It was the perfect Fall day, crisp but not cold, an abundance of red and yellow leaves everywhere, and the boy and me were brunchin’ in Amsterdam. And unlike many of the other European cities we visited over the course of a month, we totally skipped the restaurant research for [...]
October is a month of big celebrations in the Banister house. On October 8, we celebrated our 11th anniversary with a killer French meal in Dallas (I’ll be writing about that restaurant soon, I promise), and five days later, October 13, it’s Will’s birthday, so cue the chocolate ganache. While [...]
Whenever you walk past a French pastry case, they’re impossible not to admire. Often showcased in neat little rows in every color of the rainbow, they’re light as air and yet, chewy somehow, in the same bite. Sandwiched with the most delightful of fillings in every possible flavor combination, they’re [...]
Truth be told, I’ve rarely met a cookie, cupcake or bar that I didn’t like. But when it’s like 1,345 degrees in Texas with 127% humidity, there aren’t many desserts that are worth turning the oven on for. These lemon bars, however, are a major exception. The picture doesn’t really [...]
I’m always on the lookout for healthier snacks, so I didn’t waste any time giving these no-bake almond butter bites a try after spotting the recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs, Two Peas & Their Pod. And lemme just say, especially with the addition of a few dark [...]
If you’re like me, and you watch way too many competitive cooking shows, you know risotto is often the kiss of death for anyone hoping to win the big prize. I still quake in my flip-flops thinking about the time that Wolfgang Puck “helped” an aspiring Food Network star because [...]
It’s February but it feels like Spring here in DFW. In fact, today is what I like to call the classic California day. It’s sunny, inching toward the 70s, and there’s not a cloud in the sky. All that’s missing, really, is the mighty Pacific and the best fish tacos [...]
I finally got around to finishing the book I began reading on the train from Amsterdam to Paris, Molly Wizenberg‘s superb foodie memoir, A Homemade Life. My fabulous editor Jamie Chavez recommended it a while ago, and she was totally right about me liking it. I sort of devoured it [...]
After several months of scorching hot temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, it’s probably not all that surprising that I’m positively giddy about it being cloudy and 68 today. Yes, there’s the slightest hint of a chill in the air, and we’re back to 97 tomorrow, so I had to make [...]
A friend of mine recently got married, so we decided a celebratory dinner party was definitely in order this past weekend. After telling me her new husband was half Italian, well, that settled it. Italian food seemed like an absolute no-brainer, and since it’s my favorite food ever, too, I [...]
