Now that farmers' markets are fully stocked and hot weather is creeping up on us, I'll be kissing my oven goodbye and putting it to sleep for a few months. I don't know about you, but it costs us an arm and a leg to pump the A/C into our apartment enough that I don't faint from oversweating; the last thing I want to do is make it harder for our little cooling engine that couldn't. So long as I can hack it, I'll be making salads regularly. Summer's produce is fresh, juicy, flavorful, and tasty without any heat applied. Why make stew when tomatoes are perfect, yes perfect, with just some olive oil and salt? And when I'm making salads, I'm using avocados in almost every one of them.

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If you love Passover, close your ears for a second…
YAAAYYY it's done! we can eat bread again!

Ok. It's out of my system.

Linzer Sables are fantastic. The fact that they involve water, flour, and a nice long baking time is just icing on the cake. I've always loved Linzer Torte — that fantastically dense and buttery torte made of almond flour and filled with black raspberry jam — and these cookies share those rich, buttery, nutty flavors, but they're lighter, crispy, and compact. They've also got a fair amount of spice, and I like to add some orange zest, which I find really binds the flavors together. If you've got a scalloped cookie cutter, use it to make these cookies look more decorative (and sprinkle them with confectioners sugar for some extra zing.)

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Because it's Passover, and my fridge is completely empty, save for two trays of leftover chicken and a huge bag of chocolate chip cookies and marshmallow brownies graciously donated care-packaged by D's family. Thank heavens, we won't starve. But I'll be hiding out in my cave until Passover is over, at which point I promise more delicious treats and recipes. Hang in there!

It's that time of year again, folks…the time when desserts all begin "flourless…"
To ease the pain of a cookie-less cake-less week, I'll share a fantastic post by awesome blogger Deb over at Smitten Kitchen. She offers 17 dessert ideas for Passover — let's face it, who ever knew there were even that many possibilities? — and they all look completely scrumptious. Go on, have a look!

Meanwhile, if you're still itching for ideas, be sure to check out Susie Fishbein's new cookbook, Passover by Design — you can buy it straight from here by clicking the picture in the sidebar right next to this post. I've already given three as pesach/seder presents, and have made three balebustas very happy. Have a wonderful holiday!

When it comes to brownies, everyone has his or her preference. Some prefer cakey (though god knows why), others prefer raw, yet others favor the fudgey dense sort — there's a recipe for everyone. I even know someone who made a habit of mixing up two full batches each time she made brownies: one to bake, and one to eat raw, straight from the mixing bowl. If that's not enough to make your stomach turn, I don't know what is.
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