Episodes

Gingerbread: A Delicious Legend and Lore “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” Gingerbread is the stuff of legends and lore. The Gingerbread Legend But before the gingerbread as we now know it came to be, the word gingerbread was used to describe preserved ginger root. It was even used to describe an ancient Roman honey cake that didn’t contain ginger and wasn’t even bread. Gotta love those Romans. The Chinese first cultivated ginger about 5,000 year...

Sweet Potato and Poblano Gratin Why did the sweet potato hesitate crossing the road? Because it saw a fork up ahead! It’s time to raise our forks in saluting this versatile and yummy offering when it comes to preparing a feast any time of the year. Over the last ten years the per capita sweet potato consumption has increased almost every year. In contrast overall potato consumption has remained fairly flat. In fact, in 2017, the U.S. reached a high of consuming eight pounds of sweet potatoe...

Is That a Sweet Potato or Yam On Your Plate? “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would be just as sweet.” When Shakespeare wrote this now-famous line from the classic play “Romeo and Juliet,” he probably wasn’t thinking of sweet potatoes. What’s In A Name? So what does Shakespeare and sweet potatoes have in common? On the shelves and in the vegetable bins at your local grocery store you’ll see that a vegetable named a sweet potato and yam, sometimes has both names...

Turkey, Pear, and Apple Salad Ready to be a hero in the kitchen? Start by stepping out of the green salad rut with a combination of mouthwatering foods you may not have considered before: turkey, apple, pears, and cranberries. Flex That Protein Superpower with Turkey Ideally you’ll want to use turkey leftovers for this salad. My saying is cook once, eat twice. Even better if your turkey is smoked. No turkey on hand? Don’t despair. You can always use chicken. Both turkey and chicken are sou...

Mission Possible: Pan-Roasted Broccoli Cream Soup Mission Impossible was a popular TV series in the late 60s and early 70s about an elite covert operations unit. Instructions were delivered on a self-destructing tape recorder, always preceded with the words, “Your assignment should you choose to accept it.” Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to transform a controversial vegetable into a yummy creation. Which vegetable? Broccoli. The ultimate goal of your mission is a pan-roasted...

Vegetable Stock: Always a Good Investment In the kitchen, whether you are a conservative recipe follower, or more of a risk-taker, knowing how to make a basic vegetable stock is an important investment—and an essential part of cooking. Taking Stock of Your Foundation Stock is the foundation for many soups and sauces. The quality of these dishes depend on a good foundation just like your house needs a strong foundation. And while you can rely on the “stock market” (also known as the grocery s...

Busting the Myth That Cooking For One is Hard Today 42% of adults in the US live alone, up from 39% in 2007. Often I hear that cooking for one is harder than cooking for a family. Given that single households are a growing demographic, it’s my duty to bust this myth. The Key To Busting the Myth: Your Attitude Towards Cooking And busting the myth that cooking for one is hard begins with examing your attitude towards cooking. If your sentiment is that cooking is a chore, in the kitchen you will...

Pantry Staples for Easy Healthy Cooking Let’s be real. If you don’t have the basics on hand, you’re not cooking. You’re driving through, taking out, or ordering from home on an app. Those options are not your best move when your health begins with what’s on your plate. A well-stocked pantry isn’t about being fancy, it’s about being ready: Ready to pull a meal together without overthinking it and ready to fill your home with irresistible aromas that say something good is happening in this home...

The Foundation: Pantry Essentials That Get Dinner Started A well-stocked pantry is essential to answering the most important question of each day, “What’s for dinner?” Break the cycle of eating out, taking out, or driving through when 5 o’clock rolls around because you’ve got it covered with a well-stocked pantry. The bold flavors and finishing touches of a dish that makes your taste buds dance starts with a well-stocked pantry. These are the ingredients that give you a starting point; the one...

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Bowl with Feta and Mint News bulletin: Contrary to popular belief eating healthy is not a drag! The secret to success is branching out and sampling new foods. Step outside the box and try my sweet potato and quinoa bowl with feta and mint. A Delicious Medley It’s a unique combination of delicious and nutritious ingredients. The sweet potato is rich in fiber and vitamins, and, as you might expect, it adds just a tad of sweetness to this dish. The feta cheese, made fr...

Leftovers Meet Your Match: The Frittata Do you have leftovers in your pantry that you’re wondering how to use up? Consider the frittata. The French have their omelet, an elegant and delightful folded or rolled egg dish that Napoleon Bonaparte loved. And, in fact, once commanded an entire village be scoured for enough eggs to make omelets for his army. Thank the Italians for the Egg-ilicious Frittata But, the Italians gave us the frittata. Its name derives from an Italian verb which means t...

Seeing with New Eyes in the Kitchen The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average American household spends $7,729 on food each year. Of this total, $4,363 is spent on food at home. Fresh food like meat, dairy, and the all-important category of fruits and vegetables were just $2,231 of these total dollars. Curious what this has to do with seeing with new eyes in the kitchen? Dollars Spent Away From Home for Food Often Means Food Waste at Home So when you consider that the average h...

Cowlitz River Salmon Marinade Fishing, I’ve concluded, is a lot of doing nothing interspersed with moments of adrenaline rushes. My first and only salmon fishing experience began at 3:30 am for a two-hour drive south from Seattle to the Cowlitz River. My baited hook was dangling in the water and the sun was gently warming the crisp, cool morning. Then came the battlecry. The end result was some delicious salmon marinade. But don’t let me get ahead of myself – read on! Fish On, Fish On! “Fish ...

Live Life in the Present at the Table My great-grandparents lived in Old East Dallas in a small house with a big porch and a porch swing to match. After lunch on Sundays the adults would sit on the porch and yak. The house did not have any air conditioning, only an attic fan. Sitting outside was way more comfortable than inside. When no one was around I would sit on that swing for long periods of time enjoying the breeze and listening to the birds. And time seemed to stand still. How Time...

The Most Delicious Weeknight Spaghetti Sauce When you think of Italian food, you immediately think of all things tomato. For starters you think tomato sauce, pizza, and bruschetta, which is toasted bread topped with a tomato mixture But, is everything as it seems? Tomatoes and Italian food seem to go hand-in-hand. But did you know that tomatoes are not indigenous to Italy. Cue the record skip. Tomatoes are Native to South America In fact tomatoes are native to South America and were disc...

Cheesy Cornbread with Jalapeños Why did the potato start an argument with the cornbread? It was an agi-tater. I’m not sure what the potato was arguing about, but there’s no argument from me when it comes to professing a love for cornbread. Southerners Love Their Cornbread Cornbread is especially loved in the south. We serve this beloved bread with just about anything and everything. Red beans and rice. Black-eyed peas and collard greens. Chili. Barbecue. And, fried chicken. That’s just fr...

Go to Town on a Go-to Meal, Try Chili Mac Have you ever noticed how often we use the words “go-to”? Go is an action verb and we are a culture that loves action. We say “go-to town” to express positive energy and excitement like I’m going to go-to town on those chocolate crinkle cookies. When things aren’t going well, we say it’s “going to the dogs.” This expression originated to describe food that wasn’t fit for human consumption. My mom used to say “going to pot” when invoking an image of ...

Anyone Can Cook, Even a Rat! Before I went to culinary school, I worked in corporate America 20+ years as a single mom raising two daughters and I cooked most of our dinners during the week. Gathering at the home table every evening was the only way I could make sense of my life as a single parent. It was how we did life together. Except Thursdays. That was our one night out and it was always pizza. I was a busy, single mom with children who were passionate about their individual extracurricular...

Thai Green Curry with Chicken What harmony is to music, the balance of five basic flavors is to Thai cuisine. That’s sweet, salty, spicy, sour, and bitter. Thai Food Complexity Each dish on a Thai family’s table is a carefully-crafted flavor profile. And the combination of dishes, create a harmonious mealtime experience composed bite-by-bite. Thailand does not have distinct food categories like the United States. This means that every dish is welcome at any meal of the day and there are no...

Make Short Work of Cleanup in the Kitchen Which kitchen activity landed in the Top 20 of a recent survey of America’s most disliked household chores? Doing the dishes. It’s no surprise. As Rare as A Rainbow-Colored Unicorn People who love to clean after cooking are as rare as a, I don’t know, perhaps a rainbow-colored unicorn. But the harsh reality is cleaning up is a necessity. So how do you make short work of cleanup in the kitchen so that you can linger longer at the table? Here’s the...

Vietnamese Summer Rolls: A Fresh Favorite for Every Season The name leads us to believe that this food is intended for rising temperatures while the cicadas sing (well if you’re in Texas you’ll hear them sing!). The truth is, you can enjoy this tasty roll as a simple snack, a delicious appetizer, or a full-fledged meal any time of the year. What’s In A Name? Summer rolls are a traditional Vietnamese dish. However the term “summer roll” is thought by many to have been coined in the West to c...

Fill Up On Color: Eat the Rainbow “Somewhere over the rainbow way up high. There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby” What does a song about childhood dreams and rainbows have to do with cooking? Everything. Let me correct that statement. It has everything to with cooking AND eating well! And too few of us are doing just that. We’re Not Eating Enough Vegetables and Fruit The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that only about 9% of us eat the right amount of vegetables and only...

Homemade Oats and Honey Bars How would you like a tasty, healthy helping of fiber and antioxidants without a hassle? I’ve got you covered with homemade oats and honey bars. Try some delicious, nutritious homemade oatmeal bars to hit the spot. Quick and Yummy: A Win-Win Or maybe you’re searching for a simple snack that’s appealing and healthy? Or perhaps you just don’t like to be bothered with fancy schmancy recipes that require a lot of preparation and clean up. Whatever the case may be, ...

Eat Oats for a Power Punch of Health Benefits Avena Sativa: the beautiful botanical name for the common oat. This fabulous grain is extremely versatile and comes with a power punch of nutrition. Let’s dive into the health benefits of eating oats. A Little History Lesson First, just a note of the history of oats. Originally considered a nuisance, oats would spring up in a wheat or a barley field where they were routinely pulled up and burned. Once considered only worthy for animal consumpt...