Blog Posts from Alicia Ross
Here are blog posts from Alicia. You can also find out more about Alicia in her bio.
Should your home office go in your bedroom?
Should your home office go in your bedroom? Alicia says NO!
Rearranging your life changes the furniture around, too
Do you rearrange your furniture? Alicia contemplates her new digs and a different design.
This BLT dip has all the flavors of my favorite sandwich
After having this dip at a party, Alicia just had to have the recipe. It's fantastic!
Alicia's Favorite Juicer
Alicia turns to an antique juicer to get the best results.
Guatemalan-Style Rice is a hit at my house
Here's one of Alicia's favorite go-to side dishes.
My Garden to Go
Hoping to sell her house, Alicia planted a garden that will move with her.
Sun Ripened Tomatoes are Here!
Finally summers' tomatoes have arrived!
Before the Strawberries are Gone
Fresh local Strawberries come only once a year. Alicia has one last recipe before they are gone.
Alicia's CSA experience - Chapter 1
Alicia shares her organic farm Community Shared Agriculture experience.
Does potato salad belong in Greek Salad? Let's Dish!
A traditional Greek salad does not include potato salad. But try it, you'll like it! Readers weigh in.
Grandma Gayle’s Peanut Butter Cookies: Amazing!
It’s a lucky kid whose visits to Grandma come with cookies -- especially Grandma Gayle’s!
Are you a food watcher or a food doer? Is it a cop out?
With the ability to watch cooking on TV around the clock, are people more educated about cooking? Or have we become a bunch of food watchers and not doers?
Empty Nest, Empty House? How do I unload this thing?!
As many empty nesters do, I’m downsizing. The four-bedroom house I have lived in for the past 12 years is way to big for just me and two dogs.
How do you sharpen knives? Do-it-yourself or turn to the pros?
Years ago, I went to a little mom and pop hardware store that sharpened tools and knives in the back. Unfortunately, they went out of business. So I’m on the hunt for a new place to sharpen my knives.
Mindful eating and fun activity is the best way to stay fit
As we age, our bodies change. How are you going to deal with it?
Still trying to find that perfect travel mug!
I'm still looking for the ultimate, perfect coffee travel mug. This one comes pretty close!
Earth Day: What minor thing are you doing to make a major difference?
In honor of Earth Day, what will you do to make a small, but important difference?
Photo Gallery - Pillsbury Bake-Off wrap up
An inside glance in photos of the exciting 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off.
Photo of the week - Pillsbury Dough Boy
We were thrilled to have our picture made with the Pillsbury Dough Boy at the 44th Pillsbury Bake Off in Orlando, FL this week. The $1 million winner will be announced on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Wednesday.Photo of the week - Signs of Spring
Photo of the Week, Signs of spring 2010.Plenty of TV drama spices up Jamie Oliver's new show
What did you think of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's show on trying to help one West Virginia community eat more healthy food?
A vegetarian minestrone soup that everyone can enjoy
Being a vegetarian in a carnivorous family isn't always easy. Alicia cooks up a soup to help her sis-in-law!
Photo of the week - Mountain Sunset and Moonrise
Photos of the week. Last week we were at the coast and so we headed to the mountains for this week's photo.
Making biscuits with Maw Maw started a lifelong kitchen tradition
These rustic sweet biscuits are easy to make and the ingredients are usually on hand.
Calamata Olive Pits hard on the teeth!
Alicia bites down on a not-so-pitted olive and ends up in the dentist chair.
Photo of the week - Intracoastal Waterway sunset
Photo of the Week- Intracoastal Waterway Sunset, NCThe Essential Chef’s Knife: Invest in a good one!
No cook, desperate or not, should be without the perfect chef's knife.
Love a Margarita? You've gotta try these!
Whether you love a margarita or would rather pass, you have to try these amazing drinks.Photo of the week - Billy Beer
Do you remember Billy Beer?
Mollie Katzen's homemade pizza made easy even for a weeknight!
The drawback to homemade pizza crust is the time it takes the dough to rise. The good news is Mollie Katzen's crust freezes and can defrost on the counter to be baked when you get home.
Photo of the week - Bottles
This week's photo.Photo of the week - Volunteers
This week's photo.
Not measuring your flour correctly will ruin your cookies!
After a few readers had difficulty with Nanny Edith's Sugar Cookies, we thought this video could help with the problems.
Photo of the week - Rainbows in Waves
This week's photo was taken at Manhattan Beach, CA
Desperate Cooks Freeze Their Cheese!
Freezing your cheese means you never have to throw away huge moldy hunks of expensive cheese.
What are you serving for the Super Bowl and where will you watch?
A little Saints, a little Stuffed Potato Skins makes the perfect Super Super Bowl combo for Alicia!
Desperately seeking the perfect travel mug: Is this too much to ask?
Alicia needs a new travel mug and can’t find one. She's hoping that you all can help.
Black-eyed Pea Salad brings good luck and great flavor!
Black-eyed Pea Salad is hearty enough to make an entree for New Year’s lunch or serves as a suitable side dish. And everybody likes it.
What’s your favorite junk food?
What's your secret craving -- the thing you can’t do without? Mine has to be Krispy Kreme donuts, but only when they are hot off the line!
Old songs stuck in my head!
What songs get stuck in your head and why?
Six-Minute Cranberry-Orange Relish: Close to grandmother’s without all the work!
Six-Minute Cranberry-Orange Relish is close to my grandmother’s original relish yet only requires, literally, six minutes start to finish. Compromise never tasted so good.
Thanksgiving imperfection? Tell us about your favorite T-Day disaster!
Alicia fesses up to her biggest Thanksgiving Day disaster, so now, what was yours?!
Come have "Coffee and Convo" with Alicia and tell us what's on your mind!
Starting today, we’re creating a new blog category exclusively for Alicia and the kinds of things you talk about with friends over coffee. It's call, appropriately, Coffee and Convo with Alicia!
Rain can't completely cancel the California Walnut Harvest!
When Alicia got invited to the annual walnut harvest, she was pretty excited to be heading to sunny California in October. Who doesn’t love California at harvest time?
How walnuts get from the tree to you: A photo tour
Alicia toured California walnut orchards and processing plants to discover how the nutritious little nuggets get to her kitchen. Here's a photo tour!
Handy peeler puts a spin on cooking with apples
Alicia says it’s worth using an apple peeler when she has to peel, core and slice more than three apples. Here are her pros and cons!
Halloween Yes or Halloween No? What's it like at your house?
Is Halloween a yes or no at your house? Alicia wants to know...
For me, food is social. How about for you?
For Alicia, sharing food is, and always has been, about fellowship. To sit at the kitchen table… by myself… and just eat… with no conversation… it steals all the joy.
What's your favorite cooking show? Top Chef is tops with me!
What's you favorite television cooking show? Alicia's hooked on Top Chef ...
Alicia's favorite authentic guacamole is simple and easy, but is it the best?
There are probably as many recipes for guacamole as there are people who love this Mexican specialty. Here's Alicia's favorite recipe.
So, how many figs can you get from a 99-cent plant? Just don't laugh!
Backyard figs bring fun all summer long.
How to substitute fresh oregano for dried
Simple instructions and ideas for substituting fresh oregano for dried oregano.
Home can be the best cooking school
Every time one of my girls talks about cooking, people ask me where they took cooking lessons. The answer is simple: at home.
Good Morning America Grills on the Sidewalk!
Fourth of July usually means you are going to grill. Some years that can happen in the oddest places on Earth. Probably the most fantastic (or oddest) place I have ever grilled is the sidewalk outside the studios of Good Morning America.
Making great gazpacho
I crave cold soups in the summer. Nothing is more refreshing than a bowl of crisp, cool vegetables in a robust soup base. However, cold soup is not an easy sell to my family. It can be downright hard in fact. So here’s what I did:
Restaurant dining alone: Great or Grueling?
Do you ever dine in restaurants alone? Alicia had always avoided it and yet recently found herself at a pub in downtown Richmond, alone for the afternoon. It was glorious.
What's in the kitchen floor says a lot about the cook?
What’s on my kitchen floor ... I used to have to step over toddlers and toys. Now it’s just my dog, Zoe, and me in the kitchen….
Kids in the kitchen make happy memories!
Ever since the kids were small, they have helped me cook. When Hannah was 4, I taught her how to make coffee. Tell us about your kids and what they help you do in the kitchen.
The Center System Organizes the Kitchen
Everything I ever needed to know about organizing my kitchen I learned from kindergarten.
Be Brave in the Kitchen
Cooking at home is still the most economical way to feed your family. We know this, we wrote a whole book on it. But the fact remains that if you are not willing to be brave in the kitchen, you’re going to go nowhere and do nothing. But you still have to feed your family.
Immersion blender is Alicia's new favorite tool
I’ve got a new favorite kitchen tool. It’s an immersion blender, also known as a stick blender or hand blender. Basically it’s a blender you put into the food instead of the food into the blender. And it’s perfect for pureeing soups as well as mixing drinks, blending individual milk shakes and more.
I Still Cook Large
When the kids leave home the old recipes just make too much. We're looking for solutions to "cooking large"...
Making space in a cramped kitchen
If your kitchen is big enough to hold a barn dance or no bigger than a broom closet, you'll never have enough space. Here are some tricks.
Disconnecting from Being So Connected
If work and personal time blend as experts predict, it may allow flexibility but when are we going to get the time to disconnect?
Snow Day Pulls Out the Pantry
Quick pantry items to have on hand for snow days (or any desperate day, really!)
