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pork cordon bleu — setting the tables for togas.

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Tweet Our (almost) weekly gatherings have become an end-of-tiring-seven-days highlight. This one in particular was more spectacular due to a wonderful friend visiting. The request …

chunky guacamole and thick salsa — the perfect dips for copious amounts of food.

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Tweet There is nothing more pleasing to the eye than fresh vegetables. Well, looking upon the delightful faces of my friends might rival the colorful …

cream cheese brownies — a dessert with friends.

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Tweet One of my favorite things to do is to give free reign of my camera to my delightful friends. Who, in turn, take marvelous …

beef wellingtons — the first cooking class of the year.

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Tweet Beef wellingtons (which I was calling ‘duke wellingtons’ for a while) were a request left over from the year 2012. And, as such, we …

vegetarian tofu pot pies with coconut oil pastry — the last meal before a sendoff.

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TweetVancouver. Will I never stop loving your slightly damp and rainy demeanor? Your way of making light soft when meandering your streets? The people who reside …

poached ling cod with mint pesto sauce — the most unusual biscotti accompaniment.

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Tweet Elephant garlic. One of the best ways to describe these massive cloves that often are as large as a whole head. They literally dwarf …

rich dark christmas cake — in preparation for the year to come.

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Tweet The days after Christmas still show the holdiay’s  lingering effects on our lives through culinary means. Hot chicken sandwiches become the standard lunch, and …

cranberry-pomegranate roast chicken with rice stuffing — the gift of christmas dinner.

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TweetChristmas. Full of the meaningful, and the wacky, gifting. And the gifts that come from a labor of love. And those that will be hung …

stollen french toast — a blessed morning wake-up.

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TweetChristmas morn. The loveliest of mornings. There is usually a gentle drizzle outside, the sweet smell of pine needles slowly grows as the Christmas lights …

miso-ginger salmon — fishing for christmas spirit.

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Tweet Just through physical proximity to my hometown, I had the incredible urge to use ingredients that I grew up with: miso, from the Vancouver …

bruschetta on breaded pan-fried eggplant — a grown up appie for kid-like tendencies.

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Tweet Monopoly – the game of childhood. I remember playing with exuberance as a kid, with my very faint competitive side rearing its ugly head. …

brie phyllo cups with cranberry orange chutney — individual appies for each friend.

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Tweet Chutney. One of my favorite words. It makes me think of exotic curries, spicy dishes, and simple fruits undergoing a butterfly-like transformation through a …

seared ahi tuna with creamy avocado cilantro sauce — an insatiable urge for the ocean.

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Tweet Whenever I come home, I take advantage of our greatest natural culinary resource — fish.  This, in particular, is no ordinary seafood — ahi …

almond biscotti — brightening up any morning.

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Tweet I adore my hometown. Evidently God does as well. Crepuscular rays (which is not an ethereally beautiful name for such a stunning sight) are also called the …

low-fat spaghetti alla carbonara — trimming the tree, and the waistline.

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Tweet The tree was lit. And our living room was suffused with an ethereal soft white glow. The only problem with putting the tree up …

pistachio biscotti with white chocolate drizzle — a cookie to please the masses.

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Tweet Making biscotti is usually a simple and quick process. During baking times, I can do other things, multitask. However, purchasing in-shell pistachios, I must …