Farmers Market Fall Splendor Pumpkins, apples, parsnips, oh my! Chilly autumn weather brings a whole new crop of produce to celebrate. Pumpkins at the Santa Monica Farmers Market With the last of the hot, dry days of summer, juicy peaches and floral strawberries came to an end. Fall brings around a whole new group of fruits and vegetables to the farmers markets. Old favorites preserve through the winter months, sharing tables with short-seasoned, lesser known varieties. From apples to per... Read Full Story

Buttery, flaky pie dough enrobes crisp apples to create the perfect slice of pie. Sweet persimmons and rich coffee rum syrup give a twist to this fall classic.   Fuyu Persimmons at the Hollywood Farmers Market Nothing says fall like apple pie. This year, try a variation on the classic by adding persimmons. An orange-red, pumpkin-shaped fruit, persimmons are available from October through December. Fuyus are the hard variety, sweet and crunchy like an apple. They can be eaten raw or... Read Full Story

Whoopie! for a grown-up Halloween treat Celebrate the haunts and horrors of Halloween in grown-up style. These spicy, pumpkin whoopie cakes, filled with a chocolate stout cream, are frighteningly good. Oatmeal stout lends a rich, earthy undertone to these chocolate filled, pumpkin whoopie pies. Chilly days full of changing, colorful leaves and warm, apple cider speak of the lush hills of the New England countryside. A Pennsylvania Amish tradition, whoopie pies are a favorite all over the No... Read Full Story

You can can, can’t you? Stretch summer into chilly days by preserving the last of the farmer’s market peaches in this rich jam. The dark caramel base and rosemary add earthy, malty flavors perfect for the fall. Canning is one of those kitchen projects that’s a bit intimidating. With worries about the equipment, temperatures, amounts of thickener and the actual process, it’s no wonder that canning has such a fraughtful reputation. However, preserving homemade jams, pi... Read Full Story

Gourmet’s Gone With the closure of Gourmet magazine, an icon in the food industry is lost. Is print publication too quickly becoming a thing of the past? Staring down at the October issue of Gourmet magazine, my heart is heavy with the knowledge that this is the second to last issue to be printed. The mega-publishing company Conde Nast announced this week that it will close Gourmet with the November issue, and sent its 180 employees, including famed editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl, packin... Read Full Story

Bakin’ Challah With its familiar rich, tender crumb, Challah bread is a dough steeped with Jewish tradition. In this whole wheat version, honey lends sweetness, while tart raisins add a chewy bite. Inspiration from the recent Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah lend itself to this moist, sweet Challah recipe. Challah is a traditional braided bread, eaten on the Sabbath and holidays by Ashkenazi and by most Sephardic Jews. The six-legged braid of the traditional loaf represents the six ch... Read Full Story

End of Summer Lasagna Tomatoes are in full bloom, a sign that summer is fading into chilly fall afternoons. This hearty lasagna, filled with summer squash and crisp heirloom tomatoes, is the perfect way to celebrate the last burst of summer’s produce. Summer's Bounty: Basil, heirloom tomatoes, and squash As the last days of summer go by, the farmers markets are full of rich, flavorful tomatoes. At Santa Monica’s farmer’s market, Munack Farms offers customers a wide array of... Read Full Story

Slow Food for fast Change This past Labor Day, Slow Food USA sponsored over 300 potluck eat-in’s in support of their Time for Lunch campaign, urging change in the school lunch system. According to the organization, a little change can go a long way. One of the many eat-ins held this past Sepetember 7th, at Spiraling Orchard Park in Los Angeles. With over 30 million children eating school lunches each day, Slow Food USA asserts that change cannot wait. Health-food advocates, environm... Read Full Story

Skip the ice cream, cool down with semifreddo A chocolate, honey, peanut dessert speaks to our inner child’s sweet tooth cravings. This two-in-one dessert is a decadent chocolate cake that gives way to a cooling, honey semifreddo. Toasted peanuts add an earthy crunch. Whisk a few eggs together, sweetened and held by honey, and lightened with whipped heavy cream and you’ll have semifreddo. With an airy mousse texture, this frozen treat is easy to make, smooth and creamy on the tong... Read Full Story

Think about what you eat The film Food, Inc makes it plainly clear that we really have no idea what is in the food on our dinner plate. With 2006’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan sets the tone for the way we eat, calling his readers to look at labels and understand what makes up our food. Three years later, the phrases organic, sustainable, and free-range have become more common place, and yet Food, Inc is still a startling, eye-opening look at the food industry, intended to ... Read Full Story