The Obsessive Overuse of Garlic in Modern Day American Cooking?

garlic heads

When I was a little girl, my mother noticed I was getting rashes on my arm and behind my knee. She took me to my pediatrician who recommended I go to an allergist. I went, and the results of the allergy testing were pretty sad for me. He said “No peanuts, no chocolate, and no oranges or orange juice.”  So every Easter, I’d get the white-colored bunny rabbit and various jelly beans in my basket. Yuck! My siblings had the delicious-looking chocolate ones, plus Reese’s peanut butter eggs, and other chocolate goodies. Imagine the envious look on my little face?

I wasn’t the only one in my family that seemed to have an allergy. It was discovered early on that when we ate something containing garlic, my brother became nauseous and red in the face, and would even throw up. Continue reading

Four homemade soups you can make in an hour or less (two vegetarian)

Growing up in Czech Republic, my husband ate soup almost daily. Though my family (in the USA) didn’t eat it that often, when I had it, it was a wonderful treat. My mom was very good at making soups, and made a wide variety, always from scratch. Some were to warm us up in the winter (like the ones below), others were to use summer produce. Continue reading

What does that taste like? Foods the cashier might be unfamiliar with.

I thought I’d dedicate a post to foods that might not be familiar to some people in my home country of the United States, but are commonly used in some countries outside of the US. There are also some foods available in my local stores, that even I’ve yet to try, mostly because I’m unsure how to use them. Continue reading

Ambitious meals – How to get all food courses on the table at the right time and temperature

dinner table

Are you planning to make a big meal, either for guests, or even just your family? First time? Or if not, have you made big meals in the past, but found some hot dishes went cold by the time they got to the table? Or dishes that need to be cold or frozen went room temperature? Here are some tips to synchronize the completion of dishes so that each dish gets served at just the right temperature at the right time. It takes practice and strategy to master this, and some good time management skills. Continue reading

Long live dairy! A few of my favorite dairy-based recipes

dairy products

It’s been a while since I posted a culinary-related post, and given all of the stress I’ve been under lately a light topic is all I can muster. Plus, it happens that dairy-based foods and drinks tend to be my comfort foods. Continue reading

Yummy! Strawberry Dumplings (Jahodové knedlíky)

Strawberry dumplings
Bohemian Strawberry Dumplings

Today I’m sharing my Czech (Bohemian) mother-in-law’s Strawberry Dumplings (Jahodové knedlíky) recipe. They are indulgent yummy balls of paradise. We ate them last night for dinner. Czechs usually eat them as a lunch, with 6-8 dumplings per person, but most people outside of Czech Republic may consider them a dessert. Three to four dumplings would be plenty for that. Continue reading

From Easy Bake Oven to eternity

From Easy Bake Oven to eternity collage

Julia Child sums up what I’ve learned over the years about cooking, that “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”  I can relate to that, especially now. Continue reading