The Walsh Cookbook

An October without a trip to the pumpkin patch is a sad October in my opinion. Yes, you could go to the grocery store and struggle to get your large pumpkin out of the bin while some jerk steals your cart as you say "Oh um... that's actually my cart" and he says "Doesn't look like it" as he continues taking your cart, leaving you struggling with the heavy awkward pumpkin.  Sigh... Apparently I'm still not over it. Pumpkin patches, on the other hand, are great places where you can feast on roasted corn while enjoying a nice cold beer and casually peruse the pumpkin selection before taking a hay ride back to your car.  The  Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie's Island sports a small market where you (or your friend's 5 year old daughter, Lily) can select all sorts of squash you didn't know you needed. Lily chose me a lovely little delicata squash which I am happy to say, was put to good use in this Autumn Arugula Salad. I have complained for ye...

  I am excited to finally have my first garden in Portland (not including the sad garden I planted in pots in the backyard of my college house). Last month I planted peas, radishes and a variety of lettuces. I have been eagerly checking the boxes every day to see how much progress the sprouts have made and also to make sure the neighbor's cat hasn't pooped in the boxes… again. I am looking forward to the day when I am able to use my own salad greens for this salad but in the meantime I have been enjoying the Baby Spring Greens supplied by my local New Seasons.  This salad makes a really nice light lunch (I've had it 4 times in the last two weeks, so what!) or we made it for dinner one night with some baked eggs. The recipe comes from The Barefoot Contessa's cookbook "Barefoot in Paris" and I have only made minor changes. I hope you like it as much as I do!  One year ago: Caramelized Grapefruit with Yogurt , White Pizzas with Arugula Two years ...

For me, summer doesn't feel like summer without eating some heirloom tomatoes from Farmer Kevin's (my dad) garden in Utah. I thought I was going to miss out this summer, but when my mom, Lynn and Wilson drove through Portland on the way to the Kestle's new house in Vancouver, B.C., they kindly imported some for me.  They stayed the night in town and we decided to go out to dinner at Ox, for some Argentinian inspired Portland food. It was well worth the 90 minute wait. We ate ourselves silly on house made chorizo, short ribs, steak, roasted cauliflower, mushroom risotto, salad and fried potatoes. Since they don't allow dogs in the restaurant, Wilson had to stay back in the apartment. Lynn gave him a tranquilizer before we left so he wouldn't be really anxious alone in a small apartment he's not used to. When we got back Wilson was a little loopy (he only got half a pill; talk about a lightweight!) and he entertained us by flopping around on the couch loo...

The first time I had a pizza topped with arugula was during our first family trip to London. My mom will never let me live it down because I said "Why is there a forrest on my pizza?!? I don't want all this salad!". And now I'm obsessed with pizza topped with salad which makes my mom wants to strangle me (her words, not mine).  Brendan and I initially made them for a Meatless Monday meal but now we make them on a regular basis just because we love them. This recipe is based on the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for white pizzas in her "Back To Basics Cookbook". I haven't followed her exact recipe for them and I'm sure they're delicious but most nights I don't feel like making my own pizza dough, so I've created some short cuts. For example, I buy whole wheat pizza dough from my favorite Portland bakery, Grand Central Bakery, just down the street from my apartment. Buying high quality dough from a bakery or grocery store like ...