Are You Ready for a Smart Kitchen?

Today’s kitchens can be outfitted with smart major appliances such as ovens, refrigerators and dishwashers. There are also plenty of small ones, like air fryers, coffee makers and sous vide devices. What does “smart” actually mean? It could be the inclusion of WiFi, but it’s also the embedded sensors that can enable automated cooking or baking, checking the internal temperature of something being cooked using a built-in thermometer, or adapt refrigeration and freezing. In my latest story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home & Garden section, I’ve explored what’s out there—and why many people aren’t actually using the features they spent so much money on.

Bitter Sweet: A WWII Family Memoir and Cookbook

The old, tattered leather suitcase was a gift that cookbook writer Kitty Morse wasn’t expecting. Morse came across it in her mother’s closet in 2017, just after her mother died at 94. It took Morse three years to finally find the courage to open it. The suitcase was filled with family documents and photos that included her French-Jewish great-grandparents’ tiny notebooks: a journal of the family’s life being destroyed by the Nazis by him and a treasure trove of recipes by her that took Morse back to dishes her mother and grandmother made for her. After digesting all the material she started putting her thoughts down on paper, which evolved into her new book, Bitter Sweet. It’s emotionally resonant and filled with delicious recipes. You’ll want to have this book, especially once you learn more about its provenance. So I hope you’ll read my story on Morse and her book in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Wheel's Pottery Is All About Chefs and Home Entertainers

I finally (finally!) was able to write a story I’ve been interested in for years on The Wheel and its founder Michael Totah. I’m a sucker for beautiful pottery and have a couple of The Wheel’s pieces. Learning about the company’s origins and commitment to creating a canvas for chefs (and home cooks) was inspiring. The pieces are all handmade/hand thrown and glazed. Once you’ve seen them, you’ll recognize them at restaurants you dine at—and you may just have to include some in your own home. You can read about The Wheel in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home & Garden section.

Chef Laura Warren's Three Decadent Desserts

Just in time for Jews observing Passover to file this away for a week and everyone else to whip up now (and maybe even for the Easter table?), is my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section on Puffer Malarky Collective’s executive pastry chef Laura Warren and her three desserts that reflect the individual theme of each of the three restaurants she bakes for. You’ll want to make the Herb & Wood Blueberry Soufflé, Animae’s Strawberry Roll Cake with oolong tea, and Herb & Sea’s Lava Cake! Enjoy while I drool—for now.

Taste of the ASID Annual Kitchen and Bath Tour

For many of us, the perfect weekend is spent visiting other people’s beautifully appointed homes to get design ideas and inspiration for changes we’d like to make in ours. So, add to your calendar the April 29 Kitchen and Bath Tour 2023, organized jointly by the San Diego chapters of the American Society of Interior Designers and the National Kitchen and Bath Association.

There will be 12 homes open on the tour, and one of them is the Mount Helix home of the event’s chairwoman from the San Diego ASID chapter, Rebecca Zoni-McMakin. My story on Zoni-McMakin’s renovation of her kitchen and powder room that was published last weekend by The San Diego Union-Tribune gives a taste of the April 29 self-guided tour of 12 San Diego homes.

More Posts for Roger's Gardens--All About Herbs!

This month I got to write for Roger's Gardens posts about my favorite basil varieties—also including my recipe for Tomato Basil Relish—and different varieties of much used culinary herbs. That post also includes my French Sorrel and Mint Granita recipe (hint, make it with Mojito Mint). Take a minute and read it to learn about Chocolate and Mojito Mint, Mexican Tarragon, Tricolor Sage, and Lemon Thyme. These herb varieties are both delicious and add unique colors and textures to your garden. Both posts are on the Roger’s Gardens website.

Mojito Mint