Tasty Treat: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

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You know you're in Bourjaily-land when you peer into a tin of brownies and see all of the edges have been removed. We are an outside in kind of family. My mother, father and older brother each got an entire long, narrow edge of brownie to munch on. While my younger brother and I had to be satisfied with the warm gooey innards. Tough life, I know. It wasn't until I started baking brownies that I finally even got to see wha the big edge deal was and boy was it fabulous. Chewy and soft and chocolatey and sweet. I really shouldn't write a post like this unless I'm armed with a fresh pan of brownies... or chocolate chip cookie bars.

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Easy Dinner: Red Wine Spaghetti

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"Where have you been!" wrote several of you last week when it became apparent I wasn't posting. Well, my other life as a freelance writer became stressful what with deadlines and contract negotiations. I apologize. Next time I have a deadline looming, I'll be sure to have something ready to go!

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Tasty Side: Warm Potato Salad with Cider Vinaigrette

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If Mayonnaise addiction were recognized as a sickness, then my mother would be in Mayo Anonymous. She'll eat mayonnaise in staggering amounts (Hellmann's of course) on everything from the normal - chicken sandwiches, potato salad, deviled eggs - to the severely abnormal - green salad, steak. Steak? Yes, in fact she'll eat mayo with any kind of meat if sour cream isn't available.

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Roast Chicken with Lemon and Oregano

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I've been trying so many new things in the kitchen lately: Steak Frites with Lavender Hollandaise, Pork Potstickers and Rack of Lamb with Goat Cheese come to mind. However, this week, after celebrating Chinese New Year in Chinatown on Sunday and stuffing myself silly with Peking Duck, I decided to go back to basics and roast a chicken.

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Tasty Treat: Lavender Lemon Poundcake

It was Sunday, Valentine's Day, around 2PM. Baby Girl was asleep in her crib and the hubby was asleep on the couch. I was sitting in an armchair sipping earl grey tea and thumbing through Claudia Fleming's The Last Course. Specifically, I wanted to make the Warm Chocolate Ganache Cakes, which are like molten chocolate cakes but even more intensely chocolate. My mother and I use to gobble them down at Gramercy Tavern where Fleming was the pastry chef years ago.


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Classic Meals: Steak Frites

When lavender comes to mind, I think relaxation, sachets and hand soap. However, I also think earl grey tea, madeleine cookies and now... Steak Frites! Yes, bizarre I know, but I read years ago about an old school restaurant in LA that used to smother steaks in lavender blossoms. I tried it and let's just say nubby strong smelling blossoms were everywhere and muscled the steak into whimpering submission.

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Tasty Treat: Fudgy Brownies

I had the very best intentions to share with you my Horsey Grandma's recipe for brownies. Hers are a bit fluffier and cakier and, while I prefer a chewy brownie, I grew up on these and they're darn good. You might be wondering why I call my dear grandmother Horsey. In an effort to differentiate between our grandparents and because my father's parents lived on a farm, adding the Horsey prefix was only natural. Of course, the other explanation is my father had a penchant for nicknames and his sense of humor always leaned towards sadism. My nickname was Poo Bear as in poo poo not Winnie. He only knew baby girl for nine months, but she was swiftly dubbed Grumpenella due to her colic. I really do miss his way with words.

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