Monthly Archives: October 2008

Sweet Potato Bundt Cake

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Like any good American, I often buy things I don’t necessarily need. And I’m particularly susceptible to this urge when I’m around kitchen gadgets. Exhibit 1 would be my recently purchased 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan. Fortunately, the Food Network came to my rescue.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved sweet potatoes. In grade school, our class was putting together a cook book, and we were all asked to bring in our favorite recipe. All the kids brought in recipes for typical kid fare: grilled cheese, ice cream sundaes, macaroni and cheese – normal kid stuff. My recipe involved a root vegetable: sweet potato pie.

After typing ‘Bundt Pan” Continue reading

Baba Ghanoush

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As near-eastern dishes go, baba ghanoush is the quiet sibling to the more popular hummus. Both recipes revolve around a similar mix of ingredients, and both dishes are all-but ubiquitous in your pita-bread establishments. And yet, for whatever reason, hummus always seems to get top-billing. It practically co-starred with Adam Sandler in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.

It needn’t be this way any longer.

I prefer grilling the eggplants, Continue reading

Graveyard Brownies

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Last night I had a Halloween party, and in keeping with spirit of the party, I decided to try a themed dessert: Graveyard Brownies. I thought about laying some Lego men around the tombstones for added effect, but ultimately decided to stick with an all-edible item. Then I thought about trying to make marshmallow spider webs or adding gummy worms, but there’s something to be said for simplicity – especially with a first effort.

Next year I might try Continue reading

Grilled Quesadillas

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Of late, grilling has become one of my favorite cooking methods. Unfortunately, as the sun is quickly setting on this warm St. Louis weather, so too are my grilling days. So before I have to shut the propane off for good, I decided it was time to grill some quesadillas. These are so fast, so easy to make – and just so good. They’re bound to be a hit.

Quesadilla literally means “little cheesy thing,” in Spanish. So some form of cheese is required. But after that, the beauty of quesadillas is in their elegant simplicity. They’re a blank slate on which to experiment. Throw whatever you want at them — and just see what sticks.

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Speaking of sticking, Continue reading

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

This is my pick-me-up drink. In law school, I used to reward myself with one of these at the end of every final exam. Now that I’m working, I don’t make this drink nearly enough. But when I am feeling, lethargic, grumpy, or just plain sick, this does the trick. There’s just a certain comfort that comes with drinking a cold smoothie out of a tall glass.

Keep this recipe in mind the next time Continue reading

Lemon Italian Ice

Lemon Ice

This recipe is quite possibly my all-time favorite. Any time I have friends over for dinner, I make sure this figures into dessert plans. Often times, no dinner is necessary — I just tell guests who happen to be over that they’ve got to try this! And now that they’ve tried my lemon ice, I make sure to always have a pint stockpiled in the freezer – just in case I have an unannounced guest.

Lemon Ice

The real secret here  is to freeze Continue reading