We ate this up, we loved it so. Sausage, White Bean and Kale soup is a weeknight staple at our house. I add ginger to my broth to soothe after a weekend of rich food. To make the meal more substantial, I served our dinner with al dente farfale pasta, but it's delicious on it's own, and it would be even more nutritious (and gluten free) over quinoa or brown rice.
Read MoreHope you had a great weekend. Ours was busy, as we hopped from one youngling party to the next. Yesterday we hosted our annual pumpkin carving party here in Petaluma. Picture a packed house full of screaming little children smuggling cookies with some pumpkin carving on the side. We capped it all off with a party of 3 in my family room, which ended in a fit of excitement when our San Francisco Giants won the World Series. Jasper has become quite the baseball nut, and we let him stay up well past his bedtime to watch what we all suspected would be the final game of the long season. He got the go ahead to throw a cauldron of popcorn in the air to celebrate. It was better than champagne.
Read MoreToday is the Teacher Appreciation Day Banquet at our elementary school. I'm the daughter of a teacher, I'm also married to a teacher turned principal, and therefore an authority on what they like, and I will tell you, all teachers like buffets.
Read MoreOne week out of the year, our family gets together in Pajaro Dunes, a small coastal resort south of Santa Cruz, CA. We stay in a multilevel four bedroom compound that houses 5 grandsons, 3 couples and two grandparents. During the day we try to spend as much time at the beach as the fickle weather allows and and night we dine. We are a family of eaters, and we can spend a lot of time cooking elaborate meals. Other times, like last night, we make special, but simple comfort food. Grandma C found this paella recipe years ago in Sunset magazine. It's a family favorite and special to me, as we served a similar version of paella at our wedding reception. I made a butter lettuce, avocado and grapefruit salad to compliment the salty and spicy flavors of the dish. Here's an adaptation of the original recipe.
Read MoreGinger Spice has a new favorite treat. Pretty much since last Halloween my kids have been sugar crazy and ask for dessert every night (not happening). Yesterday, I had to stop in to Whole Foods and my bribe for good behavior was a treat. I spotted the young coconuts in the section with the overpriced cut up strawberries and thought that drinking out of a coconut might just gimmicky enough to qualify as dessert. I chilled them in the freezer during dinner and put fancy straws inside. They loved it.
Read MoreMake + Haus is the new name and online home for the blog Poppy Haus. Established in 2011, the blog archive now contains hundreds of original design projects and whole food recipes, many featured on the likes of Apartment Therapy, Martha Stewart, Design*Sponge, Curbly, and Epicurious.
