I travel a lot for work. A favorite ritual after each trip is to try and bring some of the new flavors back to our table in Haiti. In a small way, it makes these long trips and hard-to-imagine places a little more understandable for our two curious toddlers. This Lebanese Inspired Cucumber & Tomato Salad has been an often requested favorite of Rebecca and the kids since my travels to Lebanon in February.

Lebanon is stunning and amazingly complex for such a small country. The cuisine of Lebanon, like the country itself, sits at the intersection of many major cultural currents. This vibrant salad is my take on the refreshing salads I ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. The ingredients are simple but the result is surprisingly complex, a bright and versatile salad with tangy herb flavor. This salad can be eaten as a main, as a side, wrapped in fresh warm pita bread, or as an accompaniment to grilled meat or cheese. Note that this recipe uses green zatar spice which can be found online, most Middle Eastern groceries, and surprisingly even in Port-au-Prince, Haiti due the large number of a Lebanese and Syrian diaspora in Haiti.

If you are following Haitian news, you may have seen that the country is currently in political crisis; with violent and unpredictable protests shutting down normal life and movement. For our family, this has meant that we are in day eight of sheltering-in-place at our home in Port-au-Prince with our two little kids. We are safe, grateful, and praying for a peaceful resolution soon. As we pass the time and try to keep everyone’s moods up, and without access to stores or markets, we are digging deep into creative kid-friendly back-of-the-pantry cooking. Thanks to a recent family visitor’s gifts of dried blueberries and various breakfast grains, we were in luck. This morning’s raging success…Blueberry Coconut Baked Scottish Oats! This easy and adaptable dish is hearty, moist, delicious, nutty, and not too sweet. The Scottish oats and coconut give it a more chewy, dense, and moist texture. The kids were in heaven. And as parents…we earned 45 minutes of sweet, sweet peace and quiet together as they contentedly marched around our courtyard singing and stuffing their faces. So even if you don’t find yourself stuck at home for an 8th day of protests, consider this pantry-inspired take on classic baked oatmeal.

A Caribbean flu hit our household in Haiti this week. First Paul, then me, now the kids. Sigh. During times of illness, my go-to comfort food is the reassuringly simple, cool, and refreshing cucumber. Cucumbers are my vegetable equivalent of chicken soup. As I gradually felt better throughout the week, my cucumber salads became more elaborate and flavorful. This Crisp Thai Cucumber & Peanut Salad, a Thai-inspired riff, is crunchy, sour,  and salty, with a hint of coconut sweetness.

Blondies, for those of you unfamiliar, are a brilliant dessert creation that takes a chocolate chip cookie, and mashes it into bar form, reminiscent of its brownie cousin. My Mom made blondies for us growing up, and they have remained a key dessert on my easy-and-failsafe shortlist; requiring only that you dump ingredients into one bowl, mix, add in some treats, and bake. These Rich and Salty Coconut Blondies are a densely gooey treat. As many of our North American readers have cool temperatures this long weekend, consider firing up your oven to bake these decadent Rich and Salty Coconut Blondies.

Gideon just crested his second week of life, and we are happily adjusting to the logistical maneuverings of being a newly minted family of four. We have tried to eat most meals together as a family with Madeline, and now little Gideon has been joining us. As Madeline holds court from her highchair, swinging her legs and filling her cheeks to capacity, her little brother sleeps soundly in middle of the table. Recently, I have found myself craving sandwiches, and their one-handed portability is especially great for multi-tasking with small kids. This week, with my father-in-law's delicious barbecue chicken and some classic Waldorf ingredients in the fridge, I decided to make my own non-traditional version of a Summer Chicken Waldorf Salad. I started with a classic base: chicken, celery, grapes, and apples. Fresh produce from a nearby farmstand inspired some summery additions; a smattering of blueberries, fresh sweet corn on the cob, and parsley. I cut the thick mayonnaise base of a traditional Waldorf dressing with greek yogurt and seasoned the salad before pouring over the dressing with extra lemon for brightness.

Paul and I started dating 12 years ago, and quickly found that we had some pretty distinct food preferences. At the time, I professed to hate red meat, Paul loved it. I obsessed over salty briney flavors, which caused Paul to shudder. Time has made converts of us both. In fact, one of the first things I craved on a trip back to to North America from Haiti was a perfectly grilled steak. Paul's tastes have changed as well. Half a dozen years ago, when I first started making tangy sauce gribiche, I was on my own eating it. No longer. We like to make a big pile of asparagus and slather on this winning mustardy, eggy, French sauce gribiche. For the French cooking enthusiasts out there, I will note that this is my own, non-traditional version of the classic sauce gribiche.

We've tried to expose Madeline to a wide taste palette, including some foods that kids find tough to love, like fish. In Haiti, her favorite fish dish is pan fried local Woz fish with a key lime butter sauce. While back in North America, we have adapted Madeline's favorite fish recipe, and make this Simple Lemon Butter Salmon. Madeline likes this Lemon Butter Salmon so much her hands shake with enthusiasm in between bites, and quite frankly, we adults aren't too far behind her! 

Despite living in the city, our small courtyard here is full of life. We have mango, coconut, key lime, sour orange, moringa, and papaya trees, a small herb garden with lemon grass, chives, and basil, and maybe, most importantly, two chickens. For me, having a daily source of beautiful backyard eggs is hard to beat. Since Madeline is an early riser, she and I often go out just as the dawn is breaking and collect fresh eggs for breakfast. Madeline knows what comes next and will crawl excitedly across the kitchen floor to her high-chair and stand babbling waiting for her breakfast to be ready (often two scrambled eggs and fresh fruit). These Lemon and Parmesan Scrambled eggs are quick and easy to make and packed with flavor. The generous parmesan adds richness and umami, while the lemon brightens up the dish and gives it a light tropical spin.

November means fall back home; the smell of mulled cider, pumpkin picking, and trick-or-treating. Feeling nostalgic for the tastes and colors of fall, while sweating in the 90s here in Haiti, we created a Caribbean-fall dessert, Easy Guava Jam Bars. These easy to make, and addictive bars combine the warm spices of cinnamon and allspice with the tropical sweetness of fresh guava jam. It is a stunning match of tart bright guava enveloped in a warmly spiced buttery crumble.

If you've never tried an arepa before, you have been missing out. Arepas are to South America, what tortillas are to Central America and Mexico; a simple, easy to make, and yet ridiculously delicious corn-based staple and platform for creativity. These arepas are in a more Venezuelan style, a little more rounded and thick, and cooked primarily on the stove-top. This week we have been topping our arepas with Recado and Lime Braised Chicken, fresh avocado slices, and our Mexican Quick Pickled Red Onions. These arepas are also great with Paul's Yucatán Citrus Pulled Pork. 

Here in Haiti, we are entering hurricane season, which often brings fronts of cool air and cloudy weather (just enough to trigger memories of cozy fall days further north). Back home, in Pittsburgh, the first tastes of fall are just around the corner. The summer's bounty of fresh veggies is still going strong, but the hint of cooler weather here has gotten us thinking about warm and satisfying comfort foods. This Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce is perfect for this in-between season: a fool-proof sauce packed with the bright fresh flavors of summer tomatoes, but warm, buttery, and comforting at the same time. This is hands down my favorite tomato sauce. Whether you're looking for a quick and easy, kid-friendly tomato sauce for pasta, or a rich and simple sauce that lets your summer tomatoes shine, this is the sauce for you.

On my way home from work yesterday, I passed a market woman, machann, with a pile of large green skinned avocados spread out in front of her. My bag of ripe avocados in hand, I mulled over dinner the rest of the way home. Later that night, Paul and I munched on a buttery and crisp Avocado Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Lime Sauce under our mango tree as we waited for cooler evening breezes to arrive. 

Rebecca and I are coming up on 8 years of marriage. Crazy, I know. This week's sweltering and humid weather here in Haiti had me thinking back to our engagement in Thailand. In particular, I was remembering one late evening walk through a night market in Bangkok, snacking on delicious street foods as we talked about what a life together would look like. One stand was serving grilled chicken in an addictive, slightly sweet peanut curry sauce. Maybe it was just the romance of the moment, but that flavor combo has stuck with us, and it's one we find ourselves coming back to in the heat of summer. These Quick Thai Curry Drumsticks are simple, quick, and perfect for a hot summer evening. 

We are both great lovers of butter in all its forms. Since butter is a luxury product in Haiti running around $12 a pound, we feel like it deserves special treatment and the addition of roasted garlic and the warm, sweetly spiced, and earthy flavors Yucatán Spice Rub, Xac, takes things to a whole different level. In this flavorful butter, a base of roasted garlic is mixed with the pungent flavors of Mexican cinnamon, oregano, allspice, pepper, cloves, bay and cumin. Slather this on garlic bread, meat, fish, roasted vegetables...we haven't found a medium yet that doesn't benefit from this punchy butter.

Sometimes in the dead of winter, cooking needs a little extra oomph. Yucatán Dry Spice Rub, Xak, fits the bill. With a few minutes of work, your kitchen will soon be filled with warm, sweetly spiced, and earthy flavors. This easy and versatile spice rub stores well and provides a unique flavor boost to pork, poultry, fish, soups, veggies, or even garlic butter. Stay tuned for great new recipes in the next two weeks featuring Yucatán Dry Spice Rub to get you started. This spice rub recipe was inspired by Daniel Hoyer's book of Mayan cuisine. 

Thanks for following along with our new adventures! We recently moved from Pittsburgh to Haiti where we are starting a 5 year volunteer assignment with a non-profit relief and development organization. We will be in transition for the next few months as we complete our in-country orientation, language study, spend time living with host families in both the countryside and capital... and lest we forget, have our first baby somewhere in there as well! Please bear with us as we will not have ready access to internet or a kitchen throughout this time. We will continue to share new recipes that we've prepared in advance, and updates on our new life in Haiti as often as we are able.

Even before I became pregnant, I was no stranger to food cravings, but looking back, pregnancy has taken me down some odd paths. There was the stage at the beginning, when in between bouts of vomiting, I madly craved salty, tangy and pickled foods. For a while I ate lentil salad with tangy vinaigrette and feta for breakfast every morning. Luckily, the intensity of my craving passed before I fully pickled our baby. In the second trimester, my cravings swung towards tex-mex, and sour-cream became the condiment of choice on everything. Mid pregnancy was notable for my lack of interest in dessert, with an occasional craving for canned peaches. Thankfully for my health, this third trimester has brought a renewed love of fresh fruits and veggies. So while I recognize that this Spinach, Strawberry & Avocado Salad is in no way seasonal, I have happily scarfed it for lunch and sometimes dinner for the month leading up to our departure to Haiti. I like the contrast of crisp spinach, sweet strawberries, creamy avocado nestled beside tangy goat cheese, toasted pecans, and topped with a balsamic vinaigrette.

With Thanksgiving past, our departure date is just 2 days away. This last month we've had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends and saying goodbye. Now, our belongings are safely tucked away in storage for the next 5 years, our house and cars are sold, and we have some pretty enormous duffel bags sitting packed at the foot of our bed. Last night we completed the last item on our Haiti-bound check-list, and stayed up late chatting excitedly about the new things to come; a baby, learning a new culture, cuisine, language and job, traveling, hosting friends and family. Life feels pretty vast right now!

Lest we digress too long from the ever important topic of food, and with a mind to Thanksgiving leftovers, we're sharing our favorite spunky and updated curried turkey salad today. This is a vibrant and flavorful recipe Paul has been perfecting for the past year, and a delicious lunch as you laze around after the holiday. Think of this recipe as a guide, and freestyle with whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand.

Brussels sprouts are a miniature member of the cabbage family that has seen a well deserved rise in popularity in recent years; with restaurants now featuring dishes ranging from Brussels sprouts brushcetta, Brussels grilled cheese, raw Brussels slaw, to charred Brussels pizza. As with all cabbage relatives, we particularly love our Brussels cooked at high heat with punchy accents of garlic, vinegar, salt, and bacon. Brussels Sprouts With Bacon is simple and delicious; a perfect fall side. If you are looking for more Brussels inspiration, check out our Barley Risotto With Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Our sister-in-law made this deliciously comforting West African Peanut Stew with Kale on a recent visit to New Haven, and I have been craving it non-stop ever since. The taste and smell of garlic, ginger and peanuts will warm you on these crisp fall days. This simple and hearty vegetarian take on the classic West African peanut stew uses pantry ingredients and works well with whatever greens you happen to have on hand.