Comfort Soups from Chef Claudia Sandoval

San Diegans know we have it pretty easy compared with other parts of the country when it comes to the mayhem of winter weather. Still, chilly is chilly, and there’s nothing as comforting for lunch or dinner when the temps are well below balmy than a bowl of soup. And a family soup you learned to make from your mother or grandmother? Well, those flavors and aromas can take you straight back to childhood.

That’s what it does to San Diego/Tijuana-area baker and chef Claudia Sandoval. Sandoval, of “MasterChef” fame, is the author of “Claudia’s Cocina: A Taste of Mexico” and is working on a new cookbook while also serving as the culinary director of this year’s Culinary Concerto — Mainly Mozart Gala Soiree, in March. Sandoval shared a few family recipes with readers in my new story in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Re-energize Your Home After the Holidays with Tips from Seven Designers

We’re in the thick of San Diego’s version of winter, and here’s hoping all the holiday decor is finally back in storage. Does removing the sparkle make your home feel a little drab, especially in this season when we don’t have as much sunlight, and it can be cloudy, damp and cool?

Well, with a new year we deserve a home refresh, however modest, to inspire and re-energize us. I asked seven of my favorite local designers to provide simple, easily achievable but creative ways to spruce up, freshen up and cozy up spaces in our homes for a story in The San Diego Union-Tribune.. Dig in! There’s so much you can do with these as inspiration!

Shabbat Cookbook Celebrates Jewish Cultural Crossroads in Israel

In her new cookbook, Shabbat, Recipes and Rituals From My Table to Yours, Adeena Sussman celebrates her love of the Shabbat dishes she grew up with as well as the Shabbat foods specific to the international Jewish communities that have immigrated to Israel and become interwoven in her adopted country. The recipes span from traditional Eastern European classics with a twist that she grew up with in her mother’s NorCal kitchen to Libyan and Italian Jewish culture and even the Mexican influences that an Israeli couple brought from his Oaxacan home of origin and now feature in a popular Israeli taqueria. The recipes—and photos—are crave-worthy and perfect for an erev Shabbat dinner table and while relaxing with family and friends the next day. I’ve included three of Sussman’s recipes from Shabbat in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section: Colorful Vegetable Kugel, Water Challah, and My Mother’s Shabbat Chicken—which features yummy caramelized onions. Dig in! Shabbat Shalom!

Olivenhain Water District Awards Encinitas Landscape Designer for His Home's Waterwise Design

You could call Brad Lefkowits’ award-winning home landscape a demonstration garden.

Lefkowits, a landscape designer who owns Waves Landscape Design, lives with his family in Encinitas. He received first place in the 2023 WaterSmart Landscape Contest from the Olivenhain Water District.

The property has a complex landscape filled with 170 varieties of plants, interspersed with swales and decking that he built, a fireplace and even a “mud kitchen” Lefkowits created for his kids — all for their benefit, of course — but also to show clients who’d like to see how the plants he suggests for them actually look in an established garden. Take a look and learn some cool lessons from him in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Neighborhood Composting Creates Community

Composting has so many pluses, including alleviating food waste and creating nutrients for gardens. But add one more, as South Bay Sustainable Communities founder Tina Matthias has demonstrated: creating community. My new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home & Garden section reveals how SBSC’s composting demonstration program in her own Chula Vista neighborhood has brought together neighbors who didn’t know each other before. It’s inspiration to take into and act on in 2024!

Make Small Bites the Hit of Your Holiday Party

If you’re addicted to food blogs, you’ve probably read The BakerMama, Maegan Brown’s 11-year-old site for family-friendly recipes that include those for food boards, party spreads and small bites. In her blog, she also loves to share stories about her daily life in Dallas with her husband, Brandon, and their four kids: Baker, Bryce, Barrett and Brookie.

Brown’s just released her third book, “Brilliant Bites,”which is filled with 75 recipes for small bites that allow guests to graze lots of simple and very clever takes on everything from Blooming Onion Bites, Pancake Taco Bites and Banana Split Bites to Pumpkin Pie Bites, Apple Fritter Bites and Eggs Benedict Bites. My new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section takes a look at Brown and Brilliant Bites, with recipes for three perfect holiday brunch bites.