Only 2 more days until the 2012 London Olympic Games 27! And, in honor of all that the Olympic games inspire, this month’s Five Star Makeover Challenge is a Greek meze roundup. The epitome of Greek style entertaining is the meze (meh-ZEH) table – a traditional gathering place – warm, inviting, and always casual. It is an […]
Appetizers
Surf City Mango Poke
As some of you know, I recently migrated from the burbs to beachside in Huntington Beach. I’ve come full circle: my first place in California, two decades ago, was a little apartment on Hermosa Avenue in Hermosa Beach, affectionately dubbed the “Shoebox”. It was small, but it overlooked The Strand; coming from the Midwest, that […]
Farm to Your Table
I’m never too busy to lend my palate as a culinary judge, especially when it involves six of the most popular food trucks in Orange County and supporting local farmers at one of my favorite local farmers markets. So when, SoCo Farmers Market came a callin’, I jumped at the chance to act as a judge for […]
Japanese Steamed Clams from Just One Cookbook
It’s been fifteen years since we last moved and I had forgotten just how much time and work it requires! Even before the big day arrived there were weeks of planning and preparation, cleaning and organizing. Basically, “the move” has taken over my life for the past month and, sitting here surrounded by boxes, it […]
Curry Cauliflower Dip
Memorial Weekend marks the beginning of summer and I am ready! We don’t have any plans for the three-day weekend, except waking up at 6:00 a.m. to greet the early birds at our everything-must-go moving sale on Saturday – oh joy 🙂 Whether you’re just kicking back to enjoy an extra day off or rounding […]
Spring Radish and Avocado Crostini
It’s time for another 5 Star Makeover Challenge! This month our ever-imaginative hosts decided to do something different and challenged us to have some fun with Junk Food! The mission, put forth by our hosts: the lovely and talented Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Laz, that vortex of creativity at Lazaro Cooks, was to take […]
Mad Men and caviar
Yesterday, the official Season 5 key art for Mad Men was revealed – James Hibbard of Entertainment Weekly declared it “cryptic, artsy and just a tad… pretentious, perhaps? You be the judge.” A New York Times article quotes creator Matthew Weiner, “This is a dreamlike image,” he said, “By the end of the season… I […]
5 Star Makeover: Beets
This month’s 5 Star Makeover Challenge is BEETS. Beets are at peak season in the winter months and our challenge is to make them shine in ways you may never have considered. Five Star Makeover is hosted by the lovely and talented Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Laz, the creative mastermind behind Lazaro Cooks. […]
Guilt-less Super Bowl Party Appetizers
Are you ready to RUMBLE!!! I’m sure you know the Super Bowl is this weekend – I mean, it’s only the biggest sports event of the year. There are people who could care less (really), but millions of diehard fans, as well as those who really don’t care but tag along for a good time, […]
Chicken Pate Truffles
Yes, I know, to be linguistically correct the title should read Pâté, but after experiencing a whole lotta headache when I put the [ ü ] in Grüner Veltliner in the post title for my Wiener Schnitzel redux, ironically another 5 Star Makeover Challenge, I’m not willing to chance phonetic symbols in titles again. After […]