she cooks, he bakes

some housekeeping

2012-01-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

I've had a bad day: I slept funny and my neck is sore, I spilled a cup of coffee in an unfortunate location, and I accidentally deleted our recipe index. Don't panic, though, because everything is fine and the recipe index is back online. It's here. I also created a travel page, mostly for our benefit, so we can access our travel recaps more easily. Finally, we updated the cinnamon brioche

beef and root vegetable stew for a cold night

2012-01-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

In the end, the centerpiece of our Burns night party was not haggis, but steak pie: rich beef and vegetable stew baked in a pastry crust. I'm not a big pot pie person, but Mark has fond memories of steak pie and chips at the neighborhood pub in when his family lived in Scotland. Who am I to argue with nostalgia, on a night dedicated to indulging in nostalgia?This was a good one, as far as pot

on a totally different note

2012-01-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

I'd be remiss if I neglected to mention that my inestimable dad's birthday is this week. Happy birthday, Dad! Among other things, he taught me to ride a bike, drive a car, make smart financial decisions, and to value learning for the fun of it. He pushed me harder in school than any Tiger Mom but also impressed upon me an appreciation for travel, adventure, and some of the finer things in life. I

let's get slightly virtuous

2012-01-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

Our garden has been mostly a bust this year. Thank goodness for the citrus trees we planted. When I look outside -- past all the runty lacinato kale and rows of seeds that failed to sprout-- and see my dozen bright yellow lemons, I feel pretty happy. Not to say that skill had much to do with it. I get the idea it's next to impossible to kill a citrus tree in this climate. Since we moved to

crisp oven-fried chicken

2012-01-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

I really like fried chicken. I really don't like deep frying. How to reconcile the two? A recipe for oven-fried chicken by Amanda Hesser caught my eye a few months ago, and I must have read her recipe 5 or 6 times, trying to figure out how baking chicken could possibly result in the crispy skin and juicy flesh of my Alabama dreams. But that's the thing about trying new recipes -- you never know.

re-focusing

2012-01-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Can I talk about the State of the Blog for a sec? Ugh. I was scrolling through the recipe index the other day and felt pretty discouraged. My original goal for this blog was to assemble a collection of favorite recipes that we make all the time. It hasn't happened, at least on the "she cooks" side. Mark's recipes are pretty spot on: tortillas, flax seed loaf, yep; we make those all the time. But

Tahoe + mujadara

2012-01-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this at my desk, looking at pictures from our ski trip with Jyoti last weekend and wishing that we were driving to the mountains again soon. It's so beautiful up there, and skiing is one of those activities I find so enjoyable that I forget I'm actually exercising. Of course, skiing, if you didn't know, is not cheap. There are the lift tickets, and the condo rental, and the ski

no recipe, but a book review

2012-01-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

One of my Christmas presents from my family was Tender: A cook and his vegetable patch, by Nigel Slater, which I'm really enjoying. Slater, a food writer for the Guardian London Observer, writes about turning the back lawn of his London townhouse into a garden and the joy the process has brought him. Each chapter highlights a different vegetable, with his notes on varieties, tips on harvesting

January trip to Yosemite + pimento cheese

2012-01-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

After Christmas, we decided to plan a last minute Yosemite trip, just because, why not? It's 4 hours away. We visited two summers ago, and though it was beautiful and warm that time of year, it was also overrun with people and cars. If you have misanthropic tendencies (like, uh, we do I guess), visiting Yosemite in winter is totally the way to go. The park and most hikes were empty, a

2011-12-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

We're at home for the holiday, relaxing and recharging before a busy 2012. There are holiday feasts to prepare, mulled wine to drink, books to read, a ski trip to plan, and gifts to wrap before Christmas tomorrow. For Mark, relaxing also involves turning out batches of treats to foist on people (and eat himself, of course). We are so grateful for all the last year has brought us -- love

when in doubt, brownies

2011-12-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

All I can say about my life right now is Christmas playlists, family time, mulled wine, and our fireplace. The end. OK, not really the end. I just don't have much to say tonight, except for this: brownies. Recently, Mark informed me that he had volunteered us to bring dessert to a dinner party. Being low on time and having no prior knowledge about the host's preferences, the only

red beans and ricely yours

2011-12-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

I wish I had more recipes like red beans and rice in my repertoire. Big flavor, minimal work, and the leftovers only improve in the fridge. You begin by sweating chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper in a heavy pot. Once the vegetables are lightly browned, I add a few seasonings followed by the beans and some water. For me, the next 3 hours might involve making some necklaces, calling my family,

on birthdays, the tell, and party cocktails

2011-12-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

Last month I let two important events pass by unmentioned: Jyoti's birthday and, a few weeks later, Mark's birthday. I planned blowout dinner parties on both occasions, no small amount of work but that's because I have pretty high standards for birthday parties. The thing I'm going for is the tell, that look of happiness where your loved one is like, WHAT I never expected this to be

chocolate custard and rum chiffon pie, aka black bottom pie

2011-11-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

See this pie? We were all really sad when this pie was through. It was the star of our Thanksgiving dinner. It has a crisp-textured graham cracker crust, a bottom layer of thick chocolate custard, a middle layer of rum custard lightened with egg whites, and a topping of billowy whipped cream and shaved chocolate. This is good, good stuff. Not too sweet, lots of contrasting textures,

Southern yeast rolls

2011-11-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

Mark here. It's time for one of my infrequent posts, and today it's about dinner rolls. The other day, Kim ventured to say that maybe we didn't need to make dinner rolls for Thanksgiving, given all the other starchy dishes on the menu. And then I was like: "DO YOU EVEN KNOW ME AT ALL?" Sheesh. I've tried making dinner rolls a bunch of times, with somewhat disappointing results. To give you an

roasted turkey stock

2011-11-20T17:42:00.000-08:00

One of my weirdest qualities is that I am a total sicko evangelist for/of/about (I don't know the proper preposition, sorry) homemade stock and broth. If you're ill, and I'm nearby, and I know you're ill, and you are my friend, I will make you soup. Part of is that I want you -- my friend!-- to feel loved and to get better, and making soup accomplishes both. The other part is that I get a kick

game time

2011-11-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

Guys! Thanksgiving is in less than a week. Let's talk about it. Here's our menu. Pre-meal Snacks: Spicy potato chips and vegetables with caramelized onion dip (Ina Garten) Spice brined pecans (Food52)* Mains: Dry brined turkey with onion/herb/applejack gravy (aka the Judy Bird) Cornbread and sausage stuffing (Mark's mom's recipe) Gratin Dauphinois (Julia Child) Minimalist

on school lunches, and Vietnamese caramel chicken

2011-11-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

As the kid of a recent immigrant, I remember a few awkward moments in the elementary school cafeteria. To be clear, my mom was/is awesome and she took the time to pack tasty lunches for us. They were just a little unusual, if I compared them to the sea of pbj and Lunchables surrounding me at Weatherly Elementary. My sandwiches were often full of vegetables -- say, slices of cucumber, slivers of

about our most recent trip (and some other thoughts)

2011-11-15T15:46:00.000-08:00

Instead of working or catching up on chores, I've fallen down a rabbit hole called the Internet. For example, weren't you wishing that someone would do a photo shoot of the women of Downton Abbey? In disco attire? Oh wait, you can find that here! (But don't scroll down below the picture or you'll find a big season 2 spoiler.) We just finished season 2 and withdrawal has set in, but apparently

hello, apples

2011-09-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone. Let's get back to it. Travel photos are nice and all, but we have been doing a lot of cooking since we got back to our own kitchen, and I have been meaning to post more recipes here. So this is me, hopping to it. I'm not ready for summer to end (exhibit A: 10 pounds of tomatoes sitting on the counter top, ready to be made into tomato sauce for freezing), but the thing that makes

Budapest

2011-08-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Back in July, Mark, Lynh and I spent a week exploring Budapest. As you may or may not know, Budapest is divided by the Danube into Buda and Pest. We stayed in Pest (say: Pesht), which was livelier but not as pretty as Buda. In general, my impression of Budapest was that it was colorful, architecturally eclectic, and quite beautiful. I especially liked the Jewish quarter, Buda, and Margaret

Scotland pt. 3: Isle of Skye and the Highlands

2011-08-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

I had been dying to visit the Isle of Skye for years. It was exactly how I imagined it: stark, craggy, romantic, dramatic clouds, beautiful gray light. After a beautiful hike at the base of the Cuillins, we were soaked to the bone and it finally dawned on me why people there are always drinking tea. However, we had other beverages in mind that morning -- Talisker whisky, at the distillery

Back!

2011-08-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

It was a fantastic summer -- we'll never forget it -- but man, it feels so nice to be home. We spent the last few days unpacking (a big job, since we packed away most of the stuff in the house before our sub-letters moved in), going through a mountain of mail, and getting back to our normal routine. We also made time for lazing in the Northern California sunshine, Harry Potter, and planting the

Scotland pt. 2

2011-07-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

On our first afternoon in Scotland, Mark and I drove to Dundee and visited his old school, the High School of Dundee. Most famous alumni: William Wallace. (Fun fact: Mark was in Wallace House.) After a quick tour of Dundee, we made our way through the Kingdom of Fife and Angus. We stopped to see Glamis Castle, where the Queen Mum lived as a girl. I could see her sending her page to fetch

Scotland pt. 1

2011-07-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, we had a most excellent trip to Scotland a few weeks ago. It was one of the loveliest trips we've taken in a long time, mostly because of all the good company we shared. We road tripped with Mike and Megan and were lucky enough to stay with with some generous, amazing hosts in Edinburgh and Glasgow --thank you Jared/Cora, Emma/Stefan/Fharhad, and David/Sarah! I'll be