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Kitchen Report @ International Food Blogger Conference

August 27, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Tonight the 2010 International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) kicks off in downtown Seattle. And, yep, Kitchen Report will be present!

There are 250 people attending the (sold out) conference that will feature local chefs, food writers, tastings, and a screening of a new foodie movie, “Today’s Special.” On top of that, the organizers have asked the bloggers to post frequently during the three-day event.

I have my uniform ready: Laptop, digital camera, iPhone, necessary connecting cables, mini business cards, and this T-shirt.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Food Blogger Conference | Tagged | 7 Comments »

Eat, Pray, Ceviche

August 18, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Last winter I hit a rough patch. Nothing huge, just a few disappointments compounded by dark days and cold nights. At that time my friend Jenna was scheming her annual getaway adventure where she hardly plans and just packs up and goes (Peace Corps volunteers tend to do this, I’ve noticed). Last year, she had tackled surfing in Costa Rica.

“Where should I go this year?” she had asked me. My big wave surfer friend, Rick, had mentioned that Panama was the next up-and-coming destination for surfers. “Panama,” I said to Jenna. In hindsight, this is hilarious because she is still just learning how to surf. But that didn’t stop me from getting online and “researching” places to surf in Panama, after all, I had one surf lesson under my belt myself. This lead to researching flights and within 12 hours I announced, “I’m coming with you.”

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Posted in Appetizers, Main dish, Travel | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments »

Recipe: Jam Sandwich Cookies

August 12, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

‘Tis the season for lounging about on the grass. There’s nothing like getting down low on a blanket under a leafy canopy, or a starry sky, or an illuminated cityscape and just … being. It’s even better if food is within lazy reach.

Last weekend I did some serious lollygagging. I can justify this because there was some serious high-minded expression of artistic talent going on not too far away. Continue Reading »

Posted in Baked goods, Cookbooks, Dessert, Recipes | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

Recipe Mashup: Blueberry Fool meets No-Bake Cake

August 5, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

I was cruising around the Web the other day, following the endless trail of food blogs when an accident happened. Continue Reading »

Posted in Dessert, Recipes | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Recipe: Green Beans with Toasted Almonds

July 31, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

This is a really easy way to give fresh green beans a little extra flavor and crunch.

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Posted in Side dish | Tagged , , | 3 Comments »

Newsbuzz: Cheesecake vs. privacy

July 30, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Our economy editor here at the Monitor has alerted readers to the fact you can get half-price dessert at The Cheesecake Factory to honor National Cheesecake Day, an occasion that has even mobilized American Idol contestants from season 9 in Virginia Beach.

The catch (you knew this was coming, right?): You have to “Like” The Cheesecake Factory page on Facebook, which gives the company access to your profile information. Continue Reading »

Posted in News Buzz | Tagged | 7 Comments »

Cookbook review: Southern Living Farmers Market Cookbook

July 27, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

For a few years after college, my brother and I both happened to live in Atlanta, Ga., a city where every street is named Peachtree. While there I discovered fried okra, fried green tomatoes, grits, black-eyed peas (which are white beans), sweet tea, and hot donuts from Krispy Kreme. It’s not exactly light eating down South. Comfort food has staked its claim and stubbornly resisted any marauding fad diets. Continue Reading »

Posted in Cookbook reviews, Eating in season | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Recipe: Corn and Black Bean Salad

July 25, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

I was strolling through the Farmer’s Market at Copley Square on Friday and I heard a woman say, “This is heavenly.” She’s right. Something about baskets of peaches, tangles of beans, and bright sunflowers softens the heart of a city and brings things down to human scale in a forest of skyscrapers and historic buildings. Rows of homemade cookies, bags of bread, and jars of honey have the power to soothe even as sirens wail and traffic rushes by just a few feet away.

And then there’s the corn. Lots and lots of corn.

You barely need to do anything to food that is this fresh, just take take it home and strip it down.

I was heading to a potluck later that evening and I knew exactly what I wanted to bring: A corn and black bean salad, using raw, sweet corn. I came across this recipe at a Fourth of July party last year.

“It’s so easy,” the hostess kept telling me. A guest at the party insisted that the secret was a packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing. If you don’t have that handy, it’s pretty easy to season this any way you like, using a combination of dried herbs (basil, oregano), salt (onion, garlic, celery), and a little sugar to draw the sweetness of the corn and fruit. This recipe uses mangoes but I bet you could use peaches, which are just coming into season. Continue Reading »

Posted in Eating in season, Recipes, Salad, Side dish | Tagged , , | 3 Comments »

Recipe: Perfect Basil Pesto

July 21, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Besides caprese salad, capris pants, flip flops, and sunburned shoulders, another summer classic not to be left out is basil pesto pasta. Or basil pesto anything. There the basil is – swaying in the garden, or sprouting in the window box, or bursting as a simple bouquet on the green grocer’s shelf. Use me now, it seems to say, because you’ll miss me when I’m gone.

My mom has made pesto every summer that I can remember. The master of winging it in the kitchen, it is hard to anticipate what Mom’s pesto batch will taste like. Sometimes it is sharp, or sweet, or bitter. But it always says fresh, as in right now.

I prefer predictability when it comes to pesto, even though the best cooks and chefs will say an adventuresome spirit is exactly what you need in kitchen. Search the Web and you’ll find no two pesto recipes alike. But I have one that I turn to again, and again, and again, like a loyal, boring friend. It includes parsley, which tempers the basil in my opinion, and not too much garlic. I won’t disappoint you, it whispers between the ingredients. OK, I’m joking. It doesn’t really say that. Continue Reading »

Posted in Eating in season, Main dish, Recipes, Sauces | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Recipe: Caprese Salad Summer Classic

July 20, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

I got home from a family wedding over the weekend and discovered a bit of red poking out from beneath my tomato plant. Ripe tomatoes!

These cherry tomatoes look a bit more normal than what grew on my balcony window boxes last year. Along with my basil plant that survived the winter I knew I had the makings for a quick caprese salad to accompany fresh corn on the cob and a teriyaki salmon patty (courtesy of my corner store).

Everyone should make fresh caprese salad with summer’s red jewels as often as possible. It is fast, easy, and pretty to look at. Usually, one layers slices of full-sized tomatoes with overlapping rounds of fresh mozerrella cheese and basil leaves. But I found I could make do with the petite offerings from my balcony just fine.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Delicious. Hooray for summer! So what if the light is beginning to slip away earlier each evening. The tomato plant isn’t finished just yet. Thank goodness.

Posted in Recipes, Salad | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

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