Fall
Date-Crisp Balls
Date-Crisp Balls are simple to make, on the stove top with no baking, and the dates impart a luscious caramel flavor. And a bonus: they’re gluten-free! Is this a cookie? Or a candy? How about simply: a treat. An incredibly good treat that comes down to us from my grandmother, Alice Abowd (wife of Richard,…
Read MoreRoasted Butternut Squash with Tahini and Pine Nuts
In a small village in the northern mountains of Lebanon some 60 years ago, a young girl made her father’s dinner for the first time. Her dish of choice was mujadara, and the caramelized onion and lentils did just what she’d hoped: they won her father’s praise. Nothing like a father’s adoration to get a…
Read MoreHow to make your own pumpkin puree
How simple and satisfying to make your own pumpkin puree from pie or sugar pumpkins. Use in pie or any recipe calling for pumpkin puree. Be sure to drain the pumpkin puree if it is watery, as that will affect other recipes it’s used in. The whole time I’ve been working with fresh pumpkin in…
Read MoreA Fall Football Menu: Tailgating, Abood-style
When you grow up in a college town like I did, you end up spending all of your fall Saturdays in the stadium watching football games. That was fun…but let’s face it, the tailgate party before the game has always been the bigger attraction for me. I loved going to Spartan stadium with the whole…
Read MoreRadish & arugula salad. Here let us feast.
When the landlady at the first apartment I lived in with my sister in Chicago told us she was selling the old grey stone and it was time for us to move on, I was excited about the prospect of something new and different. That is, until I discovered what moving really meant. For me,…
Read MoreLebanese Potato Salad
Lebanese potato salad is light and fresh with lemon and mint–the perfect, healthy summer salad which is dairy- and gluten-free. See how to cook the potatoes perfectly here and in my video. I was surprised when I returned from Lebanon recently to find the herbs in the back corner garden had come into their own.…
Read MoreLebanese Stuffed Grape Leaf Rolls
Lebanese Grape Leaf Rolls, a taste of Dier Mimas Lebanese grape leaf rolls, also known as dolma or simply stuffed grape leaves. You’ll love this recipe and story about Lebanese family and food. […watch my video on how to roll grapeleaves HERE!…] There is one thing I’ve always thought was a given about grape leaves:…
Read MoreGarlicky Lebanese Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard and Lemon; dressed up Rushta
Lebanese lentil soup, or rushta, is a Lebanese staple. I love to ramp my Lebanese lentil soup up with plenty of garlic, a healthy and delicious addition of swiss chard, and lemon. Warming, good for you, and always a hit. I used to volunteer a lot. I hate to say ‘used to,’ but I’m trying…
Read MoreChicken Rice Pilaf, Hushweh, and from the kitchen, a family farewell for my father
This essay Lebanese Chicken Rice Pilaf, Hushweh, about was my first food-related publication, which happened to include a recipe for hushweh. It appeared in the Washington Post in 2004. The Association of Food Journalists awarded the essay first place in one of its competitions that year, and the essay won me the Greenbrier Scholarship to…
Read MoreTechnique: How to roast chicken for Lebanese hushwe
We’re cooking something very special this week here on Main Street, and hopefully in your kitchen too. Hushwe is the ultimate Lebanese comfort food. A cinnamon-scented rice pilaf with beef, chicken, and nuts, hushwe packs a punch on the nutrition front. Its savory, and if you dare, buttery blend will fill you with a feeling…
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