One of my absolute favorite pasta dishes to make quickly and easily at home is Penne a la Vodka, especially when served with some Italian sausage.  One of the best parts about this recipe, at least how I approach it, is that you can ‘kitchin-sink’ it – meaning you can add pretty much any Italian-themed ingredient [...]

Recently I saw what looked like an unbelievable article on The Kitchn about how you can make Banana Ice Cream just by processing some frozen bananas.  I tried it out and they’re quite right, though the consistency is a little more like a sorbet w/out any cream involved.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have let them freeze [...]

After a few months in storage, I finally unveiled the new table of the Sophisticates at home for Christmas Dinner.  The table is the (no longer in stock) Engineer’s Dining Table from CB2 and seating includes the terribly convenient, stackable, Giulietta Dining Chairs from Design Within Reach.   Here’s a look at the service I [...]

This dish is a combination of two recipes I found in the 2010 Holiday issue of Food & Wine Magazine, a warm vichyssoise garnished with toasted pancetta bread crumbs & Quinn Hatfield’s parsnip bacon.  Both are relatively easy to make, especially with an immersion blender for the soup v. a blender or food processor and can [...]