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Spaghetti and Meatballs

March 3, 2009 by Charles 1 Comment

In August 2002 (back in the early days of blogging), Julie Powell began an interesting project on her blog. Frustrated with her job, her marriage, and her living arrangements in one of the “outer boroughs,” she vowed to master the art of french cooking. That is, Powell decided to make every one of the 536 recipes contained in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year’s time. The project’s simplicity, balanced with its sheer scope, soon captured the interests of her fellow bloggers and several media outlets (and eventually earned her a book and movie deal).

On a much smaller scale, the Barefoot Bloggers make it their goal to blog roughly twenty-four of Ina Garten’s recipes every year – or two every month, which…

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

February 2, 2009 by Charles 4 Comments

Pancakes are universal – nearly every culture has a griddlecake of some kind. But not only are pancakes universal, they’re classical – literally. The Ancient Romans collected pancake recipes in the Apicius, their 5th Century cookbook.

From these early origins, the pancake has evolved into a quintessential American comfort food, a part of almost every family’s Sunday brunch.

This recipe …

Lemon Yogurt Cake

December 17, 2008 by Charles 7 Comments

Unlike most of her recipes, Ina Garten jokes, this one does not start with a pound of butter. And yet, her lemon yogurt cake is no worse for the wear. In fact, I’ve made this recipe countless times without ever growing tired of it. And because it’s so good and so easy to make, it’s become my recipe of choice for pot-lucks and parties.

Over time, I have made my own small changes…

Grilled Quesadillas

October 22, 2008 by Charles 2 Comments

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.

Speaking of sticking,…