"Jack loves you. I came along with the deal. See, you're the hamburger, and I'm that little cup of coleslaw. You don't order it, but, pfft, there it is on the plate." ~Grace Adler (Will and Grace) Trying to think of something different to bring to Girls Day is a daunting task. You want to make a dish that will go along with what everyone else is bringing, something that is tasty but not over the top. Oh the stress of it all! Seriously though, last time I brought my Mac and Cheese Bites and those went over well but this week I wanted to make something completely different. I went in search of …
"Only the pure in heart can make a good soup." ~Ludwig van Beethoven My friend Patty is a big fan of Pho and swears by its medicinal purposes. She always picks some up at a local Vietnamese restaurant when she isn't feeling well. (She has also promised to bring me some the next time she gets it - hint hint Patty) So when I came down with a cold (like a lot of folks right now) I immediately thought of Pho. Since I had no idea where to buy it (Patty lives in Worcester so that's a bit of a drive) I decided to make some. I found a great recipe on (where else?) Pinterest, picked up the …
"I'm afraid of losing my obscurity. Genuineness only thrives in the dark. Like celery." ~Aldous Huxley I was asked to make an appetizer (of my choice) for a Christmas party last weekend. I decided to do something different (for me) and make a cold app, rather than my usual hot one. I planned on making a cheese and cracker platter, but after an overwhelming couple of hours in the grocery store, I ended up with way more than I had planned. I left with a mixture of tasty items-olives, marinated mushrooms, tomatoes, celery and pepperocinis, along with different cheeses and cracker selections. …
"Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better." ~Robert Redford My friends and I, collectively known as The BBs, got together last weekend to catch up and catch our breath as this holiday season got into full swing. Each of us brought a little something to nosh on (I brought my Mini Macs) and we had a great afternoon filled with laughs, good eats and a very tame Yankee Swap. All of us agreed though, that the highlight of the afternoon was Kelly's dessert, aptly named "Almost Heaven in a Bowl." It was the best dessert I had tasted in a good long while. It …
"Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese." ~Luis Bunuel I have two Christmas parties to attend on Saturday and I need to bring something yummy to both. What to make that is not too time-consuming (since one party is in the afternoon and the other is at night) and is sure to please most everyone? I think some single serving mac and cheeses are in order. This recipe is great because you can make the macs ahead of time and store them in the fridge until just before you are ready to head out the door. Pop them in the oven for ten minutes, let 'em cool for another ten and …
"Polenta? Oh you mean Italian grits." ~Unknown My niece and I got to spend a little quiet time together last weekend before she traveled back to NYC after the Thanksgiving holiday. Before she headed to Logan we stopped into a little Italian joint to enjoy a couple of small plates, salads and some vino. I chose the roasted vegetable dish (which was amazing) and she chose the baked polenta, something I had never tasted. We ate, drank and were merry...and after a couple of hours she left for the city that never sleeps and auntie managed to score the leftovers. I mixed those roasted vegetables …
"Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?" ~Clark Griswold (Christmas Vacation) Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to start thinking about Christmas. Perhaps you've started your shopping or decorating, or are heading to the stores this weekend. Or, if you are like my mother-in-law, maybe you finished all of that around Halloween. (How I wish I had her energy!) Whatever your plans may be, you deserve to treat yourself at the end of the day. This eggnog definitely fits the bill. Eggnog Ingredients: 3 1/2 …
“Once again, my life has been saved by the miracle of lasagna.” ~'Garfield' (Jim Davis) Ah lasagna. You cheesy, saucy little minx. I do adore you. And now that I have found a recipe combining you with another of my great loves (soup) I may just have died and gone to foodie heaven. The component that truly makes this soup sing is the cheesy mixture. Ricotta, Parmesan and Mozzarella...oh my! The original recipe calls for the pasta to be cooked in the soup but I cooked the pasta seperately. If you are planning on having leftovers you don't want the pasta to get mushy. Ground beef can also be …
"You don't want to make a steady diet of just lettuce. You don't want to make a steady diet of fried chicken." ~Paula Deen Chicken Cacciatore is one of those dishes that is just perfect for a slow cooker. Chicken and vegetables stewing together all day-the smell is heavenly and the taste is spectacular. So when I saw that the supermarket had chicken thighs on sale I just knew I had to make it. I dug out my old recipe, purchased my ingredients and pulled the slow cooker from the pantry. Then I ran late every morning, all week long. Rats! I did end up making the Chicken Cacciatore for dinner …
"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." ~Lewis Carroll There is nothing like a lazy Sunday. Unfortunately because of our hectic lives we don't get to enjoy them as often as we'd like. Between sports, events, errands, etc., it seems as though there is never a day of rest during the week anymore. At this point I'll take what I can get...so how about a lazy Sunday morning? Just a few hours to sleep in, read the paper, take the dog for a leisurely stroll...then eat a nice breakfast with my cup of Joe. This quiche is perfect for that morning, because you …
"When you're on the Queen Catherine, don't let 'em give you any of that flank steak crap. You know what I mean? Try the London Broil." ~Quote from Cabin Boy I have been trying to tighten our budget for awhile now and that has included trimming back everything from the cable bill to the grocery tab, the latter being the toughest. I read blogs written by thrifty ladies who somehow manage to spend a paltry fifty dollars a week to feed a family of five. I'm not talking about hot dogs and cans of beans for dinner either; these ladies make healthy meals with fresh veggies every day. I have yet to …
"Anything is good if it's made of chocolate." ~Jo Brand Last weekend I got together with some of my favorite girls for a little chat, a lot of chow and a ton of laughs. We try to meet up every couple of months on a Saturday afternoon for a few hours and reconnect over good food and a tasty cocktail. Val brought a dessert that was absolutely delicious...peanut butter cup bars. They were sweet and light and almost too good to be true. Almost. Since they were very real and I really enjoyed the one I had. Ok, the two I had. Oh alright what is this, the Spanish Inquisition? I had three. Sheesh! …
"Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they should appear." ~Lemony Snicket I have been bringing sweet and sour meatballs to parties for years now and they have always been well received. My original version was made right in the microwave and then there was a slow cooker alteration, but I've finally settled on this stovetop version as my favorite.The combination of sweet pineapple and brown sugar mixed with tangy soy sauce and vinegar is just delightful. And come on, how many of us can resist a good …
“You will find this to be a more oniony soup than the usual kind but, as the cross old lady said when a stranger told her that her slip was showing, "I like it that way.” ~Margaret Yardley Potter I think of French Onion Soup as the Rocky Balboa of soups. It is an enduring favorite, it has bite and it may be basic, but it definitely has depth. You can envision it going a few rounds with Apollo Creed's Beef Stew. But seriously, French Onion Soup is that perennial favorite that we love to order in restaurants as an appetizer but seldom actually try to make at home. In all the years that I have …
"The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her." ~Marcelene Cox I can often be found browsing the aisles of the T.J. Maxx in town. This is mostly because I like to support businesses in town. And other towns too, I suppose, since I do frequent quite a few T.J. Maxx stores in the area. Ok if I'm being honest that may not be my number one reason...I mean, they have such great stuff! My favorite section is Housewares (which then also leads me to frequent their sister store, Homegoods, but that's another story) and during one of my wanderings through the store I found a wok-pan for…
"By all these lovely tokens September days are here, with Summer's best of weather and Autumn's best of cheer." ~Helen Hunt Jackson When September mornings begin getting cooler and sweaters make their reappearance, I immediately begin craving apples. Those crisp days trigger memories of fun family apple picking days and the subsequent making of pies, crisp and applesauce. I cannot effectively articulate how I much I love this season. I grew up in New England and lived here until I was thirty. It was on my thirtieth birthday that I decided I needed a change of scenery. So with a friend I …
"Someone has stolen three of my tarts!" ~The Red Queen (Alice in Wonderland) While thumbing through my People magazine last week I came upon a recipe for a lemon tart. Having never made a tart before, and therefore not realizing how easy it would be, I skipped right over it. The following day the magazine was laying on the coffee table and after a gust of wind blew through the window, the magazine opened to what else...the lemon tart recipe. My dessert destiny was calling to me. Clearly I needed to embrace it. And as luck would have it, I had all the ingredients right in the kitchen. This …
"A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." - Laurie Colwin I would like to take a moment to talk about tomatoes. Fresh, ripe, delicious tomatoes. Whether they are from your garden, the grocery store or the farmer's market, now is the perfect time to enjoy that fruit-in-veggie's clothing. Our overflow of summer squash has finally ended and now we are in the midst of a tomato deluge; A glorious tomato deluge. I mean, there is nothing quite like a fresh tomato from the garden. The cherry and Roma tomatoes are the two we are getting a lot of and my favorite thing to do …
"Green Eggs and Ham was the story of my life. I wouldn't eat a thing when I was a kid, but Dr. Seuss inspired me to try cauliflower!" ~Jim Carrey During our vacation last week there was a lot of talk about food. I suppose that is to be expected when you put four people who love to cook in a house with a gourmet kitchen. The house had an AGA stove. Have you heard of an AGA stove? No? Neither had we. This stove is always running and has four separate ovens that vary in temperature along with two hot plates on top that are also always heated. Though there was a bit of a learning curve for us …
“When trying to find the words to tell her how much I loved her, I stumbled across the ingredients for grilled cheese sandwiches. That’s when I realized she was the melted cheese to my toast. And the guy she’s currently seeing, the guy she left me for, well, I guess he is the tomato soup.
” ~Jarod Kintz There is nothing like a toasty grilled cheese sandwich accompanied by a hot bowl of tomato soup. My Gram used to make her tomato soup with elbow macaroni in it and every now and then I find myself craving it. Last week I was having one of those cravings and happened upon a recipe for tomato …
