Way back in 2007, Nick and I initiated our first Iron Chef Battle. During that fall, we challenged ourselves to concoct meals using the following ingredients: limes, peanuts, and apples. Highlights included: skirt steak in lime marinade, peanut butter pork stir-fry, and sweet potato and apple soup. Unfortunately, we abandoned the battles somewhere between getting engaged and getting married. We... Read more
This is not your typical chili. Yes, it has chili powder and cumin, but it also has cinnamon, cloves, and chocolate. Because who doesn’t want to eat chocolate for dinner? Cincinnati chili is a regional favorite of Pennsylvania’s neighboring state. We first tasted it with our friends, the Nelsons (incidentally not Ohio natives), while watching the first episode of the... Read more
I’m not surprised that two different people asked this week for our favorite chili recipe (and that we made a big pot of it on Sunday). ‘Tis the season when the nights seem colder and darker without the warm glow of a Christmas tree. There’s no better cure for the January blues than with a hearty chili — made even... Read more
Sometimes a girl just wants a salad. A big salad. After eating approximately 47 cookies during the month of December, I decided we needed to lighten things up this week. This big salad is piled high with avocado, apples, black beans, broccoli, carrots, celery, red peppers, and cheddar cheese. All topped with my favorite honey mustard dressing. If you like... Read more
In true Emily fashion, I took several hundred photos during our five days in California. Don’t worry, I’m not going to post all of them; but I do want to share a few. On our first full day on the west coast, we visited La Jolla and Oceanside. Apparently it’s pup season, and so the beach was crowded with seals.... Read more
I did this last year and thought it would be fun to do again. So here we go! January: My brother moved to London, and we hosted a going away party in his honor. Complete with bangers ‘n’ mash, curried beef pies, and British brews. February: We spent our last night on Locust Lane and moved 50 miles south to... Read more
We were without our laptop in California, and so I relied on my trusty iPhone to read all of your holiday recaps and 2010 reviews. My favorites, of course, were the posts that shared top recipes from the past year. And so I want to share our own with you now. This first group received the most hits since last... Read more
We kicked off the holidays in Pennsylvania where six golden dogs trot across my parents yard each December. We spent Thursday evening with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins — there are ten of us, and I’m the oldest (although the others are maturing faster than I can believe). We played ping-pong and billiards and ate lots of truffles. On Christmas... Read more
On Wednesday night, before the craziness of Christmas enveloped us, we had a quiet night at home. Just the two of us. We had mushrooms stuffed with lump crab meat and glasses of Traminette. Salmon with a brown sugar and soy sauce marinade, pan-fried scallops, and roasted sweet potatoes. It was delicious. And relaxing. And just what we wanted. Last... Read more
We baked plenty of family favorites this holiday season: Oreo truffles, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter kisses. But, of course, I had to add a new recipe to our repertoire, too. Dorie Greenspan is an accomplished food writer and cookbook author, and her World Peace cookies are all over the Internet — including inside my Bon Appétit magazine. (Find... Read more