Do you ever come up with an incredible recipe idea that you just HAVE to share with the rest of the world, so you create it and you photograph it and everything is perfect, but right before you post you realize that the photos of the delicious dish are all terrible? And no matter how
Kid-approved
Lemon Curd Almond Sandwich Cookies (grain & gluten-free)
I love Sundays! No gym in the morning, no after-school activities to schlep my kids to. Zero commitments… On Sundays, it is ME time from the moment I wake up! I spend most of my ME time either in the kitchen or the art room… Concocting extravagant breakfasts, making cards and jewelry, painting, sketching, photographing
Low-Carb Paleo Bread
My daughter spent 3 weeks at a sleep-away camp and came back home with lots of beautiful memories and one major stomach upset! After weeks of listening to her camp stories and trying to get her stomach issues under control, it was time for a more aggressive medical intervention. So, in a blink of an
Cultured Cream Feta
I love getting out of my bubble, traveling the world: learning new cultures, enjoying different experiences, feeling alive. My favorite part about traveling, though, is trying new cuisines and then bringing home ideas for future recipes. An idea for this post came out of the airport in Romania. My first time in the business class lounge,
Coconut Milk Kefir
If there’s one food I’ve missed since starting my newest diet, it’s Kefir. The last time I got to enjoy it was during the summer of 2015 at Pine Mountain Lake—the same time I came to accept that the delicious dairy beverage would never touch my lips again. My stomach had been flaring up each
Baba Ganoush
After living in our Foster City home for over 11 years, we have finally decided to remodel our kitchen! In just a few months, I’ll be stirring a pot of Swiss Chard stew atop my brand new stove. And storing Sesame Salmon Balls inside a brand new fridge. Toasting Spicy Coconut Chips inside a brand new
Spicy Coconut Chips
I am all for trying new recipes that are high in good fats. Because when you do not eat carbs, you need to raise your fat intake. And coconut, being so low in polyunsaturated fat and high in antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties, is really my most preferred source of that good-quality fat. That is
Sesame Salmon Balls With Ginger Tahini Sauce + GIVEAWAY
Wow! My first lowcarb Chanukah celebration! Wait, isn’t that an oxymoron – a low-carb Chanukah? A holiday that is traditionally carb galore: Potato Latkes, noodle kugel, jelly donuts. Yes, there is also a brisket somewhere there as well, but it is the carbs that take the center stage. Well, this year, I was forced to
Roasted Sesame Peas
Out of all the seasons, my favorite would have to be fall. I love everything about it—from the first prayers of the Jewish High Holidays in September, to the last piece of turkey at Thanksgiving, with many birthday celebrations in between. Lots of entertaining, cooking, and more importantly, laughing. The days slowly shorten, shedding minutes
Oil-Free Paleo Pesto Zucchini Noodles
I’m the type of girl that shies away from trends. For example, way back when every girlfriend of mine was in love with Brad Pitt, I fancied Angelina Jolie. And when everyone was getting diamond earrings for their birthdays, I was psyched about my new shiny design books. So when the whole world went zoodle-crazy,
Vegetarian Tortilla Soup – My Way
In our house, I am defiantly the obsessive health advocate. The person who keeps her kids from spending their lives in front of a computer, with a bowl of something carby, greasy or processed. But the truth is that everyone, even those of us hell-bent on staying healthy, has at least one guilty pleasure. Mine
Lightest Hummus on Earth
I’ve been on a path to heal my achy gut this past year. I’ve tried many different approaches, but none have produced any good (or shall I say “gut”) results. The newest one is all about eliminating foods high in insoluble fiber, which is pretty challenging for someone who’s had a love affair with chia
Peruvian Quinoa Tortilla
I’m about to call it quits! It all started with my husband. He waited until our wedding to casually inform me that he eats kosher. That sent me for a spin, as I really liked my seafood and pepperoni pizza. Then my son was diagnosed with food allergies soon after he was born. So our
Kvass
It was one of those warm middle-of-California-summer nights in a tiny lakeside town near Yosemite. You know, the type where you don’t feel like doing anything but don’t really feel like doing nothing either, so you just kinda slowly walk around in this hazy fog of dehydrated confusion. We were spending a week by the
Brussels Sprouts Chips
I once ordered a side of Brussels Sprouts chips in a little restaurant in Guerneville. They were fried, salty and so SO good! Definitely not something I would attempt to make at home! (I said to myself as I left the restaurant.) Definitely something I tried making minutes after I pulled into the driveway! And my
Chia Cheese Crisps
Now that the first Seder is just behind us and the Matza supply is on the verge of depletion, it is time to spice things up for the rest of the Passover! Lets start with Chia Cheese Crisps. 2 ingredients; endless possibilities. This is yet another one of those Cucee Originals, like the Grilled Cheese Egg and
German Pancake
We were in the hot and windy desert of Palm Springs when we visited a diner for breakfast. On the menu, there was an unfamiliar specialty item, a German Pancake. Now here are some facts for you Fact #1: No news to you, breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day. Fact #2: I
Sage Gnudi & New Site Design
“If clouds were made of cheese, and naughty, they’d be gnudi.“ Serious Eats This year is off to a good start for Cucee! First and foremost, my blog has been redesigned! Personally, I’ve always liked the design of CuceeSprouts. But ever since the web world went “Mobile First”, my blog started exhibiting early signs of
Tarragon Lemon Summer Squash Soup
Everyone has at least ONE vegetable they CANNOT stand. For whichever reason that may be… For some, it’s that “healthy” vegetable they were force-fed as a child; for others, it is the one they’ve overdone on at some point in life! As for me – that evil cadevil is celery (don’t ask!) For my husband
Poppy Seed Cake
This cake is like a little black dress: you can dress it up or down. A nice thick slice with a cup ‘o’ tea on a weekday morning. Or a thinner toasted slice, with a dollop of coconut whipped cream and handful of sliced strawberries on a weekend – with a glass of sweet bubbly. Deborah
Strawberries in Minted Honey Syrup
I start my day with a hot cup of Peet’s. Every day. I sip on freshly squeezed lemonade with my kids on the warm summer afternoons. Or bubbly Pellegrino. I drink red wine (the bolder variety) at dinner on non-gym nights, or with friends on weekends. Sometimes on gym nights as well. I reach for
Black Swan Pavlova
My life is full of meringue memories. Slow Sunday mornings, no school, my favorite childhood TV program on, a plate of freshly baked snow-white vanilla meringues next to whichever fruit is in season. Sheer happiness. 11 years old. My friends crowding over a cassette player I just received from my “American” grandma, listening to the
Homemade Matzo
My kitchen often feels like a chemistry lab: bottles of acid, cans of base, containers of coloring agents… Almost like back in college except that I enjoy my home lab a lot more. This new kitchen experiment is pretty basic. Mix flour, water and oil, roll out the dough, rush into the oven and…. try
White on White: Cauliflower Soufflé
Happy 2014! May this year bring you a lot of cauliflower, wheat berries, and chocolate! Cooking is an art form. And as with any art, it takes time to master. First, you learn the skill by copying someone else’s perfection. Recipe after recipe. You learn to broil, cream, and season. You practice until, finally, you close
Homemade Vanilla Extract
The following recipe is a no-brainer and only consists of three simple ingredients Vanilla beans Vodka Patience But it produces One very potent vanilla extract and Lots of sweetness and laughter My little girl, an older child, a dreamer, a Taylor Swift fan, came home from school, dropped her bag by the door, gave
New York-Style Bagel
This was my second time visiting Seattle. The design conference was over. The weather was dry. My friend was in town. And I had enough of the city. A trip to Mt. Reiner was overdue. We rented a car for a day, picked up a bag of gourmet bagels and drove through the snowy landscapes
Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango
As a child, I did not really like geography. I liked poetry and art… Photography… Even math… But not geography. And geography didn’t like me! From cartography and paleogeography to geomorphology and physiography, they all treated me with a contemptuous superiority complex. But it was the political geography, with its locations on the map, names
The Best (though not the healthiest) Chocolate Chip Cookie
If you were a cookie what kind would you be? I would be a maple chocolate chip cookie. Crispy on the edges, soft and chewy in the middle – with pockets of soft chocolate in every bite. A sweet cookie, with just enough saltiness for contrast. An aesthetically pleasing cookie. A creative cookie – with
Grilled Cheese Egg
Ah, the beauty of camping: simplicity, tranquility, nature. Having all the devices turned off, cookbooks stashed away. The smell of fresh summer air and grilled meat, fire-roasted potatoes, s’mores. No disturbances from the outside world, no interruptions, just you being one with nature. This is what I’ve known camping to be. My last camping trip was
Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
My recent lack of motivation has forced me to take a break from cooking and Cuceeing. In the last few months, the only meals I have been putting on the dinner table were healthier-than-takeout, getting-rid-of-spoiling-ingredients, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink meals. But as the holiday season approached, my culinary ego went into an assertive state and forced my creative
Algerian Tomato Soup
I was blasting down a steep windy trail over the rock gardens and roots – rocks ricocheting off of my shiny, barely used Target “tricycle.” I was holding on for dear life, in fact so tight that my hands were starting to go numb and turn white from gripping the brakes too tightly. As I
An unconventional latke
Here is what makes me Jewish: My naturally curly hair My non-athletic children My hefty Yiddish vocabulary (go ahead, test me!) My extensive collection of latkes recipes Speaking of latkes recipes, this particular one is new, and a fun addition to my Hanukkah repertoire. A little unorthodox potato pancake that defies all laws of gravity
Crêpe Napoleon
Last week, on my way to work, I got startled by GENi‘s email announcement of my hubby’s approaching birthday. Four Zero! Gotto tell you, seeing such a mind blowing number next to my man’s name was pretty surreal! My man was abut to turn 40!!! That baby-faced boy, that I met as a teenager, is soon to celebrate
Gypsy soup
I have been living without a range for a whole month! My old range had been sending me death signals for over a year but I kept deliberately ignoring them, just like I ignore any other sign of problems in my life. (I know, I know… not the best coping strategy, but it has worked
Red Pepper Soup
Work life balance no more. I had been the only designer at a small internet startup for years… until the Big Bang explosion of success had happened and the company began expanding like a mushroom cloud. In what feels like a blink, my design department grew to 5-people, with 3 more open recs, and I
Russian gazpacho Okroshka (окрошка)
Odessa, Ukraine. My husband and I are dressed to go out. Dinner, then a nightclub at a beach. A coral dress and blue heels for me. Hair down. A gray v-neck and faded jeans for the hubby. Leather wrap bracelets. It is Saturday night, the air is warm and smells of summer. It is
Crunchy Granola Cups
Is it very obvious that my family considers first meal of the day their favorite? Even with all of the breakfast recipes that I have up my sleeve (Almond Butter Smoothies, Pear Honey Pocket, Baked Oatmeal, Breakfast Polenta, Granola among many others) the demand for additional ideas simply refuses to taper off. So, every week or so, I keep coming up
Blueberry Almond Breakfast Polenta
Last Friday marked the beginning of Passover. Oats, buckwheat and wheat berries have been purposely stashed away; quinoa, cornmeal and amaranth made their way to the table. I have gotten pretty creative with the chametz-free lunches and dinners but breakfast has always been a Passover challenge for me, mainly because there are only so many
Swiss Chard and Potato Stew
After years of resistance, my husband and I have finally booked our next trip oversees. A trip that has been long overdue. A trip, frequently considered but always postponed until the next year. A trip too emotional to imagine or to plan. Vacation request forms have been submitted and approved; we are going back “home”!
Black-Eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes
“What would you like, Ma-am?” a flight attendant smiled at me as she parked her cart by row 3, my row for the next 6 hours. Hm, what would I like? I would like a long relaxing massage. A day all to myself with plenty of time to devote to a new complicated recipe and
Caramelized Onions & Mushroom Bake
My 6-year-old son has been known to forget. No, he does not have ADD or ADHD, or any other abbreviated disorder. He is just a happy kid with a condition that I call “selective forgetfulness.” He clearly always remembers: to ask for a desert after dinner, e-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e d-a-y to leave a trail of