New recipe, September 16, 2026

The Scofflaw from Food and Wine. This was apparently created in Paris by American bartenders as an insult to Prohibition. They did a good job! This has a great balance of sweetness and acidity against the rye base. It gets a 5.

New recipe, September 15, 2026

Individual Beef Wellingtons from NYT Cooking. These have all the flavors of the original, and are delicious. It is a very rich dish! We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 14, 2026

One Pan Zucchini Pesto Orzo from NYT Cooking. I confess I wasn’t sure how well this would work, and I was very pleasantly surprised. There is a variety of flavors and textures that play together very nicely. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 13, 2026

Butter Beans alla Vodka from Food and Wine. This is a classic sauce for a reason and it complements the butter beans beautifully. We give it a 4.

New recipe, September 12, 2026

Grilled Hoisin Pork Tenderloin from NYT Cooking. The flavors are good, with a strong presence of hoisin. We give this a 4.

New recipe, September 11, 2026

Crunchy Mango and Avocado Salad from Food and Wine. This got better overnight. It has a nice combination of textured and flavors that melded together especially with a little time. We give it a 4.

New recipe, September 10, 2026

Smoky Shrimp Saganaki from NYT Cooking. It is an Ottolenghi recipe, and is a fabulous combination of spicy and smoky flavors, melted feta, shrimp. A total 5!

New recipe, September 9, 2026

Enfrijoladas Pintos from NYT Cooking. Who would have believed you could get such a rich dish by dipping tortillas in blended pinto beans? The beans themselves (with some chipotle) are delicious, and the toppings including pickled red onion and avocado are incredible. This gets a 5!

New recipe, September 8, 2026

John’s Old Fashioned from Food and Wine. The Demerara syrup is a nice enhancement along with the white vermouth. This gets a 4.

New recipe, September 7, 2026

Chermoula Bean Salad from NYT Cooking. At first sitting this got a 3. The chermoula stood out but the beans seemed bland and the dates didn’t stand out. But the next day—wow! The chermoula flavor had gotten into the beans and the dates left little bits of sweetness throughout. That made it a 5!

New recipe, September 6, 2026

Mushroom and Lentil Ragu from Food and Wine. This has a nice blend of flavors. We give it a 4.

New recipe, September 5, 2026

Tahini Honey Cottage Cheese Bowl from NYT Cooking. The tahini, honey and salt make this kind of fun. We give this a 4.

New recipes, September 1, 2026

Greek Chicken with Cucumber Feta Salad, and Greek Lemon Potatoes, both from NYT Cooking. The marinated chicken was juicy and tender, but the feta and yogurt made the salad feel heavy. We give this a 3. The potatoes are crunchy and flavorful. They get a 4.

New recipe, August 31, 2026

Goi Ga, a Crunchy Vietnamese Chicken Salad from Food and Wine. This has all the flavor elements you expect from a dish like this. The flavors became even better overnight, so we give it a 4.

New recipe, August 30, 2026

Tangy Chicken Tomato and Couscous Salad from NYT Cooking. It is the secondary ingredients, the sun dried tomatoes and dried fruit, that bring this up a notch and make this really good. We give this a 4.

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New recipes, August 29, 2026

Shallot Tarte Tatin from Food and Wine, and Kimchi Pickled Zucchini and Tomatoes from NYT Cooking. The tart is a wonderful idea but a bit sweet for the onions. I would try it with less of the caramelized sugar-butter mix, perhaps 25% less. We give this a 4. The zucchini dish is dominated by the kimchi flavor. Kimchi is naturally a very strong flavor so getting it balanced with other ingredients is not easy. I would try this with half as much kimchi. We give the tart a 4, and the zucchini and tomatoes a 3.

New recipe, August 28, 2026

Prosciutto and Melon Salad from NYT Cooking. Who can argue with Rocky Ford cantaloupe? This captures the flavors of the classic prosciutto with melon. We give this a 5.

New recipe, September 4, 2026

Everything Bagel Cottage Cheese Dip from NYT Cooking. This was pleasant, didn’t really stand out. We give it a 3.

New recipe, September 3, 2026

Strawberry Basil Cottage Cheese Bowl from NYT Cooking. The juice from the berries, basil, honey, vinegar, salt and pepper is really nice against the creamy cottage cheese. We give this a 4. It would have been even better had I not forgotten to top it with salted Pistachios .

New recipe, September 2, 2026

Summer Melon Spoon Salad from NYT Cooking. Simple ingredients that add up to more than the sum of their parts. We like this, it gets a 4.

New recipes, August 27, 2026

Seared Steak with Peppercorn Sauce from Food and Wine, and Zuni Cafe’s Zucchini Pickles from NYT Cooking. Both of these have exceptional flavors! And they are very nice together. You do need to be careful with salt with the steak, but we give e. Itch of these 5s.

New recipe, August 26, 2026

Chaat Masala Corn from NYT Cooking. This recipe comes from Yotam Ottolenghi, and it is everything I expect. A delicious mix of flavors and textures that I would never have thought of myself. It is easy and spectacular! It gets a 5.

New recipe, August 25, 2026

Sticky Glazed Tofu Sandwiches from NYT Cooking. This is really quite good, especially the Dijon-maple sauce and the pickled veggies. We give this a 4.

New recipe, August 24, 2026

Negroni Sbagliato from Food and Wine. Vermouth instead of gin. Pleasant, but we prefer the traditional recipe. We give this a 3.

New recipe, August 23, 2026

Quick Turkey Chili from NYT Cooking. This is pretty simple and fast. The kale seems to dominate a bit. We give this a 3.

New recipe, August 22, 2026

Cheery Cherry Trail Mix. Another nice combo from Back Country Foodie. We give this a 3

New recipe, August 21, 2026

Aloha Trail Mix from Back Country Foodie. The mix of pineapple and white chocolate gives a nice contrary of sweet and tart. This gets a 3.

New recipe, August 20, 2026

Cranberry Nut Trail Mix from Back Country Foodie. Nice mix of nuts with cranberries. We give this a 3.

New recipe, August 19, 2026

Cod with Capet Orange Sauce from NYT Cooking. The sauce is really tasty, with fruitiness, salt and umami. We give this a 4.

New recipe, August 18, 2026

Slot Cooker Chicken and Bean Fideo from NYT Cooking. This is a pleasant dish. We give it a 3.

New recipe , August 17, 3026

Celery Salad with Feta and Soft Boiled Egg from Ottolenghi Plenty More. Ours weren’t soft boiled but this has a great array of complementary flavors. It gets a 4.

New recipe, August 16, 2026

Fennel and Lentil Salad with Caper Mustard Dressing from NYT Cooking. Simple but great flavors, we give this a 4.

New recipe, August 15, 2026

Amaro Spritz from NYT Cooking. This can be made with any amaro. So I used Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro—smoked rhubarb amaro. Not really a good match for this—it gets a 2.

New recipe, August 14, 2026

Caramelized Peaches with Rum and Cream from NYT Cooking. The flavors are good, though the Jamaican rum we used may have been a little too dominating. We give this a 4.

New recipe, August 13, 2026

Peach Cucumber and Mozzarella Salad with Gochujang Vinaigrette from NYT Cooking. Palisade peaches and home grown cucumber, and such a tasty vinaigrette! We give this a 5.

New recipe, August 12, 2026

The Eastside from Food and Wine. Gin with lime, cucumber and mint. Nice cooling flavors. We give this a 4.

New recipe, August 11, 2026

Il Fiorito from Food and Wine, kind of a cross of an Hugo Spritz with an Aperol Spritz. Very nice! We give this a 5.

New recipe, August 10, 2026

Hugo Spritz from NYT Cooking. We’ve made an Hugo Spritz before, but it was too light on the St Germaine. This is much better! We give it a 4.

New recipe, August 9, 2026

The Frida Kahlo, from Free the Tipple by Jennifer Cri and Kelly Shami. Essentially a hibiscus margarita, and quite nice! This gets a 5.

New recipe, August 8, 2026

Roasted Tomato Tart with Ricotta and Pesto from NYT Cooking. Just delicious! This gets a 5.

New recipe, August 7, 2026

Cold Cucumber Soup with Yogurt and Dill from Food and Wine. This is nice on a hot day. Maybe a bit heavy on the dill. It gets a 4

New recipe, August 6, 2026

Stone Fruit Caprese from NYT Cooking. In place of tomatoes, I used plums and Palisade Peaches, and in place of vinegar this uses lemon juice. Don’t forget the olive oil—it takes the dish up a notch! We give this a 5.

New recipe, August 5, 2026

Crispy Gnocchi with Sausage and Broccoli from NYT Cooking. Very easy and has a great spectrum of flavors and textures. This gets a 4.

New recipe, August 4, 2026

Pork Tenderloin with Corn Peaches and Lime from NYT Cooking. Make it either Olathe Corn and Palisade Peaches and you’ve got a 5! Delicious!

New recipe, August 3, 3026

Dill Pickle Smashed Potato Salad from Food and Wine. The potatoes are microwave steamed, the smashed and roasted in an oven with olive oil til crispy. Then you add a mayonnaise ranch based dressing with pickles and onions. A delicious surprise! This gets a 5!

New recipe, August 2, 2026

We have a lot of cucumbers from our garden, so this is Spicy Cucumbers with Mint Scallions and Crushed Peanuts from NYT Cooking. This has a dressing that is nicely balanced in flavor and quantity with the cucumbers and herbs. Key step is letting it chill for 30 minutes—perfect in our heat! Simple and fabulous, this gets a 5.

New recipe, August 1, 2026

Summer Thai Inspired Noodle Salad from Food and Wine. Lovely Thai flavors without any peppers or heat. We enjoyed this, and would have enjoyed a little capsaicin. We give it a 4.

New te iOS, July 31, 2026

Mushroom Smash Burgers from NYT Cooking. These are really quite delicious! The mushrooms really do become flat and crispy. I would use a bit more onion powder and salt on the mushrooms, but these still get a 5.

New recipe, July 30, 2026

Halloumi Peach and Cucumber Spoon Salad from NYT Cooking. Can’t argue with Colorado Peaches! Very tasty, this gets a 4.