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Welcome to our patio garden! More years ago than I’d like to admit, we began to work on the patio that wraps along the back and one long side of our house. Our front yard is the size of a postage stamp that the association’s landscapers tend, so the patio is where I garden — [...]
I should call this the Monet salad. I’m teasing, of course, but whenever I see varying tones of green and purple with touches of blue, I think of French Impressionist Claude Monet’s most famous and recognizable series of paintings — Waterlilies. To be accurate, I’d have to specify which waterlilies painting, there are so many [...]
I have been thinking quite a bit about what I write about and why. And since many would describe this as a recipe site, I guess that means I wonder about what types of recipes I post and why — or don’t post, which is more often the case. As an example for analysis, I [...]
At some point in our young lives, my sister made a cake. This stands out because my sister doesn’t bake. Food is a necessity to her, lucky woman, unless we’re talking about salsa or hot sauce. Okay, apples, popcorn…she’s a grazer. She’s petite and lean — fit. And she’s more beautiful than she’s ever been. [...]
More than a month has passed since I’ve written here, but that doesn’t mean I’ve left it to sit. Okay, it appears as if it’s been abandoned. But I’ve been searching for and learning about many things that will hopefully make it function better than it has in the past. It seems everyone is reading [...]
Ah well. At least San Diego in late March is lovely, right? I hoped to have things on Sass & Veracity completely working by now, but that is not the case. I’m having trouble with that yellow bar above which has a few things that are useful to people. You’d think it was easy to [...]
Ah well. At least San Diego in late March is lovely, right? I hoped to have things on Sass & Veracity completely working by now, but that is not the case. I’m having trouble with that yellow bar above which has a few things that are useful to people. (Well I was once I’d given up, threw a hissy fit, then did some hard thinking last night and then got up this morning with my prior
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what I’d like Sass & Veracity to become and true to my sometimes very stubborn nature, continue to experiment with its organization myself instead of hiring someone who actually knows what he or she is doing. So please bear with me, and I thank you for your patience. [...]
Simple Jam Tart I looked over at my husband a few evenings ago as we sat in our usual places after dinner in front of the television — he in his chair, ever present laptop casting a blue white glow on his handsome mug, and I pressed into a corner of the sofa, pillows wedged [...]
Gumbo with Ham Hock and Shrimp I was lucky to be involved in many projects when I was teaching requiring travel to many areas of the U.S. and what I enjoyed about each experience was that after a brain draining day of work — often dealing with a three-hour time difference — we’d wander in [...]
Pork and Cabbage Soup When I think back on most years of my life, I am able to remember being sick once every year or two — and when I started teaching — every year. Sometimes, it went on for more than two months, lingering, wearing me down, leaving me longing for a chest that [...]
Sweet Bread twist filled with dried cranberries, apricots, almonds, tangerine zest, and cardamom I hope this finds you well in spite of recent sobering events we are all trying to make sense of — if that is even possible. I’m working to find inspiration in the most unlikely places and grasp tightly, acknowledging feelings of [...]
Well hello. I hope you’re well. I have been — at least until a few days ago when I felt a bit of a sore throat that was at first more a reason to laze around than anything else. I’m not much of a laze around type, so when I feel the urge to do [...]
I’m taking Thanksgiving off this year — literally. My husband suggested we spend the better part of the week in San Francisco and visit with our youngest who is in art school there instead of flying him home for the holiday as we have the past two years. As much as I enjoy the holiday, [...]
I took my Mac to the Apple store recently because I was notified that its serial number was one marked as having a hard drive that could potentially fail. I dropped it off, a new hard drive was installed free of charge by the next day, and I was able to restore all the data [...]
Once upon a time, I’d have talked up a recipe for hot wings as being the best type of game day food — and we did enjoy these recently before a Chargers game. Unfortunately the Chargers have been playing so horribly this season, my husband — the world’s most dedicated sports fan — didn’t bother [...]
Sometimes when I’m at the market, I come across bags of brightly colored carrots — carrots in a deep burgundy and cheerful yellow nestled with the expected orange. Once in a while there are a few very pale yellow carrots in the mix as well, but the burgundies are what I think most striking. Once [...]
I think the first time I tried to make an apple dumpling I was about 26, give or take a year. I don’t remember cooking much during that particular time in my life, but what I did cook has stayed with me — for better or worse. A successful pot of chili verde qualifies as one [...]
If you’ve been reading here for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve come across at least one comment I’ve made about squash in general. It’s something I didn’t learn to like until I was in my early twenties with two babies at home and a small garden that produced zucchini the size of battleships. [...]
I’ve been back from my trip East for a couple of weeks now and think I’ve finally caught up with sleep and processed all my memories along with the more than 500 photos I took. It’s a relaxing task to process photos after a trip and I find myself grinning like a sap as I [...]
I was hoping Mother Nature might take pity on us by wielding her mighty weather wand because October has arrived and with it, the promise of Fall. All things apples and pumpkins, steaming bowls of comforting soup to stave off a late afternoon chill in the air. New wooly socks and freshly knitted scarves in [...]
I made it back from my trip to the East Coast safe and sound and will share my experience after it settles and I’ve had time to savor it all. In the meantime, I have many recipes to share and ideas for more. I guess there’s nothing quite like time away to clear my [...]
Best laid plans — I had them. I really did. But I ran out of time. It’s after 11 pm and the alarm will sound at 3:45 am tomorrow so that I can get up, pretend as if I can actually see clearly enough to put on my makeup, then get the hubster out of [...]
After swearing off most things sweet for the first six months of the year, I did make a few desserts this summer for holidays, birthdays, and a get together or two, and these Strawberry Jam Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies were a perfect choice. Go ahead. Just try and say that three times fast. I dare [...]
We’ve enjoyed so many different great recipes this summer, I haven’t done a very good job of keeping it up when it comes to sharing them with you. What’s my excuse? Well. I’d say pull up a chair and allow me to share the photos of what we’ve been doing while enjoying the season to [...]
Each year, I wait for the first morning I have a sense that Fall is right around the corner, teasing me. The humidity is gone, skies are clear and blue, and there’s a gentle breeze. One cruel morning this week hinted of just that, but it was gone before I knew it. A long Labor [...]
I grew up loving my mother’s potato salad. It was a simple mixture of boiled and peeled russet potatoes she cut into cubes then added chopped onion, celery, hard boiled eggs, and pickles. The dressing wasn’t fancy — a generous dollop of mayonnaise mixed with enough juice from the pickle jar to make it tangy [...]
Returning our son to San Francisco for another year of school marks an unofficial end of summer for us. Twelve weeks of his being at home included road trips filled with yummy eats, movie nights, drives through fast food joints, and food we haven’t had in the house in a while. Tortilla chips, anyone? One [...]
I think the first time I saw Julia Child was on an episode of Martha Stewart more than 15 years ago. That’s tantamount to sacrilege if you love food as much as I do and I’ve had to think about why I never knew about her. Her television show ran for a decade beginning in [...]
It really doesn’t get hot where I live until August. I spend each summer quietly enjoying our temperate weather, often more chilly than some would like. And so when we invite them to our house for dinner, we tell them to bring sweaters and then snicker about it because the idea of needing a [...]
I have always wanted to cook. Whether it was the simple family recipes my mother showed me how to make when I was very young, or something new I found in her Betty Crocker cookbook and decided to try on my own, I was always interested. As much as I followed my mother’s recipes fairly [...]
For the past five years or so, my very best friend and I have diligently gone to Tomatomania each April when it comes to town. We may have missed a year somewhere in that time, but still buy tomato plants elsewhere so we can make like suburban farmers and enjoy our own home grown, warmed [...]
The last few days of our recent vacation, we stayed at Bay Cottage, a lovely retreat located on the shore of Discovery Bay near Port Townsend, Washington. It seems like I’ve wanted to stay in a place like that forever — somehow making up for the lack of a family summer vacation rental that so [...]
I’m in Portland, Oregon right now, on a vacation my husband decided he wanted to take relatively late. This wasn’t supposed to be the year for the big vacation because we enjoyed a Foodie’s Road Trip through New England last Fall which we loved, and are planning to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary late next [...]
I often hear others say they don’t like salad. My first reaction is, really? How can someone not like salad? And then I wonder if the person is suffering from the idea that salad involves a head of lettuce and a few tomatoes slathered in bottled white creamy dressing and understand. That would get old [...]
It’s officially summer. The calendar says so, and when I look out my window, I can say that our weather is even cooperating — if not with warmer temperatures, then surely beautiful sun and light that makes me want to grab a chair and book, maybe a glass of something tinkling when it’s picked up [...]
I don’t have a bucket list in general, let alone a food bucket list. But I do have a mind that sees something interesting and once captured, it stays and stays. This particular oddity of mine isn’t limited to food, but because food is what I think of most, I can guarantee my mind is [...]
I like to think I’ve always enjoyed vegetables — especially those others would prefer didn’t exist, let alone show up on their dinner plates. The what are those, how does one prepare them, cook, or eat them vegetables. But my perspective was limited early on by what so many of ours has been: the availability [...]
I believe I can chalk up my extended absences here to a variety of reasons. Experts tell me I’m not supposed to address it but I’ve decided to ignore them. because these days, it seems everyone is an expert on how to blog. To some extent, mentioning it does feel a bit like having [...]
When you live in San Diego, it’s not difficult to find great Mexican food as long as you’re willing to avoid the more obvious chains. Each neighborhood seems to have a local favorite and as much as many can agree that there are special places tough to compete with, sometimes, close to home is just [...]
Often when I’ve had the time to prepare a large cut of meat like the recent whole pork shoulder I rubbed with spices and slow roasted in the oven, I do it with ulterior motives. Like making meatloaf so I can have a sandwich a day later. Or braising a piece of beef chuck so [...]
You may recall I purchased an entire pig last December and split it with a good friend. We each ended up with 100 lbs. of fresh, locally loved and raised, lean pork and have been busy enjoying every bit of its truly incredible flavor. So where are my posts about this first time ever foray [...]
I go to the farmers’ market armed with a single bag theory thinking I will surely be limited to a reasonable number of purchases, yet fail every time. I’ve become pretty good at packing that bag which seems manageable while I’m filling it. A few bundles of greens can’t take up all that much space, [...]
It’s the first day of spring and perfectly clear outside, the sun making its appearance after a much needed rainy weekend. I’m feeling the urge to get out on my patio to start clearing away the damp leaves in my planters, trim the new growth from the vines we cut back last year, and get [...]
Kefir cheese with a bit of honey and sliced strawberries on sprouted grain toast. For most of my life, my morning routine involved waking to an alarm set to sound well before the the sun had even thought about sending its rays to brighten the black horizon outside my window. I was ready for [...]
It’s challenging for me to remember exactly when I wrote my first post here five years ago, but I’m fairly certain it was sometime late this month. If web years are anything like that of dog years, then that is quite a good length of time. I searched the archives but knew before I began [...]
It’s official. My husband and I are two months into our decision to change the way we eat and guess what? It works! Works, as in, we feel pretty darn good and have lost weight. His loss of 18 lbs. has been steady and sure with minor plateaus here and there, and true to my [...]
I’d like to say this wonderful boule of walnut bread has just come from my oven and that hints of its aroma are still wafting through my house, but it’s been quite a while since I baked it. I’ll blame my current efforts to change my eating habits on finally deciding to write about it [...]
Last November when I was trying to make a decision about the turkey we’d prepare for Thanksgiving, quite by accident, I saw a news segment about a local turkey farmer. In San Diego? I immediately researched to find that yes, we really did have someone who raised turkeys in Valley Center, just north of San [...]
