In the spring in Santa Barbara, I’d put off riding back up the canyon after school, and pedal the much flatter streets to a bakery on State Street.  I’d never had anything as delicious as their strawberry pie, whole fresh strawberries suspended in a strawberry glaze, topped with whipped cream. For many years afterwards, Santa Barbara Strawberry Pie remained an elusive, happy memory. I never found a pie like that again. But strawberry season is here, so I tried to recreate this memory.  I used a recipe in the Fanny Farmer baking book (Marion Cunningham edition). First I made a crust. Making pie dough in the food processor is so easy. That’s coming from someone who made it by hand for years and years. The other thing about making pie crust is that the more you do it, the better you get. That’s coming from someone who taught herself how to make pie dough, and had a tough time figuring it out.  but look at this, I rolled out this dough in a circle in …

At the first hint of a scratchy throat, I make a potent garlic soup, boosted by healthy herbs and spices.  The basis of this soup is my beloved Garlic Soup from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  It’s made with garlic, sage, thyme, fresh parsley, thyme, and water.  I veer off the original recipe to include inflammation- reducing, circulation-enhancing, immune-strengthening herbs and spices. Start with a head of garlic, add mushroom, onion, thyme, black peppercorn,  clove, hot pepper, cardamom pods, cumin seeds, bay leaves, galangal, ginger, turmeric, and Sichuan peppercorns.  If there are other healthy spices you love, add them too. The only reason I didn’t include sage and parsley is because I was out. Add real olive oil. Garlic soup can be veggie, made with water. Or you can use chicken stock.  I needed extra fortification, so I used chicken stock .  Add salt accordingly. Bring to a boil, then simmer, partially covered for 40 minutes. Strain, and mash the garlic cloves through the strainer. If you’ve used water, before serving you could …

I’ve lost count of how many years ago I chanced upon Los Poblanos in Norwalk, but since then, I’ve probably eaten there more than any other place in Fairfield County. It specializes in the traditional food of Puebla, Mexico. Most recently, Juan put cochinita on the menu. Pork slow cooked to complete tenderness in an ineffable blend of spices. It’s served with pickled red onions, salsa, guacamole, and warm tortillas. How can you order enchiladas when that’s on the menu? Well, sometimes you’re craving enchiladas in green sauce. or red sauce, or a quick plate of carnitas tacos. But what I order most frequently, because Los Poblanos is the only place that makes them so well, are chiles rellenos.  My love of chiles rellenos is documented here. In the fall, Juan makes the famous chiles en nogata,  poblanos stuffed with fruit, nuts and pork, and draped in walnut sauce, topped with pomegranate seeds. It’s a special dish, and a lot of work. “That’s why we make it only once a year,” Juan told me. It’s well worth the wait.  In the meantime…      

I go through breakfast phases. I’ll eat the same breakfast for a week or two, then move on to a variation. Bread, toasted or warmed, is essential. So is protein. Recently, I was on a one-egg, one-mushroom omelet kick. Usually with fresh herbs, chives, or parsley. Something quickly snipped from the yard, run under water, and minced.  Sometimes I’d add cheese, then fold the omelet in quarters and put it on buttered bread or roll. The omelets start with good eggs. If I’m lucky, a friend gives me eggs from her chickens. The only thing that changed during the one-egg, one-mushroom kick was the kind of bread. Here it is on a toasted Honey-12 Grain roll from Fairfield Bread Company. Another morning I had it on a toasted Portuguese Roll from Fairfield Bread Company. These are the fluffiest Portuguese Rolls. One morning I folded the omelet in half, and had a toasted piece of FBC’s organic Bridgeport Sour on the side. By the puffy look of that omelet, I’d say there’s melted brie inside. The bread …