(A Food Guru Review) When a series stops being background noise and becomes a sensory experience I don’t usually watch much TV. And when I do, it’s almost always in the background. Episodic shows humming along while I’m writing, designing living air-plant sculptures, testing a new recipe, or sketching out the shape of a story.Continue reading “Drops of God”
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Homemade Toum Garlic Dip (small batch)
Traditional Toum — Small Batch (about ½ cup) Need a bigger batch? Try this recipe. Perfect when you want the real thing without committing to a lifetime supply of garlic breath. ⸻ Ingredients • ¼ cup garlic cloves (about 10–12 cloves), peeled • ½ tsp kosher salt • ½–¾ cup neutral oil (grapeseed preferred) •Continue reading “Homemade Toum Garlic Dip (small batch) “
Grilled Head-On Shrimp with Scratch Toum–Chimichurri Marinade
Served with Cheesy Grits or Polenta This is the kind of meal that invites you to slow down and get a little messy. Big head-on shrimp, marinated in garlicky sauces and grilled hot, then piled over creamy grits or polenta. It is rich, relaxed cooking meant to be eaten with your hands, shared at theContinue reading “Grilled Head-On Shrimp with Scratch Toum–Chimichurri Marinade”
Homemade Toum Garlic Dip (Large Batch)
I am a huge garlic fan. When I first discovered “Toom” (brand name) at our local Kauai Costco about three years ago, it became an instant kitchen staple. Creamy, sharp, and unapologetically bold, it found its way onto everything from grilled chicken to roasted vegetables. Island life, however, comes with supply chain surprises. Toom wasContinue reading “Homemade Toum Garlic Dip (Large Batch) “
Cilantro Garlic Chimichurri Sauce
This cilantro-forward chimichurri is bright, punchy, and deeply versatile. It brings citrus, garlic, and fresh herbs together in a way that feels effortless but delivers big flavor. I make it often and always make extra because it disappears quickly. Note, if you have a taste aversion to cilantro, a quick swap to Parsley works perfectly!Continue reading “Cilantro Garlic Chimichurri Sauce”
On Beans and Blowholes
Have you ever noticed that you dream differently depending on what you eat? I’ve been paying attention to this body-mind connection for a few years now, and I’m convinced it’s a thing. Yesterday I spent most of the day cooking a large pot of cannellini beans. Nothing magical. Just dried beans in water. A fewContinue reading “On Beans and Blowholes”
The Kitchens That Made Me
Lessons from Grandma Helen’s Kitchen The Kitchens That Made Me is a collection of stories about the people and places that shaped how I cook, eat, and gather. Each kitchen carries more than recipes. They hold lessons about care, creativity, patience, and love. Grandma Helen, my father’s mother, was the quintessential grandmother. She had theContinue reading “The Kitchens That Made Me”
The Missing Garlic in Milan
Food Guru Travel Note Travel has always been my favorite way to understand a place. Not through museums or monuments first, but through kitchens, markets, and the quiet rules people cook by without thinking about them. In Milan, a city known as much for restraint as for style, a small cooking class taught me somethingContinue reading “The Missing Garlic in Milan”
Individual Turkey Meatloaf with Cauliflower Rice
(2 small loaves or can be made in to bite sized meatballs!) From The Kitchens That Made Me I’d been writing all day, the kind of day where the words keep coming and the clock quietly disappears. By the time hunger surfaced, it was already late enough that stopping felt disruptive, almost indulgent. But eventuallyContinue reading “Individual Turkey Meatloaf with Cauliflower Rice “
Time In A Bottle
What is the greatest gift someone could give you? Time. We are born rich with it, spending freely, never checking the balance, until the bottle is nearly empty. To be offered even one more drop, to taste it, to linger in the moment, would be the greatest gift of all.
The Food Guru: Food, Travel, Photography = Life 