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I've found that I've occasionally forget to share some of the recipes we eat most in our house. One of the things we eat a lot of but rarely makes it to the site: snacks. We're a huge snack family and the tradition seems to be continuing with our little guy. Sometimes our favorite dinner is a platter of snacks . The peanut butter bites have been a staple of our sweet-tooth snack section. However, my version got a rather large overhaul once I started making Sarah Waldman's version, from her cookbook. Over the past year or so I've been making small adaptions to the recipe, finally landing on the version below. What I like most is that the recipe doesn't have to be exact. I've made this recipe about 50 different ways, usually using up whatever we have on hand. However, it's almost always guaranteed we have peanuts and peanut butters on hand, making these peanut butter bites quick and easy. Read more and see the recipe. The post Chocolate Peanut Butter ...

Corn season – it’s officially on! It’s the season to eat outside. And, it’s the season to eat with your hands – especially corn on the cob. What follows here is a round-up of corn-centric ideas to inspire you this summer. Corn on the Cob Basics These recipes are all about celebrating corn – shopping for the freshest corn, still in husk, makes a difference! If you shuck the corn before grilling, keep an eye on it, it can get dried out. Try grilling in the husk to keep in steam. If you boil the corn in a large pot, definitely shuck it before. Salt the water, boil for 3-5 minutes. After cooking, if you want to get the corn off the cob to use in salads, sides and more, check out this method using a bundt pan (video -jump to :25 sec). If you cook a lot of corn and remove it from the cob with the above method, try freezing it for future recipes! Used cobs can be cleaned, placed in a stock pot and simmered to make a corn stock. Use the stock to bump up the flavor in corn-centric dis...

Let’s make paella! You can absolutely do it, and for this veg-centric, California-inspired take on the Spanish classic, you don’t need a special pan. Many paellas feature various meats and seafoods, but vegetarian paella can be a revelation. This version is fully  loaded with a rainbow of seasonal vegetables cooked into a saffron and paprika-scented rice based dream.  Once you have the technique down, the adaptations can be endless. Paella is a great way to use up random seasonal vegetables in your crisper, and leftovers are A-plus. And I’m going to tell you how it can be week-night friendly. Really! You Don’t Need a Special Paella Pan If you have a traditional paella pan, great! Use it. That said, don’t let the lack of a special pan foil your paella endeavors. I’ve successfully cooked paella in copper pans (a favorite), as well as stainless steel, and cast iron. Use what you have, the wider the better. I’m including instructions for two different sized pans in the recipe,...

Hey friends and happy midsummer! We spent midsummer eve at a friends house, dancing like frogs around a flower covered midsummer pole. It’s one of many weird traditions that we do in Sweden on this longest day of the year. Today we are off to Noma (as in one of the coolest restaurants on earth) to test their new plant focused menu that is launching next week. We’re very excited – obviously for Noma, but also for eating a fancy dinner together with zero kids around. Before we are leaving, I wanted to post this little recipe that we uploaded to our youtube a few days ago. Just like frog dance, this savory layered sandwich cake is also a very Swedish thing. It is called smörgåstårta and is traditionally made by layering white bread with mayonnaise, creme cheese, whipped cream, dill, chives, shrimps, salmon and a bunch of other stuff. It’s basically like a sandwich gone wild. Even if we are not completely sold on ...

If you’ve ever tasted pesto in Italy you know that the pesto here in the United States just isn’t the same. I received a lesson in how to make pesto from a real Italian grandmother last week and now I understand the difference and what makes it so. My friend Francesca makes the trip from her small town near the pesto-epicenter of Genoa, Italy to San Francisco once or twice a year – this time (lucky for us) she brought her mom and two-year old son Mattia. Her mom makes a beautiful pesto (and perfectly light, potato gnocchi to go along with it) and offered to show me and my friend Jen how it is done. I have to say, it was a complete game-changer. If you love pesto, you really have to try this. Her technique results in an incredibly special pesto. Chop by hand or blender? Most of the pesto you encounter here in the U.S. is different for a few reasons. First off, most of what you see is made by machine, usually a food processor or hand blender. This holds true even if it is homemade...