Author: Tracey

Prawns and Pancetta Salad with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing

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Many years ago when The Man and I first started dating, we bought a funny little cookbook called “Will Cook For Sex: A Guy’s Guide to Cooking” by Rocky Fino.  It was an impulse buy. The author just happened to be doing a book signing at the time and we liked his spiel.  The recipes are very simple and straight-forward–and as the title suggests, written for a guy who wants to…impress the ladies, if you know what I mean!   Now that I think about it, it was the first cookbook purchase of our relationship! We don’t use this cookbook much anymore, mostly because our cooking skills have advanced and we have collected so many other cookbooks throughout the years; but this adapted recipe made its way into our regular rotation and we make it fairly often.   I used pancetta in this salad, because of course, pancetta makes everything taste betta! I know, completely corny, but pancetta just adds so much flavor!  Now, if you’re concerned about the added fat and calories, allow me …

Home Sweet Home – How I Spent My Summer Vacation

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I’m finally home from my summer vacation and as awesome as it was, I am always reminded that there is no place like home.  I saw some amazing things; consumed a great many calories; tasted lots of beer and wine; walked everywhere! Uphill–both ways!  It was incredible and now that I’m home, I feel refreshed, excited about life and re-energized.  Although I run the risk of sounding like a beginning-of-the-school-year essay, here is a taste of what happened over the past 10 days: I started my vacation in Santa Barbara, California.  The weather topped out at a cool 70 degrees and the sun didn’t come out until the afternoon.  I had a chance to walk along the ocean and feel the salt air on my face. We headed up to wine country and tasted so much wine that my head spun! I didn’t drink all of these, I promise! Then we flew to Portland, Oregon where the bulk of the vacation was spent.  I started almost every morning with a latte, and every single one …

Day 1, Happy Wandering in Bridgetown

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At long last, vacation time has come and I’m back in one of my favorite cities–Portland, Oregon: land of microbrews, sustainable agriculture and generally fabulous quirkiness.  The header photo on this blog was actually taken last year at the Portland Farmer’s Market and I cannot wait to go there this Saturday!  We have traveled to Portland three summers in a row to visit friends and love to discover new places as well as revisit places from our prior trips.  I spent the majority of today wandering the streets and drinking in the local flavor.  We started out with a really great breakfast at a favorite spot in the Pearl District called Isabel.  What we like about it is that they have a lot of healthier options that will keep you filled up and energized for an entire day of walking around town.  I had the “avocado scramble”–eggs, avocados, black beans, rosemary potatoes and salsa.  Even though it’s filling, it’s pretty healthy and therefore, almost guilt-free! The only problem with having such a good breakfast is …

Pizza Margherita and Homemade Pizza Dough

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Sometimes it’s the simplest things that taste the best! This weekend I set out to make the simplest of pizzas using fresh ingredients and made almost completely from scratch.  I say “almost” because I didn’t make the mozzarella…this time. I started by making the pizza sauce from fresh tomatoes, garlic and onions, slowly roasted on the grill and then made into a sauce that was reduced on the stove top until it was thick and rich.  Then I made the dough by hand, with soft, fluffy “00” pizza flour–you can find this at your local Italian import store or online.  We order our 00 flour from Giusto’s Vita-Grain, but all-purpose flour will also work. To top it off, a simple combination of fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, grated parmesan and fresh basil.  Delicious and oh, so simple! I’ll start first with the dough.  Pizza dough from scratch tastes better and is easier to work with than any store-bought pizza dough!   This recipe is adapted from the recipe right on the back of the Giusto’s bag. …

Lemon-Herb Shortbread Tea Cookies

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Monsoon season is upon us and I can’t think of a better way to enjoy it but to sit and watch the rain over a nice cup of hot tea and a plate of cookies.  Some of you are probably thinking that it’s too hot for tea, but I drink green tea each and every day, throughout all four seasons.  I decided to make these cookies after listening to The Splendid Table this weekend.  This week’s episode featured chef and author Sally Schneider who demonstrated making herb salt, which I definitely plan to make soon.  But what really caught my attention was when she started talking about adding the herb salt to chocolate cake and butter cookies!  I rarely make cookies, but one of my favorite cookies is shortbread.  I love that it’s not too sweet and has a texture that stands up to a cup of coffee or tea.  I adapted Ina Garten’s basic shortbread cookie recipe and added lemon zest and Herbes de Provence to the dough.  It resulted in a cookie that …

Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad with Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette

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We are now halfway through the summer and the bulk of our summer vegetables have completed their season.  As much as I hated to admit it, the time had come to put part of the garden out of its misery.  We cut down almost all of the tomato plants, leaving only the green zebra and the yellow pear to finish out their yield.  Recently I learned on our local NPR program, Desert Bloom that by cutting the tomatoes almost all the way down and mulching them,  we may get a second round of tomatoes in September.  So, that’s what we did this morning and boy, was I sentimental about it!  I’m going to pause  now for a moment of reflection on our first real summer crop and a remembrance of the herbs that perished during the heatwave:  Purple Sage, English Thyme, French Thyme, Biergarten Sage, Greek Oregano. They served us well and died spectacularly–seriously, they turned white and disintegrated!  115 degrees will do that to tender herbs! Reminiscing on how pretty everything was just 6 weeks …

Quinoa "Fried Rice", Tempeh Lettuce Cups and Inspiration from Poppy Den

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Lately, I’ve been having a little trouble finding inspiration in the kitchen.  The garden isn’t helping–the only growth this time of year being the eggplants and a few scraggly tomatoes that are trying hard to ripen in the heat.  On top of that, the Man of the House made a special request for two weeks of vegetarian dishes!  So, what’s a girl to do? My answer is to go out and find some excitement in someone else’s kitchen! So, on Friday night, the Man of the House and I joined some friends at a fairly new Asian Gastro-pub called Poppy Den.  Led by Chef/Owner Angelo Sosa and located in Tivoli Village in Las Vegas, the restaurant features Asian fusion small plates and entrees along with inventive cocktails.  We were familiar with Chef Sosa when he was a “chef-testant” on the television show, Top Chef (Season 7), so we were more than excited to see what he was cooking up.  We were not disappointed!  The service was impeccable, the food was delicious, and Chef Sosa himself visited our …