Dessert

Wow, were these turkey burgers good. Great flavor. I used half dark meat, half white meat and served them on pita with a cucumber & yogurt sauce. We also liked the salad a lot. The tart was also really delicious, with a light, buttery crust.

• Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers (Fine Cooking #94, September 2008, p. 50)
• Cucumber & Yogurt Sauce (Fine Cooking #94, September 2008, p. 50)
• Cucumber, Fennel & Roasted Potato Salad with Parsleyed Yogurt (Fine Cooking #92, May 2008, p. 44)
• Plum Tart with Lemon-Shortbread Crust (Fine Cooking #94, September 2008, p. 64)

Wine: Cakebread 2003 Rubaiyat (Napa Valley, California). We should have drank this a long time ago. I didn't like it at all (past its prime), Larry and Jay thought it was drinkable but just okay.

We had a few people over for a post-July 4th barbeque: Assana, Dan, Chris, Tony, Janett. This chicken was excellent, and I think it would make a great chicken salad. We used both breasts and thighs. I hadn't made the zucchini roll-ups before but we liked them a lot. Janett and Tony brought a pumpkin polenta and Chris brought curried lentils and roasted veggies in a tomato sauce - all really good.

• Grilled Zucchini & Goat Cheese Roll-Ups (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 55)
• Goat Cheese, Pesto & Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2003, p. 98c)
• Moist Mustard-Rosemary Chicken for a Crowd (Fine Cooking #65, July 2004, p. 86)
• Quinoa with Roasted Red Pepper Dressing (Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way, p. 156)
• Black Forest Trifle (Fine Cooking #69, January 2005, p. 58)

Wine:
- Loma Prieta 2000 Zinfandel (Lodi, California). Assana brought this yummy Zin to start us off for the night.
- Sextant 2004 Wheelhouse Zinfandel (California). Delicious as always.

Jay came over for burgers - I've been wanting to make these again but have been waiting until I could get figs at the market. Finally! I made these with turkey instead of beef this time, and they were really good. The cake.... well, I had issues. It didn't look the best but it turned out okay in the end.

• Born in Berkeley Burgers (Food Network Challenge, Build A Better Burger III)
• Roasted Baby Beets
• Grilled Bread Salad with Tomatoes & Spicy Greens (Fine Cooking #58, July 2003, p. 38)
• Chocolate Stout Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 422)

Dan, Assana and Chris came over for a casual holiday weekend dinner tonight. I make these roulades for company all the time, but hadn't made them for this group yet. We liked the zucchini salad okay, but I probably wouldn't make it again. The pie, on the other hand, was spectacular.

• Chicken Roulades Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Fine Cooking #62, January 2004, p. 86C)
• Potatoes Fondantes (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 59)
• Zucchini & Yellow Squash Ribbons with Daikon, Oregano & Basil (Fine Cooking #93, July 2008, p. 51)
• Black & Blueberry Pie with Lemon Cornmeal Crust (Fine Cooking #93, July 2008, p. 70)

Wine:
- Gamba 2004 Moratta Vineyard Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). Yum - probably needed to be decanted, but it eventually opened up.
- Ridge 2004 Caboose Nervo Vineyard Zinfandel (Sonoma County, California). Good, but we should have had this one first.
- Don Pedro Ximenez 1979 Gran Reserva Sherry (Spain). Assana brought this over to drink with our pie - we both picked up bottles at The Spanish Table on our last trip there. It's really delicious.

Another simple but really good dinner for Larry and Jay tonight. I substituted boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the bone-in chicken parts. The blueberry bars are excellent.

• Grilled Chicken with Apricot-Balsamic Glaze (Fine Cooking #93, July 2008, p. 43)
• Roasted New Potato Salad with Dijon & Rosemary (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 40)
• Blueberry Streusel Bars with Lemon-Cream Filling (Fine Cooking #93, July 2008, p. 70)

Wine: Thumbprint 2004 Beasley Vineyard Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Wow - lush berry fruit in this wine. This is why Dry Creek Zins are my favorite.

Since it was just Larry and I tonight, we splurged on our favorite peppery filet mignons. Larry wasn't overly crazy about the scallion/peas but I liked it. We both loved the pound cake. The lime in it went perfectly with the blueberries.

• Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon (America's Test Kitchen)
• Baked Potato
• Quick-Braised Peas, Lettuce & Scallions (Fine Cooking #92, p. 51)
• Blueberry-Lime Pound Cake (Fine Cooking #93, p. 73)

Wine: Ridge 2000 Lytton Estate Syrah (Dry Creek Valley, California). Excellent Syrah - I think it's probably at its peak right now. Which is good, since this was our last bottle.

I was worried that this would be too spicy for Jay, but it wasn't. Instead, it was plain yummy. I made a slight change to the quinoa salad - the tomatoes are supposed to be dressed with olive oil and served on the side. I just mixed them in with the quinoa salad, which I would definitely like to make again. I was too lazy to make anything else for dinner, but the salad was pretty filling so it was fine. The tart was good, but not make-again good.

• Quinoa and Chili-Scented Pork Chops with Roasted Red Pepper Dressing (Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way, p. 156)
• Chocolate and Polenta Tart (Dolce Italiano, p. 154)

Wine: Ridge 2004 Carmichael Zinfandel (Sonoma County, California). Wow - one of the best Zins we've had from Ridge in a while. This is the first Carmichael we've had, but we have three more bottles.

Jay wasn't in town tonight, so we invited our neighbor Chris over for dinner instead. We probably won't be having much more salmon this year due to the cancellation of the season, but this was really good. I love lentils. I thought the idea of the potatoes was good, but they weren't as creamy as I like my potatoes. We all loved the tart, though.

• Salmon With Lentils And Mustard-Herb Butter (Gourmet, March 2008)
• Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes With Caramelized Shallots (Epicurious, November 2007)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Honey and Pine Nut Tart (Dolce Italiano, p. 145)

Wine: Copain 2004 Hacienda Secoya Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley, California). Copain Pinots are becoming a favorite for me, and nothings more perfect with salmon than Pinot Noir.

Jay wasn't in town tonight, so we invited our neighbor Chris over for dinner instead. We probably won't be having much more salmon this year due to the cancellation of the season, but this was really good. I love lentils. I thought the idea of the potatoes was good, but they weren't as creamy as I like my potatoes. We all loved the tart, though.

• Salmon With Lentils And Mustard-Herb Butter (Gourmet, March 2008)
• Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes With Caramelized Shallots (Epicurious, November 2007)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Honey and Pine Nut Tart (Dolce Italiano, p. 145)

Wine: Copain 2004 Hacienda Secoya Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley, California). Copain Pinots are becoming a favorite for me, and nothings more perfect with salmon than Pinot Noir.

This is another recipe from Pam Anderson's new book. She also made these in the class she taught. She makes them to eat as an afternoon sweet. They're cut into very small bars because they're very sweet, but they're also really delicious. Larry loves them, especially for breakfast. I swapped the amount of fruit and used more cherries than apricots, and I used a very finely shredded unsweetened organic coconut since Larry doesn't really like coconut.

• Miniature Apricot-Cherry Bars with Oatmeal Crumble Topping (The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great, p. 156)

Tonight's dinner was a little rushed at the end - it seemed like prep took me forever, and then the last ten minutes I was doing everything at once. Everything somehow finished on time and was good, though. Larry and Jay liked the salmon a lot. I had waited to make this so I could gather some specialty ingredients for it - sumac powder and fennel pollen. Both optional, but I'm glad I waited. The sumac is an interesting spice. The fennel pollen gets sprinkled on top just before serving. And the green beans? I took about 3 on my plate, because I don't particularly like green beans, especially sauteed crisp-tender like this. But these were good!

We also really liked the cake, although it could have spent a few minutes less in the oven. I had a hard time judging doneness for some reason.

• Spice-Rubbed & Sear-Roasted Salmon with Honey-Glazed Fennel (Fine Cooking #92, May 2008, p. 49)
• Sauteed Green Beans with Roasted Red Pepper (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)
• Smashed Red-Skinned Potatoes with Boursin & Scallions (Fine Cooking #56, March 2003, p. 47)
• Citrus-Glazed Polenta Cake (Dolce Italiano, p. 86)

Wine: Loring 2004 Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands, Californa). I like this wine, but I think it's a little too Pinot-y for Larry.

This was a perfect dinner. I really love the fregola - the mushrooms are chopped small enough for me not to care that they're in there. We just had these filets a month ago, but Larry requested them again. The butterscotch pudding was another test recipe for Cook's Illustrated. Easy and delicious.

• Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon (America's Test Kitchen)
• Fregola with Wild Mushrooms, Sherry & Cream (Fine Cooking #90, December 2007, p. 42)
• Oven-Roasted Cauliflower
• Best Butterscotch Pudding (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)

Wine: Ridge 2003 Pato Vineyard Mataro (Contra Costa, California). Decent, but definitely on its way out.

I have found the Holy Grail of chocolate cookies. Over the years I've searched for a cookie just like this, and I finally found it on America's Test Kitchen. They are extremely rich and chocolatey, but also have a nice thick and chewy texture. This is now my default chocolate cookie recipe

Triple-Chocolate Cookies

The key to the fudgy texture of these cookies is letting them cool directly on the baking sheets. Avoid using bittersweet bar chocolate--the cookies will be too rich and won't hold their shape.

Makes 26 cookies
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate , chopped
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
7 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into pieces
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs , at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Melt unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chips, and butter in heatproof bowl set over saucepan of simmering water, stirring frequently, until completely smooth and glossy. Remove bowl from pan and set aside to cool slightly.

2. Stir coffee powder and vanilla extract together in small bowl until dissolved. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla-coffee mixture and beat until incorporated, 20 seconds. Reduce speed to low, add chocolate mixture, and mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Using large rubber spatula, fold flour mixture and semisweet chips into batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes until batter firms up (it will more closely resemble thick brownie batter than cookie dough).

4. Meanwhile, adjust two oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 heaping tablespoon batter per cookie, place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets (see photo, right). Bake until cookies are shiny and cracked on top, 11 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking time. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool cookies completely, on baking sheets, before serving.

• Triple-Chocolate Cookies (America's Test Kitchen, Cookie Jar Favorites)

I've been so obsessed with bread lately, so I figured it was time to make up something from Whole Grain Baking again. Chocolate cake - easy, really good, but I thought the frosting was way too sweet.

• Devil's Food Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 370)
• Easy Chocolate Frosting (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 436)

This panna cotta needs to set up overnight, but it's pretty quick and easy to make. It would be delicious with just berries, skipping the sabayon. My sabayon didn't thicken as much as it should have but it was still good. Larry really liked the dessert. And I did too, cooked cream - what's not to like? Plus it brings back memories of Italy.

• Buttermilk Panna Cotta With Berries And Vanilla Sabayon (Epicurious, November 2007)

These falafel patties are actually made with pinto beans and include jack cheese and cumin. They're easy to make and delicious. We loved the avocado spread, too - we served them up with leftover soup from last night. The patties would be great homemade veggie burgers, served on a whole wheat bun. Just before dinner I whipped up these shortbread, which are thin and crisp and contain ground rolled oats. They're really tasty - they remind us of an oat topping on a fruit crisp. I added a note to this entry on the cheese we had before dinner, because it's really nice.

• Arina Goat Cheese Gouda
• Southwestern Falafel with Avocado Spread (Cooking Light, August 2005)
• Scottish Shortbread (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 332)

Amy suggested I take a look at this stew. As soon as I saw that it was made with pork shoulder - one of my favorite cuts of meat, I knew it would be perfect for tonight. I wanted to make something that could be done ahead of time so I didn't have to deal with a bunch of last-minute stuff. It was good, although a little spicy for Jay. And the focaccia was delicious as usual.

The blueberry pie was a test recipe for Cook's Illustrated. Really good! Larry wants me to make it again for sure.

• Pork Stew with Green Chiles, Orange & Cilantro (Fine Cooking Comfort Food 2005, p. 68)
• Rosemary Focaccia (No Need to Knead, p. 40)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Blueberry Pie (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)

For dinner tonight I made Jay and Larry something pretty simple and easy to make. I've made these turkey cutlets and the mashed potatoes before, both are really good. We love these shortbread bars. So buttery and delicious, I could eat a lot of them.

• Turkey Cutlets with Mustard Cream Sauce (Fine Cooking #55, December 2002/January 2003, p. 98C)
• Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese & Fresh Sage (Bon Appetit, November 2004)
• Lemon-Cornmeal Shortbread Bars (Fine Cooking #68, Holiday Baking 2004, p. 64)

I absolutely love pates de fruit. They're just so tasty. But I never make them. Since I've got this glut of lemons, I thought this would be a great chance to try making some. These are delicious and are a great way to use up extra lemons, but I need to solve a problem with them being a little too wet - if left in a covered container, the sugar dissolves into a gloppy mess. Other than that, they're pretty easy to make.

• Lemonade Jellies (The Ultimate Candy Book, p. 141)

This chicken was really good, and fast to make. Another lemon dessert, these little cheesecake squares are good. Not outstanding, but good.

• Caribbean Chicken Stir-Fry with Mint (Hot Chicken, p. 54)
• Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Chile (Fine Cooking #67, November 2004, p. 49)
• Lemon Cheesecake Squares (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 53

Our New Year's Eve/anniversary dinner tonight was supposed to be delicious hand-made gnocchi. It was okay, but I did some things wrong so it could have been better. The gnocchi was easy to make. I should have boiled it a little longer, and I made the mistake of not using a nonstick pan so it was a little messy. But the shaved truffle, which we got in Italy last month, was delicious. I had picked up jerusalem artichokes from the farmer's market so I made a soup as well. I don't think I like the flavor of jerusalem artichokes. Larry liked it (but not the addition of sprouts on top of the soup). I wasn't crazy about it.

I've got a ton on Meyer lemons from Grandma's house, so I started out my all-lemon, all the time week with a silky lemon pudding that's delicious.

• Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke Bisque with Sunflower Sprouts (Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, p. 167)
• Pan-Seared Potato Gnocchi (Fine Cooking #90, January 2008, p. 62) with Browned Butter & Black Truffle
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Silky Lemon Pudding (Fine Cooking #63, March 2004, p. 65)

We spent Christmas with our neighbors Chris and Assana and Assana's boyfriend Dan. Assana, always a terrific hostess, made excellent appetizers, supplemented by Chris's signature clam dip. We snacked all afternoon and sipped hot cider with rum and hung out. We had an early dinner of chili and cornbread, and Chris brought a cheesy spinach dish. The chili was good as usual. I had cornbread issues but in the end it turned out okay. It needed to cook a little longer. And I don't know why, but I added crumbled bacon to the top. The recipe says to do this, but I never have because it sounds weird. But I did it anyway and it was okay.

I hadn't made this cheesecake for this audience before. It's always a hit. Chris said it's my best dessert. It's really rich but so good. The recipe is under the "Sheri's Recipes" link on the right.

We had packaged up our s'mores kits and handed them out at dinner. I think they turned out okay. The graham crackers are stacked on the bottom of the container.

• Chicken & White Bean Chili (Bon Appétit, October 2005)
• Corn Bread (The Bread Baker's Apprentice, p. 151)
• Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake (Sheri's recipe box)

Larry requested these cookies. They're tasty, but mine turned out kind of flat. Butter wasn't cold enough? I'm not sure, because I chilled the dough before baking. Maybe they just need a bit more flour. Anyway, they're still good. Another winner from Whole Grain Baking.

• Sugar and Spice Drops (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 325)

This fish looked good, and Larry and Jay thought it was okay, but I didn't like it. I used Chilean sea bass from Whole Foods (instead of cod), usually one of my most favorite fish. This method of preparation left the fish too moist. Plus I don't like mushrooms. The fennel was good, and the orzo was excellent. I love orzo. These cookies are a big hit, too. Very chocolate-y.

Chocolate chews
From Tassajara Cookbook, by Karla Oliveira
Makes about 4 dozen

1/2 pound semisweet chocolate
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 teaspoon instant coffee
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In double boiler, melt together the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate, butter and coffee. Meanwhile, beat eggs and brown sugar together until light in color and thick. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Let chocolate mixture cool slightly and then whisk into eggs and sugar. Stir in vanilla extract and then gently fold in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

• Cod with Mushrooms, Garlic & Vermouth (Fine Cooking #90, December 2007, p. 86a)
• Orzo with Lemon, Garlic, Parmigiano & Herbs (Fine Cooking #90, p. 44)
• Braised Fennel with Tomato, Green Olives & Capers (Fine Cooking #90, p. 50)

Another delicious recipe from Cooking Light - I no longer subscribe to the magazine, but I pick up the special issues every once in a while. It seems to cut down on the risk of ending up with some of the mediocre recipes that end up in the magazine. We also really liked the brussels sprouts. They ended up nutty with a nice texture, nothing like the Brussels sprouts of our childhood, which were probably frozen and then steamed and served plain.

I think this gingerbread is one of Larry's favorites from Whole Grain Baking. It's delicious, and really quick and easy to make. One notable ingredient is brown sugar corn syrup, which surprisingly is NOT carried by my local Whole Foods, but is carried by the Pak-n-Sav across the street. I almost subbed regular corn syrup instead but decided at the last minute to check Pak-n-Sav. There is a huge flavor difference between the two, and I'm glad I found it.

• Pork Chops with Ginger-Cherry Sauce (Cooking Light, May 2006)
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Dijon, Walnuts & Crisp Crumbs (Fine Cooking #89, December 2007, p. 57)
• Roasted Potato Planks with Rosemary and Lemon (Fine Cooking #49, March 2002, p. 82b)
• Gingerbread (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 425)

Jay brought his brother-in-law Raj to dinner tonight since he was in town for a few days. Dinner was good - I really like these burgers, and macaroni and cheese is good any time. The pound cake was good, but I think I've made better.

• Goat Cheese, Pesto & Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2003, p. 98c)
• Wild Mushroom "Burgers" (Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook, p. 151)
• Classic Macaroni & Cheese (Fine Cooking #23, November 1997, p. 40)
• Roasted Green Beans with Lemon, Pine Nuts & Parmigiano (Fine Cooking #82, December 2006, p. 55)
• Bourbon-Glazed Brown Sugar Pecan Poundcake (Fine Cooking #88, November 2007, p. 62)

Barb, Steve and Kent came over for one of our traditional pre-ZAP dinners. We're all volunteer leads for the January festival, so we get together a few times over the year to meet and brainstorm. This was easy to do on a weeknight because everything was done ahead of time. The only thing I did tonight was re-heat the stew, make the mashed potatoes and assemble the salad.

The stew is my usual bastardized version of this old Julia Child recipe. I grind up the veggies into a thick gravy, and only add mushrooms and pearl onions as vegetables. The pound cake was okay. I think I baked it too long. It wasn't my favorite thing from Whole Grain Baking, that's for sure.

• Goat Cheese, Pesto & Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2003, p. 98c)
• My Best Beef Stew (Food & Wine, January 1996, p.34)
• Butter Lettuce with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Chives (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 61)
• Chocolate Pound Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 387)
Wine: Valdez 2005 Simoncini Late Harvest Zinfandel. We are big fans of Valdez and picked up this bottle at a wine shop in the city. It was delicious. We also had wine that Kent and Barb and Steve brought... but I'm too lazy to note those here.

Jay was here for dinner, and it was (as is usually the case) something quick and easy. We loved the pork tenderloin, especially the fried sage leaves. The tart was good, but wasn't as delicious as I had hoped. Maybe more filling would have helped. I don't know. I love figs, and Deborah Madison recipes are usually really good. But this isn't something I would make again.

• Pork Tenderloin with Sage & Marsala Sauce (Fine Cooking #88, November 2007, p. 26)
• Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta (Fine Cooking #57, May 2003, p. 86C)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Fresh Fig Tart with Orange Flower Custard (Fine Cooking #28, September 1998, p. 70)

Wine: J 2004 Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, California). A gift from Assana. Very nice Pinot.

Our neighbors Chris and Assana came over for a casual Labor Day dinner. We used the grill for the appetizer and chicken, and did the rest inside. The grilled crostini was pretty good. We liked the five-spice chicken thighs better, although these were also good, as was the corn saute. I don't usually like tiramisu, but I loved this dessert.

• Grilled Goat Cheese Crostini with a Tangle of Marinated Roasted Peppers (Fine Cooking #87, September 2007, p. 42)
• Grilled Rosemary Chicken Thighs with Sweet & Sour Orange Dipping Sauce (Fine Cooking #87, September 2007, p. 31)
• Corn & Mushroom Sauté with Leeks & Pancetta (Fine Cooking #87, September 2007, p. 37)
• Summer Wheatberry Salad (Fine Cooking #28, September 1998, p. 39)
• Fresh Berry Tiramisu (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 406)

Wine:
- Rafanelli 2001 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California)
- Gamba 2004 Estate Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). The favorite of the night.
- Valdez 2004 Rockpile Road Zinfandel (Rockpile Road, California). Delicious, but also big and boozy.

Jay was here for dinner (Sunday night, of course). We all loved the chicken thighs - excellent flavor, easy to make, and very moist. We also liked this corn saute better than the last one. The mashed sweet potatoes were good, and the tomatoes came from the garden.

The chocolate stout cake was an experiment, since I made the Fine Cooking version a few months ago. I believe this one is the winner - Larry really loved it. This one was a little more difficult to put together, since it involved slicing a standard 9-inch cake round into two. It also made too much ganace, and frosting it was kind of messy. But it turned out great.

• Grilled Five-Spice Chicken Thighs with Soy-Vinegar Sauce & Cilantro (Fine Cooking #87, September 2007, p. 31)
• Corn Sauté with Ginger, Garilc & Fresh Cilantro (Fine Cooking #87, September 2007, p. 37)
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Marsala (Cooking Light, December 2000)
• Heirloom Tomato Salad with Fresh Mozzarella, Basil and Olive Oil
• Chocolate Stout Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 422)

Wine: Rafanelli 2001 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Delicious. Rafanelli has been kind of hit-and-miss over the past few years, but this is drinking really nicely.

Larry requested his favorite vegetarian chili for dinner tonight, which is super easy and fast to make, especially when paired with our favorite packaged cornbread. For dessert, I scratched my baking itch with chocolate brownie cookies, very tasty. The recipe for the cookies is also in Fine Cooking's Chocolate 2006 special issue.

• Spicy Two-Bean Vegetarian Chili (Bon Appétit, November 2002)
• Napa Valley Pantry World's Best Cornbread
• Chocolate Brownie Cookies (Fine Cooking #34, September 1999, p. 49)

Tonight was a quick dinner for Larry, Jay and I. Seared scallops and spinach are always quick, plus they're both healthy and yummy. Larry threw some sweet potato slices on the grill. I made another test recipe for Cook's Illustrated. Spice cake is a favorite of Larrys. This was pretty good, not the best. I wasn't that crazy about the cream cheese frosting.

• Seared Scallops
• Grilled Sweet Potatoes
• Wilted Spinach with Garlic
• Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting(Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)

This chicken was pretty good, and we really liked the corn saute. Jay and Larry were happy to have grilled asparagus (even though I despise it). I hadn't made this tart in a while, and it's delicious. Love the mascarpone topping.

• Oven-Fried Chicken (Cooking Light, October 2006)
• Corn, Sweet Onion & Zucchini Sauté with Fresh Mint (Fine Cooking #87, September 2007, p. 36)
• Grilled Asparagus
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Chives, Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Chocolate Truffle Tart with Whipped Vanilla Mascarpone Topping (Fine Cooking #68, Holiday Baking Winter 2005, p. 54)

Wine: Williams Selyem 2004 Feeney Vineyard Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). Pretty good, but I think Williams Selyem excels with their Pinots, not necessarily their Zins.

Tonight we had Susan plus her three kids, Edith and Jay over to celebrate Jay's birthday. We grilled up some plain chicken breasts for the kids, and the adults got yummy seared salmon and spinach. This cheesecake is really delicious.

• Smoked Trout Rillettes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 44)
• Seared Salmon on Baby Spinach (Bon Appétit, April 1999)
• Crisp Herb-Roasted Fingerlings with Scallions (Food & Wine, April 2004, p. 127)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Chives, Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Triple-Chocolate Cheesecake (Fine Cooking #57, May 2003, p. 53)

Wine: We served three Pinots from three different producers, all out of the Russian River Valley. They were all delicious.
- 2003 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, California)
- 2005 Sonnet Kruse Vineyard Pinot Noir (York Mountain, California)
- 2002 David Bruce Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, California)

I snatched up some fresh tart cherries earlier this week, and hadn't decided what to do with them. Cherry pie? Turnovers? Tart? I got lazy and finally settled on this clafoutis, which is just a baked custard with cherries. Delicious.

• Fresh Cherry Clafoutis (Fine Cooking #20, May 1997, p. 32)

Jay was here for Sunday dinner as usual. The fish was excellent, but I used halibut instead of flounder (not available). The peas were to die for. I picked up a bunch at the farmer's market. Larry especially liked them. I'm a huge fan of bread salads, but none of us were that crazy about the fattoush.

• Broiled Flounder with Parmesan "Caesar" Glaze (Fine Cooking #65, July 2004, p. 65)
• Fattoush (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 35)
• Fresh Peas with Lemon and Chives (Fine Cooking #45, July 2001, p. 46)
• Lattice-Top Blueberry Pie (Fine Cooking #65, July 2004, p. 68)

Wine: Rosenblum 2005 Rousanne (Santa Barbara County, California). Rousanne is one of the few whites that I really like. This is a really nice wine, floral and spicy, and perfect with dinner tonight.

Back to baking after a few weeks away from it. I thought this cake would be good for Larry to take with him to Reno this week - and he really loves it. He thinks this is the best thing yet out of Whole Grain Baking. I delivered a couple of slices to my neighbor and more slices to her boyfriend, who loved it also.

This is a simple cake - it smells warm and comforting. It's 100% whole grain and also contains apple juice for moistness. It's got crystallized ginger and chopped toasted pecans and powdered ginger, along with other spices. This is a definite make-again.

• Brown Sugar-Spice Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 377)

Jay was here for dinner tonight - and we had a meal that screams Summer. We hardly ever make hamburgers - in fact, we probably haven't made them at home in years. We usually make turkey burgers. And even at a burger joint, Larry and I both tend to order turkey burgers. So these were a real treat, and absolutely delicious.

We decided to make the burgers after watching a burger contest on Food Network. The mix of flavors was great - I was worried that it was too much, but the flavors marry well with each other. I don't usually like burgers with too much stuff, especially cheese and bacon, but I didn't mind at all here. I think the best part was the teleme cheese and the fig and arugula topping.

We liked the cobbler, but I think my usual berry crisp is better. Not sure I'll make this one again.

• Born in Berkeley Burgers (Food Network Challenge, Build A Better Burger III)
• Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil
• Roasted New Potato Salad with Dijon & Rosemary (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 40)
• Cinnamon-Cornbread Cobbler with Blueberries (Fine Cooking #15, July 1996, p. 41)

Wine: Tait 2005 Ballbuster (Barossa Valley, Australia). Huge, high alcohol cuvee (Shriaz/Cab/Merlot). Tasty.

Renee came into town today, and it happens to be her birthday... so we threw a little get-together for her. Tonya, Steve, Monique, Cristina and Rex joined us. Since it was a weeknight and I was coming from a work barbeque, I went with the usual tapas menu that I do because most everything can be done ahead of time and it's really simple.

• Marcona Almonds
• Assorted Olives
• Grapes
• Manchego Marinated in Olive Oil & Herbs (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 78)
• Crispy Potatoes with Tangy Tomato Sauce (Patatas Bravas) (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 80)
• Sautéed Mushrooms with Garlic & Parsley (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 81)
• Sautéed Chorizo with Red Wine (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 82)
• Seared Shrimp with Pimentón & Sherry (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 82)
• Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte (The Cake Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum, p. 84)
• Jaleo White Sangria

I'm not very good at making pies. I've got a limited set of pies I can do well - an apple pie that uses leaf-shaped cutouts for the top, a lattice-topped blueberry pie, and any sort of cream-based pie (banana cream, coconut cream, key lime, etc.). I've had countless failures trying to make pumpkin pie (I had success finally), and any sort of traditional double-crust pie. So I was apprehensive when I set out to make this pie.

The crust has vodka in it. It has a bit of an aftertaste if the pie is eaten warm out of the oven. But it's a very tender crust. The cranberries are cooked down with orange juice, sugar and cinnamon, to make a sort of jam that is spread on the crust, followed by the apples.

After the pie came out of the oven, it cooled for a couple of hours. It looked beautiful and smelled good. But when I cut into it - very soupy. Oh well. The crust is delicious, though. Very flaky, tender and flavorful. I'd probably use this crust recipe again. Larry and Jay thought the pie was just okay overall.

• Apple Cranberry Pie (Cook's Illustrated Test Recipe)

More food for the trip to Yosemite - even though this is a cake, we can eat it on the trail or for breakfast. It's absolutely delicious. It's dense, like a pound cake. The sugary orange glaze is soaked into the hot cake after it's cooked, and it makes the cake kind of sparkly. The aroma is wonderful, too. I took this cake out 5 minutes early, and I think I could have taken it out even a few minutes earlier.

• Orange Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 379)

I made these cookies in anticipation of our trip to Yosemite this weekend - I figured they'd be good trail food on the hike up to Half Dome. They really just taste like yummy ginger snaps. I love them, so does Larry. I like that they have candied ginger in them, but it's ground up with a bit of the flour so it's dispersed throughout the dough. These cookies are 100% whole grain, using rye and spelt flours. I cooked them on the shorter side, so they're chewy rather than crisp.

• Molasses-Rye Snaps (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 326)

I really wasn't sure about this cake. Cornmeal in a cake is appealing to me, but neither Larry or I are that crazy about cranberries, and I really don't like cooked raisins. But I decided to make it anyway, after I found frozen cranberries at Whole Foods.

The cake is easy to make. I used finely ground cornmeal along with a bit of unbleached all-purpose flour, so it's not 100% whole grain. The flavor is kind of like that of cornbread crossed with a pineapple upside-down cake (which I'm also not crazy about), but the tartness of the cranberries contrasts with the sugary top so it's not an overly sweet cake. The cornmeal cake is very much like a cornbread and isn't sweet at all. I served the cake warm as suggested, and Larry said he would like it even better with some vanilla ice cream. We both decided we really liked it, although it took some time for it to grow on us.

• Cranberry-Cornmeal Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 378)

I'm not so crazy about oatmeal cookies, especially if they have raisins like these do. These are made with 100% traditional whole wheat flour, plus some rolled oats. I chose one of the variations in the recipe and ground up a third of a cup of the oats in the food processor (to make puffier cookies).

Larry and Jay really liked these. I had a few bites of one, and I even liked them. Larry wants me to make them again for sure - he loves oatmeal cookies.

• Chewy Oatmeal Cookies (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 314)

We went to a barbeque at another neighbor's house today - same group as last weekend. I brought the dessert again, and since no one had any objections, I did another Black Forest dessert. I wanted to redeem myself from the Black Forest cake from last weekend, which was good but not delicious. And I wanted to experiment with another recipe to see if maybe I just don't like Black Forest desserts.

This trifle is as good as it looks. No, better. It has a lot of whipped cream and less than a half a 9" round of cake in it. Not too many cherries, and a good amound of Kirsch. So it had all of the same flavors as the cake, just different proportions. Plus the cake is a standard chocolate cake instead of a genoise. This is a perfect make-ahead dessert, great for company and was a big hit, I think. The recipe is also in Fine Cooking's Chocolate 2006 special issue.

• Black Forest Trifle (Fine Cooking #69, January 2005, p. 58)

I made the "Key" Lime Pie to take in to work today (quotes around Key because I use regular limes). Instead of using the crust in the recipe, I made a graham cracker crust. It was really quick to make this way, and I think it's a huge improvement over the version with the standard pie crust that's in the recipe. I may make this with real Key limes next time they're available in the store.

"Key" Lime Pie
Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs from 9 (2 1/4-inch by 4 3/4-inch) crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
2 14-ounce canse sweetened condensed milk
2 large egg yolks
1 cup fresh lime juice (from about 6 limes)
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest (from about 2 limes)

Garnish
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 lime, zested into thin strips

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch (4-cup) glass pie plate. Bake crust in middle of oven 10 minutes and cool in pie plate on a rack.

Make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the condensed milk, egg yolks, lime juice, and grated zest. Pour into the cooled pie crust and bake at 350 degrees until just set, about 30 minutes. The center may still be a bit jiggly. (Use an instant-read thermometer to double-check the doneness; the center of the pie should be at least 140 degrees). Let the pie cook thoroughly on a rack and then cover with plastic and refrigerate to chill completely, at least 3 hours but no longer than a day.

Garnish the pie: Just before serving, whip the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread the cream on top of the pie, garnish with the strips of lime zest, and serve.

• "Key" Lime Pie (Fine Cooking #64, may 2004, p. 73)

I made this cake to take to our neighbor Chris's house for a dinner party tonight. I made the cake in two stages - yesterday I made the chocolate genoise layers (almost 100% whole grain - just a tiny bit of AP flour and mostly whole wheat pastry flour), then today I made the syrup and stabilized whipped cream and assembled the cake. It has a layer of cherry pie filling in the middle of the layers of chocolate, and the genoise is soaked in a Kirsch sugar syrup. It wasn't really hard to make. The whipped cream is stabilized using plain gelatin, which kind of grossed me out, but it tasted fine. It seemed a little weepy to me, actually - although the rosettes piped out easily.

I don't think any of us were crazy about the cake. It was good, nothing particularly wrong with it... it just wasn't a "wow" dessert.

• Black Forest Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 398)

Ron and Jay came over for a spur-of-the-moment end of the week dinner. We delivered Ron's Rafanelli to him - he usually takes part of our allocation. I shopped at lunch so dinner was pretty quick to make. We loved this salad. I'm obsessed with butter lettuce.

• Goat Cheese Crackers with Hot Pepper Jelly (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Chicken with Marsala, Mushrooms & Gorgonzola (Fine Cooking #63, March 2004, p. 43)
• Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta (Fine Cooking #57, May 2003, p. 86C)
• Butter Lettuce with Poppy Seed & Tarragon-Crème Fraîche Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 49)
• Bourbon-Chocolate Mousse (Fine Cooking #85, May 2007, Back Cover)

Wine:
- Gamba 2004 Estate Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). One of our favorites.
- Amphora 2003 Mounts Vineyard Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Delicious.

Tonight I made Tropical Quinoa Custard for dessert. It's from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, and the description says that if you're a tapioca fan, this custard is for you. I'm definitely a tapioca fan, but I like it unadorned, so I was unsure about the rum, lime, mango and ginger in this custard. I used just a small amount of ginger.

I could hardly wait for the custard to cool. It smelled so good. It's absolutely delicious. I love the mix of flavors - none of them are overwhelming. Perfect.

• Tropical Quinoa Custard (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 117)

Jay and Jeff came for dinner last night. Dinner was good - I love this chicken. And the potatoes. The cake is super moist and kind of different because of the stout and the molasses. I'm eventually going to make a whole-grain version of this cake and see which one we like best. The recipe is also in Fine Cooking's Chocolate 2006 special issue.

The only issue I had with the cake is that my ganache broke. Yet again. Chocolate-to-cream ratio too high? I should have fixed it by whisking in some warm cream but I didn't.

• Goat Cheese Crackers with Hot Pepper Jelly (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Spinach & Goat Cheese (Fine Cooking #69, January 2005, p. 62)
• Lemony Salt-Roasted Fingerling Potatoes (Food & Wine, October 2006)
• Hearts of Romaine with Caesar Dressing (The Best Recipe, p. 42)
• Chocolate Stout Cake (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2003, p. 46)

Wine:
- Sea Smoke 2004 Botella Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara County, California). Sadly, our last bottle of Botella. Absolutely wonderful, as usual.
- Gamba 2004 Moratta Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). This wine is settling down and is really delicious. The good news is we have several bottles left.

This pound cake is kind of odd. It's got plenty of butter in it, but it also has cream cheese. The final result is more like an apple quick bread instead of a pound cake. It's very dense and moist, and has quite a bit of crunch from the cornmeal. The cake has a rich dark brown color from the apple butter.

I haven't had any complaints about this cookbook until now - the recipe calls for "whole grain cornmeal". What grind? I used medium, but I think fine would have worked better - a little less crunch. Overall, everyone seemed to like this cake, but it definitely wasn't our favorite out of the cookbook. I'm pretty sure I won't make it again.

• Apple Harvest Pound Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 388)

I'm particular about my chocolate chip cookies. I prefer them with a moderate amount of chips. I like them with walnuts. And I like them to be thick and chewy, not thin. These cookies are tasty, but they turned out thin and they have too many chocolate chips in them. My last batch turned out best - it's the one I did as a single sheet in the oven, rather than two sheets at a time.

• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 304)

My fourth recipe from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking is a very simple cake with a whole bunch of honey in it. I almost used agave nectar because that's pretty much all I use in place of honey these days, but at the last minute decided to go with sage honey.

This is a good cake, but I think I'd like it to be in a loaf pan, more like a pound cake. Larry didn't especially like all the almonds.

• Honey Cake (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 421)

Jay came over for dinner tonight - I wasn't planning on cooking until we realized it's Easter, and most restaurants are closed. So I did as little as possible, and ended up with a chili that Larry really loved and wants again.

We had plenty of cake left over from this morning, so we even had dessert after dinner.

• Chicken & White Bean Chili (Bon Appétit, October 2005)
• Napa Valley Pantry World's Best Cornbread
• Trader Joe's Spinach Salad
• Lemon-Raspberry Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, pp. 375 & 430)

Wine: Carol Shelton 2003 Rocky Reserve Florence Vineyard Zinfandel (Rockpile, California). Good, not great. I'm a fan of Carol's wines (and of Carol).

Our neighbors Chris and Assana and Assana's boyfriend (and honorary neighbor), Dan, came over for Easter brunch - we really hadn't planned on anything, but I can't remember the last time I didn't make Easter brunch, and this is a fun, low-key group.

I made the same easy frittata that I made for Valentine's Day because it's good and cooks in just a few minutes. I made the scones this morning but had everything prepped the day before so they only took about a half hour. And I made the cake the day before. Larry took care of the fruit and the bacon so it was a really relaxing morning.

I'm so impressed with the Whole Grains Baking cookbook. Everything so far has been delicious. The scones were a huge hit. The dough was very, very sticky and I had to add some flour in order to work with it. The cake was pretty easy, but the frosting was kind of a pain - but really tasty. The cake was a bit dense but still tender. I'm not good at decorating cakes but the icing piped out really nicely.

• Frittata with Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Basil (Bon Appétit, January 2003)
• Cinnamon-Filled Scones (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, p. 90)
• Mixed Berries and Bananas
• Bacon
• Lemon-Raspberry Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting (King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, pp. 375 & 430)

Chris and Julie came for dinner tonight. I had everything prepped as much as possible last night, so it wasn't too bad putting together dinner after work. The smoked trout was especially good tonight. The meal consisted of reliable stand-bys, things I've made a million times so I don't need to think about it. Julie loved the potatoes, and Chris was crazy over the pot pies.

• Smoked Trout Rillettes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 44)
• Chicken Roulades Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Fine Cooking #62, January 2004, p. 86C)
• Potatoes Fondantes (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 59)
• Fennel & Red Onion with Arugula (Fine Cooking #62, January 2004, p. 48)
• Chocolate-Raspberry Pot Pies (Just a Bite, p. 228)

Wine: We opened several bottles of Zinfandel, since we're all Zin lovers:
- Rockpile Ridge 2002 Rockpile Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel (Rockpile, California). One of the best Zins I've ever tasted. Perfect balance, lots of fruit, but not a huge fruit bomb.
- Valdez 2004 Rockpile Road Vineyard Zinfandel (Rockpile, California). We opened this second wine without even thinking it was another Rockpile. This wine is still a bit hot and closed, even though we decanted it. We bought a case so we'll continue to wait and drink. Still good, though.
- A. Rafanelli 2000 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). One of the better Rafanelli vintages. A bit earthy, but still with bright fruit, kind of mellow.

Jay was here for dinner tonight. No real plan for dinner, other than I wanted to make fish and the chocolate mousse that had been calling to me from the latest issue of Fine Cooking. The halibut was good - if I make it again, I'll cut back on the sherry vinegar. The potatoes (recipe also found in Fine Cooking's Quick & Delicious 2004 special issue) and gratin (recipe also found in Fine Cooking's Side dish 2007 special issue) were also good.

The mousse was a big hit. Not only was it really, really easy to make, it was utterly delicious. Jay especially loved it.

• Sear-Roasted Halibut with Roasted Red Pepper Purée (Fine Cooking #85, May 2007, p. 84A)
• Butternut Squash Gratin with Onion & Sage (Fine Cooking #17, November 1996, p. 44)
• Pan-Fried Red Potatoes with Pancetta & Rosemary (Fine Cooking #71, May 2005, p. 10)
• Bourbon-Chocolate Mousse (Fine Cooking #85, May 2007, Back Cover)

Wine: Sea Smoke 2002 Botella Pinot Noir (Santa Rita Hills, California). Excellent, excellent wine. Our friend Ralph gave this wine to Larry for his 40th birthday. We've managed to purchase two bottles of this in the past and have absolutely loved it. It's relatively inexpensive, but so difficult to get. We're on Sea Smoke's mailing list, and were only allocated one bottle last year. This vintage has bright cherry fruit and is really well-balanced.

We had a few of our neighbors (Linda, Assana, Dan, Kathy, Justin, Chris) plus Jay over for a Valentine's Day brunch this morning. It was a great excuse to break out the waffle iron Larry's dad gave me for Christmas. Plus we got a new dining room table a few weeks ago, and can now fit ten people comfortably so I made all of the waffles ahead of time and kept them warm in the oven.

I've been experimenting with waffle recipes, and Larry thinks he likes this one the best so far - probably because it's a recipe specifically for belgian waffles. It's the first yeasted recipe I've used, and it's also a little sweet. The waffles came out crisp and light, although they lost that crispness while they waited in the oven.

The frittata was a huge hit. We thought I should probably make a 1.5x recipe, and I'm glad I did - we ate all of it. I have a large oval nonstick pan that works great for the frittata. I had everything prepped so it was only about 10 minutes to make.

I think I really like having brunch parties. I prepped everything (including the souffles)yesterday so it really didn't take long at all this morning. A note on the souffles: the recipe doesn't specify ramekin size. I used a 5-oz. ramekin this time and made 1.5x the recipe. It ended up making 17 individual souffles.

• Classic Belgian Waffles (Waring Pro)
• Frittata with Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Basil (Bon Appétit, January 2003)
• Fried Apples (A Real American Breakfast, p. 280)
• Mixed Berries
• Sliced Bananas
• Fresh Whipped Cream
• Smokehouse Bacon
• Fresh Orange Juice
• Berry Souffles (Fine Cooking # 19, February/March 1997, p. 71)

I love lentils. So I figured I would really like this dish. But it was kind of bland. Larry thought it went well with the leftover mashed potatoes from last night, though.

I made this pie late yesterday, so we didn't have a chance to eat it. I'd been wanting to make it, and since we just came back from Florida without eating one slice of key lime pie, I thought this would be a perfect time to make it. It's really yummy, although I think I prefer a traditional graham cracker crust. I'm usually a pretty good crust-maker, but I thought this one was a bit tough and it stuck to the pie dish.

Larry made dinner for Jay and I tonight. It was really good! I like having a delicious meal that someone else cooks for me.

The pork recipe was actually for lamb chops, but since I don't like lamb, Larry substituted boneless pork loin chops instead. This was his first pan sauce, and it was executed perfectly. He found the recipe for the salad himself, and Jay and I both really liked it. He used fresh pomegranate seeds from Trader Joe's - very convenient.

I started to make this cake last night, and did the final assembly and frosting tonight. It was kind of a pain to put together, but it ended up looking nice, and Larry really liked it. Very lemony.

• Pork Chops with Pomegranate Red-Wine Sauce (Fine Cooking #76, January 2006, p. 86c)
• Quick-Roasted Winter Vegetables (Fine Cooking #25, March 1998, p. 33)
• Pomegranate Salad (Stanford Cancer Center)
• Triple-Lemon Layer Cake (Fine Cooking #63, September 2004, p. 66)

I picked Cincinnati chili for tonight, because I had all the ingredients already and didn't feel like going to the store. Excellent as usual.

The shortbread is really tasty. I'm still working on using up all the Meyer lemons we got from our neighbor's tree. Larry says he likes this shortbread better than the Scottish version. I like the cornmeal crunch. Very buttery. We gave some to Bea and Jim. This recipe is also in Fine Cooking's Weekend Cooking 2006 special issue.

• Snows Chili (alias Cincinnati Chili) (Hollyhocks & Radishes, Bonnie Stewart Mickelson, p.104)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)
• Lemon-Cornmeal Shortbread Bars (Fine Cooking #68, Holiday Baking 2004, p. 64)

Wine: Nalle 2002 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). I'm not sure where we got this wine - maybe on one of our trips to the Sonoma Valley? It's an okay Zin. Kind of light without the oomph! I like so much in Zins.

I usually order something from Niman Ranch for my dad for Christmas (this year was the steak lover's pack), but this year I also ordered a couple of rib-eye steaks for us to try. I like the principle of Niman Ranch, and I love their pork. The steaks were good, but I've had better. Lots of marbling and a they tasted a bit like grass-fed, although I don't think they were.

I made a quick pan sauce with shallots, beef stock, cognac and thyme. The carrots and potatoes were both very good, although I used medium-sized red potatoes this time. I definitley like small Yukon Golds better. The macaroons were especially for Jay. They were good but very moist - I think they probably should have cooked longer. The recipe for the carrots is also in Fine Cooking's Quick & Delicious 2006 special issue, and the macaroons are also in Fine Cooking's Chocolate 2006 special issue.

• Pan-Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks with Pan Sauce
• Glazed Carrots & Shallots with Thyme (Fine Cooking #55, January 2003, p. 54)
• Potatoes Fondantes (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 59)
• Chocolate Cherry Coconut Macaroons (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2003, p. 84)

Wine: Rafanelli 2002 Cab (Dry Creek Valley, California). Excellent as usual. One of the better vintages for Rafanelli.

We gave out gifts of homemade treats to our neighbors for the holidays this year - some got Scottish shortbread and lemon curd (made with delicious Meyer lemons from one neighbor's tree), and some got homemade hot cocoa mix with marshmallows. Everything was pretty easy to make. Larry made the hot cocoa mix and I did everything else. I had a bit of a disaster on hand with the marshmallows (overflowing saucepan), but I got everything cleaned up and they turned out really good anyway.

• Thick Scottish Shortbread (Fine Cooking #26, May 1998, p. 54)
• Lemon Curd (Fine Cooking #26, May 1998, p. 54)
• Marshmallows (Fine Cooking #36, January 2000, p. 47)
• Hot Cocoa Mix (Good