at heart. I like to think I’ve learned a bit of city street smarts over the years since I moved away from…
Gluten-free Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread
Last updated on April 8th, 2019 A couple of weeks ago, I invited my friend Dane over for chili and cornbread, but instead made him cook the whole meal himself. I’m an excellent host. Let’s back up. You see, that night, Angi and I let her boyfriend Dane crash our weekly dinner date while Lucas was…
Baked white bean and artichoke dip
Last updated on April 16th, 2019 We should probably go pick up some lottery tickets. At least the low-investment scratch-off kind. You see, we’re on a winning streak. How’d you get so lucky? I don’t have an answer for that, so I’ll just brag about it instead. Our good fortune extends beyond how lucky I feel that I got to…
Grilled pineapple tofu skewers with spicy mango BBQ sauce
Last updated on April 8th, 2019 When it feels like summer in the Bay Area, you need to grab on and relish in it as much as possible until it inevitably disappears behind the fog again. With a sunny holiday weekend approaching, there’s no better way to celebrate than by lighting up the grill. And…
Zucchini arepas: zucchini corn cakes with cheese, salsa, and guacamole
Last updated on April 8th, 2019 When I first went off to college, I’d regularly call my mom from the grocery store to ask, “in what part of the store would I find _____ ?” Anything from salsa to olives to pizza sauce. For me, this was the adult manifestation of watching my parents drive from one place to the next without…
Chipotle avocado spread
Last updated on April 16th, 2019 I’m coming clean about my most annoying habit, but making it up to you by offering up this spicy chipotle avocado spread. Smear a smidgen on your next sandwich and you’ll have to forgive me for the sins I’m about to own up to. You know that person who…
Pan-fried sole & mixed wild rice with roasted grapes (gluten-free)
Last updated on April 8th, 2019 I’ve been in a rut with my dissertation lately. When you’re in a rut, you reflect. Reflect on what’s keeping you from making the progress that you need. Then maybe you can figure out how to get over that and just write your little heart out. And I think I’ve discovered…
Summer squash gratin with nutmeg béchamel
Last updated on April 8th, 2019 When the doorbell rings and you find a 2-foot tall little girl standing there holding an armful of fresh zucchini, you can’t help but smile. She’s shyly grinning while barely hanging on to the three large squash that are about the size of her arms. She hardly says a…
Spinach artichoke dip stuffed mushrooms
Last updated on April 10th, 2019 Despite attending two Pac 10 schools, I have very little interest in March Madness. I feel pretty much the same about it as I do about the Superbowl. If my friends are watching, I’m more than happy to make finger food all day and chat during commercial breaks. Except…
BBQ tofu bites
Last updated on March 30th, 2014 As a California native living in The Bay Area, I really should have been much more interested in the Superbowl than I was (or ever have been for that matter). While in Chico making wedding crafts for the past two weeks (Lucas in China, again), my dad turned on…
Pretzel bites with four distinct dipping sauces
Last updated on September 15th, 2014 Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from studying to spend an entire day in the kitchen. Well at least the second half of the day that you didn’t spend sleeping in. A group of Lucas’s college friends (and now my new friends!) threw a potluck on Sunday to…
Potluck potato salad
Last updated on March 30th, 2014 Turns out that delicious homemade potluck-style potato salad is a bit of an enigma. Everybody’s mom, aunt, grandma, and third cousin brings an award-worthy heaping bowl of it to the family cookout, but no one will divulge their recipe. “I do it by taste,” they say, as if it’s…
Arugula and shaved fennel salad with oranges and honey cider vinaigrette
Last updated on November 7th, 2014 Up until now, I’d only ever eaten raw fennel in salads out at restaurants. I loved it, but I’d just never prepared it myself. I rarely cook fennel either, for that matter. In fact, you might recall the eggplant & fennel gratin I set out to bake a couple of weeks…
Lemon and garlic vegetable quinoa (vegan and gluten-free!)
Last updated on June 8th, 2014 Quinoa has been on my to-do list for a while now, but every time I get ready to make it, I chicken out, worrying that it’ll end up flavorless. I don’t know why I’m such a wuss, it’s not like I’ve never cooked quinoa before…just not without a recipe,…
Seared swiss chard and leeks topped with crispy bacon
Last updated on January 30th, 2014 This chard lasted less than an hour from being picked to being served in a deliciously fresh dish. On Sunday, Lucas and I visited my cousin Scott’s urban farm down in Hayward and came home with a bag bursting with freshly harvested citrus and greens. We first made a…
Trio of non-traditional bruschetta
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 My absolute favorite restaurant in Philly that has a frequent diner’s card – for every $500 spend, you receive a $50 gift card. Whenever I eat there with friends, the entire bill gets tallied on my card, and let’s just say, I’ve earned multiple $50 gift cards. My Philadelphia…
Crispy smashed potatoes
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 When deciding on the sides for the Texas style beef brisket, I thought back to our BBQ experiences on our trip to Texas. Baked beans, mac and cheese, coleslaw, and potato salad. I couldn’t make baked beans or mac and cheese in such a short amount of prep time…
Lemon and parmesan baked artichoke hearts
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 I’m sure it’s clear by now just how much I love artichokes (and I’m fortunate to live so close to where they’re farmed). Whenever I see them for less than a dollar, I can’t pass by without adding a couple to my cart – even if I already have…
Kale, ruby red grapefruit, and pine nut salad
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 In addition to my citrus kick, I’ve been on a mission to figure out a way to cook kale. Truth be told, it’s always scared me; I once baked kale chips and they were a little bitter. I never ate kale growing up, and I’m not sure I’ve ever…
Frost kissed artichoke
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 Once, while out at a nice restaurant, Lucas and I observed a patron at the table next to us using a fork and knife to cut and eat her artichoke; I imagine that after unsuccessfully chewing on the artichoke’s tough leaves she thought, “how disgusting.” Meanwhile, Lucas and I…
Crunchy lemon green beans
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 My namesake, “Big Sarah” (although I’m the taller one now), is an excellent home chef. She knows 100x more about food than I do, and has taught me much of what I know. When went off to college, Sarah sent me with a recipe book in which she compiled…
