Kale Zucchini Latkes with Poached Eggs and Chive Yogurt
food

Kale Zucchini Latkes with Poached Eggs and Chive Yogurt

My daughter made me try this recipe. Kale-zucchini pancakes? It sounds like some health nut went completely overboard with the kale recipes and lost their way. She found this recipe on the GOOP website – and she was totally right about it. They are delicious, and while there is a little potato in them to bind the veggies together, they have many fewer calories than a potato pancake. Add a poached egg and a little plain yogurt with chopped chives […]

Rhubarb Crisp
recipes

Rhubarb Crisp

This is the homeliest dessert I’ve ever made, a reminder that beauty is only skin deep. In the time it takes to chop rhubarb and mix up some flour, sugar and butter, you can have a bubbling hot sweet-and-sour rhubarb crisp that, while delicious and colorful, is only slightly less ugly than a bad burn. A dollop of yogurt is all it needs to set the flavors off to perfection. I debated about posting this recipe because it’s so… not […]

Laura Bush’s Cheese Grits and Shrimp
recipes

Laura Bush’s Cheese Grits and Shrimp

There’s a fascinating exhibit at the Bush Library in Dallas, called “First Ladies: Style of Influence” about the role first ladies have played behind the scenes and on the world stage throughout history. I recently spoke on a panel on that very subject at the Library, and wanted to pass along a recipe of Laura Bush’s, for spicy cheese grits with shrimp. This is a fabulous recipe, the best of the south, and a perfect mix of traditional and contemporary […]

Penne alla Vodka
food

Penne Alla Vodka

There are plenty of ways to make this ultimate Italian comfort food, but this version is my favorite. It’s certainly the simplest! You can add grilled chicken to the recipe if you want it to be more substantial, but as written it’s the most deeply satisfying meal imaginable. My favorite time for penne alla vodka is when you’ve been traveling for a couple of days, skipping meals or eating granola bars for dinner – or worse, inhaling half the (stale) […]

Blackberry Lemon Pancakes
recipes

Lazy Sunday Blackberry Lemon Pancakes

You know what makes good pancakes? Bisquick. There it is – the secret’s out. You don’t have to make pancakes from scratch every time – I mean, who doesn’t have other stuff to do on a Sunday morning, like sleep? I add things to the Bisquick pancake dough to elevate it a bit – in this case, fresh blackberries and a squeeze of lemon juice. The blackberries turn the dough slightly blue, which is pretty and fun, and the lemon […]