Serves 2-3

About 1½ tsp aromatic spice blend, such as garam masala, Baharat, five-spice, curry powder, or a mild chili powder blend, plus more to taste
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
5 scallions, thinly sliced, greens and whites separated
¾ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ tsp black pepper
1lb extra-large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup small (or halved large) cherry tomatoes, preferably yellow Sungold tomatoes
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Fresh lime juice
½ cup fresh mint leaves, torn or roughly chopped

Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine spice blend, ginger, garlic, scallion whites, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add shrimp and toss well. Heat a large skillet over high heat, then add the oil. Add the tomatoes and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook until the whole tomatoes burst and the halved ones start to wrinkle, about 2 minutes.

Step 2
Add shrimp mixture and sauté for another 2 to 4 minutes, turning the shrimp, until they are pink all over.

Step 3
Gently stir in butter and cook for another minute, until the shrimp are cooked through. Remove from heat and add a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Taste and add more salt and spices, if needed. Garnish with mint and scallion greens and serve immediately.

TIP
If your spice blend is heavy on the chiles, you might want to cut back by ¼ to ½ teaspoon; you can always add more to taste just before serving.

This easy recipe starts with canned corn, making it decidedly simple to put together (you don’t even need a mixing bowl). Avoid cans labeled “creamed corn” or “cream-style corn”—you’re looking for plain canned sweet corn kernels. Heated with cream cheese, cheddar, and Parmesan (plus diced green chiles and garlic), the kernels add sweetness and pops of texture to the creamy, melty dish. You can assemble the corn casserole a few days ahead; top it with the breadcrumbs and more cheese before popping it in the oven for 15 minutes to warm up—just enough time to carve the turkey. It’s so make-ahead friendly, in fact, you can cook it all the way through and cart it along to a potluck since it’s even great at room temperature.

Serves 10–12

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
1 medium jalapeño, finely chopped (seeded if desired)
2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
2x 15-oz. cans whole-kernel corn, drained
8oz. cream cheese
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¾ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup breadcrumbs (fresh or dried)
½ cup roughly chopped tender fresh herbs such as thyme, sage, or parsley, plus more
Green onions or chives (optional; for garnish)

Place rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375°. Butter a 13 x 9″ baking dish and set aside.

Melt 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 jalapeño, finely chopped (seeded if desired), and 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, and cook until fragrant and just starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add two 15-oz. cans whole-kernel corn, drained, 8 oz. cream cheese, ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese, and ¼ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and corn is well coated, 2–3 minutes, then season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour corn mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with ½ cup breadcrumbs (fresh or dried), ½ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, and ½ cup roughly chopped tender fresh herbs such as thyme, sage, or parsley. Bake corn casserole until cheese is melted and bubbling and the breadcrumbs are a crispy golden brown, about 15 minutes. Garnish with more roughly chopped tender herbs and green onions or chives, sliced, (if using).

Do ahead: Corn casserole can be assembled without topping up to 3 days ahead of time. Cover casserole dish with a lid or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Well, we finally moved from the Westside of Los Angeles to beautiful Pasadena and are absolutely loving it. This is our front upstairs balcony that looks over a very quiet, tree-lined street.

It’s so peaceful, the local traffic is a breeze, the homes are beautiful and elegant with tons of mature trees, the people are very friendly and community-minded and they seem to be more interested in cooking rather than eating out all the time.
Pasadena seems to have better and more interesting restaurants than the Westside of LA too. (I may get some push-back on that comment, but I stand by it)

We love our new home, but knew pretty much straight away that we would be doing a big kitchen/dining room renovation and reconfiguring a laundry room, maid’s room and bathroom behind it, hopefully installing a good-sized butlers pantry that would also hold my 1000+ recipe books and many folders of downloaded recipes from various websites.
I will be posting pictures as the work progresses but at this point we are narrowing down an architect. All suggestions and recommendations for new kitchen ideas would be extremely helpful.
Someone suggested an “appliance station” the other day which sounds fabulous, so that has gone onto our “dream list”

To be continued…

This is great dish to ease your way into Fall and it’s a really super side dish for Thanksgiving.
Frankly, I go head first into the Fall season as it’s my favorite, especially having weathered another really hot summer here in Southern California.

About 10 cups of shaved Brussels sprouts
2 cups diced sweet potatoes
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp butter or ghee (sub olive oil if you’re vegan)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 mandarin orange, segments cut in half
Seeds of 1 pomegranate

The Orange Lemon Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 mandarin orange
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove
A pinch of salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place all but 1 cup of the shaved Brussels on one baking sheet and the sweet potatoes on another. Toss both with oil then roast in your oven for 30-35 minutes, tossing halfway through.
Heat the butter, ghee, or olive oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the walnuts and let them toast until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan often.
Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake.
In a large salad bowl, add the 1 cup of raw and the roasted Brussels, the sweet potatoes, walnuts, orange segments, and the pomegranate seeds.
Toss with the dressing and serve.