Category Archives: FULL TABLE
Lovely carrot and collard ribbons {instead of rice noodles that you usually see in Pad Thai} and a few other things you probably have in your kitchen already, are thrown together to create this divine + spicy + earthy yet bright + healthy dish that you will want to make ALL THE TIME. This is one of those dishes that would work so well for a dinner party where you have a lot of different diet preferences to accommodate. It will make your vegan and GF loves’ toes curl right on up and your carnivores can eat one up right next to their bowl of curry with crispy duck or Momofuku style chicken wings.
Everyone can be happy and hold hands and sing campfire songs. See? World peace just from some Pad Thai Spring Rolls. We are making miracles around here, loves.
One of my favorite things ever is cooking for the people I love. There was a season in my life where my door stayed unlocked and people came to my house to eat by the dozens on a weekly basis. My kitchen had an open door policy for a while and it was everything my heart needed.
One Sunday night I was hosting a large group of friends for Brinner. On the top of the list of MUST-HAVES was bacon, obviously. Right under bacon on the list of necessities was SPICY. I was trying a recipe for a sweet/spicy bacon from a cookbook that I absolutely trust but something went terribly wrong.
I hate grapefruit.
Well… let’s back up. I hated grapefruit until I tried it THIS way. When you put bitter grapefruit under a broiler is mellows it out juuuuuust enough for me to forget I hate it and becomes one of the most comforting things I have ever eaten.
And I come from the deep south where comfort food is all there is… so you know I’m saying some truth right now.
There is something so calming about working dough.
Flour + Salt + Yeast + Water. Knead + Turn. Dust Flour + Knead Again. Rise + Stretch.
Simple into extraordinary.
This is one of my favorite kitchen projects because it ends in PIZZA. I can’t find fault in that scenario.
I started learning to cook when I was very young. We were living in Florida and my Mawmaw welcomed me into her kitchen with open, flour-dusted arms. She didn’t care that I unorganized her alphabetized pantry or dumped flour all over the floor, or at least she didn’t let on if she did.
I absorbed a love for the kitchen from her. A love for gathering people around a table to share a meal, to talk, pray together, to love selflessly. She taught me to put your very best self into that loaf of bread or that pot of dumplings because it isn’t just flour and water and seasonings… it is your heart extended to the ones you are feeding.
I have been longing for Spring. Wasting away in the remaining dredges of winter. It’s like this every year here in our little coastal town. It’s beach weather one day then we have to pull out the boots and sweaters the next. But by afternoon you better HOPE you packed a change of clothes in the car because you are going to regret the boots and sweaters you spitefully clothed yourself with that morning. I can’t decide if I want to eat a ginormous vat of beef stew or a tomato sandwich.
I’m just all confused about everything in life.
One of the greatest perks of summer is the grill! I think we can all agree that summer just wouldn’t be summer if we didn’t fire up the gas tank or light some charcoal on fire and throw some meat around once or twice a week.
A year or so ago, I heard a friend talking about grilling her lettuce. And I was like, “Whaaaaaat?!” And she was like, “Yea, girl!” And I was like, “NO WAY!” (And you’re like, “Abbye, get ON with it for the sake of Pete.”)
Let me just tell you about these tinies. It is rare that I love a non-chocolate dessert. RARE. Let me also tell you that I don’t even really like blueberries. But somehow these little babes wormed their way into my heart. The sweet burst of fresh blueberries, the spike of ginger and the crunchy walnut crumb just makes me a happy woman.
