Category — California

I’m heading out to Mexico tomorrow, but before I go, I wanted to share these photos. On a trip to Park City last month, I found I was in a prime position to capture some incredible views from my little airplane window on both the outbound and inbound flights. I have flown in and out of SFO probably hundreds of times, but the approach on my return flight is one I have literally never experienced, and made for some neat photos of my favorite city. We flew in from the northeast, over Marin or Sonoma county, then looped back down on the western (Pacific Ocean) side of the Golden Gate Bridge. It made for some stunning views of all of the major bridges and a clear outline of the city’s distinctive 49 mile peninsula.

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We have been getting the most gorgeous strawberries from a local farm stand out near Petaluma. In fact, we bought a 3-pack on Sunday morning and they were gone within a few hours. We stopped back at the stand for a full flat that afternoon, and after eating, sharing, and cooking pounds and pounds of strawberries for 24 hours – by Monday night they had all somehow disappeared.

One of the best things to come out of this strawberry extravaganza was these brown butter shortcakes. With the strawberries baked right into the fluffy, slightly sweet biscuits, all you need is a little ice cream or whipped cream and you’re good to go.

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I had grandiose plans to do a Thanksgiving round-up talking all about my favorite pie recipes and so forth, but I have been totally slammed from all sides so that is not going to happen. But I think I can offer you something else: about 20 seconds’ worth of fall photos to de-stress you. Just looking at them makes me feel like I have a force-field protecting me from any worries or negativity that might try to encroach.

I mean, sure, I should be making grocery lists, doing the laundry, packing my suitcase, and printing out recipes. But instead, I will look at this multi-hued vineyard. Ahhhhh.

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Have I mentioned that one of my favorite places in the entire world is Palm Springs, California? I love it so much, I got married there. Not only does it offer breathtaking desert landscapes and mid-century modern marvels, it’s also home to a very specific regional culinary delight: the date shake.

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I’ve been seeing a lot of Thanksgiving recipes go around lately, but what about the leftovers? WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE LEFTOVERS?

I, for one, can barely register the actual Thanksgiving meal as I’m cooking and eating it, because I’m so focused on how much better everything will taste the next day. I made this chicken hash this weekend with (wait for it) leftover chicken- but I think it would be just as fabulous with leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

And if getting together with your relatives leans more Mommie Dearest than Leave it to Beaver, you could even prep all the vegetables for this dish while you’re making Thanksgiving dinner and put them in the fridge – so that even in a bleary-eyed morning-after state of tryptophan- and whiskey-induced torpor, you can throw this together with minimal effort.

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Last weekend I had the great fortune to spend some time in Yosemite. I went with some friends who are really excellent cooks and hosts, so I wanted to impress them by showing up with homemade granola bars for our hikes so I could seem like one of those overachieving perfectionist-types. Of course, these guys have known me for about ten years, so we all knew I wasn’t fooling anyone! Still, the end result for all of us: homemade granola bars with dried cherries, almonds, and cocoa nibs to fuel us through our very non-strenuous and pleasant hikes.

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People ask me for travel advice all the time, and sometimes I just don’t get around to blogging about it in advance. Here’s your chance to ask me anything about anywhere! If I have any good intel–I’ll gladly share it with you.

The Question: “I am planning a girls trip to Palm Springs in two weeks, and I wanted to ask for your advice on hotel and restaurant recommendations.  I’m looking for a cool “happening” central hotel with pool where we could hang out.  We’ll want to have a nice dinner on Saturday night, and may be squeeze in a lunch or brunch as well.  Any advice?”

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San Diego! Land of enchantment. Oh, wait, I think that’s actually New Mexico. Anyway, I love San Diego, and since I went to college there (Go Tritons!) AND since San Diego doesn’t change and morph as quickly as certain other cities (Brooklyn, I’m looking at you), I still know a lot of cool places to go there. At least, I think they’re cool. Let me know if you disagree.

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When we were kids, our parents would sing us this song, which starts like this:

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