After yesterday’s heavy but heavenly Cheesy Baked Mashed Potatoes, I thought I’d lighten things up a bit with this flavorful Thanksgiving salad. It has all kinds of goodies like spinach, peppery arugula, crunchy walnuts, sweet cranberries and tangy goat cheese. Then all of these goodies are tossed in a quick cranberry vinaigrette. It is the [...]

Its cold. Its rainy. You notice a person coughing next to you on the bus and you contemplate getting off and waiting 20 minutes for the next one. When you finally get to work the office is quieter because so many of your co-workers are out sick. The news is stressing the importance of getting [...]

Its been pretty dark and dreary here in Seattle the past couple of days. On days like this I just want to say in the house, curl up with a good book and eat a childhood favorite, grilled cheese and tomato soup. There is just something about that gooey cheesy sandwich being dunked into hot, [...]

I’ll admit that, aside from zucchini,  it has taken me a long time to embrace squash. And for a very silly reason: I am slightly intimidated by the odd shapes, colors and sizes.  And when I do feel adventurous enough to bring one home, I sit there staring at it trying to decide what to [...]

Is it just me or are many of the salads we see on restaurant menus today filled with a plethora of ingredients and doused with dressing? Not to say that I don’t enjoy a good cobb salad, sans blue cheese (I’m a ranch kinda girl), every once in a while but I also enjoy simple [...]

After yesterday’s tummy warming comfort food, Meatballs in Mushroom Cream Sauce, I thought I would share something a little lighter for those of you still enjoying the hot summer weather.  All you need for this quick and easy salad is a couple ripe tomatoes, a cool cucumber, salt, pepper and good quality extra virgin olive [...]

We’re experiencing quite the heat wave here. Forecasters are saying that today may be the hottest day Seattle has ever seen. A whopping 101 degrees is expected. It may not sound too hot to some of you but man oh man we just aren’t used to this kind of heat in Western Washington. It is [...]

I wouldn’t say that I was a picky eater growing up. But there were certain things that made going to bed without dinner actually appealing. Peas were one of those things. I am not quite sure why. Maybe it was because they were tiny green balls, maybe it was because I would rather roll them [...]

I know what some of you may be thinking, Des it is summer why on earth are you sharing a soup recipe with us? I have a perfectly good explanation: summer weather in the Pacific Northwest can just plain suck sometimes.

When I set out to create a list of 4th of July recipes, I knew I couldn’t leave out the BBQ Classic: macaroni salad. Growing up, macaroni salad was always present at our backyard BBQs, camping trips, and just about any potluck event we had. Each time someone different would bring it and add their [...]