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Pantry Pasta Pomodorini Recipe

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I’m a big believer in a well-stocked pantry. I could probably cook everyday for a month without shopping thanks to my pantry full of beans, pasta, rice, condiments, jars of anchovies, cans of tuna, along with fresh onions, garlic and potatoes. I also have tomato paste, canned whole, diced, fire-roasted tomatoes and cherry tomatoes from Italy. I believe you can never have too many cans of tomatoes or too much pasta. No one will ever go hungry in my house.  There are probably a million things you could make from pantry staples, but pasta with tomato sauce has got to be one of the most comforting. This pasta recipe uses cannelini beans so it’s kind of a mash up of pasta fagioli soup and pasta pomodoro. The beans add creaminess and starch to the pasta and also protein. If you haven’t ever tried using canned cherry tomatoes, you really should. They have a flavor and texture that you won’t get from regular canned tomatoes and they are perfect for a quick pasta sauce.  Pomodorini is the Itali
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Half The Sugar All The Love Cookbook Review

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Sugar has been in the news lately and it hasn't been sweet. While it isn’t a surprise to learn that too much sugar is bad for your health, it is a bit surprising to learn just how addictive and pervasive sugar is. In Make 2020 The Year of Less Sugar , a story that ran in the New York Times just a few weeks ago I learned that sugar lurks in 70% of packaged food, the many health risks associated with too much sugar as well as the “addictive nature of the fructose in processed foods and beverages.”  The article recommends taking a 7-day break from added sugar, and then adding it back in but carefully. The New York Times also published a “ 7 Day Sugar Challenge " but  if you’re really serious about cutting the sugar, check out Half The Sugar All The Love , a new cookbook by Jennifer Tyler Lee, a healthy food advocate and Anisha Patel, an MD and Stanford professor who researches children’s health. The book definitely slants toward families, but even a household without kids like mi
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White Ginger Turmeric Latte Recipe

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Disclaimer: My thanks to Sonoma Syrup for sponsoring this post. I only work with brands that I personally use and want to share with my readers  I love the tingle and zing of ginger, especially fresh ginger, but lately, I’ve been using Sonoma Syrup White Ginger Infused simple syrup to add a bit of spice and warmth to Winter recipes. Just this past week I used it in both applesauce and turmeric latte or golden milk. Instead of using sugar in applesauce, I added 1/4 cup of the white ginger infused simple syrup to 8 peeled and diced apples and the juice of one lemon. This was a change from the usual cinnamon, and it was particularly good on potato pancakes.  I’m a bit of a latecomer to the pleasures of "haldi doodh" also known as turmeric latte or golden milk. A traditional drink in India, it is purported to have all kinds of health benefits including everything from warding off colds to curing acne to supporting weight loss. I can only speak to one benefit, which is aiding in
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Masala Chai Recipe

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My thanks to  Sonoma Syrup  for sponsoring this post. I only work with brands that I personally believe in and use.  Hot, creamy, spiced, black tea is called masala chai in India. In Hindi chai means tea and masala means a mixture of ground spices. But in the US we often refer to masala chai as chai tea or chai tea latte. During Winter I crave masala chai. I first tried it in an Indian restaurant. It was rich with milk and very, very sweet, then in college, I discovered the pleasure of making it myself. I got the recipe long before the internet, from someone I met at a party. Calling it a recipe might be a stretch, it’s more like general guidelines. Funny that tea is not even mentioned in the recipe! But that ancient scrap of paper is the basis for my recipe, which is a combination of strong black tea and milk, flavored with cardamom, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and fresh ginger. I’ve tried many commercial versions of chai, but they often use flavorings or ground spices rather than
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Emma's Famous Beet Borscht Recipe

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There are a few dishes that I grew up eating that are my soul food. High on my list is borscht, a beet soup from Eastern Europe. I like it hot, I like it cold. I like it thin, I like it thick. I like it with beef, I like it vegetarian. And I particularly like it with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt. The beets somehow transform mundane carrots, onions, and potatoes into something sweet, juicy and scrumptious.  I used to make borscht from a recipe from The Victory Garden Cookbook . It's a great recipe from a really great cookbook, but it is incredibly involved and time-consuming. To the rescue comes my friend, Emma. Emma is a colleague of mine so I get to see her fairly frequently at events around town. She is in some ways a bit like me  —  she is curious, has a great appetite, is interested in art and strongly opinionated. We don’t always agree about everything but I am guaranteed a good conversation with Emma and I truly enjoy her company. Recently on a long drive together
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Joy of Cooking: 2019 Edition Fully Revised and Updated Review

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Joy of Cooking was one of the first cookbooks in my collection. It's been a solid reference book for home cooks since it was first published in 1936 and was the cookbook I turned to when I was learning to cook. I turned to Joy to learn  how to make biscuits, cobblers, pie crust, gingerbread, how long to roast a chicken or leg of lamb, and the general guidelines for everything from how long to steam an artichoke to how to make zucchini bread. As my cookbook collection has grown and my cooking has become more adventurous, I stopped referring to Joy of Cooking which felt a little old fashioned, and a little too Midwestern. But the latest version has brought me back into the fold and here's why. The most recent version was updated by John Becker, the great-grandson of the original author Irma Rombauer and his wife Megan Scott. They live in Portland, Oregon, and the book now has more of a West Coast flavor than ever before— which is evident in recipes for things like poke and ciopp
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All About Simple Syrup & No Oil Added Granola Recipe

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Simple syrup is one of the most classic cocktail ingredients. Even though simple syrup is extremely basic and true to its name, simple, it is also incredibly versatile and can be used in so many ways other than just for cocktails and coffee drinks. I became fascinated with simple syrup thanks to Karin Campion, the founder of Sonoma Syrup. Her company grew out of her experiments developing high quality handcrafted simple syrups infused with ingredients from her garden in Sonoma. I use Sonoma Syrup simple syrups because they come in a wide variety of flavors making them more suitable for recipes and because unlike homemade simple syrup, they don’t require refrigeration and last a very long time, even though they don't include any artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. After Karen shared her products with me, I discovered that in addition to using simple syrup in cocktails, and in hot and cold beverages, it could also be used in cooking.  While I rarely see recipes using it, I r
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