I recently hosted a brunch at our place for a few friends, assisted by our food contributor Gaby. One of my favorite things about living in L.A. is the abundance of farmers' markets. It's long been a tradition of mine to head to my local one on Sunday with a straw tote for ...read more
Sunday brunch is, quite simply, the best meal of the week. Whether heading out to a bottomless mimosa-soaked continental spread, or baking buttery pastries to serve with seasonal jams, the vast amount of food options makes me very happy. One of my go-to brunch dishes is quiche, ...read more
Last Friday was one of those dreamy foggy days that makes everything feel a bit cozier and more fall-like. We spent a quiet early morning at home and then drove out to Venice for the opening of Blue Star Donuts (the first Los Angeles location for the famous Portland, ...read more
When G and I moved into our house, one of the selling points was the nearly untouched range that had a griddle built in. Naturally I decided that every weekend would feature at least one pancake breakfast (preferably eaten in bed). A couple of weekends back, we switched up our ...read more
I've always found corn muffins better suited on a plate with barbecued chicken and baked beans than alongside my morning cup of coffee. But this Barefoot Contessa recipe, which pipes them full of fruit preserves, has me reconsidering. I used two jams from Sqirl (their Raspberry ...read more
Most weekends we'll go out for brunch at least once, since it's my favorite meal. I typically order things I don't normally make at home, like french toast, poached eggs or most recently, the breakfast tacos at Home State. But the meal was so epic that we decided to recreate ...read more
I know a lot of people that don't eat breakfast and are able to function normally. I'm not one of those people. If I don't have a pretty substantial meal early in the day, I'll be a useless mess around 1pm. Thankfully G is also an early riser and typically makes us a pretty ...read more
Scones are one of the few pastries that elicit strong opinions from people and I think that's because they're deceptively tricky to get right. For years, my husband equated eating one to filling his mouth with sawdust (he's big on hyperbole), but he eventually came around once ...read more
I typically prefer my eggs "over medium," served with a side of greasy hash browns and some hearty sourdough, but these bite-sized smoked salmon frittatas are undeniably cuter than the standard diner breakfast and quite tasty. Served alongside a creamy chive sauce, these mini ...read more
Everyone has their go-to brunch dish and for me, it's French Toast. However, if I'm serving more than one person, I often find myself spending half the time in the kitchen, making fresh batches every time the plate is emptied, which is why these french toast fingers are a great ...read more
Living in Los Angeles, I see my share of food trends, early and often. The ubiquity of gluten-free/vegan/juiced/non-GMO food is so common, it's no longer a trend but part of the regular menu at many restaurants. However, when a friend of mine told me about the newest trend in ...read more
Few things bring me more pleasure than a perfectly crafted sandwich and I'm not embarrassed to admit that I think the McMuffin is one of the best. While it's hard to improve on the original, M Street Kitchen does a great job of updating the breakfast staple with some flavorful ...read more
It's not that I'm exactly against oatmeal, but anytime I order it for breakfast, I feel like I'm being punished. More often than not, it takes on a mushy texture and not-so-great flavor, which is either bland and cardboard-like or seriously over-sweetened. But lately we've been ...read more
I've spent many weekend mornings at a little spot known as The Griddle Cafe. It's the kind of place that's both crazy and comforting. The mobs of people waiting to get in can be nuts and the people watching is excellent. The immense portions are overly indulgent, but elicit the ...read more
Nearly every weekend I have this fantasy that I'm going to spring out of bed, bounce into the kitchen and whip up a batch of amazing pancakes. In reality, I typically (crankily) flop out like a drunken pirate, stagger to the kitchen and impatiently wait for the coffee to finish, ...read more
Closing out the summer is always a little bittersweet, especially with the loss of seasonal berries. Using up the last basket of flavorful strawberries, I followed this scone recipe from Tartine. They were flaky, fragrant, and dense - and when paired with my morning coffee, ...read more
My love for baked goods has been well documented, but I've never been particularly drawn to coffee cake. It always felt like something I'd eat when I was a grandmother, playing Bridge. But whenever you top anything with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter, it's going to be ...read more
My love of pancakes has been documented before (and once again here), but it wasn't until recently that my taste has veered away from a traditional buttermilk cake into the thinner (and infinitely lighter) Dutch Baby. While there are dozens of flavor combinations to put on top, ...read more
We almost always have apples in the house - they're an afterthought, of sorts - an item that perpetually appears on our shopping list year-round when we go to the farmers' market each Sunday. They don't exactly have the same allure of those special seasonal fruits - the ...read more
September 11th always creeps up on me. Even saying the date out loud feels raw and prickly, even though I couldn't have been further removed from the events that took place eleven years ago. I had just started college a few days before, was living in a dorm without a TV, and ...read more
I like to think of myself as one of those hosts that's perpetually cool and calm...but it's usually not the case. I wake up annoyingly early (as in 6am without an alarm everyday), so if I'm having people over for brunch, you'd think that four hours would be sufficient to get ...read more
French toast feels like home. It reminds me of foggy mornings, thick blankets, and entire days spent by a fire. It brings with it such nostalgia - not from childhood, per se, but when I was back home from college, in between semesters. I remember feeling so grown-up and ...read more
Certain foods simply make me happy and pancakes pretty much top that list. I'm not sure if it's the fluffy consistency, the way they make the entire house feel cozy, or the fact that I associate them with leisurely Sunday mornings. But regardless, they're a staple in our house ...read more
Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite indulgences, and this past weekend presented the ideal time to whip up a batch. Saturday morning was dark and damp, and the smell of these in the oven made it nearly impossible to wait the entire fifteen minutes for them to bake. I followed ...read more