I just learned how to make scrambled eggs after 15 years of cooking. I love eggs, an over easy/soft-boiled egg may be my most favorite food over anything else.Want to know the trick? It’s all about the double-boiler. Back in May, at the International Food Bloggers’ Conference, Chef Keith Luce of the Herbfarm made the most incredible scrambled eggs as part of his elaborate lunch offering. They were from free-range, organically fed hens but there was nothing more added to the beaten eggs, except maybe a touch of butter; it was all technique.

At the  IFBC, Chef Luce slowly stirred the beaten eggs with a whisk in a medium-sized mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, otherwise known as a double boiler. I don’t remember how quickly the eggs were stirred or what angle Chef Luce was tilting the pan, all I know is those eggs convinced me that I hadn’t had really good scrambled eggs before that.

Sheri came into the office recently raving about scrambled eggs, her and Barnaby had made over the weekend using farmer market eggs and the double boiler trick. “I didn’t even use butter, and they were amazing!” she said. My mom had given me a dozen eggs from her chickens and so I decided to give it a go. So simple. I used a teaspoon of butter and let it melt in the mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water. I poured in the beaten eggs and stirred slowly.

To learn how to scramble eggs after cooking scrambled eggs one way for 15 years seems somewhat unreal, like reinventing the wheel. I focused on the beaten eggs as if I had never cooked them before in my life. After a couple minutes they were done. Not fluffy or airy, like a French style omelette, nor wet or dense, these scrambled eggs were a combination of fluffy and creamy. Fluffy isn’t even the right word- custard-like? I gave some to my husband and said, I scrambled these a bit different, what do you think?

He said, “what kind of cheese did you put in this?” I said none. Then he asked, “Okay then, how much butter is in this?”  Not much! Isn’t it cool! I squealed, there is about a teaspoon of butter and just really fresh eggs- that’s it.

Looking for more scrambled egg techniques? Here are a couple more to try:

Above photo by NickWheeleron holiday

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Categories:	Chefs • Cooking tips • Technique • Uncategorized • breakfast • eggs • kitchen equipment • quick and easy	6 Comments
Tags:	Chef Keith Luce • double boiler scrambled eggs

I was perusing through some of Julia Child’s great cookbooks last night and came upon her recipe for Basic Vinaigrette Dressing. I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’m horrible at making salad dressing. If it extends beyond a good oil, a splash of lemon juice, and some salt, I’m afraid I tend to fail miserably. Inevitably it comes out too vinegary or just simply lacking in flavor. Salad dressing should be easy, right!? I can create a beautiful cassoulet, a lovely osso bucco, delicate homemade pasta, even fresh sushi. But a simple salad dressing? Not my forté. I usually pass the task on to Barnaby.

So, I’m turning a new leaf (pardon the salad pun), grabbing the oil and vinegar bottles by the <er> horns, and approaching this salad dressing business with a new attitude.

I..will..master..the..vinaigrette!

Who better than to show me the way than our friend Julia Child. I followed her Basic Vinaigrette recipe and minced scallions, mixed in some Dijon mustard, a pinch of salt, some vinegar and lemon juice, a really good olive oil, and a few healthy cracks of fresh black pepper. I gave it all a little vroom! vroom! with the immersion blender and voilà, the perfect vinaigrette. Like Julia says, you can always add more vinegar or lemon but you can’t take it out. I spooned some into the salad bowl, added my just-snipped-from-the-garden baby lettuces, and gave it all a toss. A bit of lemon zest gave it a fresh snap of flavor.

I think Julia would have been proud.

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Categories:	Author • Chefs • Cookbooks • Cooking tips • French • Salads • Sauces • condiments	5 Comments
Tags:	Dijon • julia child • lemon • salad dressing • Salads • vinaigrette

Julia Child once said, “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” I reminded myself of that when I cooked her dish of Sautéed Chicken with Mushrooms and Cream. Definitely not a diet dish. But what the heck, it’s Julia Week (Day 6, in fact) and we’re here to celebrate some of her delicious creations! What’s a little cream gonna hurt?

I’ve included a link to the recipe below, but one of the things I love about Julia is how she instructs us to follow our culinary instincts. There’s really no need to measure out each and every ingredient (unless of course you’re baking), but instead follow your senses.  In fact, in her cookbook The Way to Cook her recipe basically goes like this, “While the chicken is cooking, sauté the mushrooms in butter, season with salt and pepper….deglaze the pan with wine….add the cream (never does she say how much)….add the mushrooms….put the chicken back in….baste, simmer and serve.”

I’m sure she would have had a few sips of wine in there too. Love her.

So that is precisely what I did. I sautéed the chicken in a bit of butter and olive oil in one pan, and the mushrooms in another. Then, I removed the chicken from the pan, dumped nearly all the fat, and deglazed the pan with some dry white wine. (I actually just dumped the contents of my wine glass in, then gave myself a refill. It’s what Julia would have done, right?) Back in went the mushrooms along with a good splash of cream – swirl, swirl, swirl – then the chicken was tossed in.

The result: creamy, rich, mushroomy goodness. No need to even open a cookbook. But it’s nice to see Julia’s face on the pages right there next to you.

For the complete recipe:

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Categories:	Chefs • Cookbooks • Cooking tips • French • Meat & Poultry	1 Comment
Tags:	chicken • cream • dinner • French • julia child • main dish • mushrooms • sauteing

Today is the 5th day of Julia Child Week at Foodista! There are so many delicious recipes, we really could go on for months! Looking through Julia Child’s recipes and watching her episodes, it’s clear to me that she wanted to take the fear and intimidation out of cooking. Her explanations are clear and well described. She offers excellent substitutions and make-ahead suggestions to help the busy cook. I can imagine hundreds of women watching Julia effortlessly create Caneton a’ l’ Orange or cook live lobsters like it was an every day occurrence and surely thinking to themselves okay, I can handle this, or at least some of it!

Cooking can be incredibly nerve racking and awkward when you are first starting out, but instead of tackling live lobsters or roasting whole ducks right off the bat, Julia has several other recipes that are far less intimidating to start out with. For example, nothing could be more simple than making Julia’s Roquefort cheese balls. Elegant, rich and delicious, especially paired with a nice red wine, it’s a recipe that is perfect for a potluck or a party, and although easy to make, they look and taste like you slaved half your day in the kitchen!

Bon Appetite!

Other inspirational recipes for Roquefort cheese appetizers you may be interested in trying:

A Roquefort cheese roll by Homesick Texan, a leek and Roquefort tart from Too Many Chefs or some Roquefort and wine pairing tips from Rhino Wino with a scrumptious recipe for Roquefort gougeres.

Photo by Kaytethinks

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Categories:	Cheese • Chefs • Cookbooks • Entertaining • French • Uncategorized • potluck	2 Comments
Tags:	appetizer • cheese balls • Entertaining • julia child • Party • Roquefort cheese balls

Julia Child’s birthday is right around the corner, as is the much-anticipated (at least to us food lovers) new film Julie & Julia. To take part in celebrating Julia’s life and her contributions to the culinary world, we thought it apropos to have a “Week of Julia” here on the Foodista blog. We’ll highlight some of our favorite Julia dishes, as well as some we think are just simply great dishes to cook at home – even if you don’t have a lot of time.

Oh, Julia taught us so much (and continues to do so through her books)! She began by showing us how to master the art of French cooking at home, which became the title of her first book aptly named Mastering The Art of French Cooking. She taught us that the more we know about food, the less mysterious it is, and the easier cooking becomes. As we all became more health conscious and more interested in knowing where our food comes from she continued to teach us the principles of good cooking. If you knew nothing about cooking, she’d teach you the basics to get you on your way; if you were a seasoned cook, she always had new ideas and ways of approaching a recipe. She taught us how to build on our culinary experiences, how to plan an excellent meal in half an hour, how eat in moderation (yes, a chef told us that!), and how to not fear food (try those escargot!)

So here’s to Julia, and here’s to a lovely week of wonderfully French recipes!

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Categories:	Chefs • French	6 Comments
Tags:	Chef • French • julia child • Julie & Julia

I don’t know if you remember me telling you about Bethenny Frankel before, but I first met her at ChefDance in Park City in January. Her new book, Naturally Thin, is fresh off the press and I wanted to tell you more about it.

First, let me start by saying that I hate diets. Who doesn’t? But as a food writer and founder of a company that is all about food you could say I’m a bit obsessed with eating, and as such, would like to shed a few pounds before summer. Naturally Thin is a book about how to free ourselves from dieting, so Naturally Thin isn’t a diet, it’s a way of life. Better yet, Bethenny tells us that we don’t have to give up the foods we love. We simply need to moderate our intake.

As a natural foods chef (among many other things) her goal is to “democratize” health. That is, she wants health to be accessible to everyone, not just stars on the red carpet who can afford personal chefs and trainers to keep their bellies flat. Everyone deserves to eat well, be healthy and feel good. Amen.

She bases her no-diet tricks on 10 easy, no brainer rules. I’ll share some of my favorites with you:

1. Your diet is your bank account

Just like a bank account you need to manage how much you spend and save. It’s simply being aware of what you’re putting in your body; balancing not only the amount you eat, but also food “categories” (carbs, proteins, dairy, veggies, etc..) If you eat a hamburger for lunch, then it’s salad for dinner. Easy. No counting calories or points or any of that; just being cognizant of what you eat.

2. Get Real

This is one of my favorites because I grew up eating what I like to call “hippie food.” My mom always piled our plates high with whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and her own soups. We all get busy, but I will fall off the wagon if a diet tells me I can’t have something. Bethenny doesn’t say no to processed foods, but says to limit them and choose foods as close to their natural state as possible. And, as most of us know, raw foods are high in fiber so they fill us up more.

3. Taste everything, eat nothing

I know that sounds strange, but how many times have you been to a cocktail party with a lovely spread of food and you chow down a bit too much on the pâté and brie? Both Bethenny and I have spent a significant amount of time in Italy where we learned the expression mangia poco ma bene. Meaning “Eat little, but well.”  Bethenny says we don’t have to avoid the food table, in fact have it all, but only a taste of each. I like that, because again, if I know I can’t have it I’ll eat the whole darn thing. One of her other rules, which helps to moderate us in the “taste everything, eat nothing” rule, is to spoil our appetite with something healthy before we go to a party, that way we aren’t pigging out.

What happens when we overdo it? Bethenny says, “Don’t focus on your guilt – focus on healing.”  She has recovery recipes – light and easily digestible foods – to naturally flush our system and get us back on track. We just returned from Mexico (lots of chips and guacamole, beans, pork – you get the picture) and my jeans were a bit tighter than they were when I left. I’ve been eating her Pureed Zucchini Soup and I already feel better (and can zip up my jeans!). It’s darn good too, even if you don’t need the recovery!

Pureed Zucchini Soup

1 medium red onion, evenly chopped
6 cups chicken stock or broth
6 medium sized zucchini, evenly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
12 oz. frozen butternut squash, defrosted
1 cup plain soy milk
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Sauté the onions in a large pot using nonstick pray, until lightly soft. Add the chicken stock, zucchini, salt, and pepper. Cook until zucchini are soft.

Using a hand immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth. Add the defrosted butternut squash. Turn off the heat and add the soy milk and lemon juice. Season with more salt and pepper, to taste.

At the end of the day I like to relax with a little glass of wine or a cocktail – who doesn’t! Bethenny has a line of cocktails coming soon called SkinnyGirl. Her SkinnyGirl Margarita, in stores in May, is a low-sugar, low-cal version that she says is “the one to trust” since it’s free of all that heavy syrup you get in restaurant margaritas. She even asks bartenders to make it for her, which I now do too!

SkinnyGirl Margarita

2 ounces clear tequila (100% pure agave)
Large splash of lime juice, or 4 lime wedges
Tiny splash of orange or citrus liqueur
Optional: a splash of club soda to lighten it up.

If you’re tired of dieting, but want to look and feel good by summer, then I recommend this as a read (and no, I wasn’t paid to tell you that). Bethenny also has a cookbook coming out next year, but check out her website for more about her and other delicious recipes.

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Categories:	Author • Chefs • Cookbooks • Cooking tips • Interview	3 Comments
Tags:	bethenny frankel • books • diet • healthy eating • Interview • naturally thin

Nestled amongst the wineries in Woodinville, Washington is The Herbfarm, a charming restaurant that dishes up local food and wine in an exceptional nine-course themed meal. I’d always wanted to dine at The Herbfarm, a place known for its exquisite seasonal cuisine, and I was like a kid at Christmas when we arrived at the quaint cottage-like restaurant. We entered the foyer and gazed around the elegant and eclectic surroundings.

Oh, the evening was sure to delight!

Since we arrived early we snuck upstairs to the impressively stocked Chef’s Library that overlooks the dining room, and watched as owners Ron Zimmerman and Carrie Van Dyck, along with their amazing staff, prepared for their guests. It was like watching a culinary ballet: plates delicately laid out neatly in rows awaiting the edible art that would soon be placed upon them, glassware lined up to perfection, candles lit, tables checked and double checked.

More guests arrived and we gathered near the fireplace, a stunning hundred-year old tiled marvel, grabbed a glass of wine and followed Carrie out to the garden. The garden was clearly in its winter hibernation, but it was obvious that in productive months it’s certainly something to behold. Carrie held a small basket in her arm and told us about the various herbs they grow much of the year and use in the kitchen, she then passed around small clippings, such as winter savory and scented geranium, for us to smell. We moved on to the “recycling center” – a tidy little pigpen (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?) that’s home to Basil and Borage, two adorable Vietnamese potbellied pigs that are part of the kitchen cleanup crew.

We returned to the restaurant for our eagerly anticipated meal. We had chosen European-style seating, a communal table of four couples, as opposed to a single table. Our thoughts being that a spectacular lengthy meal should be shared with others who are equally as passionate about food. We chose wisely. At our table were three delightful couples, two of which had flown in from other parts of the country for The Herbfarm culinary experience.

The attention to detail is, in a word, extraordinary: tiny individual picture frames containing the names of the guests, crystal and silver goblets (six in all for each!), flatware meticulously placed, beautifully printed menus to whet the appetite.

Once we were seated, Ron welcomed his guests and introduced the staff, which was wonderful as it created a connection between diners and hosts, something you rarely experience in a restaurant. But then The Herbfarm is no ordinary restaurant. Our hunger grew as Chef Keith Luce and Sommelier Lisa Longren walked us through the menu and wine pairings.

I can barely contain myself. Does life get any better?

Our themed meal, “A Menu for Two Hearts” (it was Valentine’s weekend), started with an aphrodisiacal herbal champagne cocktail – in case we weren’t already in the mood. The gentleman got a “Greek” verbena hastata, the ladies a “Mayan” turmera aphrodisiaca – both of which were house-brewed herbal extracts poured from a tiny glass vial into Brut champagne. Divine! It was paired with our first course: “A Nibble for a Valentine,” a beautiful trio that consisted of that morning’s egg and sunchoke custard with smoked steelhead caviar and chives, a Kumamoto oyster with white sturgeon caviar and salsify cream, and a salt herring and potato terrine with radish and English thyme. Simply beautiful and delicious.

Next, we were given a scrumptious dish “White King and Black Truffles,” a marriage of line-caught Alaskan Ivory King salmon with truffled leeks and brown butter froth, paired with a 2007 WillaKenzie Estate Pinot Blanc (Oregon).

For our third course we delighted in “A Sausage Sans Suggestion.” The “sausage”, similar to a country-style pâté, was made of Mangalitsa ham, fois gras and Stokesberry Farm chicken accompanied by Puy lentils, beets and red cabbage with cracked mustard, and served with a 2006 Pierre Noir Gerwurztraminer from Washington’s Columbia Gorge.

Giddy with food-induced pleasure we moved on to course four, “The Wild Roll,” a roll of pasta and wild Yellowfoot and Hedgehog mushrooms with root vegetables and King Boletus broth, pleasingly washed down with a 1999 King Estate Pinot Noir from Croft Vineyard in the Willamette Valley (Oregon). We were so blissfully content we dug in before photographing, but this should give you a taste..

Course five brought us “For the Love of Lamb,” or as this dish made me exclaim, For the love of all things Holy! A gorgeously prepared potato-and-savory-crusted lamb rib-eye with Zataar-spiced carrot purée and a lamb bacon. And to further tantalize our tongues, a 2006 Betz Family Winery Meritage “Clos de Betz” from Washington’s Columbia Valley.

Next came the cheese course, or as the clever chefs named it, “Oh, You Cheese.” River’s Edge Full Moon goat from Oregon’s Coast Range with a house-made pancetta-garlic flatbread and dried fruit compote.

To round out the evening’s fare, and to prep our bellies for sweet things to come, we were served Cupid’s Ice Cream Cone. A wonderful yogurt ice cream scented with rose geranium (we rubbed this between our fingers in the garden. Something you must grow in your garden – spectacular!) scooped into a little cone. The perfect palate cleanser.

Last but not least came “Of Things to Love.” Oh, yes, indeed. A bittersweet chocolate separation cake with rosemary ice cream, a caramel crêpe with salted butter and winter fruit marmalade, and a Sekel pear-walnut tart with candied wild cranberries and créme fraîche. Lord have mercy.

After a lovely coffee and tea service, “A Selection of Small Treats” arrived just in case our bellies weren’t completely full (there’s always room for a chocolate truffle or two!). All paired with a 2006 Sineann late harvest Syrah called “Old Ball and Chain” – a clever selection indeed for a lovers evening!

It was a magical night. The Herbfarm presents cuisine beyond food, it’s art and poetry that inspires all of one’s senses. Truly an event to experience.

For more on The Herbfarm, and to discover the week’s current menu click here.

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Categories:	Chefs • Cookbooks • Environmental • Restaurants	1 Comment
Tags:	carrie van dyck • local • Organic • restaurant • ron zimmerman • sustainable • The Herbfarm • washington • Woodinville

(Editor’s note: We’re thrilled to welcome New York-based food lover, Seth Knight, as a contributing editor to Foodista.)

If you have ever watched the Food Network, added herbs to a whole chicken, used olive oil, or hell, eaten out in the last 50 years, you must take a moment to give thanks to James Beard, the father and patron saint of American cooking. Beard understood the American palate preferred something familiar but also yearned for new and exciting all at the same time. Recently, I attended a symposium in New York City hosted by The New School celebrating the life of this food industry giant (literally, he was 6’4), and I found myself longing be a part of the club; whose members were taught by and touch by “Jim.”

James Beard was born in 1903 in Portland, Oregon and was raised by his mother who ran a boardinghouse.  Beard was a sickly young child and it was then that he was able to experience the joy of food though his mother and their Chinese cook. He was often fed chicken jelly, a mixture of chicken broth, with the whites of an egg and its shell mixed, chilled and strained into gelatinous globs. James would later reminisce that “The Chinese have the perfect palate.” Beard indeed remembered every meal he ate with extreme detail and clarity, which spurred his ability to create in the kitchen. After failed attempts to become an Opera singer and Broadway actor, James opened a catering business Hors D’Oeuvre Inc in 1937. It was then he also wrote his first book Hors D’Oeuvres and Canapés. His book went against America’s growing addiction to “fast, easy and cheap.” Science had replaced fresh picked berries with JELL-O and homemade bread took a backseat to Bisquick.

Beard’s books were the first to cross from a list of ambiguous instructions to a narrative. Betty Fussell, author of The Story of Corn recalled, “He was the middle man. Jim bridged my eighth grade home economics class and the select gourmets of the world. His books were “straight-talk” and were written the way Americans spoke.  And they were personal, as if to say, If I could do it, so can you…And now we’ll do it together.” She continued, “He was also from the west, a cowboy…so he cooked with that adventurous spirit.”

According to Cinema Studies Professor Dana Polan, James Beard also sought to extend the pleasure of cooking beyond the housewife. As the host of the first stand-alone cooking show “I Love to Eat,” his primetime segment would encourage “man duties” such as stuffing a raw chicken or grilling. He even suggested that men be in charge for garnishing dishes, for they are the best decorators (we’ll get to that later).

James Beard was a born teacher and loved having people around.  Judith Jones, who worked with everyone from Langston Hughes to Julia Child remembered, “Jim loved to get together with aspiring cooks and get close and instruct them. He would run to the telephone and field calls from women in Iowa, and instruct them on how to calibrate their ovens. And if anyone ever questioned the direction he was talking the recipe, he’d say, “We’re Americans, we can do as we please.”

The always outspoken food writer extraordinaire Barbra Kafka, summed-up James Beard the best, saying, “Jim was gay! A lot of people fail to mention that. He was uncompromisingly gay, as was everything he did. His books were uncompromising, his life was honest, and his cooking was real.”

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Categories:	Author • Chefs • Events	4 Comments
Tags:	american cooking • Author • Canapés • celebrity chef • Chef • cooking • Events • Hors D’Oeuvres • james beard • New York • The New School

No matter how good we are in the kitchen there are always new things we can learn, right? Perhaps you want to explore Southern Indian or Provincial Italian cooking, or how about the art of cheese making? Mario Batali’s father, after retiring from Boeing, went to Italy to study sausage making. How fabulous would that be? People now queue up for his amazing links at Salumi.

After reading The School of Essential Ingredients, a wonderful book set in the kitchen of a restaurant, I’ve been noodling over the idea of taking a cooking class. So I went on TeachStreet to find some classes in my area. Teachstreet is a great site that helps you find cool things you want to learn like Snowboarding, Pilates, Voice Lessons, Adobe, even Citizenship! For us food lovers maybe a course in Wine Appreciation, Knife Skills, or a series in Thai Cuisine. Take a Bartending course and awe your guests with your keen mixology skills!  Or, improve your “food porn” skills by taking a Digital Photography course. On the flip side perhaps you’re one of those people who possesses a great skill. You can teach too! Here’s how you can share your wealth of knowledge on Teachstreet.

Check out courses in your area or simply browse what’s being offered. You never know what may spark an interest!

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Categories:	Chefs • Cooking tips • Events • Italian • Photography • Seasoning & Spices • wine	2 Comments
Tags:	cooking • Cooking Classes • Cooking School

Put down what you were doing, grab a glass of wine or cup of tea, take a cleansing deep breath, and have a seat. Are you with me? Good. We all need to slow it down a bit more now and then, don’t we? Now let me tell you about a wonderful book I just finished, then I want you to read it too. You’ll thank me for telling you about it.  It’s one of those books that you just don’t want to end. The kind that makes you want to slowly relish in the flavor of a perfectly ripe and beautiful tomato or stand at the stove and lovingly stir a pot of polenta.

That book is The School of Essential Ingredients, written by Seattle author Erica Bauermeister. The story is about Lillian, a 30ish chef and restaurateur who teaches a series of evening cooking classes. Her desire is to inspire in her students a love and respect for both food and life. We follow the lives of eight students who, for various reasons, come to take Lillian’s class. Soon you’ll find yourself  hoping the smells of her kitchen will waft through your book or wishing you could hold the hand of a heartbroken husband.

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to sit with Erica and talk about her wonderful book, food and cooking, the joy of preparing and sharing a good meal with those we love, and life in Italy – a place where both of us have lived. What I learned from her is this: time is the essential ingredient, something we should savor, love and respect.

As Lillian says, “…every meal you eat, you eat time – the weeks it takes to ripen a tomato, the years it takes to grow a fig tree. And every meal you cook is time out of your day…” I’ll certainly be relishing in my food from now on!

Erica shares with us a recipe from one of Lillian’s students, Tom, who learned from her how the simple making of a pasta sauce from scratch can heal the heart.

Tom’s Pasta Sauce

2 T olive oil
1/2 chicken bouillon cube (Knorr – the large, soft kind))
1 cup onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground Italian sausage
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup red wine
28 oz can whole tomatoes (drained)
1 cup tomato sauce (more if you want)
salt
pepper
grated parmesan cheese (optional)
penne pasta (for eight servings)

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil on low heat until bubbles form.  Crush the half bouillon cube into the oil and mix thoroughly, then saute onion for 2 minutes.  Add garlic and saute until translucent.  Add ground sausage and cook under medium heat until meat is no longer pink.  Add milk and simmer until absorbed.  (Don’t worry if it looks strange at first; it will mellow the wine and make for a wonderful, lush sauce.)  Add wine, simmer under low heat until absorbed.   Drain can of whole tomatoes, then crush in a Cuisinart or chop finely by hand.  Add tomatoes and tomato sauce to meat.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on low heat for 1-3 hours, covered if you want a rich, but slightly thinner sauce,  uncovered if you want a thicker sauce and the smell to roam through your house.

Place penne pasta in large pot of boiling water.  Cook until al dente.  Drain and place in large serving bowl.   Ladle sauce over pasta; top with grated parmesan cheese if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

NOTE: if you’re lucky enough to be in the Seattle area you can find Erica at the following book signing event. I highly recommend it!

WIDE WORLD BOOKS
Tuesday, February 3 7:00 PM
4411 Wallingford Avenue North #A
Seattle, WA 98103
Talk, Q&A and Signing

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Categories:	Chefs • Cooking tips • Interview	2 Comments
Tags:	author interview • book • erica bauermeister • Interview • seattle • Seattle author • World Wide Books