Chocolate Meringue Cake

Chocolate Meringue Cakes, or the Habit of Conservation

Chocolate Meringue CakesHave you noticed how, more often than not, the end of something good only means the beginning of something better? It happens to me everytime I bake: the end of a good dessert brings me inspiration for the next. But most often, it’s the ingredients, or rather, what’s left, the scraps and by-products, that are the spark (more…)

Lemon Tart

Velvety Lemon Tart, Remembering the Place that Saw me Grow

Lemon TartI grew up surrounded by orange trees. Almost literally! The name of the place was El Taroncheral, and the property, an expansive orange tree grove that included a large stucco dwelling and a circular basin where rain and well water for irrigation were collected. Eventually, three houses where built: I grew up in one of the houses.

Taroncheral, by the way, (more…)

Seafood paella

Seafood Paella, Made Famous by… You

Seafood paellaAfter having shared the recipe for allioli in my previous post, it was only fitting that I would share the recipe for seafood paella, which is what I mentioned I would be accompanying the allioli with. Matthew, the most paella-loving of my children, left yesterday for his second semester in college, which means I might not make paella for (more…)

Allioli

Aioli, or Allioli, a versatile sauce

AllioliI can’t believe today is the feast of the Epiphany, Three Kings Day, and I am making allioli while watching the Three Kings Parade on Spanish television. But these are Matthew’s last few days at home before he returns to college, and he wants to have homey, special dishes before he leaves, like the seafood paella I’ll be (more…)