March 01, 2014

Celery Salad with Dried Cherries + Almonds

March 01, 2014/ Mary McDonald

I’m not sure that I heard of a celery salad prior to dinner at Ava Gene’s. I didn’t have the salad when we had dinner there but it didn’t leave my mind. I did a search for celery salad recently and came across a recipe on Bon Appetit, and as it happens this recipe was part of a series of salads from Ava Gene’s!

February 19, 2014

Strawberry Ice Cream with Chocolate + Walnuts

February 19, 2014/ Mary McDonald

You might remember from my last post that I was making strawberry ice cream for dessert. Well here it is and it turned out incredible. Of all the amazing ice cream out there this has to be one of my favorites. But then I am quite taken to the berry/chocolate/nut flavor combination.

February 14, 2014

I Heart Salad

February 14, 2014/ Mary McDonald

I know Valentine’s Day can be full of cliches, red, chocolate, all things heart-shaped, but I couldn’t resist making this salad. This year we’re going to have dinner at home, with this salad, and some homemade strawberry chocolate chunk ice cream, champagne and…

February 10, 2014

Stuffed Mushrooms

February 10, 2014/ Mary McDonald

Every once in a while I get a mushroom craving, and this is one of those times. I haven’t really posted anything mushroom specific since my very first blog post about a year ago, a Mushroom Soup.

February 05, 2014

A Simple Chocolate Cake

February 05, 2014/ Mary McDonald

Considering how much I love chocolate cakes it’s surprising that I don’t make them more often. I came across this recipe on La Tartine Gourmande, Bea actually had another recipe quite similar to this but I chose this one for its simplicity.

January 29, 2014

Soba Noodles with Eggplant + Mango

January 29, 2014/ Mary McDonald

This is the type of recipe you know you will like just by reading the ingredients. Mango. Eggplant. Hot pepper. Cilantro. Thai basil. I’m sold, and still working my way through Ottolenghi’s Plenty cookbook,

January 23, 2014

Sweet Potato Wedges with Lemongrass Dip

January 23, 2014/ Mary McDonald

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables. They’re so versatile and tasty, it’s nearly impossible to mess them up. And they’re full of nutrition as well. What’s not to love here?

January 17, 2014

Pear Fennel Salad with Colatura + Pine Nuts

January 17, 2014/ Mary McDonald

Colatura? Maybe you’re familiar with this but I had never heard of it until a recent dinner at Ava Gene’s here in Portland. It was in a salad named “Pear. Fennel. Pine Nuts. Colatura. Scallions”, the salad was delicious with surprises of fresh mint and hot pepper.

January 12, 2014

Coconut Mango Muffins

January 12, 2014/ Mary McDonald

As you probably know from my other recipes I really love fresh fruit in loaf breads and cakes. So when I spotted these mangos the other day I really wanted to add them to some muffins.

December 31, 2013

Black Quinoa + Roasted Vegetable Bowl

December 31, 2013/ Mary McDonald

This is the holiday balance for me. Between pies and cookies and candies, I start to crave vegetables before going into full sugar overload. I came across a recipe recently, well not so much a recipe but a deconstruction of Harlow’s Betty Bowl.