Skateboard Knife

We spent Thanksgiving with our besties in San Francisco, and everything they do is always perfection. The food they cook, their house decor,  outfits, life style, plants, vacations, absolutely anything EVERYTHING could be written up and presented as the best, because it truly is the best. So when they told me about this new knife, and especially with its amazing backstory, I knew I needed and wanted it (plus my knives are old and need a serious upgrade). But this knife isn’t just any knife — it is made from recycled skateboards.

 

Nacionale Bladeworks. This company is in the Philippines, which makes it that much more special.

Continue Reading

Jennifer Fisher Flavored Salt

I have been hearing a lot about Jennifer Fisher’s Flavored Salt for quite some time, but finally picked some up at a local market, and I am hooked! They only had the Universal Salt variety so that is what I purchased, but I can’t wait to try out the others soon (curry and spicy)!

 

Jennifer Fisher is a jewelry designer but also branched out into cooking and salts! Good for her to diversify and expand her business!

Continue Reading

Stasher Bags

I discovered that it is the little things that make a big difference in my life. So when my mom gave me reusable silicone bags for Hannukah, I was thrilled. These fun, colorful, ever so practical, and healthy alternative to plastic food storage bags are a great addition to my kitchen. Not only do I feel like I am helping the environment (even in a very small way) but they are an extra pop of color in my day that makes me smile. Stasher bags come in all different sizes and colors and can be used for more than just food!

 

Functional, reusable, colorful!

Continue Reading

Favorite New Cookbooks March 2018

Happy March! It feels like it was just January.  Time has flown (probably because of my recent travels to Italy and India) but in any case, here we are!  I was just gifted three new cookbooks by two dear friends and I love them all so much (both the friends and the cookbooks) that I wanted to share.

 

I am officially my mom: a collector of cookbooks.  I have more cookbooks than real actual books! And I love it……

Continue Reading

Casey 2 Cook – TV Chef

Today we go behind the scenes with a TV chef (one of my favorite types of TV). Casey (aka, Casey2Cook) is a successful chef who won a season of Cooks vs. Cons! (BTW, that is my biggest nightmare — being quick and fast in the kitchen). Such an inspiration and I learned so much from the interview. Thanks so much, Casey! And FYI, her partner Steven is Natori’s E-Commerce Shipping manager!

 

Talented and beautiful, too! Thanks, Casey for this interview and inspiration for all of us.

____

 

How did you start cooking? What inspired you to become a chef?

Continue Reading

Air Fryer: Homemade Chips

My mother is multi-talented.  In addition to being a great chef, she is also a flamenco dancer, champion knitter, embroider, biker, and nia participant. In the kitchen, she is known to experiment, and loves to buy random kitchen gadgets to try different cooking techniques. She owns a dehydrator, a Vitamix (who doesn’t?), more pots and pans than imaginable, and…..an air fryer…..yes, an air fryer. What *is* an air fryer? An air fryer fries your food without the grease and fat. Last night, we opened it and made potato chips (seemed like an easy recipe to try without too many steps or ingredients!)

 

A BIIIIIG machine...not NYC apartment friendly, but good for Oregon where there is a lot of space!

A BIIIIIG machine…not NYC apartment friendly, but good for Oregon where there is a lot of space!

Continue Reading

Savory Zucchini Pancakes

Happy New Years! Happy 2016! I am currently in the process of coming up with my New Year’s Resolutions, and will post those on Monday.  In between my deep thoughts; mad rush packing up west coast for east coast (sob!); savoring the last minutes, hugs, and kisses with my brother, his family, and my parents; and waking up at 3 am to catch a 5:15 am cross country flight (no joke), I have had little time to thoughtfully compose the resolutions. So stay tuned! Until then, here is a recipe for some zucchini savory pancakes — nutritious and delicious.

 

Ingredients:

 

Ingredients

Continue Reading

Spiralizer

I shelled out the big dough and bought another kitchen gadget; and I couldn’t be happier. YUP, a spiralizer. What is a spiralizer (good question, kinda sounds like a pencil sharpener)? It is a device that transforms vegetables into “angel-hair” strands as well as spiral cuts, shoestrings and ribbon “noodles” — amazing, right?

 

Spiralizer! Even the name sounds spunky and happy! SPIRALIZE!

Spiralizer! Even the name sounds spunky and happy! SPIRALIZE!

Continue Reading

Typical Summer Meal

Here is a sample meal from my mother. And yes, she is a creative genius in the kitchen — she rarely looks at recipes and constantly uses her imagination to combine the freshest ingredients she finds. The key is organic and fresh veggies!

 

Tomato, Cucumber, Parsley, Anchovy salad. Fresh veggies from the CSA. True perfection.

Tomato, Cucumber, Parsley, Anchovy salad. Fresh veggies from the CSA. True perfection.

Continue Reading

5 Things That Should Be In Your Fridge

READERS!  Sorry about the lack of post yesterday but I am having still unresolved major computer issues.  Lame.  Really lame. Hopefully everything will be back to normal next week! On to today’s post…

 

My mother, the master chef and creative cook, has a kitchen full of unique ingredients and products. Here are five items in my parents’ fridge that are most likely not in YOUR fridge, but SHOULD BE!!!!

 

Five obscure-but-must-have-items!

Five obscure-but-must-have-items!

Continue Reading

3 Cookbooks

Guilty pleasure: reading cookbooks! I love collecting, sorting through, and learning from cookbooks. Although the internet is a terrific place to peruse for recipes and ideas, there is something about the old fashioned, hard cover that I can’t get away from. There are so many cookbooks that I love and use, but currently, here are my three favorite:

 

Cookbooks

Continue Reading

Wind and Willow

Happy Monday! Nothing better to start the week than to look at some beautifully handmade spoons! And these spoons are HANDSOME! Created by Wind and Willow, these are an updated version of your grandmother’s kitchen spoon. They are part wood, and part rubber. The rubber is soft, food safe is easy to grip and comfortable to use. And the colors are vibrant, fun, and cheery. A more modern and chic look to your everyday kitchen needs.

 

Wind and Willow

Wind and Willow

Continue Reading

Homemade Masala

One of the highlights of my Ayurveda Training was learning how to make different masalas. Masala is simply a spice mixture, and depending on the season and your dosha, certain masalas can help you become more balanced. Not only are the masalas delicious, but the act of creating, roasting, toasting, pounding, grinding, blending the spices is theraputic and rewarding. People over 5,000 years have been creating these simple blends in the same method — heating spices over hot fire, and pounding with a mortar and pestle. The aroma, the family bonding, the creation; it is all so great. Making masala is a metaphor for harvesting the spirit of ahimsa and maturing intelligence.

Mortar and pestle.

Mortar and pestle.

Continue Reading