eating is living

Besides being another great excuse to get a water smoker, smoked duck is an extraordinary culinary treat. The fattiness of a duck lends itself very well to slow, smoky cooking, and the finished product nearly melts in your mouth. I decided to add jalapeño peppers to this recipe after trying them alongside some slices of [...]

All right, this one is for all of you who have a juicer collecting dust in your basement/attic/most-difficult-to-get-at cupboard. The juicer is a fabulous way to enjoy refreshing, healthful beverages you create out of the most beautiful specimens of fresh fruits & vegetables you can find at the store. And it’s kind of fun, too. [...]

I love cold soups. Cooling off in the summer means more than just turning on the AC; the more cold foods you eat, the cooler you’ll be. And sipping a cool spoonful of delicately smooth vichyssoise is a treat that everyone should enjoy often. And sweet potatoes? Better for you than their white cousins, and [...]

This is one of my favorite picnic dishes. The interplay of rich, smoky chicken with sweet & crunchy apples & celery is irresistible. If you don’t have a water smoker, think about getting one. It’s really easy to set up and great if you love smoked meats & seafood.  The idea is that it smokes [...]

My favorite way to make quesadillas is to bake them, because you can make a bunch at once. I find that just a quick spray of canola oil on the cookie sheets is sufficient. This recipe uses mozzarella, which may not seem like the most obvious choice for quesadillas, but give it a try and [...]

A rum fruit punch can be a sickly-sweet, cliché of an American tourist’s bad taste….or it can be a refreshing, tongue-tingling, splash of vacation in a glass. In this one, the tang of the passionfruit is tempered by the red, red sweetness of the watermelon. And passionfruit seeds, in case you didn’t know, are quite [...]