New recipe, March 18, 2026

The Prince of Wales from Food and Wine. This drink is a pleasant surprise.Rye, maraschino liqueur, sparkling wine, a (modest) cube of pineapple. It is subtle, with layers of flavor and is really quite nice and kind of unexpected. We give this a 4.

New recipes, March 17 (St Patrick’s Day!) 2026

Traditional Irish Soda Bread from NYT Cooking, and Guinness Irish Meatball Stew from Food and Wine. The bread is very simple--flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk—and is delicious as they suggested, slathered in salted butter. The stew has rich flavors from the vegetables, Guinness, Worcestershire sauce and a roux, as well as lamb meatballs. We liked them both and they both get a 4.

New recipe, March 16, 2026

Vegetable Tofu Curry from NYT Cooking. This is a pleasant dish, but it is rather simple and would have benefitted from more curry and more allium. It gets a 3.

New recipe, March 15, 2026

Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Peanut Dressing from NYT Cooking. The avocado gives a lovely creaminess to the salad. The dressing is fantastic and makes this salad a 5!

New recipes, March 14, 2026

We hosted friends for dinner, and I neglected to free many photos. Ah well. We started with a non-alcholic cocktail from Zero, a book from Alinea Group dedicated to non-alcoholic drinks. Our beverage, which gets a total, is on the cover of the book—the Celery Serrano. The Serrano ice cube slowly melts and spices up the drink. This gets a 5!

The food is all Ottolenghi. We started with Hummus no Way of Southern France (Chickpea and Fennel Purée) from Comfort, then moved on to Curried Lentil Tomato and Coconut Soup from Bon Appetít. Our main course was Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder with Fig and Pistachio Salsa (pictured) from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen Extra Good Things. The dessert was a repeat, Bitter Frozen Berries with White Chocolate Cream from
Plenty More. The food is all extraordinary, and every recipe gets a 5!

New recipe, March 13, 2026

We attended the Wonderball to celebrate the extraordinary Denver dance company Wonderbound, so the new recipe is The Bicycle Thief from Food and Wine. This drink has a bright brightness from the grapefruit juice, lemon juice and Campari. We give it a 4.

New recipe, March 12, 2026

Slow Cooked Fish with Citrus and Herbs from NYT Cooking. Leeks, saffron, garlic, citrus and dill on halibut. Yum!! This gets a 4.