Growing up, chicken potpie meant a Swanson’s frozen dinner, pulled hot from the oven before my parents escaped for a night of freedom. Those nights meant freedom to my sister and me, too: babysitters! The Love Boat! Fantasy Island! Oh my, how we looked forward to watching Charo charm Captain Stubing and his merry crew, […]
Now that the rain storm has passed and the ocean breezes are warming up again, I’ve got grilling on the brain. Or more specifically, I’ve got Mr. Gonzo doing the grilling on the brain (despite his heroic efforts to teach me to grill, I still can’t do it). This marinade works for flank steak or […]
Croatia – That’s me and my mom on the left with the other moms and daughters on our trip. Growing up, I could always find my mother in the kitchen. She wasn’t necessarily cooking in there; it was more command central for afternoon cocktails with friends, list writing or perhaps (most likely) a place to […]
Posh bar nuts are one of those cookery tricks that every girl should have up her sleeve. The first time I ever had fancy nuts was at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua in Maui, on a surprise trip with Mr. Gonzo (then a mere boyfriend). Served in a tiered silver dish, the nuts were meatier, saltier, […]
Meet the hardest working pan in your kitchen: the cast iron skillet. With it you can grill, sear, roast, bake, toast…am I missing anything? Like cooking itself, I came late to the cast iron skillet party. When Mr. Gonzo and I first shacked up together, he had an ancient pan that was lovingly seared. At […]
Spaghetti with pesto is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. The fresh zing of garlic at the end of each bite, the ritual of scooping the oil into the ribbons of pasta, cleansing the palette with red wine before going back for more; it’s something familiar no matter where you are. In Cairo this […]
Last week I mentioned the beautiful strawberries that just arrived in our markets, and I wanted to share what’s turned out to be one of my favorite uses for these sweet berries. This week and into next month I’m cooking from a rather surprising source: The New Abs Diet Cookbook. I’m not usually one for […]
I’m a savory kind of girl: given the choice between cupcakes and salted nuts, I’ll take the nuts every time. In fact, I’m making my favorite spiced nuts this weekend to munch while watching whisper-thin actresses sob over their Oscars. But even a gonzo gal can get tired of an old favorite, which was why […]
Considering we were in Egypt during the demonstrations, our trip was very serene and peaceful. Yes, we had some anxious moments, most notably when all Internet access was shut off and we couldn’t use Skype to call home. Fortunately for us, Arab hospitality extends to sharing cell phones, and our ship’s captain, Samir, let us […]