roast.




if there is anytime better than this time to go get your bread knife and cut open a squash or pumpkin....please write in and let me know because i think it's right now! when i look at these incredible round nourishing shapes with a melody of colors that sings to every fall like feeling inside me...this place where maple leaves lyrically dance to the ground & those orange brownish hues make the only enterance we know as thanksgiving time. i made some pumpkin bread the other day (recipe coming) and it called for pumpkin puree or 1 can (15 oz) of pumpkin. i just couldn't do it.....with all these pumpkins around me at the market, on my dining room table & throughout the house....and i am telling you to cut it open but i am going to open a can? (i mean i definitely have and i will open another can this year)...for the first pumkin bread of the season... it just didn't sit write with me....so i broke open that sugar pumpkin adorning the cake plate, kept the seeds in (as they are easier to take out after) and got right to it. turn the oven to 415 or 425 convecton roast or just roast or bake for that matter...place in a casserole dish lightly laquered in olive oil & an herb or two if desired. then massage the pumpin with some love, herbs & a pinch or less of coarse kosher salt. place them flesh down & skin up. this pumpkin was going to be pureed for the bread so i did not do any herbs. for the butternut squash....i used sage which gets beautifully crisp and reusable for the topping of a soup or something special. i checked on the squash after 30 minutes or so and it needed about 15-20 more minutes (all in all about 45 - 60 minutes)... it's important that you do the check in...b/c every oven is so different & you never know how they are going unless you check in on them. you can use a fork to test the squash... allow it to get pretty soft where the fork can slide in and out without the resistance of hard flesh.

take it out and let it cool. spoon out the seeds and dig out the rest into the cuisineart....where the puree begins. you can do this in a big batch or small batches adding a tiny bit of water...or if you are pureeing for taste you can add some melted butter, cream, milk or 1/2 and 1/2 & maybe some brown sugar...as for the butternut squash you can spoon out the flash and add some water & vegan bullion or chicken broth to blend and make a soup...this is basic squash stuff so i am sorry if you squash lovers are wondering what the heck? don't worry as more is coming in terms of this being a first prep step... with that said...a lot of people, mamas, me included did not know how to do this until they learned... basics are essential and this is one basic not to miss during the holiday season. more to come.....see you in the kitchenxxx (and if you have to throw the pumpkin across the room to get it to open... sometimes it might take that...i hope you have a smooth squash opening)

hot of the press.




what is this? inspiring women in the kitchen? in paris and italy they are wondering how someone could stay busy doing what i do.... the movement & the conversation is creating a kitchen culture in america. and yes inspiring women back into the kitchen...embracing this piece inside each and everyone of us....adding water to a box (no judgement) is not cooking and it's not food. bummer and true....let's wake up together and support each other through some very old, ancestoral, not passed down stories and create the kitchen culture we want in our kitchens ....with our families...and make some memories...we will find all sorts of magic in there if we open ourselves to what is inside our cabinets. behind the cell phone charger & the 10 year old bullion...there are many layers patiently waiting to be opened...and we haven't even made it to the pantry! and here comes monday... you have no food in the house which means snacks for the kids & milk...you shop those 3 markets and on that journey you see things that you would like to make in the week...and you make temporary peace with that starving place inside of you by buying a few of those question marks...you feel good about filling the fridge...and at the same time confused b/c you don't know what to do with a celery root & an acorn squash....and then you watch that food die a slow death in your produce drawer for a week or so...you watch it...day by day grow a little less vibrant and a little more wilty...and you feel the same way...between your guilt for wasting & your shame for not knowing & your no-time life & the fight you just had with your husband & your screaming hungry baby....TAKE OUT!!! i am about to call for pad thai just writing this...because we have all been there and we will be there again. let's not live there...let's create food all the time for our families to eat.





this work is not a job...it's a passion, it's a deep hunger in me to nourish a culture that lacks a kitchen...or is it nurture a kitchen that lacks a culture...this is happening all over america....we have no idea what we are eating....cooking... feeding...creating...buying...and inside us...somewhere...we yearn to know...we are the mamas and we create what happens in our homes...we protect through food and we must reconnect this piece as it's essential that our kids know our stories..once you begin gathering food in a new way, loving your kitchen in a new way, feeding your family...you feed yourself with something incredible...call it motherhood, the old you, the new you...it's a creative outlet (once you have the confidence, support & know how) that is efficient & sustainable. you can feed yourself by feeding your family. it's happening...kitchen to kitchen as i witness & observe families changing just by making some fancy water & putting it out on the table (we do more than that). i want to keep talking this way...hearing your stories & supporting you to create a kitchen culture in your home...we are hungry and ready for the change. see you in the kitchenxxx

rip gourmet.




i have been waiting.....hoping...waiting.....yearning....waiting...for this to change and there is no changing the reality that the november issue was the last of gourmet magazine, the vogue of the food world is going night night. every single month there were photographs you wanted to frame, there were recipes i couldn't wait to try, stories connecting us to places far away that made it into my kitchen. the layouts were beautiful, doable & inspiring...the pages were gorgeous and it was so so fancy. it brought fancy into the kitchen. AND FANCY IS ESSENTIAL in the kitchen & in our lives....a teaspoon of fancy is exactly what you need to keep going. what makes me most sad is there is nothing fancy about bon appetit. i haven't seen it. i will look again. i will try to find it. fancy was in the bones, the genes, the chromosomes of gourmet magazine. fancy = gourmet. the dna of the magazine showed us that we can have beauty anywhere we are... we don't need to buy something to be fancy... it's just here inside you. inside your kitchen. maybe we need to redefine fancy. i am not talking patent leather shoes and pressed pants.


fancy is pulling carrots out of the ground.
fancy is finding an heirloom tea cup in the back of your cabinet that still smells like your grandmother.
fancy is bringing out the silver just because.
fancy is having nothing and creating something.
there is a lot of fancy and we can find it in every kitchen.
this is what gourmet did.....naturally.


mediocrity is winning to keep it short and simple. i want to cry all over my wooden spoons. i will not. i will stand strong with love. my heart beating through every copper pot i covet and can't wait to celebrate in my kitchen. what happened to wanting the best? to knowing you can have it even if it's a piece of special thread or a penny found on the ground. the excitement & the joy in something sacred, meaningful. something that moves you, shifts your perspective, creates that cozy place that bookmarks the feeling of beauty, celebration, something different, creative expression, inspiration, ambition....


it's definitely a job for the renaissance mama. we are all about fancy, finding it deep, inside the layers of tupperware & tea cups, mothers & grandmothers, between the swans down & the can of tuna fish...we will find the fancy and bring it back hard core...the new york times and conde naste say that the money is with mediocrity. everybody wants a pal instead of ruth reichl....well the renaissance mama is here to stay and i am bringing fancy and love and silver spoons with wooden bowls into your kitchen whether it's as big as a shoe box or smaller than a castle. and ruth is going to be with me all the way....bring it on & see you in the ktichenxxx

persimmons, pumpkins & orange blossom water.






these starfish like lotus flower lily pads floating on the thick river of the orange blossom cake are persimmons....you may have not known that if you cut them on the bias....they give you this gorgeousness. i mean ...can you believe the beauty beaming from this fall fruit? i couldn't stop photographing it as though i have become the persimmon paparatzi (p.p. for short) ok that might be the name of my next book...the funny part here (brace yourself) is i actually never tasted this cake...i baked it for a family and never tried it! the only critic i heard about was the lack of moisture...so maybe you can up the anty on the oil in the recipe. i am on the search for more fuyu persimmon recipes...please share if you know of any and stay tuned for an incredible hachiya persimmon pudding...once those hit the stands at the market. i found this recipe here. if you live in los angeles and find yourself at the hollywood (sunday) or santa monica (wednesday) farmers markets..these fuyu persimmons are from peacock family farms...where you can also pick up eggs, nuts, raisins, the end of the grapes season, cucumbers, eggplant and basil...tell scott & faye i sent you...they will treat you with the renaissance mama love. see you in the kitchenxxx

bring it on: fall.







fall is here.... even in los angeles. it was 93 degrees in my car today & supposedly it was the last hot day....well whatever the weather is saying....in the kitchen: it's definitely fall. i am feeling so lucky, honored & almost a little giddy to see all of these incredible squashes & pumpkins that are making their way to the surface... the colors, varieties, textures are magnificent! we are so lucky...and they are not just for your table decoration! roast those babies... and then go out and get more... keep the cycle going. how do you roast a squash? don't be afraid to ask... you have a lot of company as probably 85 - 90% of us (random guess) do not know how.... so here you go...turn that oven to bake or convection bake to 400 degrees... cut the squash in half...massage with olive oil, herbs if you have some, a bit of coarse salt...place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper and/or a casserole dish (or anything you have that will fit & is oven proof) and back for 40 or so minutes depending on your oven...place flesh down & skin up...it's easier to take the seeds out after the squash has cooked b/c it's so soft...or you can scrape them out before & toast the seeds on a baking sheet....check the squash with a fork...make sure it goes in all the way. i am beyond myself with the white carrots...yep- those are not parsnips....and the persimmons....wow. breathe. take it in. the ones pictured above are called chocolate persimmons as they have a chocolate color inside within their bright orange flesh. they are so good and their seeds are almost prehistoric looking.... i found them at the santa monica farmers market on wednesday mornings by this sweet french woman who has a name i can't recall...they are grown in placer county at penryn orchards..check them out. let me know how the squash goes...see you in the kitchenxxx

more abundance.


i am still steeping in the awwwwe of these pomegranate seeds... i try different farms and they all range in flavor, juice, sweet, sour...i am now just offering these as an addition to any meal on the table...the other night it was lamb with red lentils & rice. i had to share how beautiful they beamed in this torquoise vessel. i can't promise that this is it on the pomegranates...see you in the kitchenxxx (ps: has anyone tried one for the first time or the fortieth? share the love...)