July through August finds me coming up with all sorts of fig recipes to accommodate the deluge of figs from my prolific trees. I’ve made fig ice cream, fig newtons, sticky figgy buns, fig sauce, fig tarts, and all manner of fig appetizers, but I think my all-time favorite is my “figcaccia,” a focaccia with […]

I always like it when whatever I’m cooking comes with a history, and the Limousin area has an interesting story to tell. One can prepare an entire meal from Limousin and its capital, Limoges.

When the temperatures outside start rising, I start cooling off with light, bright, and refreshing salads, and nothing cools like a cucumber. A cool cucumber is the perfect foil for hot weather and hot food.

With the weather warming up, Rosie tend to lighten up my meals and turn to the ever-versatile salad. Her celery salad offers sweet, sour, heat, crunch, bitter, and salty all in one bite. It’s a side dish that shines.

When springtime rolls around, Rosie Hawthorne looks for light, colorful meals.  These seared scallops served with a cauliflower purée and a bright vegetable medley fit the bill perfectly.

To be honest, I’ve never been much of a breakfast person; however, I make an exception for these waffles with fruit syrup. They are made with yeast, so start the batter the night before and let it rise overnight.

Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” better than sweets for your sweet and Rosie Hawthorne got a perfect breakfast sweet roll to start that special day off just right – heart-shaped pecan and cinnamon sweet buns.

January is a time for new beginnings. Mind you, I don’t do “resolutions,” but I’ve resolved/decided to tackle two dishes I’ve never had before and have always wanted to try -- Welsh Rabbit and Baked Alaska.

During the holidays, it’s always a good idea to have something on hand for a quick and versatile appetizer. Crostini lend themselves to a panoply of toppings, allowing an endless scope of flavors and seasonal accoutrements.

Puff pastry begins with a block of butter wrapped in dough. Then it’s rolled out and folded in an exact series of turns until you get alternating layers of dough and butter.

Plugrá is a European-style butter made in the United States. The name “Plugrá” is from the French, “plus gras,” meaning “more fat.” And that’s the difference between regular butter and European-style -- the fat content.

Imported Italian pasta is vastly superior to domestic pasta. One is able to cook the imported pasta to that perfect degree of toothy tenderness -- al dente. It swells considerably, meaning it will go farther.