Posts tagged as:

low-key-gourmet

A plate of peas for 2012

January 1, 2012

My husband Peter has a saying: “Whatever you do on the first day of the year, you’ll do the rest of the year.” In the past, my New Year’s Day often included a greasy hangover breakfast and bloody marys. Not necessarily what I want to be eating for the rest of the year. More recently, [...]

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How to feel fancypants

October 23, 2011

Last night I prepared one of the most gourmet dinners I have prepared in a very long time. It was incredibly fancypants. What’s really wonderful about this highbrow meal is I spent about 10 minutes preparing it and the cost was under $5. Pizza. Simple, glorious pizza. It was the ingredients that made it fancy. [...]

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Blue Palate on the Road: La Tarasca

October 20, 2011

Sometimes a blogger has to take something back. A few posts ago I wrote about how the best Mexican food could only be found 500 miles south of Portland. Well, that was before I stumbled upon La Tarasca in Centralia, Washington. In my defense, I didn’t write anything about what lies north. Now I am. [...]

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Queen of Convenience Foods

October 15, 2011

Okay, I’m not really the queen of convenience when it comes to food. I usually take the long way around, making recipes from scratch and chopping vegetables instead of buying them pre-cut and packaged. But the older I get, the less time I have to spend long hours in the kitchen. Cooking is a great [...]

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Blue Palate Special: A make-ahead fix for the brown bag salad

September 20, 2011

I love the idea of bringing a green salad to work for lunch. It’s light and healthy. You can add pretty much any ingredient to lettuce and call it a salad. Endless, delicious variety. However, it’s time consuming. There’s all that chopping. For a truly fresh and crisp salad, you can’t prepare it on Sunday [...]

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Blue Palate Special: A marinade for slackers

June 13, 2011

Who has time to marinade? Well, perhaps the most devoted grill masters plan ahead, drenching and soaking meat in a sweet, vinegary base hours before it hits the heat. I, however, never have enough foresight. Grilling is typically planned on a whim, as it was recently at our backyard barbecue this past weekend. Chicken kebabs. [...]

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A steak bandage

May 23, 2010

I was in a car accident the other day. Not major, but my first and enough to warrant a trip to the ER for whiplash. I’m glad to only have had a few days of neck and back pain and nothing more serious, except the hassle of a totaled car. To celebrate my survival, I [...]

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Food on Vacation: Fun with Fewer Funds

December 9, 2009

Traveling on a tight budget can be tricky, especially in winter months when camping isn’t an easy option for those light on gear. After the costs of airfare or gas, hotel, and sightseeing add up, often there’s little leftover for fine wining and dining. The gastronomic experience in a new city or town is as [...]

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Blue Palate Special: Yucatan fry up

December 5, 2009

I’m definitely a savory breakfast person.  I’ll take hashbrowns over pancakes any day, and biscuits call out to me more than any version of danish or muffin. When I traveled to England and Ireland and ate my first fry up, I discovered the joys of beans for breakfast, and have been trying to conjure ways [...]

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