Someone else must have thought of this

Strawberry Shortcakes. For breakfast.

Think about it. Fruit, dairy, bread...just like having yogurt with fruit and toast, only much, much yummier. I tried it this morning.


Brilliant idea. If I do say so myself.

Pizza nite

What's the best way to spend $1.50? How about turning your kitchen into a pizzeria? OK, you might have to spring for the sauce ($2), cheese ($3.50) and some toppings (optional, as far as my kids go, but maybe another $5), but you don't have to tip anybody, and it tastes great!



Other things you can do with the $1.49 bag of plain pizza dough from Trader Joes:

1. Make instant focaccia bread. Prepare dough as for pizza, but form into rectangle and place in small cookie sheet. Make some imprints with your finger, so it looks authentic if anyone cares. Brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs of your choice and some salt. Bake for 15 minutes at 375. Or make pesto focaccia, by spreading the dough with some fresh pesto instead of the olive oil and herbs.

2. Make cinnamon sticks. Cut dough into 10-12 small pieces. Roll each piece out by hand into a rope about 6-8 inches long and about 1/2 inch thick. Place on cookie sheet covered with parchment or a silpat. Have some melted butter and cinnamon sugar standing by. Bake plain sticks for about 5-7 minutes at 375, until just beginning to brown. Brush with a little butter, sprinkle on a little cinnamon, and return to the oven for 2 minutes. When they come out, drizzle each stick with a little more melted butter, then roll the whole thing in a tray of cinnamon sugar. Churros, anyone?

NOTE: Their pizza sauce is terrific. I often keep an extra to throw in the pot when I'm making meat sauce for pasta.

What not to pull out of your Netfilx queue when you want to cheer up your husband after a tough day at the office

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead



Not a pick me up. In fact, it just makes everything seem so bleak that you wish the Devil knew all about these people and put them out of their misery when they were toddlers.

Now we'll need to go see Up twice.

Supporting player with star qualities

Like an under-appreciated character actor in Hollywood, it's tough being the side dish sometimes. Even the name is belittling, relative to "main dish" or even the sophisticated, sexy "entreé"*. No one ever says, "We're having potato salad for dinner!" But make no mistake, these humble characters are often the best thing on the plate.

Case in point:

Curse you!

I recently received this e-mail:

"Okay, I'm completely addicted to Huckleberry's salted caramel bars. They're about 2 by 3 inch bars of short bread cookie dough topped with 1/2 an inch of amazing not to sweet not too burnt caramel which has two or five little specs of salt on top. If you cut a bite out and turn it so the salt hits your tongue first, you will cry over how good they are. If there was ever one person on this planet that must try these, it is you my friend. And if you can't get to Huckleberry, I will get you one the next time I go, which might just be tomorrow."

Not only did she go, she brought a tray full of them to my barbecue.

I have a new name for this friend of mine: Crack dealer.

A few telltale signs that it's just about summer time

1. Gas prices go up for no valid reason
2. Teachers have ceased assigning any meaningful amount of homework, giving you children with way too much time on their hands several weeks before camp starts
3. After a bunch of two hour season finales, every show worth watching is in repeats
4. It's way too late to lose that extra 20 pounds in time for getting in a swimsuit, but you have an outside chance of taking it off in time for putting on a parka
5. Basketball season is getting interesting
6. The grill is on!

All of the above happened here this weekend, so we stayed home (#1), put the kids in the pool (#2), tuned into the NBA Playoffs (#3 and #5), whomped up a whole mess of great BBQ food (#6 and #4, since another few days of good eating won't hurt me), and had friends and family over to enjoy the day (a great idea year round).

Highly recommended.  As is this steak.

When life gives you lemons

The dessert menu arrives. An apparently harmonious party of dining companions suddenly splits, decisively, into three distinct camps: The chocolate people, the vanilla people, and the fruit people. A smart restaurant will, of course, have a way to satisfy all three, hence the now standard after-dinner choices:

Flourless Chocolate Cake (camp chocolate)
Brownie sundae with hot fudge sauce (ditto)
Creme Brulee (camp vanilla)
Cheesecake (ditto)
Fresh Berry Crisp (camp fruit)
Lemon Tart (ditto)
Apple Pie (ditto)
Ice creams (chocolate, vanilla, fruit sorbets, something for everyone)

I am most definitely in Camp Fruit*, with brief forays into Camp Vanilla if caramelized sugar is involved. I also believe strongly that Camp Fruit can co-exist with Camp Vanilla when ice cream, vanilla sauce, or fresh whipped cream is attached to the fruit item, particularly if said fruit item is nice and warm, and the vanilla part starts to slowly melt and...

I digress. My point is, I've seen a lot of dessert menus in my time, and therefor I've had a lot of lemon tarts in my life. Having just put down my fork, I can now say with some authority and experience that I have just had one of the all-time great lemon tarts. Unbelievably good. As in RIDICULOUS. So when life gives you lemons, or even if you have to run out to the store and pick some up, make this Lemon Tart.

Adapted in part from Tartine, a great book for baking.