tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-638912841237464142011-12-22T23:40:35.530-08:00One formerly pregnant woman, whose cravings nearly consumed her while she was with child, continues to follow her whims and cook everything that comes into her formerly nauseated mind. Thankfully her food philosophy is simple, and her post-partum cravings are following suit: eat real, whole foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains), with the occasional transcendent indulgence, as long as it's homemade.The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.comBlogger1421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-33756525051012487042010-09-27T10:29:00.001-07:002010-09-27T10:30:24.776-07:00

Once I posted the many evocations Lion Cake I realized that I hadn’t posted a cake that I made reference to—the preschool cake. I did this one not long after Fielding was born, to thank Sawyer’s preschool teacher for being completely awesome, and to celebrate her first successful year of business. It was my first attempt at cake painting, which I loved, but which comes with, of course, a new set

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-49696600432468098912010-09-27T10:23:00.001-07:002010-09-27T13:21:14.003-07:00

Even though I recently (like four weeks ago) declared that I was not ready to return to cake making after Fielding’s birth (this after making a cake with my foot on the bouncy chair the whole time, which was tricky business indeed), I inexplicably volunteered to do a birthday cake for my friend’s son. I guess it’s kind of like heroin. Well maybe not that bad. It’s like nitrous. I think I’m done

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-968932331135463912010-09-27T08:40:00.001-07:002010-10-01T09:10:51.666-07:00

Serves 8     Another installment of the freezer meals that mom and I made to ease the family into life with two kids—it was great to be able to pull this out for dinner last night and only worry about making rice and some vegetables. And of course Chris loves such versatile leftovers. I wager he’ll be eating it at noon wrapped in a tortilla or in a toasted bun. 1 1/2 pound lean boneless pork

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-2324157072577607922010-09-23T05:42:00.001-07:002010-09-23T05:46:10.996-07:00

Asian chicken salad has been a favorite of the Grays for a long time now—it’s the only way Chris will accept eating salad as a main course. To ensure that he does, I have to pack it full of hearty, crunchy niblets. It had been awhile since we’d done it, but the real inspiration for this salad was the dressing. It’s JAPANESE RESTAURANT DRESSING. If you eat at Japanese restaurants from time to

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-87298706680528007432010-09-21T14:37:00.001-07:002010-09-21T15:14:16.357-07:00

Makes about 2 cups   Anyone who has been to my town knows that it’s SMALL. Now there are  more than five restaurants here, but when we first moved in there were two: the Erie Cafe and Mina’s Latin Restaurant. Oh, good ole Mina’s. It was grimy inside and had a mysterious stage with a disco ball, but no advertisements for karaoke or local theater…what was it used for? It was basically a Mexican

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-12201044522648654822010-09-16T20:02:00.001-07:002010-09-17T10:19:05.377-07:00

Serves 2-3     Oh yeaaaaah, talk about smooth, creamy, sweet, velvety luxuriousness. Chocolate mousse made from avocado is something I’ve been meaning to try for a long time, and something about which, no matter many good reviews I’d read or overheard, I was still a little doubtful. The moment of truth came when I was brainstorming dairy-free dessert ideas for my nephew. His mom just had a

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-34123833935451120582010-09-15T07:30:00.001-07:002010-09-15T07:30:03.047-07:00

Serves 4 mmm, loved this one, thank goodness. In fact I forwarded the recipe to all my gluten-free friends. I think the only change I’ll make next time is to break up the chick peas in the food processor a little before proceeding. Also will try it with tzaziki. Topping 1 cucumber, quartered and sliced (1 cup) 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered 2 green onions, chopped 2 Tbs. lemon juice

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-44387852729052766592010-09-13T20:07:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:29:12.483-07:00

Serves 4 Before I get into these noodles I have to confess that I’ve really been mulling over the purpose of this blog for the last few days. In my attempt to cook my way through my collected magazine recipes, I’ve made a few this week that just really didn’t make the grade. “Should I put them on the blog?” I wondered. I mean, I did say that I was going to make all of the recipes that I’d cut

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-37815920670652103102010-09-12T16:27:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:29:32.983-07:00

Serves 6    I’m a dal fiend, so when I saw this recipe in Eating Well magazine, and imagined the blissful combination of my favorite fruit and my favorite legume preparation, I knew it would be on the menu soon enough. I finally got around to trying it when we had guests the other night. We served it with an Indian-spiced roast chicken (I made a spice rub with salt, cumin, curry, biryani

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-59048181346793433792010-09-07T01:10:00.001-07:002010-09-07T09:46:05.887-07:00

Serves 4 If ever you wanted to perfectly capture all of the best flavors of summer in one simple dish, this is it. I saw it on A Cooking Life recently and couldn’t stop thinking about it. You really ought to visit the link because her pictures are much prettier (whose aren’t??) and because she gives a lot of useful information about the execution. Her argument is that the success of such a

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-41668283180838992232010-09-06T20:10:00.001-07:002010-09-06T20:13:33.243-07:00

Serves 4-6 This one is actually from the most recent issue of Bon Appétit—I’m always looking for ways to use chard, and this one turned out to be completely, completely delicious. The toddler ate it, which leads me to this syllogism: if it is delicious, the toddler won’t necessarily eat it, but if the toddler eats it, it is indisputably delicious. 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 bunch Swiss chard,

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-16548622500566933622010-09-04T10:46:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:29:51.102-07:00

Serves 4 Another recipe from the collection down…about 800,000 to go. Only slight exaggeration. Once again I did quite a lot of adapting with this one, primarily for the (to me) hilarious reason that the grocery stores don’t carry canned pumpkin until just before Thanksgiving (I guess I should mention that the recipe was originally Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta). Not only do they not carry it

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-10639938587779353032010-09-01T20:45:00.001-07:002010-09-06T20:13:49.989-07:00

Serves 4-6 I almost don’t know if I can really say that I tried this recipe because of all of the changes that I made. Honestly, I scanned the ingredients before going to the store and was confident that I had everything—almost nothing but pantry staples in this one. But the original called for 4 tsp of cumin, and when I got into my spice rack I discovered barely one teaspoon in the jar. It

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-30095091253418212272010-08-31T09:12:00.001-07:002010-08-31T09:35:41.404-07:00

serves 4 So I have a new goal for this blog: to cook through most or at least many of the recipes that I have gathered from cooking magazines in the past few years. They’re all collected in a big notebook where I’ve been trimming and pasting them in, a monument to the old analog age. There are hundreds of them, but I’ve probably tried under ten; I’d like to make an effort to remedy that. The

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-55572364582724182692010-08-25T18:59:00.001-07:002010-09-06T20:14:07.742-07:00

Makes about 2 cups Sing with me now: “I’m in heaven, nightshade heaven…” I’m glad lots of people don’t like eggplant—more for me! Here is a recipe for the unforgettable Middle Eastern roasted eggplant dip, made from garden eggplants 1-1 1/2 pounds eggplant olive oil for roasting 1/4 C tahini 1 clove garlic 2-3 Tbs lemon juice 3 Tbs olive oil salt to taste First you need to roast your

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-25061076656947804172010-08-25T18:00:00.001-07:002010-08-25T19:03:30.810-07:00

The race to keep up with the squash plants continues, and this afternoon my kitchen was positively aflame while the toddler napped and the newborn nestled against my chest in the sling. The result: more savory muffins, this time with the unexpected combination of feta and bacon, and secondly a dark, spicy zucchini bread with natural sugar sources and whole grain flours. Bacon-Feta Summer Squash

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-26148878350616954692010-08-25T12:59:00.001-07:002010-08-25T13:02:02.067-07:00

The quest for original ideas for use of excess squash continues. We had the strata with dinner last night and the cakes were my lunch today. Honestly, I never get tired of these vegetables. They’re so light and adaptable! Garden Strata serves 4 4 C stale bread, cubed (we used a mix of sourdough and roasted garlic) 2 C grated zucchini and/or yellow squash 1/2 red pepper, diced 1/4 C

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-37189676154832930292010-08-23T12:40:00.001-07:002010-09-06T20:14:40.159-07:00

Makes about 2 cups   My delightful neighbor Harmony, author of the inspiring A Healthier You, recently gave us a container of her luscious and uber-healthy pesto dip. Chris and I both went crazy for it. So, having cornered her this morning where our fences meet, I asked her for the recipe. She said that she makes pesto with basil, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice (she didn’t say whether or not

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-26836696147486454672010-08-19T12:39:00.001-07:002010-08-19T12:58:06.493-07:00

Makes 8-10 fritters and 2 8-in long pizzas The season is upon us. The season of zucchini door ditching—look out, I might be leaving some on a porch near you. Last night I did my best to incorporate the intimidating harvest into some dishes that would be a little bit novel for Chris, who, in truth, doesn’t even like zucchini very much. I thought they both turned out great—the pizza especially,

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-64752486296556800262010-08-16T06:23:00.001-07:002010-08-19T12:58:27.989-07:00

makes 12 muffins   The garden—and in particular the squash plants—is running amok. I’ve already got three bags of frozen shredded zucchini waiting to emerge on a winter day in need of a little sunshine. And now the summer squash is starting to overwhelm me, and I am kind of sick of sweet quick breads (blasphemy!). Enter the savory muffin! I have great plans to experiment on this technique,

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-32623416684538858772010-08-10T09:01:00.001-07:002010-08-16T06:26:21.880-07:00

Serves 5-6   In preparation for the transition from one-child family to two-child family, the difficulties and challenges of which will rear their ugly head after all of my generous helpers have left off cooking and doing dishes for me at the end of the week, mom has been helping me plan and execute some healthy freezer meals. This one includes some of the basic necessities of the different

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-85455853027353972022010-08-09T13:55:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:30:20.887-07:00

Serves 8 I’m not sure why there is such a proliferation of desserts on here lately—we really aren’t eating all that much dessert. We have had company since Fielding was born, and that was the occasion for this particular delight. And when I say delight, I mean deeeee-light. My mother has declared this “one of the all-time great desserts” that she has tasted in her life time. That’s saying a

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-68222001372878173862010-08-03T14:28:00.001-07:002010-08-09T15:29:02.817-07:00

Serves 4-6    Yes, I made and photographed these before Fielding arrived. I was actually kind of a kitchen tornado in the days preceding his arrival—I must have sensed it, because we came home to some tasty leftovers and snacks and, thank goodness, a manageable overflow from the garden (boy did we grow one hell of a zucchini during our 30-hr hospital stay). 6-8 stuffable vegetables, such as

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-72339481174709853162010-08-03T13:46:00.001-07:002010-08-03T13:47:45.292-07:00

At long last, I’ve been delivered of my pelvic burden, in the form of the handsomest, sweetest little 8lb wonder ever. Fielding Christopher Gray left the oven a few days ahead of schedule, on Sunday Aug. 1. What a great birthday that is. Here are a few shots of his first few days. Daddy setting him down for the big weigh-in (8lbs 1.5oz):   That’s one proud papa. I think everyone has

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-57239740911064694192010-07-25T20:59:00.001-07:002010-07-25T21:02:00.719-07:00

Serves 6-8 Talk about enjoying the fruits of our labors! On Tuesday my friend Harmony and I, after months of scheming and failed attempts, finally made our first trip this season to the magnificent Berry Patch Farms in Brighton, CO, a family owned you-pick organic farm. Among the other things that we harvested that day was an incredibly labor-intensive pile of currants. Neither of us has much

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-44839530624764754932010-07-25T20:33:00.001-07:002010-07-25T20:39:47.242-07:00

Serves 4 I can’t believe how well this turned out. I’m still sort of gloating in my mind over how delicious it was, even if Chris did say, “too bad there was no Italian sausage to put on here…” What’s even better, it helped me use up all the beet greens from the garden that I’ve been saving while on some kind of insane beet-eating quest this week. Seriously, I’ve had beets in some form or

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-10617498176745770262010-07-24T11:40:00.001-07:002010-07-25T16:56:47.505-07:00

Serves 8 This requires a little background, I believe. A pâte à tartiner is simply a spread, usually sweet, something you would put on bread or a crepe or a scone, for example. Nutella is probably the pâte à tartiner that Americans know best, but brace yourselves, fellow countrymen, because there’s an up and coming, snot-nosed hotshot called Speculoos Pâte à Tartiner ready to take its place.

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-64579137399277893902010-07-21T10:53:00.000-07:002010-07-25T16:57:20.685-07:00

The weeks are winding down, and this mama is tuckered out. If I make it to week 39 there won't be a picture with Sawyer because he was born a week early--cross fingers! chant mantras! give offerings! Here he is, a week away from making his grand appearance:Petit monsieur inutero, que j'ai envie de faire ta connaissance!

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-40353594885197158782010-07-16T12:44:00.001-07:002010-07-16T12:50:54.369-07:00

Servings depend on your leftovers No, I didn’t make these for myself, but that didn’t stop me from eating loads of them along the way. No, a moment of celebration is due, not just for my friend Kristen, who is expecting a little boy a few weeks after me, and at whose baby shower these will (hopefully) be devoured, but also because with this project I have FINALLY finished using up all the

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-21990445813031831882010-07-16T12:10:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:30:50.162-07:00

Serves 8 Quiche is one of my favorite speedy meals, also great for freezer dinners and for using up wilty veg. The latter was my motivation this time—loads of spinach and beet greens were about to go to waste until I girded my loins and put two quiches together. Needless to say, one is in the freezer for after the tiny bundle arrives. My favorite all-time quiche recipe is from Mark Bittman—it’

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-13905471070486258822010-07-16T11:05:00.001-07:002010-07-16T12:46:05.396-07:00

Makes 10-12 We had these with our tofu scramble the other night…mmmmm. 1 cup milk 2 medium eggs 2/3 cup flour 1/3 cup cornmeal 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt The instructions say to do these in a muffin tin, but I opted for the toaster oven and soufflé cups, and made them a lot bigger than you would in a muffin tin. You get to choose. Preheat your oven to 450°. Oil or grease

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-74266669168808431712010-07-16T10:54:00.001-07:002010-09-06T20:56:39.014-07:00

Serves 4-6 I’m starting to be up to my ears in beets. This is a good thing. I would probably eat beet roesti everyday, but lately it’s just been too freaking hot to want to turn on the stovetop or the oven. Slow cookers, of course, are a good solution, as are toaster ovens—they don’t let off too much heat, and they’re more energy efficient that using a full-size oven. Long story short, a

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-6036147301655585422010-07-16T10:05:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:31:06.056-07:00

Serves 3-4 In my world, there’s just nothing like tofu scramble. I have lots of variations that I do, which is part of what I love about it; you just can’t go wrong, flavor-wise. When you can get your hands on fresh herbs, however, you should keep the additions to a minimum and just let the harmonious green herbiness shine through. Any vegetables at all will do for tofu scramble, so below I’

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-2402226496228478492010-07-08T14:12:00.001-07:002010-07-08T14:45:11.041-07:00

Oh yeah! Thanks to my sister-in-law Sheri who had the brilliant idea of turning wedding cake scraps into an ice cream cake. Though I feel like I betrayed her vision a little by turning it basically into more wedding cake…with ice cream. Here’s the idea, in any case: put your cake scraps in the food processor and turn them into crumbs. Press them into the bottom of a pan (I’m using at 8x8

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-26958647577195385742010-07-08T14:02:00.001-07:002010-07-08T14:02:16.025-07:00

The countdown begins; we’re now officially one month from delivery…in theory. Here are a few more belly shots to keep you interested while I try to convince my cervix to efface and dilate in a timely manner. Sawyer F at 35 weeks…   And an impromptu pic that cousin Jenny happened to seize at our family reunion—little baby Asteroid Whitesnake at 35 weeks:   4 weeks out! SFG kickin’ the poo

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-13266529419743947742010-07-04T08:16:00.001-07:002010-07-08T14:48:42.764-07:00

The fruits of my week-long labors were finally harvested last night at my friend Katina’s wedding where, after a beautiful and moving ceremony, we rocked out at the Space Gallery in Denver and feasted on my first attempt at a wedding cake—a wobbly, 4-tiered flavor sensation that was 18 months on the drawing board before last night. A few thoughts about the experience: the learning curve was steep

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-55489429158163627182010-06-30T13:07:00.000-07:002010-07-06T07:41:04.823-07:00

Things have been pretty quiet around Pregnant Lady Cooks...but don't let that fool you into thinking that I've been idle. No indeed! We've been on vacation for the last two weeks or so, but the pregnant lady has still been cooking up a tiny storm. We spent a glorious week in Outer Banks, North Carolina with Chris' family, where I continued to perfect my recipe for Basil Turkey Burgers. I'm so

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-45130184510198885932010-06-28T10:55:00.000-07:002010-06-28T11:05:41.914-07:00

I have been really bad about the belly photographing, but thankfully, since we've been on vacation, other people have gotten shots that will do the trick in a pinch. Here's the wee Sawyer Francis in utero at week 34:And here's a random beach shot that Uncle Steve caught during our trip to Outer Banks, NC, smack dab in the middle of week 34. I hope Carrie will forgive me for putting a picture of

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Serves 8-10 Once again, not my picture. We’re in between vacations right now—the scant three and half days between arriving home and setting out again—and things are a little topsy-turvy here. I made this tart for cooking club before we set out on family vacation part one, but forgot to take my camera with me…so no one’s food got photographed, unfortunately. Anyway, this is a Martha Stewart

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Makes 6 small and 20 smaller tartlets     I didn’t grow up with rhubarb--heck, I didn’t grow up with much more than frozen corn and canned green beans—but I’ve eaten it and experimented with it over the years and have become a fan. Chris, however, is a long-time lover of the strawberry-rhubarb combo, so when a few stalks were coming in our organic box this week, his cravings were the priority.

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-74756572997874865942010-06-06T20:56:00.001-07:002010-06-07T14:13:17.158-07:00

Makes 8-10 large pastries Don’t be fooled by the name—chardikopita is just me being a smartass, and making spanikopita with green chard, which I had in abundance this week from my organic box. I like to make a batch of these and only cook three or four, saving the rest for quick lunches or dinner later in the week, as they get soggy in the fridge if they’re already cooked.We’ll definitely be

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-74586471606636096212010-06-05T08:10:00.001-07:002010-06-09T08:24:48.154-07:00

Serves 4-6 This was dinner from last week…I don’t know what took me so long to post it. It seems decidedly unseasonal now that the weather is so hot, but on that cloudy cool day, it totally hit the spot. And I gave a great gift to Chris that night: I served it with plain ole white flour egg noodles. Norrmally I force whole- or multi-grain pasta on the family, which I think is only occasionally

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-28018120735238508722010-06-05T07:54:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:31:29.307-07:00

Serves 4 Another photo stolen from a website—now that I found our camera, the battery is dead. This recipe is from Eating Well magazine, and Chris—truly, this is some kind of miracle—had flipped through the issue and DOG-EARED the recipes that he wanted me to try. That’s the most enthusiasm and interest he’s shown for anything in the kitchen pretty much since we’ve been married. Greek salad

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-9470347204217091422010-06-05T07:47:00.001-07:002010-06-08T14:44:00.554-07:00

Serves 4-6 Normally I am no lover of Paula Dean, but when I wanted to make some sweet potato biscuits and her recipe came up at the top, I knew I shouldn’t deny her the chance to do what she does best. Comparatively, these did not offend my nutritional sensibilities like many of her other recipes (like the Krispy Cream burgers or deep fried Snickers).  I think it’s her total disregard for any

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-46362164123751049762010-06-01T18:05:00.001-07:002010-06-01T18:10:28.300-07:00

  This is about to be straight plagiarism, because I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit this month, decided to try it, couldn’t find my camera, and therefore have copied the entire thing, picture included, from their website. It’s a weird half-picture, so you’ll just have to believe me when I tell you that the salad is both beautiful and delicious. Chris gave it the ultimate compliment: “These are

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-57160186548566367292010-05-28T11:58:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:31:49.853-07:00

  Quinoa tabouleh is one of my favorite culinary augurs of summer; it was practically demanded by our organic box this week, which was full of tomatoes, cucumbers and parsley. You can, of course, use bulgur, which is equally as delicious and requires no cooking (just pour boiling water over it, cover and let it sit for an hour). But why deny yourself the insane amount of nutrients that quinoa

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-87591478880664017382010-05-27T12:21:00.001-07:002010-05-27T12:24:41.220-07:00

Serves 4   Mmm…this was a refreshing, cool, and indulgent picnic treat, a wonderful twist on the usual potato salad which, normally, I can’t get too excited about. And who would ever choose russet potatoes over sweet potatoes?? 1/2 pound Bacon 3 cups Diced cooked sweet potatoes 2 cups Pineapple chunks, (fresh or canned and drained) 3-4 stalks celery, diced 1/2 sweet onion, diced and

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-91136596181342199852010-05-27T12:13:00.001-07:002010-05-27T12:24:17.291-07:00

It happened first with Sawyer: photographic silence between weeks 23 and 30. So I guess it was bound to happen with number two. Without further ado then, here is the comparative belly progress. Sawyer Francis vicariously visiting the construction site that before too long would be our new house. I think I’m standing in Chris’ office. And here I am in his office again, heavy with child. 30

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-30906466368530591772010-05-25T09:21:00.001-07:002010-07-08T14:48:59.318-07:00

  A friend of mine recently agreed to let me have a go at making a birthday cake for her son who has a food allergies, and who loves Star Wars. So I used my trusty egg/dairy/nut free chocolate cake recipe to get started. In this recipe soy milk, olive oil and margarine replace the butter, while silken tofu and cornstarch replace the eggs. 3/4 C olive oil 2 C sugar 4 oz. (about 1/2 C)

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-63737494532467127822010-05-16T20:03:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:32:05.641-07:00

serves 2-4  In the past few months Sawyer’s intellect has matured to the point that he really “gets” negotiation, and this has been a boon to his diet. Formerly the all-star nose-turner-upper at anything that wasn’t cereal, toast or Annie’s bunnies in cheese sauce, he has now pretty much made peace with the whole “this is what mom made for dinner; eat it or go hungry” idea. While he might put

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-69588514848737253712010-05-16T19:20:00.001-07:002010-05-16T19:23:09.018-07:00

  So I have this luscious bowl of homemade ricotta cheese sitting in my fridge, waiting to be lassoed by inspiration into something unforgettable. This was the first take—with perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, a little olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Besides being utterly delicious, it was nice to not have to slice the mozzarella and layer all the bits into an aesthetic

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-44961662861280707782010-05-14T15:38:00.001-07:002010-06-07T14:16:34.439-07:00

Serves 3 Oh. My. So. Good. What a happy intersection of circumstances that brought this most delicious lunch together today. This is, admittedly, more than we usually bother to put together for a weekday lunch, but it was so good that I think it will carry me happily into next week, flavor-wise; I can just eat cardboard until next Tuesday or so. Fish White fish such as Orange Roughy or

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-66205609364603183062010-05-14T15:10:00.001-07:002010-05-16T20:05:15.448-07:00

Makes 2 cups ricotta I’ve been hearing for years how amazing (and easy) homemade ricotta is, and while I believed it, I didn’t buy into the superlatives until I tried it myself (in the wake of a failed goat cheese attempt) for our homemade themed cooking club meeting this month. This was faster and easier, in fact, than making yogurt (whose ease I’m endlessly advertising), and the result was so…

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-78067121292627963532010-05-09T20:28:00.001-07:002010-05-09T20:34:14.002-07:00

Serves 4   I am so excited about this chard stalk hummus, and not only because of its sentimental shade of pink. I found the recipe online totally randomly, but was delighted because, it’s true, the stalks often go in the compost bin. There are no beans in the recipe, but I admit that I added about 3 tablespoons great northern beans, just thinking that Chris might like the ‘substance’ that a

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-47651353811458218462010-05-09T09:10:00.001-07:002010-05-09T20:34:32.534-07:00

Serves 6 No, not whipping cream or whip cream, but whipped cream. After the mother’s day family dinner last night I found myself with about 2 cups of leftover whipped cream from the pavlovas…so I invented this coffee cake recipe to deal with the excess, since we’re not the kind of people that eat many things a la mode. Did any other mothers make their own mother’s day breakfast this morning? I

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-23860184096309794562010-05-08T21:04:00.001-07:002010-05-09T20:34:42.997-07:00

Serves 10-12 Total bliss. Period. Meringue 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 teaspoons white vinegar 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 6 large egg whites at room temperature Pinch salt Lemon curd 1/2 C butter 3 lemons 2/3 C sugar 6 egg yolks 1 egg Garnish with fresh fruit, whipped cream Place rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 275°.

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-42789433782744928132010-05-06T18:40:00.001-07:002010-05-06T19:26:29.153-07:00

Makes 12 muffins   I don’t know if other families face this problem, but Chris is a cereal eater--a particularly nocturnal cereal eater, I might add. But being forced to more or less be a lone ranger when it comes to finishing a box (I have different cereal tastes, and sometimes prefer other things for breakfast), he often leaves a few in the pantry with just a half cup or so, and they sit

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-77984488860040837082010-05-06T18:29:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:32:26.204-07:00

Serves 6 We got a 2 lb bag of potatoes in our box of organic goodness today. Here’s what’s interesting about that: we learned recently that the average American eats 150 lbs of potatoes per year. Among the group present at the time, some claimed to eat much more than that, but I was the only one who said, “No way…I bet I eat 5 lbs of potatoes a year…” I like potatoes just fine, it just doesn’t

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-18284601499622898402010-05-06T18:11:00.001-07:002010-05-06T19:25:17.151-07:00

Serves 4 I completely loved these. Sawyer ate them almost willingly. Chris let them slide into the ketchup on his plate and didn’t say a word. It was originally supposed to be just turnips, but once I got my bundle from the organic produce box out I realized that it was much more…diminutive…than I remembered. Hence the carrots coming to join it. And they’re such sweet, delectable carrots, I

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-34261544384824448232010-05-03T19:44:00.001-07:002010-09-04T21:30:28.999-07:00

Serves 4       Great success tonight: got the toddler to eat chard again, this time with minimal prodding, baiting, bribing and threatening. I think there were two factors that brought this about: 1) we served the pasta with fruit salad, so he got a break in between each bite, and 2) the pasta was REALLY good. I’ve seen recipes with brown butter but have never tried it until tonight. All I

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-49601673792466472972010-05-01T18:59:00.001-07:002010-05-01T19:01:07.631-07:00

serves 4-6   Another tasty weeknight dinner! Today we ate the leftovers in wrap-form, and are currently scheming ways to use up all of the tzaziki sauce. My number one plan right now is to get a perfectly ripe avocado and turn it into cold cucumber-avocado soup. Quinoa 1 C quinoa, rinsed 2 C broth 1/4 C shredded coconut (mine was sweetened) 1/4 C diced green onion 1/4 C diced celery 1/4

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-26173487980313195522010-04-29T18:37:00.001-07:002010-07-08T14:49:47.218-07:00

serves...a lot. This came bursting out of my ice cream maker. Um, maybe a quart? This is a recipe that I cut out of Vegetarian Times and have been meaning to try for awhile. It is allegedly an Indian frozen treat. I’ve never had the real thing, but this was tasty. The texture is different from ice cream…less creamy, but fluffier somehow.  flesh of 2 mangos 2 12-oz. cans evaporated milk 1 14

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-62064699381770951732010-04-29T18:31:00.001-07:002010-07-08T14:51:29.173-07:00

makes 1 9-in loaf I imagine most people have or have encountered a banana bread recipe that they believe to be the alpha-banana bread, the referent from which all banana-y signifiers spring, and this is mine. I was reminded of it, actually, when Mark Bittman (that name again!) reposted the recipe on his New York Times blog recently, a testament to its greatness, I suppose. As always I tweek it a

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-31240739885617790722010-04-29T17:03:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:32:59.016-07:00

serves 4-6, unless you're me. I could eat the whole thing by myself. It would be difficult to find a less photogenic dish than beet roesti…almost as difficult as finding a more delicious vegetable concoction! Yes, it looks like mysterious burnt muscle tissue, or possibly charred animal brain matter, BUT, it’s the most divine way to eat beets. I like beets anyway, so I don’t need to be convinced,

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-49290438549899749532010-04-29T16:34:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:33:13.085-07:00

serves 4 Gazpacho = cold Spanish tomato soup. Ever heard of it? It’s one of our all-time favorite warm weather treats, especially when the garden is going crazy in July and August. One of the great advantages of gazpacho is that it can be personalized (make the soup with tomatoes, top it with whichever vegetables you prefer), as well as easily adapted (one of our favorite variations is made

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-85967284397229715712010-04-27T11:19:00.001-07:002010-04-27T11:19:42.039-07:00

Egg salad is a standard Gray family lunch solution. Well, it just got a whole lot cooler, especially for Chris, who likes to load his egg concoction up with all sorts of disharmonious (in my opinion) chunks of culinary miscellany. In this particular batch (I made this one for him, so maybe it’s slightly less discordant than most): diced chicken-mango sausage, diced roasted red peppers, diced

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-82105119622799314922010-04-26T14:05:00.001-07:002010-04-26T14:06:40.303-07:00

How irresistible! How could I make a tart/quiche and not add roasted red pepper strips when I have them RIGHT THERE in the fridge?? The flavor, of course, is great, and the nutritional profile is stunning. The serious cooks are right! Check out my addition to the Swiss chard tart here.

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-38633203194045720472010-04-26T12:59:00.001-07:002010-04-26T14:01:53.476-07:00

   Thank you, Mario Batali, for helping me to get my toddler to eat Swiss chard. Actually it wasn’t just my toddler, it was me too. Ordinarily I’m ok with greens—I don’t cook them as often as I would like or should, but we get on well enough. With this baby in my belly, however, I have been kind of down on them. I’m sort of forcing myself to eat spinach salads a few times a week (weird, with

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-49213404447174480902010-04-24T09:44:00.001-07:002010-04-24T09:45:56.750-07:00

  The Grays love artichokes. And the pressure cooker makes them a quick weeknight endeavor. Here’s our favorite recipe. 2 C water juice of 1 lemon 1 bouillon cube 1 clove garlic 1 1/2 Tbs fresh or dried parsley 4 Tbs olive oil 2-4 artichokes, stems removed Mix the braising ingredients in your pressure cooker and place artichokes therein: Seal your cooker and set the stove top heat to

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-87918122146010865282010-04-24T09:37:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:33:55.270-07:00

This was originally going to be a slow cooker roast chicken, but this morning got so hectic, there was just no way that I was going to get a chicken spiced up and ready to go before 8am. So the time-saving slow cooker got pushed aside for a proper oven tonight, with no loss whatsoever, I think. The spice mix is a variation on one I found on the Tasty Kitchen website, and it really is as close

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-80964574219486989482010-04-23T10:38:00.001-07:002010-04-23T10:39:19.567-07:00

This is the start of my quest to see just how useful a jar of roasted red peppers really is. They were very tasty here, so for now: roasted red peppers, 1, Sarah’s doubt, 0.

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-52046602992607558032010-04-23T10:35:00.001-07:002010-05-09T20:35:29.992-07:00

Makes one 10-12-inch pie There were several motivations in the creation of this treat (the various parts of which are adapted with great liberty from Mark Bittman’s recipes in How to Cook Everything): the first was a huge amount of strawberries that we weren’t managing to eat fast enough; the second was a beautiful, warm bowl of freshly ground chickpea flour that I was anxious to try out in a

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-12144452910665927302010-04-20T09:40:00.001-07:002010-04-20T09:42:37.366-07:00

serves 6 I came into some kamut recently and was excited to try this new grain, a high-protein member of the wheat family. Turns out it’s not something you can just toss on the stove. So after a little planning I managed to organize myself enough to soak it overnight and then leave myself 60+ minutes to cook it the next day. Personally, the jury is still out a little in this grain. It’s nutty,

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-63446607922558563952010-04-18T10:00:00.001-07:002010-04-18T10:04:10.882-07:00

Makes 8-12 servings  Oh, man, what a great day. The boys have gone to the park, leaving me in a quiet house, there’s a cup of herbal tea cooling next to me, the kamut is on the stove (first try, I’ll keep you all posted), our little family is growing (#2 kicking in-utero as I type), and the sky is that sentimental shade of grey that inspires the imagination and effaces regret. It’s a day when

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-41279161119930058052010-04-16T22:26:00.001-07:002010-04-27T19:20:16.412-07:00

Most people that I would consider to be real cooks seem to always include a jar of roasted red peppers on their list of pantry staples. This has always been a bit of a mystery to me, but it might just be because, compared to flour or rice or chicken broth, it’s a rather pricey and sort of unnecessarily luxurious “staple.” But folks are always talking about how great peppers are for throwing

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-61134711272058140052010-04-13T11:58:00.001-07:002010-04-14T12:38:46.177-07:00

Serves 4 We’ve all been in this position: you’re 5 or 6 days overdue on a trip to the grocery store, there’s no time to go, maybe you’re feeling a little under the weather (I’m being assaulted by a spring cold as I write this), and you really need something nourishing and fresh. What’s in the fridge? Hmm…some celery that could be used as string to tie up packages, a few carrots…virtually

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-11181720056066485462010-04-11T21:19:00.001-07:002010-04-13T11:59:15.961-07:00

Serves 6 I like healthy food and Chris likes comfort food. But he’s smart enough to know that he ought to eat healthy food in between the sausage sandwiches, wings, nachos and ruebens. He only eats broccoli (and eggplant, and spinach, and brussel sprouts, and beets, etc.), I learned today, “because I know they’re good for me.” This was a huge shock. Here, all this time (nigh upon six years of

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-30557695937607431682010-04-11T10:28:00.000-07:002010-04-11T21:25:19.037-07:00

I don't know if it's actually possible, but I think I may have inadvertently improved upon the recipe below for flourless dark chocolate cake. I was thinking of some gluten-free friends of mine that I thought needed a little love, and also I was thinking about all that leftover dark chocolate, and I decided I would make another batch of the cake and cook it in mini-souffle dishes this time. Well,

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-27824861501128840962010-04-09T22:16:00.001-07:002010-04-13T12:00:13.130-07:00

serves 8-10  My dear friend’s birthday is this week, and this cake was an uncompromising union of her love for chocolate and our other friend’s gluten intolerance. Maybe one of the easiest cakes I’ve ever made—I managed to find a recipe that didn’t require whipping the egg whites separately—it dressed up beautifully to suit everyone’s tastes: Petra and Liz had it with whip cream, I enjoyed it

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-19935808797878083312010-04-09T22:10:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:34:30.887-07:00

serves 4-6   These were so garlicky that the smell filled the whole house when I opened the tupperware to reheat them. Feel free to temper it. Or to embrace it! 1/2 head cauliflower cut into medium florets 3-4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed 4 Tbs butter 4-6 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 C milk Bring a large pot of water to boil and simmer potatoes and cauliflower until tender, 15-

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-92086823842799491032010-04-08T20:57:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:34:49.288-07:00

Serves 4-6 Another classic dish for the Italian-themed cooking club tonight, gnocchi with walnut sauce is one of my all-time favorite indulgent but so speedy weeknight dinners. I’m putting my favorite gnocchi recipe below, but feel free to use boxed gnocchi—I did tonight, and once it’s drenched in the walnut sauce they’re really not much different from the homemade version of these clouds of

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-85732409370307545892010-04-08T20:49:00.001-07:002010-04-13T12:00:48.540-07:00

serves 8-10   Why do I often seem to have my first encounter with amazing international dishes thousands of miles from their point of origin? I was wondering this last night as I prepared my first, long-awaited Sicilian Cassata Cake. The one and only time that I tasted this hallowed delicacy was when I was living in New Orleans of all places. Imagine sponge cake soaked in liqueur, topped with

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-26602456919561766582010-04-08T12:03:00.001-07:002010-04-08T13:05:49.362-07:00

  Oh, that flattering swimsuit model angle. Here’s Sawyer, looking ever so diminutive at 23 weeks. And….BABY BOY #2 at 23 weeks. Yup, encore un autre gars. Shoot, now we have to think of a name. Boy names are hard.

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-46885477619339586482010-04-08T07:08:00.001-07:002010-07-08T14:54:59.603-07:00

  This has been a favorite this week at the Gray house, and a friend just asked for the recipe, so here it is: 2 frozen peeled bananas, in chunks 1 1/2 C milk or soymilk 2.5 oz almonds (mine were sliced; I imagine whatever would work, but sliced makes an easier job for your blender) 1-2 Tbs maple syrup a few drops almond extract Place the almonds and the milk in the blender on high and

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-76065193424040895222010-04-07T12:54:00.001-07:002010-04-08T07:30:48.474-07:00

A baker likes nothing more than the sight of a pile of eggshells and a few flour-covered measuring cups. This picture is the promise of things to come. The last two weeks have been incredibly busy: I had a deadline on a dissertation chapter, and Sawyer and I were out of town for 4 days. Result? The Gray family has been subsisting on impromptu snacks and food from my mother-in-law because

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  My whole grain zucchini bread, pictured here with a gentle smear of cream cheese and a lazy drizzle of maple syrup, represents the fruits of a most propitious discovery: while rooting around in the freezer the other day looking for who-knows-what, I found two whole bags of shredded zucchini from last summer’s garden. And so, helping them to fulfill the measure of their creation (which I’d

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The weeks are flyin’ by now! I wish that were true, but it is once again time for the belly comparison shots, so here goes-- Sawyer Francis makin’ waves at 21 weeks… …and Witherford Gumperstoff rounding me out at the same number of weeks:

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serves 4 I love the springtime (despite the unexpected, debilitating snow storms that it brings to Colorado) because those early vegetables start to come out in all of their delicate, miniature loveliness. You can get the tiniest, most adorable little stalks of asparagus in spring, whereas during the rest of the year asparagus tends to have about the same circumference as my thumb…and is just

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Serves 6        It’s funny how the idea for a meal comes together: it’s always one part craving (or “inspiration”), one part “what’s already in my fridge/pantry.” In this case, I’d seen a recipe online somewhere with a taco-y, chili-y thing in a casserole dish with a cornbread topping. For some reason it really grossed me out, but it got me thinking about cornmeal. What about some kind of

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Read this important study from Princeton and reconsider how you read labels (if you do):PRINCETON RESEARCHERS FIND THAT HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP PROMPTS CONSIDERABLY MORE WEIGHT GAINhttp://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/

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About a year ago a little cafe and ice cream shop called Snowcap opened their doors down the street from us. I normally don’t care that much about ice cream, as desserts go, but I think everyone in Erie was thrilled to see that some legitimate commerce was finally moving in. So we made the requisite pilgrimage over there with our neighbors to check it out, and what did I see on their flavors

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Serves 8   Originally this recipe was for Portuguese meatball soup, but I admit that I’ve jimmied it so much that it would probably be a genuine travesty to call it Portuguese. Nonetheless, it is truly delicious, and you should hurry up and try it because the spring weather is rolling in and there won’t be many chilly days left during which a bowl of this thick, flavorful loveliness will be

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Serves 8 as an appetizer Once again, I neglected to get a proper photo of this after I cut it up, but this is more or less what it looked like. Bourek/borek/burek is a savory pastry that one finds all over Eastern and Central Europe, which Chris and I ate loads of during our trip in 2006. It was like our lingua franca, because every nation that we visited had it, and it was always about the

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serves 4 as a side dish   My Flavors of Central Europe tour continues, and it’s driving me wild. When Chris and I got back from our trip in 2006, one of the first things I tried to recreate was the cucumber-yogurt salads we’d had in Bulgaria. This is a significant departure from those simple, refreshing summer salads--which were not much more than cucumbers and thick, creamy yogurt—but, I LOVE

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serves 6 As I said in a recent post, I’ve been on a bit of an Eastern/Central European cuisine kick, and the only complaint that one could possibly have about that is the potential heaviness of such food, particularly in the meat department. In fact, this whole idea is taking me back to traveling through Hungary and the Czech Republic in 1996. I was a vegan at the time, which is about the most

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I get into phases of baking Irish Soda Bread whenever I see buttermilk on sale at the store. The first time I’m sure I consulted a recipe, but afterwards I just tossed things together each time, tweeking this and that (especially with my whole grain obsession), making, apparently, blasphemous variations on the real thing. Or at least this is what I learned when I discovered the The Society for

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Sawyer in utero at 19 weeks…in the mountains…that was a great summer. And here is baby Gorgar…in the hallway.

The Gray Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621794447355161523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63891284123746414.post-35676310063789000622010-03-12T12:10:00.001-08:002010-07-08T15:01:29.278-07:00

makes 2 medium-sized servings I know what you’re thinking: that’s not blue-green at all. In fact it looks just like all the other shakes I make with blueberries. I was surprised, actually, that a shake with a cup of fresh spinach in it didn’t have more of a green tinge. But maybe that’s a positive thing, because it will convince you even further that a breakfast shake with spinach will offend

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serves 6-8  Whenever I have leftover heels of bread that no one wants, or inedible slices that sat too long and are no longer even toastable, strata is my first thought. Strata is a savory bread pudding that is wildly flexible in its ingredients—whatever flavors, meats and vegetables you are craving, you can put them in a strata (though I don’t recommend putting broccoli in a breakfast

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serves 10 As many of you probably know, I participate in a cooking club once a month with some ladies from my church. This month the theme was Mexican/Latin American, and thank goodness for my dear Mexican friend Nivea who graciously passed along this authentic recipe from her region, which she assured me was “muy, muy tipico!” It has a little spice on its own, but you can serve sliced chipotles

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