~ recipe & photo updated in 2007 ~ 2005: Regulars at the Epicurious Buzz Box will recognize this recipe . Since its appearance in 1998, some 200 cooks have rated it with four forks for 'dish beyond compare'. Based on those reviews, my expectations were high, so high I even splurged by leaving in the cream. I was soooo prepared for something wonderfully delicious. But tonight's soup turned out only okay, certainly nothing to rave about nor ever make again. Since so many other cooks have loved this soup, it's possible that tonight's particular circumstances changed its outcome. Winter squash can be watery and flavorless, plus for a half recipe, I cut the I cut the butter from 2 1/2 tablespoons to 1. 2007: Sure enough, if the squash itself has flavor, the soup will be delicious. I used roasted pumpkin (pumpkin and butternut squash are often interchanged) and so the soup was on the table in about 20 minutes, completely delicious. I skipped the cider cream, though

Tonight's vegetarian supper comes from a favorite cookbook from my vegetarian years, titled, surprise, surprise, Vegetarian Suppers . The margin note reads, "1/92 Great! Meaty and rich flavored." Now I've added, "2/06 Still great! Add 1T vinegar at end to brighten. Don't skip mushrooms." (Yes, I've been writing notes on recipe cards and in cookbooks forever and ever ... I figure food blogging and food writing is just my way of sharing those notes!) It makes for a terrific meatless supper or side dish, fat with fennel, potato and tomato. FEBRUARY IS FENNEL MONTH ... Are you cooking fennel with me this month? Or do you have a fennel favorite in your archives? Leave a comment and I'll add the link to February's Fennel Round-up . NUTRITION NOTES ... Carb counters: Omit the potato and substitute additional fennel. Weight Watchers: This is already a 1.5 point supper so perfect for weight-loss and weight-maintenance mode. For a no-fat version, simp

It's too warm for sleds and too cold to garden. So what's a foodie to do except, well, bake? This week's Kitchen Parade column features a luscious banana bread that's oh-so-moist, even though it's made with just one tablespoon of fat. (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

~recipe & photo updated 2010~ 2005 Original: Hmm. So what makes this daikon-carrot combination so average when this Daikon & Pepper Salad was sooo good? Did last week's daikon have better taste or texture than tonight's which had been stored in the frig for a week? Not noticeably. Was last week's first-time-ever daikon new and exciting and tonight's same and humdrum? Not likely. Was it last week's white wine vinegar vs tonight's rice vinegar? Not likely. Was it last week's 1/2 tablespoon of oil vs tonight's no-oil? Not likely. Honestly, the only thing that makes sense is that the TEXTURE of daikon and pepper are a better match than the texture of daikon and carrot. Whatever it is, I'm still very high on daikon. Plus on the nutrition front, this salad is no-fat, low-calorie and low-carb -- so it's good on the healthful dimension. But next time, I'll make the Daikon & and Pepper Salad ! 2010: For a second time, I found th

Do pink 'n' purple peppers seem as foreign and inedible as say, hmmm, vegetarian and vegan cuisine? My new challenge is entice us all -- vegetarians and carnivores alike -- to expand our cooking inspiration into worlds previously unknown. (MeatHenge, I'm talking to you too, you cauliflower fiend , you! If you can eat cauliflower, you can go meatless ONCE in awhile!) How, you ask? Thanks to the kind invitation of Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes , I've joined an all-star team of contributing editors over at BlogHer , the brand-new happenin' place whose simple mission is to build new audiences for women bloggers. (Not just food bloggers, mind you, but Mommy & Family bloggers , Sex & Relationship bloggers , Politics and News bloggers , oh so many bloggers! My fellow editors and I are already busy posting highlights -- check out my posts and all our food and drink posts . And lady bloggers, be sure to check here to claim or add your own blog .) But I do

"The fennel is beyond every other vegetable, delicious. It greatly resembles the largest size celery, perfectly white, and there is no vegetable that equals it in flavor ... indeed I prefer it to every other vegetable, or to any fruit." - Thomas Jefferson, Garden Books (quote source, Vegetarian Celebrations ) Many thanks to NYC photographer Tara Harnad for permission to use her fennel photograph! In February 2006, A Veggie Venture and other food bloggers cooked our fill of fennel! This is a running round-up of the round-the-world fennel dishes we collected, terrific sources of inspiration, one and all! APPETIZERS Bagna Caoda from Cream Puffs in Venice SALADS Butterleaf Salad with Peaches, Grapefruit and Fennel Beautiful too, from Fresh Approach Cooking Fennel, Apple & Clementine Salad Includes detail on how to trim fresh fennel, from ToastPoint Fennel, Orange and Olive Salad from Something in Season Fennel and Cucumber Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressi

Even approaching 300 days (oh my, three HUNDRED days!) of cooking a vegetable in a new way every single day, A Veggie Venture has some holes. A big one -- one I aim to fix NOW -- is fennel. So in February, let's cook some fennel! (Care to join in? Any time during the month, let me know about a fennel post -- either a past post or a current one, even one that just uses fennel seed, since hey! I'm not that picky -- and I'll add it to a running round-up . Send the link via e-mail using akATkitchenHYPHENparadeDOTcom or by leaving a comment!) Tonight's oh-so-simple fennel suffered: it went into the oven with a whole chicken, on the upper rack which turned out to be too far from the heat source at the bottom. When the picture was taken, the fennel was only half done and hmm, let's call it 'chewy'. After another 30 minutes in the oven, it was buttery delicious. NUTRITION NOTES Fennel is high-fiber, low-calorie and low-carb. It's versatile too, great slivered in