Dinner with Kirsten

My family always used to have Sunday suppers at my grandparents’ house when I was young. I remember the smell of roast pork, sour kraut and dumplings washing over me as I stepped into their house. “Sunday is family day,” my Mom would say, whenever I wanted to plan weekend activities with friends. But I […]

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I’m somewhat of a cooking snob, but when a friend recommended Cooking Light as a great recipe resource and the opportunity to buy a discounted subscription came along, I jumped on it. The magazine has been delivered to my apartment monthly since June, most issues languishing neglected in my magazine wrack. But the October issue […]

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I eat zucchini as part of almost every meal, especially in the summer. Geoff is getting tired of it. But this stuffed version is a great change from my normal steamed or sautéed dishes. A meatloaf-like filling is piled into the hollowed-out squash and baked until the topping is crispy and the zucchini is tender. […]

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I’m so proud of this dish that I’ve rattled off instructions on how to make it to a handful of people, including the check-out guy at Trader Joe’s. It’s one of those golden main courses that can be made a million different ways, depending on the ingredients you have handy and what you feel like […]

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I love hamburgers, but, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve been trying to eat healthy. So, I’ve been making turkey burgers about once a week for months. Faced with yet another package of ground turkey meat in the fridge, expiration date ticking down, I turned to epicurious.com for inspiration.
I’ve become a Sriracha addict, so I […]

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My idea of a “diet” is eating more apples than donuts on any given day. But it’s swimming suit season once again, that time of year when winter’s excesses are destined to be displayed for fellow beach-goers, making me wonder if I had to eat quite so many cookies and burgers this year. So anyway, […]

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My favorite restaurant in Spain was a little Indian food place down the street from the restaurant where I worked. After a few weeks of eating exclusively Spanish food, I was ready for an injection of Indian spice. After I discovered it, my fellow American friend Jillian and I became obsessed and addicted. We were […]

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I’m a sucker for a good time gimmick. I used to watch Rachael Ray’s Food Network show 30 Minute Meals, just waiting for the episode when she would be forced to turn to the camera and say, “Whoop-see! Guess we’re out of time!”
That’s why, unless it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas, I always flip to the “quick […]

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Ole! My infatuation with Mexican food and Spanish culture has led me down a rocky culinary path. The disastrous mini flans I made for my 8th grade Spanish class come to mind, as well as the oily churros I fed to my Mom’s Bunco group. That being said, I make great sopapillas (a hollow […]

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Feta Cheese
Origin: Greece
Type: Fresh—Young, tart, tangy, lemony, smooth, moist, creamy, with no rind. (from the Murray’s Cheese Handbook)
Description: An aged brined curd cheese traditionally made with at least 70% sheep’s milk, along with either goat or cow’s milk. The Murray’s Cheese Handbook says, “The sheep’s milk delivers a round fattiness in the mouth […]

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