Author: Tracey

How to Succeed at Thanksgiving – Fish House Punch

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The Thanksgiving dinner of my fantasies always begins with me wearing a string of pearls and freshly pressed apron, holding aloft a beautifully bronzed roasted turkey, glistening and golden from the oven in all its glory for all to see. My adoring family members’ faces are lit by flickering candlelight and they are hungry and beaming and admiring the gorgeous bird. I cut into the bird and it is succulent and juicy and perfect. All of the side dishes have come out of the oven at just the right time. The vegetables are colorful. Everything looks like a spread in Bon Appétit.  Can you just see it? Isn’t it beautiful? Insert needle-scratch on a record…this is what Thanksgiving really looks like: I have bags under my eyes because I’ve been cooking non-stop for two days. The turkey, does come out of the oven beautiful and bronzed, however upon carving, I realize the breast meat is perfect and the dark meat hasn’t cooked thoroughly–thank you, weirdly calibrated convection setting. I’ve forgotten about the rolls in the oven …

Portland in October, My first Airbnb Experience

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If you have been following me on Instagram then you probably know that last month I was once again in my happy place–Portland, Oregon! The goal: to see fall colors, rain and a Ducks game. I accomplished all of these goals and more, but the one thing that stood out about this trip was my experience with Airbnb. I have not been able to stop talking about Airbnb since we booked this trip! I’ve been to Portland numerous times always staying in the downtown area, right in the thick of things. This time, however, I wanted to know how the locals lived so on a friend’s recommendation, I booked a basement apartment through Airbnb. I cannot recommend Airbnb enough–the process was simple and I was able to chat with the host several times before booking! The apartment was more fabulous in person than it was in the photographs (when does that ever happen??)! It was spacious, super clean, had a fully equipped kitchen and as an added bonus, the host family had an amazing garden and a chicken coop …

Smoky Chipotle Vegan Chili with Cashew Cream

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If you work in an office, chances are at some point, you will be asked to contribute to The Office Potluck and if you work in my office, you will probably be asked to do this a LOT. My office loves a potluck–birthdays, holidays, you name it and we throw a potluck for it! I’ve noticed a few things to be true for every single one of them: There has to be fried chicken. Seriously, if there is no fried chicken, people might just opt out of the potluck entirely. Greg must bring his famous Asian chicken salad. I’m not sure if it’s a blessing or a curse that the office staff will not accept any other dish from him, but at least he doesn’t have to wonder what he’s bringing to the potluck. The vegetarians in the office get stuck with the sad, bagged salad and limp veggies from the veggie tray picked up in a rush that morning on the way to the office. Really, folks, nobody likes those veggie trays. Don’t buy ’em! So, …

Pear, Gorgonzola and Thyme Galette and My Favorite Ice Cream

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  My mother was not a cookie-and-cake baking mother, nor was ours a household where dessert was a normal part of our daily meals. So, as a result, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, except for one thing: ice cream. Ice cream is the one treat that stands out in my memory as my oldest food obsession. Who doesn’t remember hot summer days, ice cream trucks and drippy, sticky ice cream fingers? I just cannot resist ice cream and it’s the one treat that I can eat any day, at any time of the year, regardless of season.  And of course, the perfect delivery system for any ice cream is pie! Is there anything better than a slice of pie, still warm from the oven and topped with a fluffy scoop of rich, creamy, melting ice cream? I don’t think so! But here’s the thing. I still have yet to bake an entire pie! The mere thought of baking a pie sends me into panic-mode because of one thing–pie crust. Surely, I’ve mentioned to you before …

Autumn Quinoa and Kale Salad with Maple Roasted Delicata Squash

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I tried to celebrate World Vegetarian Day on October 1. I really, really tried. I had found a recipe for “smoked eggplant” in an Indian cookbook and chalked it up to kismet that I had all the ingredients in the pantry. I roasted the eggplants whole on the grill, then peeled the charred skin away and cut it up in cubes. I sautéed onions, garlic, chiles and added some warming spices. The kitchen smelled amazing! And then I tasted it. It tasted like poison–acrid and so bitter! I tried to zhoosh it up with some coconut milk and fresh lime juice, but it would not budge and remained wholly inedible.  There was no saving it, and so we ate chicken…on World Vegetarian Day.  I hate when that happens. Eggplant disasters aside, I am no stranger to vegetarian cooking and I’ve been a vegetarian and a vegan at different points in my life. So, with October being Vegetarian Awareness Month, I want to be mindful of incorporating more meatless meals into our weekly rotation. Let me be completely honest–I won’t be …

At Home with Adam Throgmorton: Talking Tiki and The Making of a Great Mai Tai

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I have a real treat for you because today I’m going to tell you about my good friend and brother-from-another-mother, Adam Throgmorton.  I met Adam this past winter at a pub crawl and I knew from the start that we were going to become fast friends. Architectural model builder, Disney Fanatic, Tiki Enthusiast and all-around mad genius, Adam is a force to be reckoned with and yet, he seems to genuinely believe that he’s a mere mortal like the rest of us! I chuckle at this, because once you spend any amount of time in his home, you realize that this guy is an Artist, with a capital A.  Adam has managed to create an atmosphere in his Southern Nevada home that will make you think you left the desert and stepped straight into paradise! So when the invitation came to spend an evening drinking Mai Tais poolside in his Tiki Terrace, I was over there quick as a flash with a platter of ceviche and doing my best impersonation of a person who could handle …

Rockfish and Red Grapefruit Ceviche with Quick Pickled Fennel

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I have a good friend whom I love to watch eat.  Ok, that sounds terribly creepy, but let me explain.  She will assemble a bunch of different ingredients, be it on a spoon, a cracker or a crostini, pop it into her mouth and then exclaim, eyes rolling back in her head: “oh my god that is such a Good Bite!!” Then excitedly, she’ll assemble it again, just the way she did it the first time and make sure everyone gets to experience that Good Bite! It’s so funny and such a pleasure when someone gets that excited about a bite of food, and that is exactly how I felt when I assembled this ceviche.  It looked like a wicked-weird combination of ingredients but when I built a little forkful of it: a little bite of fish, a chili pepper, a bit of grapefruit, a sliver of fennel and a lemon balm leaf; and tasted it, I found myself squealing just like my friend!  It was such a Good Bite!  I immediately called Eric into the kitchen …