Weekend Cooking

Grocery shopping challenges for my Savory and Spicy Mincemeat Pie! #SundaySupper

I have a new tv show addiction. The Great British Bake Off. The bakers, the treats, the aesthetics, the tears, the joy, the trials, the triumphs--I just eat it all up. A couple of weeks ago, I was indulging myself in back-to-back episodes of the Bake Off when Omar came in to watch an episode with me. He just happened to sit in on an episode featuring pies. Savory pie persuasion Pies always meant dessert in my mind, but this episode of the Bake Off featured a range of savory pies. As we ...

Valentine’s Day Menu Ideas for Eating in Instead!

Aaack! Is it possible that Valentine’s Day is upon again (already?!)? Omar and I are not big on holidays, especially ones like Valentine’s Day, which are barely a blip on the Moroccan radar. We don’t exchange gifts, but we do try to plan for a special meal at home that doesn’t get devoured in front of the latest episode of [Insert Mad Men, Downton Abbey, the Americans, Modern Family, 24, etc.]. In past years, Omar and I celebrated with lobster dinner, homemade hamburgers and buns, and of ...

Homemade Bibimbap

Bibimbap is popping up all over the place these days. Lunch joints, quick dinner take-aways, or traditional Korean restaurants, bibimbap is one of my favorite dishes. It’s an all in one—veggies, rice, beef, with an egg on top. A perfectly balanced meal of sweet and savory all in one bowl. Personally, I prefer the dolsot bibimbap, served in a Dolsot clay bowl, leaving the rice on the edges crispy, giving the whole dish an added dimension. According to Wikipedia, bibimpab means “mixed rice” ...

You say macaroon, I say macaron, let’s have a bake-off!

I’m a Francophile. Ok, I’m also an Italophile. I always thought I was an Italophile, but our time in Morocco, a former French protectorate, has tipped the scale in favor of France. After our recent trip to Paris where I was steeped in café au lait, pain au chocolat, duck confit, and crème caramel, the French have my heart and stomach, at least for now. Plus, my recent results on the Buzzfeed quiz “What City Should You Actually Live In?” put me squarely in Paris. Topping the list on ...

Winter Warmer: Asian Noodle Soup

I know we are almost into double digit January, but part of me feels incomplete unless I share a recap of our Christmas glutton. Your Christmas dinner may include a beautiful spread of ham, prime rib, turkey, or take out Chinese food. This year our “pre-Christmas” included a 16-pound prime rib that my brother-in-law smoked for almost four hours on a smoker. It was a big hunk of heaven. I’m not a huge red meat lover, but this was serious piece of meat. We enjoyed it for dinner, sandwiches, ...