ENTER TO WIN! Learn to cook healthier meals for your family! Click here to enter to win Real Food for Rookies, a new online class — retail value $120, plus over $60 worth of discount coupons. Don’t miss out! contest ends this SATURDAY Sept 4th at midnight Pacific. Of all the wonderful gifts I received [...]

I’m sitting by a cozy fire in snowy Seattle, sipping a margarita and eating chips and salsa. We’re having Christmas tamales tonight. Tamales I brought up from Los Angeles. Last night, we had a traditional English Christmas dinner. Actually it was inspired by Southwestern France — so it was really more of a hybrid English/French [...]

We are going to Seattle on Christmas Day to spend the holiday with my sister and her family. My sister is my favorite chef in the whole world. Every Christmas she cooks and we don’t just eat — we dine. Truffles, oysters on the half shell, foie gras, caviar. She’ll roast a goose or make [...]

It’s Christmastime, the season to give and receive. Of course, what I want more than anything is more gadgets and whosie-whats-its for my kitchen. And once again I’m sure my husband has absolutely no idea what to buy me. Dear Husband, this post is for you. Just click and add to cart. I don’t blame [...]

Reverse Osmosis Water Filter This is my number-one priority, since I am constantly having to lug distilled water back from the market. Needs to remove fluoride. Not sure which one to get yet. If anyone has any suggestions, please comment. Shower Filter Needs to remove chlorine — I hate getting out of the shower feeling [...]

“Sleigh Ride” J Mitchell Parish, Leroy Anderson, 1948 Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling too Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you, Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling “Yoo hoo,” Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you. Giddy yap, [...]