A Supertaster's Sanctuary

OK, so blogging my kitchen exploits hasn't been a priority of late, I know. However, it takes time to custom build a home allowing me to fully outfit the sanctuary of my dreams, equipped with a Thermador range with steam oven and warming drawer, a Thermador Sapphire dishwasher, and a prep pantry that actually has had some friends drooling. Hey, it took me to the age of 49 to realize this dream, so I'm not ashamed to be proud of it. Thanks to Pinterest and Houzz , our builder and his amazing trim carpentry team were able to take my entire notebook of ideas and seamlessly weave them together. It's quite awesome, wouldn't you agree?   At any rate,  I have found myself back in the kitchen more these days, and soon will be bringing you my creations once again! Until then, I'm just going to sit here and enjoy that "new house" smell. AAAAAHHHH!

OK, so I promised this several weeks ago. You should know by now that blogging on my end never follows the schedule that the rest of my life routinely requires. I just have to say that good intentions ought to get me credit. Yet, imagine finding out in May that you will be teaching not 1, not 2, but 3 courses at a local university beginning in mid-August AND between then you have to deliver a written module for an academic publication! Yikes. Thankfully I'm never not lacking for rising to a challenge. So, when it was time to host a dinner party the end of June (that we'd had on the books for well over a month), I had to go to my well-organized files for ideas and inspiration. Here is where I am so glad that over the years I have spent the time on tearing and filing. About 6 years ago when the issues of Bon Appetit , Food & Wine , Real Simple and Southern Living were piling up in every corner of my pantry, closet, and kitchen, I knew I had to come up with a plan. Sure, t...

How does one begin to say "I'm sorry" for letting finishing a master's degree, operating a separate small business, moving from Texas to Colorado, and Pinterest keep me from blogging? Well, there's no easy way ever to ask forgiveness except to eat the proverbial "crow" and get it over with. So, dear friends, I'm back to sharing my adventures in the kitchen with you--hopefully on a regular basis--so please forgive me for not sharing sooner. If you know me at all, it's not for a lack of cooking--no! no! What I have allowed to keep me from sitting down and typing up the goodies are silly things like "other bloggers' photos are so much prettier than mine" and "oh, let me just troll through Pinterest for a few minutes" and even "now where did I file those photos I took of that recipe?" So, if you can live through the basics of my ramblings and the non-professional photos, I think you'll still glean s...

Friends, I've discovered Pinterest and I may never Blog again! LOL! If you are not in the social media game of Pinterest yet, I highly recommend it. The only way I can think to describe it is as an online personalized set of bulletin boards where you can collect photographs and links of everything that makes you happy in this life. It's based in the wonderful new world of web computing in the "cloud" and could not be more fun! This means no matter where you are, if you have web access you can get online and check your bulletin boards and share your ideas with others. I am sadly addicted and might even give up my "Words with Friends" for time trolling and following others bulletin boards. Let's just say I have an awful lot of crafting and decorating and cooking in my future. I know you will love it, too, so think of this as a recipe for happiness today. PS, this beautiful cake just seemed like the perfect backdrop for my little saying of the day. I...

Friends, my husband agreed to embark with me this week on a "healthy eating plan!" Yes, to some of you that is actually called a DIET. However, I heard someone recently state that it is all about your mindset when you set out on a diet, and even just the thought of being on a diet scares most of us into not doing it. Now, please hear me accurately: I LOVE me some baked goods and decadent desserts. Puhleeese! You know that about me already! Yet, the pants are getting snug due to lack of exercise and some major over-indulging, so it was time to get healthy again before the holidays arrive. We have found that if we are consistent exercisers and practice general moderation, we can pretty much enjoy what we want without too much guilt. It is that lack of exercise (thanks to grad school and a super hot summer in Houston) that got me into a rut, so I need to take off a few pounds AND head back out to my favorite running course. So, one should always listen to their hairdresser, ri...

So it's simply not fair. Those of you who happen to live in those regions where you enjoy 4 true seasons of the year, consider yourself BLESSED! Here in Houston, you can guess what we have. There's hot, and hot and humid and very hot and humid and hotter than...well you get the picture! Suffice it to say, I can easily miss my midwestern roots where watching the leaves turn color was a favorite event. Steve and I were actually vacationing in Colorado Springs around Labor Day and could see some of the aspens in high elevations already beginning to yellow. I bet they are glorious now. Ah well, I digress. But this leads you to understand my title today as I have literally had to FORCE our way into FALL this week. Had to do it. My calendar says last day of summer was last week! So, what does this look like? Well, I'm including some photos here that I hope you will enjoy to get the idea of ambiance in my home. Now, I don't profess to be a great photographer. Yet hopefully y...