The Walsh Cookbook

  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 ...

One of my dearest friends from college, Marianna, is getting married this weekend! The ceremony is up on Mt. Hood and we get to take a chair lift to the ceremony (unless you're my friend Kelly's poor fiancé, who broke his pelvis 2 weeks ago and has to take a van with the elderly people). The actual wedding site is a little clearing with the peak of Mt Hood rising high in the background. Marianna is so kind and beautiful and has such a great sense of fun that it's sure to be a great wedding. I have been looking forward to this wedding for so long, I can't believe it's here already!  We celebrated her bridal shower this past weekend at her fiancé's parents home. The house was gorgeous and the party was a blast. We shared some of our favorite memories of Marianna. Her sister, Amelia, told a story about the time they were fishing and Marianna caught a fish hook in the back of her thigh while trying to cast off. Marianna panicked at the thought of having a f...

If you've never seen Pixar's "Ratatouille", go rent it now! Remy, the main character, is a French rat who loves cooking but is always thrown out of the kitchen when he is discovered because he is a rat. I'd have done the same (sorry Remy) because unfortunately, real rats are not nearly as adorable or as talented as Remy.  Remy's specialty dish is Ratatouille (get it? RAT-a-touille ha ha ha); he and his other chef rat friends whip together a dish of fanned out veggies that made everyone in the audience excited about vegetables. I left the movie wondering why I had never had this magical dish and how soon would I be able to get it. After a little research (aka asking my mom), I learned real ratatouille is a traditional French stewed vegetable dish where each vegetable is cooked in it's own pot and it takes hours and hours. I was disappointed until my mom found a recipe for Ratatouille's Ratatouille on the Smitten Kitchen website. It was every ...