Therese Nugent
Order That Turkey, Stat!
If Thanksgiving won’t feel like a holiday to you without a turkey, you’d best get on sourcing the bird asap. Last year, during the...
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Therese Nugent
Oct 9, 20212 min read
Plank Cooking
Cooking food outdoors over an open flame is the oldest form of food preparation known to man. The caveman was using fire out of...
Therese Nugent
Oct 9, 20212 min read
The Perils of Pumpkin Spice
Your pumpkin spice latte addiction may be preventing you from home ownership. Like the Millennials with their daily dependence on avocado...
Therese Nugent
Oct 9, 20212 min read
Fried Green Tomatoes
Mike’s tomato plants are in and growing quite nicely, especially the cherry and pear varieties. Hopefully this year’s crop will continue...
Therese Nugent
Oct 9, 20212 min read
How To Grill A Steak Perfectly Every Time
Cooking food outdoors over an open flame is the oldest form of food preparation known to man. Today, grilling is arguably one of the most...
Therese Nugent
Oct 9, 20213 min read
Because Mom Needs Strawberries in Her Life Right Now
I’ve had my share of grand dreams and lofty aspirations. I’ve been lucky enough to pursue many of those desires. But none more so than my...
Therese Nugent
Apr 3, 20212 min read
It Might As Well Be Spring
As the first daffodils push their way through the cool earth it’s a sure sign that spring has sprung. Just as tender asparagus comes to...
Therese Nugent
Apr 3, 20212 min read
Fresh Dungeness Crab
Finally! Fresh Dungeness crab has arrived! A distinct culinary highlight to a Northern California winter, the Dungeness crab with its...
Therese Nugent
Apr 3, 20212 min read
The Remains of the Day
Some things are unavoidable: death, taxes, and Thanksgiving leftovers. With the absence of spectacular parades, exciting football games...
Therese Nugent
Apr 3, 20212 min read
In Defense of Fruitcake
When’s the last time you saw a fruitcake? Or had the occasion to imbibe? It’s got a bad rap, this much maligned treat. I’m not sure when...
Therese Nugent
Apr 3, 20212 min read
Winter Root Vegetables
They’re not the prettiest produce in the bin but they’re beautiful inside, flavor-wise. Those gnarly, knobby root vegetables, the...
Therese Nugent
Nov 4, 20202 min read
A Ghoulish Affair
Gratefully, rushes of crisp air, cool mornings, and chilly evenings are signaling a change in the season. With the traditional...
Therese Nugent
Oct 5, 20202 min read
The Number One Reason I Still Love My Instant Pot
I rode the outrageous Instant Pot popularity wave with the rest of you. And there was good reason to love it. Not just a glorified slow...
Therese Nugent
Sep 9, 20202 min read
The Secret To the Best Beef Burgers
The carnivore in all of us loves the aroma of beef burgers on the grill. Widely hailed as America’s favorite food, the tastiest hamburger...
Therese Nugent
Aug 14, 20203 min read
How To Make Fresh Mozzarella In 30 Minutes
This is down right dangerous. Knowing how to make fresh mozzarella in less than thirty minutes is a dangerous thing. Knowing at any...
Therese Nugent
Jul 2, 20202 min read
How To Celebrate the Fourth From the Comfort of Your Own Home
The coronavirus outbreak has forced all of us to change the way we celebrate and socialize. Due to shelter-in-place orders, a current ban...
Therese Nugent
May 12, 20202 min read
Trader Joe’s Frozen Cauliflower Gnocchi
Before the novel coronavirus had us hoarding toilet paper, we were stockpiling Trader Joe’s frozen cauliflower gnocchi. Those in the know...
Therese Nugent
Apr 22, 20204 min read
The Top Ten Food Trends That Defined the Past Decade
Decades are defined by their trends, especially in the world of food. Whether it’s due to a product’s excellent advertising and marketing...
Therese Nugent
Dec 11, 20193 min read
Be The Party You Want To Attend In the World - 7 Holiday Hosting Hacks For the Best Party Ever
It’s that time of year again and you’re on the hook to throw one of the many holiday parties popping up now and through the New Year....
Therese Nugent
Sep 9, 20192 min read
Heavenly Peaches
I recently sold a house where the seller was emphatic that the buyers provide the utmost care to the prolific peach tree in the backyard...
Therese Nugent
Sep 9, 20192 min read
Bug Off! Solutions for Keeping Pesky Insects Away
Out of the more than ten quintillion insects on Earth, only five per cent are actually harmful. But as luck would have it, it’s those...
Therese Nugent
Aug 6, 20193 min read
Green Juice
Move over Wheaties, there’s a new champ in town. Green Juice is the new breakfast of champions. It took me awhile but I finally drank the...
Therese Nugent
Jul 9, 20194 min read
Pizza On The Grill
Cooking pizza on the grill. It’s unconventional but it works. Pizza is arguably the most beloved “American” food and grilling our most...
Therese Nugent
Jun 30, 20193 min read
Food, Fun, and Fireworks
It’s not just any ol’ parade, it’s our parade. Antique tractors, floats, and firetrucks circle the Plaza kicking off America’s birthday...
Therese Nugent
Jun 17, 20193 min read
Radishes and Rattlesnakes
If you’re a Sonoma gardener, you know the first things to turn up in the spring garden are radishes and rattlesnakes. I love radishes....
Therese Nugent
Apr 29, 20194 min read
How To Eat An Artichoke
According to iconic San Francisco columnist Herb Caen, “An artichoke is the vegetable for people who love to eat mayonnaise.” Ah, but it...
Therese Nugent
Apr 2, 20191 min read
Cream of Asparagus Soup with Spring Herb Gremolata
This is a true spring treat. The immersion blender has revolutionized for me the ease of preparing pureed soups and the frequency of...
Therese Nugent
Apr 2, 20193 min read
Asparagus - A Sure Sign of Spring
It’s spring. It’s asparagus. The quintessential expression of an awakening season is the appearance of fresh, snappy asparagus spears....
Therese Nugent
Mar 9, 20194 min read
St. Patty’s Day Celebration Dinner
So you think you’re Irish, do you now? It seems everyone joins in celebrating the Irish on what has become a huge international holiday....
Therese Nugent
Feb 1, 20193 min read
A Good Day for Soup
Mmm’ mmm good. Mmm’ mmm good. Who doesn’t remember that jingle? Although the famous canned soups of our childhood may satisfy in a pinch,...
Therese Nugent
Jan 14, 20192 min read
Cioppino—San Francisco’s Classic Seafood Stew
Unique to the northern Pacific coast, fresh Dungeness crab, with its distinctively sweet and tender meat, is a favorite culinary treat...
Therese Nugent
Dec 7, 20182 min read
Loved or Loathed – In Defense of Fruitcake
What’s not to love? Before you protest, you must taste the poor thing. The poor fruitcake, that is. It’s gotten a bad rap, this much...
Therese Nugent
Dec 7, 20183 min read
Dungeness crab season is here – grab your crackers, Sonoma!
No doubt about it, crab season opens and you know the holiday season has officially begun. The enjoyment of Dungeness crab is a distinct...
Therese Nugent
Nov 18, 20182 min read
The Remains of the Day – Thanksgiving Leftovers
Some things are unavoidable: death, taxes, and Thanksgiving leftovers. While the first two are usually unpleasant, leftovers from the...
Therese Nugent
Nov 18, 20183 min read
Let’s Talk Turkey
You’d think we’ve never done it before. It’s Thanksgiving and we all go into a tizzy about cooking the bird. But it wouldn’t be...
Therese Nugent
Nov 15, 20183 min read
Winter Squash for Fall
I didn’t grow up in a log cabin but I was raised in Montana. Avocados and Dry Jack cheese were not found at the corner store. During a...
Therese Nugent
Nov 13, 20183 min read
How Avocado Toast Broke the Internet
By all accounts, a certain generational group is obsessed. With avocado toast, that is. Healthy for you, slightly indulgent, an oh-so...
Therese Nugent
Oct 10, 20186 min read
Sonoma Summer Fruit Desserts
Buckles, slumps, grunts, a dowdy pan and some long lost lady named Betty have somehow worked their way into the lexicon of summer...
Therese Nugent
Aug 19, 20184 min read
The Time Is Ripe
It’s one of life’s simple pleasures, biting into a perfectly ripened tomato. Eaten on the spot and still warm from the sun, a tomato...
Therese Nugent
Aug 19, 20183 min read
Sonoma’s Sensational Strawberries
You know the onset of summer is here when you make the stop at the roadside farm stand in pursuit of just picked strawberries. And oh, so...
Therese Nugent
Aug 19, 20184 min read
Mangoes
Meet Alphonso, Edward, Francis, Haden and Tommy Atkins. Kent and Palmer, too. No, they’re not the Sonoma Stompers squad. These guys are...
Therese Nugent
Aug 19, 20185 min read
Culinary Stars: Olives and Olive Oil
Whether you drizzle it over salad greens or sizzle it for a sauté, olive oil is a magical ingredient. And just as delicious straight from...
Therese Nugent
Jul 29, 20183 min read
The “Ins-n-Outs” of Decoding A Cult Burger
A bogus banner erected at the site of the former Sonoma Truck & Auto Center on Broadway announcing the “future home of In-N-Out” got me...
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