Best chocolate chip cookies of all time?

Apparently the secret is in the refrigeration time. Recipe here. They were good, but didn't change my life ... yet.

One Pot Kale and Quinoa Pilaf and Fraudulent Cabbage

Lisa is always singing the praises of Food52 but I have never really gotten into it. The homepage is too cluttered for me, and I am generally satisified by SK and BA. But I was looking for some low-carb, vegetarian (read: no pasta) inspiration and decided to make Suspiciously Delicious Cabbage and One Pot Kale and Quinoa Pilaf. I love love loved the kale/quinoa and would make it again a thousand times (adding more lemon juice and zest to suit personal preference). The cabbage came out very bland, and I can't tell if I made a mistake or if one man's suspicially delicious is my boring. Maybe both are true! I filled that void with more kale fried up with pancetta so I still came out on top.

Blood, Bones, and Butter

I might want to read this when it comes out. I read Gabrielle Hamilton's personal essay in the latest New Yorker and enjoyed it, though it took a surprise turn to tear town. Seriously! Came out of nowhere.

On the subject of food and books, I think I also want to buy this cookbook when it is reprinted. I may even eat at Julienne this weekend. Their chewy graham bars are well-received.

Carrot salad and chard and white bean soup

I added pasta and some extra vegetables to this soup, and was very pleased. It is like a minestrone, was tasty, healthy, and should freeze well for future consumption.

I was less thrilled with this carrot salad. My personal preference is on the savory side of the spectrum, and this salad was nice, but too sweet for me. Others might enjoy it. Next time, I will use this recipe (note: buy harissa).

Macarons at home?

I wonder if I could do this recipe justice. I might have to take a stab and see what happens, using memories of Pierre Herme as inspiration.

Lasagna on NYE

I rang in the last full night of 2010 with three types of lasagna (all from Epicurious):

• Sausage, Cheese, and Basil
• Mushroom and zucchini (no red sauce)
• Red pepper and spinach (subbed spinach for the broccoli in recipe)

The mushroom lasagna created the most crowd reaction. It is hard to find vegetarian recipes that satisfy meat-eaters, so I was impressed with the results, despite the fact that the recipe is pretty time consuming and led to a mini-breakdown on my part. I avoided a problem I experienced with my previous white lasagna endeavor (too dry) by leaving the cooked noodles in water until arranging the lasagna. The bechamel is also tremendously buttery, which helped keep it moist as well.

The other lasagnas were tasty and pretty easy. I would make all of them again, probably saving the mushroom recipe for special occasions or days when I have a lot of free time and don't mind pulsing two pounds of white mushrooms in a food processor.

Spaghetti with chickpeas, Spicy squash salad with lentils and goat cheese

I made this and this last week. The pasta was surprisingly good! I may just make it again this Friday. The squash/lentil dish wasn't that spicy but maybe that is my bad. Also: lentils, why are they always so boring???

Mushroom lasagne and roasted eggplant and tomato soup

On Sunday I made this and this. I felt the lasagne was just ok, but I prefer a red sauce to bechamel. The soup was tasty and I would make it again (with my trusty immersion blender).

For dessert, Lizzy made brownies from a Ghiradelli mix and they were good.

Cold-brewed iced coffee

File this easy recipe under: information that would have been useful to me 3 years ago prior to spending hundreds of dollars on iced coffee from Kings Road.

Bellini

I never cared much about champagne cocktails, but reading this piece about the origin of the Bellini is making me thirsty!

Peach and nectarine desserts

Last night I made this peach pie. It was easy and good even though I used THE WRONG PIE CRUST. I don't looove peaches but I still enjoyed it.

What do I really love? NECTARINES. Also I apparently love creme fraiche? Anyway, this is also easy and good. And, doubles as breakfast if you are me.

Smitten also featured a delicious sounding tomato dish last week; the flavors were good but the croutons were soggy. Next time I will ditch the bread.

Julienne's graham cracker chewy bars

I made these last night. Easy and extremely tasty (esp. with vanilla ice cream). Everybody wins!

Cooking Tony Danza

I may want to see this Joan Rivers documentary. That screenshot is from the trailer, where she shows where she keeps all of her jokes filed on index cards. I wish there were a joke about cooking Tony Danza.

Rice Pudding

Last night I made this very easy recipe. When I am more daring, I will attempt the Lazy Ox version in the LAT.

Ina Garten

I know there are a lot of Ina Garten fans out there. I have never watched her show, but perused a couple of her books the other night. Key takeaway: most recipes called for "one cup good quality mayonnaise."

One recipe without any mayo is lemon fusilli with arugula and cherry tomatoes (I did not use broccoli like the online version calls for, and used whole milk instead of heavy cream(!)). It was easy and tasty. I would make it again. You could easily add chicken if that is your thing.

I also made this nice easy summer dessert which was not as good as the first time I made it. Next time, swap mascarpone for the ricotta?

Next up while avocados are still good: guacamole salad. Or, just guacamole. Or both!

Pantry Raid

The LAT feature Pantry Raid satisfies the voyeur in me without making me want to cry. Also the name makes me giggle.

What would they find if they raided my fridge right now? Laughing Cow cheese, a tomato, and 4 beers.

Homemade Glazed Donuts

Things just got real, courtesy of Laura.

New Hatfields

Less rustic than the old Hatfields. Food and service were great, decor was unfortunately similar to the womens' knitwear section of Neimans. Bonus: run-in with the Bennetts!

As soon as we were seated, I witnessed a woman and her date photographing their dinner plates. The LAT was onto something here!

Semi-related: there is currently an exhibit of food photography at the Getty.

Last night I made this, which was tasty after a healthy dose of parmesan cheese. My concern is that Trader Joe's pasta has a sweet taste, which makes the whole dish taste like creamed spinach with too much nutmeg. Am I going crazy over here?

Grapefruit margarita

I would like at least 2.

Strawberry Dumplings

Tonight I made this recipe. The dumplings were fairly bland, but maybe that is the point. With whipped cream they made a decent dessert, and tomorrow I am adding Greek yogurt and calling it breakfast.