From the category archives:

Autumn

Thumbnail image for Roasted Butternut Squash Puree with Apple Cranberry Relish | Refining Rustic

Roasted Butternut Squash Puree with Apple Cranberry Relish | Refining Rustic

I prefer a rustic kind of lifestyle: I collect dishes in my sink, flour on my apron and chicken poop under my shoes. I like my edges sharp, my lines wavy and my dots splashed. I believe in guesstimates and rough chops. In handfuls I trust. Most of the time, I can get away with [...]

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Thumbnail image for Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting | The Calm Before the Storm

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting | The Calm Before the Storm

It’s a calm, still… almost warm Thursday night in Southern California. Hard to believe that in a few hours, a storm full of rain is supposed to drench us all. It has been a long, long year. We’ve renovated a home, raised a flock of chickens and adopted a second dog. I’m ready to close [...]

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Thumbnail image for Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel | We Can’t All Be Winners

Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel | We Can’t All Be Winners

Let me tell you a story about my dog. I have a beautiful dog. She’s sweet, tender, kind, and… famous. Friday comes from a pedigree of outstanding Weimaraner dogs and Weimaraner people. When she was a puppy, William Wegman photographed her for the cover of the Weimaraner Puppies Calendar. At six months old, she obtained [...]

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Thumbnail image for Baked Eggs on Sourdough with Garden Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella and Basil-Mint Pesto| Chicken Here, Chicken There, Chicken Everywhere

Baked Eggs on Sourdough with Garden Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella and Basil-Mint Pesto| Chicken Here, Chicken There, Chicken Everywhere

We’re surrounded by chickens… because the eight baby chicks we picked up in June have somehow multiplied into eighteen. I don’t know how it happened.  We officially fail at chicken math.  Sunday was a big morning at the RGB: it was the day fifteen baby chicks were old enough to move from the brooders in [...]

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Thumbnail image for Hank’s Cream of Chanterelle Soup | My Bowl of Lolita

Hank’s Cream of Chanterelle Soup | My Bowl of Lolita

To quote Nabokov, “my little cup brims with tiddles,” because I’ve been kissed by chanterelles so sweet, so silky and so sultry that I’ve completely lost my mind. Let me backtrack.

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Thumbnail image for Cranberry Tangerine Crumb Bars | A Thanksgiving Treat

Cranberry Tangerine Crumb Bars | A Thanksgiving Treat

We’re thankful that November always brings to Southern California a crisp, brisk, yet sunny type of weather that’s absolutely idyllic for growing tangerines. In fact, our two trees are right at the peak of their season.  

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Thumbnail image for Dried Cranberry and Blueberry Lemon Scones | A Rainy Weekend at Home

Dried Cranberry and Blueberry Lemon Scones | A Rainy Weekend at Home

This weekend was the first we’d been at home in awhile. So of course, Saturday morning’s refrigerator contents were mostly empty. We still had good eggs and cream. No yogurt, no bread, no orange juice, no fresh blueberries… Ah, but we did have them dried. And we had a package of dried cranberries, too. And [...]

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Thumbnail image for Roast Chicken | A Family Feast in Santa Barbara

Roast Chicken | A Family Feast in Santa Barbara

Like most families, everyone in ours plays a different role: The Pilot adheres to a routine, the English major (the Major) is great with words, the Nurse showers us with hugs and kisses and the Architect keeps the humor fresh. And we cook. Last week, the Pilot fell ill. So we skipped out on our [...]

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Thumbnail image for Max’s Spaghetti with Meatballs and Marinara | RSVP Redux for October, 2010

Max’s Spaghetti with Meatballs and Marinara | RSVP Redux for October, 2010

It just-so-happened that the first thing I noticed when we checked into the B&B over the weekend was the May 2010 issue of Bon Appétit lying on the coffee table. While waiting for Barry to get dressed for the wedding, I leafed through it and found… spaghetti and meatballs. But not just any spaghetti and [...]

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Stuck Between Autumn and Spring

We must have pissed off the rain Gods: Saturday morning rain – outside the kitchen window…       …and outside the front door.   It was bad enough to cancel my long-planned bicycle ride down the Santa Ana River Trail, but not bad enough to detour through the Saturday Farmers’ Market in Irvine. My [...]

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Thumbnail image for Give Beets a Chance | Roasted Beets with Tangerine, Spinach and Chevre

Give Beets a Chance | Roasted Beets with Tangerine, Spinach and Chevre

If you don’t like soft, buttery beets, chances are you’ve haven’t had them the way they’re meant to be eaten. On a need it now night, we steam them. If we have a spare hour and a half (which these days we do), roasting them to bring out their sweet flavor is much better.

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Thumbnail image for Lunch a la Provence | Spicy Clam Pasta with White Wine Sauce

Lunch a la Provence | Spicy Clam Pasta with White Wine Sauce

Manila clams are small, sweet and delicious. While they originally hail from Japan, they’re also farmed on the west coast. Over time, you’ll see that we use these in a lot of our recipes. Especially when we find them on sale.

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Kudos to KNX | Apricot Grand Marnier Turkey Stuffing

Years ago, back before there were cell phones, we all used to listen to the radio when we drove in the car. I used to listen to KNX News radio because they would provide traffic congestion updates that I would use to navigate the freeways driving between meetings.

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Thumbnail image for The Vietnamese Italian | Garden Herb Spaghetti Bolognese

The Vietnamese Italian | Garden Herb Spaghetti Bolognese

Growing up, I loved my mother’s spaghetti and my aunt’s lasagna. While I have no idea what was in my aunt’s lasagna, my mother’s spaghetti sauce recipe was simple: sauté one onion. Add a pound of ground beef. Discard fat. Add package of Lawry’s Spaghetti Seasoning. Add can of tomato sauce. Salt, pepper and serve [...]

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Thumbnail image for Award Winning… for Most Ingredients Used | Football Chili

Award Winning… for Most Ingredients Used | Football Chili

In our previous lives as urban planners, the office we worked at participated in the Tustin Street Fair and Chili Cook-Off. In 2008, our “Ring of Fire” chili even took 2nd place in the People’s Choice Award. (We maintain we only didn’t win because we couldn’t compete with corporate-volume Tustin Brewing Company.) We also think looping 16 [...]

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Thumbnail image for Pizza, Upgraded | RGB Pizzetta

Pizza, Upgraded | RGB Pizzetta

Is it just me, or when we were kids, a pizza meant phoning Pizza Hut and having pepperoni and cheese delivered? (Note from Barry: I had Me and Ed’s Pizza or Shakeys.) When did fancy pizzas get popular, and why am I so late to get on board? Last Autumn while dining on Britta’s couch, [...]

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Thumbnail image for Free Vitamin C | Autumn Citrus Salad

Free Vitamin C | Autumn Citrus Salad

Rutabegorz in Tustin has this healthy eating thing down. True to their promise, their food is pretty good, too. And, they’re located right in the heart of Old Town. If they didn’t serve dinner, we’d probably ask to sublease some dinner space for our restaurant.

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Thumbnail image for Zuppa Toscana | Sweet Memories

Zuppa Toscana | Sweet Memories

When I think about college, I often think about 146 Esplanade; the place where I became an adult. It was during this time in my life that I was also addicted to study breaks at The Olive Garden. My druge of choice: bread sticks and zuppa toscana. I had to have it. all. the. time. [...]

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Thumbnail image for I’ll Try That Too, Please | Roasted Red Pepper Puree

I’ll Try That Too, Please | Roasted Red Pepper Puree

Over breakfast one morning, one of us read a Los Angeles Times restaurant review for Marché Moderne in Costa Mesa, California. Our first thought was, “huh, a restaurant in the middle of the mall?” Since we had tickets to an upcoming ballet performance at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and were looking for a [...]

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Thumbnail image for Test Kitchen Success | Spicy Italian Sausage with Garlic Cream Penne

Test Kitchen Success | Spicy Italian Sausage with Garlic Cream Penne

One of our favorite local haunts is Britta’s Café in Irvine, California.  At least twice a month, you can find us there on date nite.  In fact, we enjoy this place so much we named our dog after it.  And, with a seasonal menu that rotates about six times a year, there’s always something new to try.  If [...]

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Thumbnail image for Everyday Provence | Coq au Vin

Everyday Provence | Coq au Vin

In Spring 2009, we went on holiday to France. The highlight: Provence. The people: generous. The menu: decadent. In a little Citröen, we toured the countryside, shopped with the locals, and dined to our hearts’ content. It’s safe to say that much of our day-to-day routine is modeled by Provençale living:

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Thumbnail image for Leading Off with Leftovers | Garden Chicken Soup

Leading Off with Leftovers | Garden Chicken Soup

When there’s a surplus of produce lying around, especially when the leftover goods were intended for another purpose (last week’s Coq Au Vin and Boeuf Bourguignon), one of my favorite things to do is make soup.  The elements are simple: broth, vegetables, aromatics and protein.  The possibilities: endless.  Because we have a sicky sicky in the house, here [...]

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