Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

Until recently, I never understood some people’s fascination with biscotti.   My parents loved them.  I did not.  To me, they were long, thick, rock-hard bricks with a peculiar licorice taste, obnoxiously trying to pass themselves off as cookies.  They didn’t fool me, though.  Whatever they were, I was certain …

There’s a popular story that’s been floating around my family for years.  My mother revels in telling it, and every time she does, it elicits a mixture of nervous laughs, horrified looks and hasty signs of the cross.  It’s about my mother’s childhood BFF, Rosie.  Rosie and my mom …

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Today is also Mr. SGCC’s birthday and we’re going out tonight!  I don’t know if we’ll do Mexican again or not, (we do it every year), but wherever we end up, I’ll be thankful that I don’t have to cook in this heat.  For those …

I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Even though I grew up in an Italian family where more than half of my relatives, including my father and grandparents, were actually from Italy, I had never heard of mascarpone until I was an adult and discovered it for myself.  …

Whenever I imagine an intimate, candlelit dinner for two, there are certain foods that are always on the menu, like lobster, oysters, decadent dark chocolate and a fluffy, ethereal soufflé – especially the soufflé.   To me, a soufflé is the ultimate indulgence, reserved for only the most special occasions.  …

Everyone knows that Valentine’s Day is synonymous with chocolate.  It’s the food of love.  Who doesn’t melt a little when presented with one of those precious little heart-shaped boxes on this day when we celebrate love and romance?  But, chocolate isn’t only for the sentimental.  It’s big business too.  …

I absolutely adore Thai green papaya salad, or Som Tam.  I always order it when I see it on a restaurant menu.  In fact, I have actually dined at certain restaurants solely because I’d heard that their green papaya salad was amazing.  My favorite Asian market sometimes carries their …

Last week In my Shepherd’s Pie post, I mentioned that I had rediscovered the dish while on a trip to Scotland.  What I didn’t mention was that this trip to Scotland was part of a two week concert tour in the British Isles with a group that I used …

Have you ever heard of Asian Wedding Soup?  Neither have I.  I did a quick Google search on it and didn’t find anything either.  Actually, I just made the name up because this soup was intended to be an Asian counterpart to traditional Italian wedding soup, which is also …