Guest Chef! Kate E. Cooks

Kate is no stranger to homemade dinners, favoring build-your-own themes (crepe bar, anyone?) and trading dinner duties with her sister occasionally. For the Spouse House, however, she had something different in mind.

Slicer tomatoes meet their destiny amid the carnage of floret'd broccoli.

Under her fingers, and with Alec's help, two pizzas rose: fresh tomatoes atop a white bean puree with overtones of smoked gouda and a green mountain of broccoli and arugula capped with feta and mozzarella.

Kate keeps an eye on Alec's work.

Into the oven they went, and out they came again, melted and tantalizing, ready to join my second attempt at enjoying fennel in a salad (read about my first, wildly successful attempt).

Beets work their overpowering magic on fennel, one of my struggle vegetables.

Come back soon, Kate!