I am hugely fascinated with this book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets. It's a look at a typical day of food for 80 different people across the globe - from American soldier in Iraq (4000 calories) to a Spanish shepherd (3800 calories) to a dagger merchant in Yemen (5800 calories)  to Akbar the Iranian baker above (4900 ...

So this is a momentous day, the very first time Cupcake Monday has appeared on this blog versus its former happykatie blog home.  I won't be moving all of the gazillions of Cupcake Monday content from years gone by, but you can find them here on happykatie quite easily. You'd think that I would be the mom that makes a gazillion ...

Another week, another set of hungry bellies.  The last couple of months have been wicked busy, which means lots of hastily created 'cheater' dinners, some fast food and a few evenings of 'breakfast for dinner' in the most un-sexy terms possible.  Hello, oatmeal, cereal and toast! So we're ramping it up this week with some great farmer's market finds from the ...

I just need to vent here for a second. Whatever lunch lady jerk that decided forcing kids to eat their veggies by serving them disgusting frozen florets should be beaten with a bag of crystallized broccoli.  Most American kids have an early onset of 'oooohhhh <enter vegetable that has been raped and ridiculed by lunchroom preparation here> is groooooss' syndrome.  And ...

Lots of tasty morsels from the blogosphere this week, let me help you whet your appetite: Delicious slideshow with step-by-step instructions on making your own compound butter (yes, please) Bread nerd and dough master Jim Lahey reviews the new Domino's pizza (product of the 'pizza industrial complex) Love this Foodista wrap-up post of 14 single-topic blogs Tattoos + chefs = AWWW YEAH.  Check out ...

Simple is best - and it doesn't get much more simple than a dang wooden spoon.  Cursed by a kitchen with cheap (and disintegrating) Ikea wooden spoons, we're going BIG TIME now, baby. This weekend's trip to the Bayou City Art Festival brought us sunshine (and a special bonus mild sunburn for me, of course - hello pasty Irish skin) and ...

A few weeks ago I had another one of those long, long work days that left me absolutely obliterated and starving for something warm and comfy in the my belly.  I had a bag full of giant mushroom caps and a hankering for pasta, so this ridiculously easy Hungarian Mushroom Paprikash was the perfect, quick-to-fix fit. One thing I would like ...

Woe is me.  I had some new recipes and adventurous ingredients in line for this week's menu, but post-holiday finances sometimes have a sizable impact on what comes out of our kitchen. This was one of those weeks where the 'extra stuff' (like  homemade bouillion and delicious Tempero Miniero) will just have to wait a few days.  Behold, the pared down version ...

Imagine your world had you never discovered the magic of Frosties and french fries at Wendy's.  Or strawberries on salads with lots of black pepper.  Or, in our house, peanut butter, spicy garlic chili sauce, tomato juice and kale.  Nom. Life is full of interesting flavors and combination potential.  That's what makes the world great, right!?  :) Tastebuddi.es is a fun and ...

An essential part of my love and devotion to all things edible is more on a visual level than any other sensory experience.  Fresh produce is gorgeous.  Cooked dishes and baked goods are lovely.  I am FAR more likely to attempt a tricky recipe if there's a photo accompanying it just on the fact that I like the visual throwdown ...