Today was Jasper's birthday and we celebrated with a BBQ by the pool. I made an orzo salad with fresh peas and mint from the farmers market, dressed in a garlic-lemon vinaigrette...
Read MoreOne of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area is located right next door to one of it's most famous, Chez Panisse, maybe you've heard of it? With it's common table, Spanish small plates, and extensive wine list, Cesaris more my speed. My favorite dish is their padron peppers. About one out of ten is very spicy, the others are mild a full flavored. A healthy dose of olive oil and cracked sea salt make them irresistible. I get them every time they are available at our Farmer's Market. Tonight we made them on the grill, which was a first and it worked beautifully. Here's the recipe...
Read MoreI found some beautiful white corn at our Farmer's Market over the weekend. I plan on using it for an unbelievably delicious chowder that my friend Heather made the last time I was at her house. She gave me a copy of the recipe which is from Fields of Greens vegetarian cookbook. The sweetness of the chowder comes from the corn stock that you'll make ahead of time. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of butter which I'm omitting because of Jasper's dairy allergy, rendering my version vegan. I'm excited to serve this tonight as it'll just be me and the boys and corn and potatoes are their favorites.
Read MoreThey say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well, life gave me a lot of lemons this weekend, about 3 dozen in total. My in-laws have a meyer lemon tree that really overproduces and as a result we've perfected our homemade lemonade recipe. The glass bottles are from IKEA. They are perfect to throw on ice for a bbq and fit on the door of the refrigerator. I used a grease pen to mark which was which. Here are three variations, Original, Lavender-Thyme, and Ginger...
Read MoreToday is the Teacher Appreciation Day Banquet at our elementary school. I'm the daughter of a teacher, I'm also married to a teacher turned principal, and therefore an authority on what they like, and I will tell you, all teachers like buffets.
Read MoreMake + Haus is the new name and online home for the blog Poppy Haus. Established in 2011, the blog archive now contains hundreds of original design projects and whole food recipes, many featured on the likes of Apartment Therapy, Martha Stewart, Design*Sponge, Curbly, and Epicurious.
