Immerse yourself in the rhythm of spring and be inspired to create a color palette to usher in the new season.
Author: Mary
I have always been passionate about food and its origin, all things France and Julia Child. Travel tugs at my heart, luring me to new places where I can feast my eyes and senses, taste local foods -mostly via the open air markets- explore ancient sites and listen and learn from stories told by its people. Thus, the reason for beginning this blog…
Cruising the Art Scene in Mexico
Discover Mexico’s diverse art scene in San Jose del Cabo and Puerta Vallarta.
Tis the Season for Pomegranate Martinis!
Pomegranate martinis make the ultimate holiday libation!
Exploring the Best Trading Posts in Navajo Country
A trip across Navajo country revealed the best trading posts and a surprise for my mom.
Road Tripping in Navajo Backcountry
Experience the thrill of a lifetime and learn about Native American culture with a all-terrain vehicle tour of stunning Canyon de Chelly.
Garden-to-Table Summer Love
A few months ago, I woke up and realized how much I missed writing this blog. My editing newsletter took its place for a while, but it was time to separate the two. This blog is for pure fun and allows me to release my inner spirit for the joy of it. It’s summer love…
Fig Season is Here!
Just this week, my fig tree delivered its first ripe fruit of the season. Every year it produces more and more figs, and besides giving them away to friends and neighbors, I’m finding new ways to use this special, luscious fruit. Last year I made fig and ginger compote—so yummy on toast—and this year, I…
Turkish Eggplant Kabobs
Now starring . . . drumroll, please. The lovely eggplant: cloaked in the deepest jewel-tone purple, satiny, with unblemished skin, sleek in figure adorned by an evergreen crown cap. She is royalty and commands a striking presence in my garden. I’d almost rather leave this bowing beauty as a decoration than cut it. But it…
Figs – Kisses from the Summer Sun
My fig tree not only bestows me with gorgeous summer fruit but presents a nature show all year long. In the fall and winter, it loses its leaves to reveal bare-naked limbs. Small green buds evolve into broad, finger-like leaves while nubs form on its skinny branches in spring. Finally, in early summer, these little…
Summer Daze
Despite the pandemic daze I often find myself in, being cooped up has reignited a flame in my cooking life, using seasonal ingredients in imaginative ways. My over-grown garden of veggies nudged my palate to explore new tastes and combinations that permeated further into Italian bread, stone fruit, and a deep dive into wood-fired oven…
Dreaming of Gelato
Let me introduce my writing friend, colleague, and guest blogger, Jolie Tunnell. Jolie is witty, sassy, and knows how to tell a story. Her blog at JolieTunnell.com shares humerous tales of her five children, husband, and new kitten and is always a fun read. She’s got a lot more action on her site than just her…
Taming “Shelter in Place” with Bird Watching and Bread-Making
Amidst all this self-isolation, I’ve discovered new ways to keep from going crazy, which has happened a few times. The unexpected evolution of these new hobbies is a spin-off of my gardening and cooking passions. They are bird watching and bread-making, one using the right side of my brain and an inactive pursuit, and…
In Love With Chocolate
To me, chocolate represents everything good in life. It has helped me through my darkest hours, given me clarity when I am indecisive, and won hearts when it counts. That is why I cannot imagine Valentine’s Day without chocolate. Whether you are wooing a mate or just treating yourself or family, this flourless chocolate cake…
Sparky
The Sparkle in my Life March 2009 to October 2019 My dearest Sparky, Even though you have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, I feel your warm spirit and vibrant energy beside me. Oh, the adventures we had! From the oceans to the desert and the mountains. Joy was our middle name. From the moment I…
Gramma’s Orange Spice Bars
My Gramma has done it again: delivered a recipe with oranges that sounded so incredibly good that I made it immediately and now cannot stop snacking. I came across it during my annual January purge. This year, my studio, which is jammed with multiple writing resources, became the lucky recipient of the clean-out. While rearranging…
Homegrown Potatoes
I’d never thought of growing potatoes until I visited my family in Denver last year and my green-thumb sister-in-law, Mirna, showed me how. Her homegrown potatoes were finished for the season in October, and I helped her dig them up before the first frost. The yield amazed me – at least five pounds. Right then…
Food Photography, Santa Fe & A Cake
On a plane en route to Albuquerque, final destination Santa Fe, I devoured a book by one of my food writer gurus, Ruth Reichl. Her latest book, Save me the Plums, was just released and is a memoir of her life as editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine, my favorite food magazine – ever. I have read…
My 5 Favorite Memories of The Beach House
Our family beach house of 57 years is now a memory. I spent much of my childhood here, in the tiny 1929 blue cottage with brick-red shutters along the shores of Mission Beach. Her living room was covered in a driftwood-type paneling, a fish net hung in a corner, stuffed with shells. The floors and…
On Stage Now – The Super Bloom of the Desert!
The desert displays many faces. It can be bone dry and desolate, or raging in color and life, like it is this spring. It’s called a Super Bloom and only happens when an abundance of rainfall gifts its precious resource to the parched land. It’s wildflower time! I want to show my Portuguese visitor, Luís,…
The Douro River Valley – A Love Story
There’s a place, deep in a river valley in northern Portugal, that is rich in natural resources and tended to by humble, dedicated people. It is called the Douro River Valley and is romantic, intoxicating, and magnetic. Its fertility, along with a temperate climate, stirs up the perfect recipe for growing grapes. Steep, terraced vineyards…
A Tease of Portugal
A new place has touched my heart and her name is Portugal. An old European soul, she remains unspoiled with raw beauty and a depth of cultural influence. I wasn’t surprised as I’d heard so many wonderful things about this country that I had to experience it for myself. So taken with her old-world charm,…
Classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Home Ec class, circa 1970. Our teacher, Mrs. Talbot, handed out mimeographed recipes for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Exotic! We donned our aprons, made in the sewing class she taught, and organized the ingredients. Our class was the giggly kind but, today, the giggles were replaced by intrigue and excitement. Learning how to make a…
Gifting With Phyllo Dough
The cooler fall days encourage a shift in my cooking. After a binge on vegetable soups in all stages, my taste buds are hungry for something I can sink my teeth into. Enter phyllo dough. Most people know it as the thin layers of dough between ground nuts and honey in the Greek pastry baklava….
Almondines—Reviving One of My Classics
While cleaning out an upper cupboard in my closet last week, I discovered a forgotten box. A treasure full of old recipes I had created when I taught cooking classes, as well as letters and postcards I’d sent my parents from La Varenne in Paris, France. It was like opening a present on Christmas Day….
Bonding Over Pomegranates
This story is dedicated to my forever pomegranate best friend, Jenny. The one fruit I have always been smitten with is the pomegranate. Not because of its highly sought after nutritional benefits or how it has become a “cool” fruit, but for other deeper reasons. Flashback. We had one of the few backyards in my…
10 Things I Love About New Jersey
I’ve been resisting writing about my latest vacation escape. Not because it wasn’t memorable—quite the opposite. But I just can’t get it out of my mind, so I needed to share. I went to New Jersey. When I told my friends I was going to The Garden State, they quickly remarked with visualizations of smokestacks,…
Caponata, Adele’s Way
Roberto’s mom, Adele, was my cooking mentor the two weeks I spent in Sicily. I watched as she prepared, mostly by memory, Pan di Spagna, quiche al formaggio, gnocchi, Insalata Russa (delectable potato, shrimp and carrot salad), risotto, frittata, brioche and caponata. Adele is the “nonna” (grandmother) of the family and queen of the kitchen….
Sicily, Seafood and Sunsets
“I’m taking you to the best seafood restaurant on the island of Sicily, maybe the entire world!” Roberto proclaimed. Roberto’s insistence that EVERYTHING in Sicily is the best is irritating at times. How can the food be better than the meals I’d eaten in southern France, Tuscany and Puglia, my favorite places for food adventures?…
The Power of Agrigento
Have you ever been to a place that brought forth such a surge of emotion that it vibrated into the deepest part of your soul? A place so powerful, so ancient, that its energies pulsate, like a heartbeat, and still feels alive, even now, over 2500 years later? This is how I felt while visiting…
A New Twist on Paella – Squid Ink!
I’m interrupting my travelogue of Sicily to tell you about yet another fantastic paella party I hosted on Saturday. This was our 4th annual party and my mom and I decided to take it to the next level. “I saw this interesting Garcima Paella Burner at Pata Negra,” my mom said enthusiastically. Pata Negra is…
A Pistachio Inspired Pranzo
A Pistachio Inspired Pranzo A review of Il Fiorentino, Bronte, Sicily Another lovely blue-skied day in Sicily. Today’s adventure and culinary find takes us from the aquamarine sea to a mountain top and then half-way down the other side. All this to reach our lunch (pranzo) destination, Il Fiorentino, in the paise (village) of Bronte….
Scrumptious Sicilian Pastries
Sicilian Pistachio Cake As a former pastry chef, I am constantly on the quest for beautifully crafted and tasty pastries and of course, gelato. What I saw and tasted in Sicily really wowed me and delivered an unexpected surprise. Very similar to beautiful French pastries, only using more of what mother nature locally provides, like…
Granita – Sicily’s Sweet Secret
I’ve tasted some pretty incredible things on my world-wide travels but did not expect for Sicily to offer foods that almost made me speechless. Seriously! Fine pastries in France, fresh seafood in Australia and robust goulash in Budapest all stand out as epic food experiences. What great Sicilian taste made my heart beat a little…
Sparky’s Southwest Adventures Told in His Own Words
Oh no! Suitcases! I sigh. Long stress yawn. I hate suitcases so much, my anxiety kicks in big time. It means you are going away. Pouting is my favorite way to instill guilt and boy, does it work! Wait! Are you packing my leash and my bowl? Does this mean – really? Oh boy, oh…
La Festa
This event happened in October of 2015 in Lucca, Italy. It changed my life and I wanted to acknowledge all my friends in Lucca who have opened my heart and showed me that anything is possible. The story is longer than usual so sit back with a coffee or glass of vino and enjoy….
Volare!
Place: Pulignano a Mare, Puglia, Italy The True Italy The pistachio gelato I had just consumed made me sleepy and I headed back to our beautiful white-washed hotel overlooking the ocean. As I turned the corner, a group of young men waving Italian flags gathered in front of a life-size statue of Domenico Modugno, the…
Rhubarb Pie Deconstructed
When the rhubarb arrives in my small local grocer, late spring, it’s like a mid-year Christmas present. I don’t know where I got this fondness for rhubarb but it does seem to be a fetish of mine. Years ago, I remember having dinner in a rural cafe in Hamilton, Montana. You know, the old-fashioned kind…
The New Look!
Spoon & Suitcase Welcome to my new blog site! I have a new name, Spoon & Suitcase, that reflects my passions for eating, cooking and travel. I really like it and hope you do too! I’ve categorized my recipes, stories and travel information to make it much easier to access. Also new is a “print”…
Holiday Pears
Pears have this seductive quality about them. They flaunt their curvy hips and hold their stem high, like wearing a tiny crown. Their taste and texture, soft, sweet and flowery, almost melts in your mouth. Rustic, yet delicate describe the Bosc variety, my favorite for poaching and making tarts. They hold their shape and don’t…
A Passion for Persimmons
She lured me in with her perfect “t” shaped limbs, reaching out like angel wings. “Take me home.” she whispered. Not planning to add another fruit tree to my already demanding garden, this one was like an abandoned puppy. You know, the one that finds you. I’d always loved Fuyu persimmons, their sweet versatility making…