When you buy a cookbook, how many recipes do you typically cook from it? For me, even with really good cookbooks that I dog-ear throughout, I’m lucky if I get around to actually make two or three of the recipes. Some of these books I would swear I am going to cook out of every [...]

Wow. Has it really been a month since my last post? And is it really already August? Summer seems to finally have shown up around here, although the cool, misty mornings might lead you to believe otherwise. By late evening though, with the long summer sun still clinging to the sky, there is no doubt. People, there is nothing like the Northwest in the summer when it finally appears.

My first taste of raclette was in the small town of Chamonix that lies in the shadow of Mont Blanc. Cameron and I were there for our honeymoon where we spent plenty of full days skiing. And by a full day of skiing, I mean ski a run or two and then head to one of the amazing little restaurants tucked into the mountain where we’d fill ourselves with hearty ham and vegetable soups and cassolet, fresh breads and cheeses, and of course un petit pichet de vin and then slowly roll our way down the hill back to our hotel. A nap usually followed, and by then, we’d have at least a tiny space in our bellies ready for dinner. Just enough, say, for a shared raclette for dinner. Yes. That’s right. We ate cheese for dinner. And it was fantastic.

The past few weeks, I’ve been battling the gravity of my couch. It’s amazing how quickly things can go from a million miles an hour to a full, dead stop. Most days, I don’t even see the lower level of my house until after dinner. But a little illness and a little mom/teen daughter drama, and suddenly, my couch became attached to my butt.

The good news is that the last of the antibiotics are now gone, and mother and daughter drama passes. But, the gravity of the couch and getting back to my normal activity level, that has taken a bit more effort.

I’m becoming a big fan of shiso since Amy planted it in my garden this summer. It’s minty, grassy flavor is just the thing on a hot spell like the one we are having this week (seriously, 103F in Seattle? I did not move here for weeks like this!) So, I was happy to help out with Design Sponge’s In The Kitchen with this recipe for Ginger Shiso Syrup.