It’s gradually getting warmer (or getting cooler, depending on where you are).  We’re doing two soups this week, but one is very quick and won’t heat up the kitchen much.  It’s just a tad early for spring vegetables, so this week’s menu is still pretty much a winterish one.  But we do have some home [...]

Although half of the U.S. and Canada are in the grip of winter storms as I put this together, Spring can’t be far away!  It’s supposed to be warming up later this week, to almost “double” the temperatures we were seeing just last week: instead of highs in the low twenties, they’re supposed to be in [...]

We’re a long way from spring and asparagus season; at least it seems like it!  With most of Canada and the United States snowed in, it feels like time for some comfort food.  But not the comfort food from 1950’s linoleum-and-white enamel kitchens, oh, no no.  We’re going to do some Italian and French comfort food, as [...]

This week we have two fun holidays back to back, actually on the same day: Chinese New Years Day and Valentine’s Day!  So we’ll have some Chinese food the day *before* Valentine’s Day, and then a nice meal for the day itself.  I’ve included two different desserts this week: the classic French [...]

This week in the U.S. there is one of the biggest sporting events of the year: the Super Bowl!  My town, Indianapolis, has one of the contenders in the Colts.  The other team is from New Orleans, home of regional specialities like gumbo, ettouffe and jambalaya.  My area raises lots of corn, [...]

This week we’re going to wish it was summer, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, by starting the week with a fun burger recipe! We’ll do it on the stovetop, but those in the Southern Hemisphere can use a grill basket.  We’ll spend some time in Morocco, India, Italy and [...]

It’s still midwinter, but I’m thinking of places where it’s never hot.  We’ll do some Thai and Indian food this week, as well as some Italian.  Then we’ll think of cozy fireplaces, with a typical winter dish from the border of France and Germany, as well as a couple of classic American [...]

We have something special this week: Sauerbraten!  It needs to marinate for several days, so you might want to stick it in the marinade just as soon as you get the beef home.  We’re going to do something interesting with the leftovers later in the week.  We’ll also have some chicken of which, when I [...]

We’ve not done Thai before, so this week we’re going to correct that.  We’ll start out by doing a fancy-looking, but easy, Italian dish suitable for company, and follow it with your French grandmere’s (if you have a French grandmere) classic, delicious, but easy beef dish, again suitable for company.  But we’ll make extra and [...]

The weather has turned cold in the Northern Hemisphere, and the holidays are over (unless you count the Super Bowl, which is an occasion of parties in the United States).  So we’re going to continue with menus that include roasts and soups.  This week we’ll spend a little time in France, as [...]