30 Monday Jan 2017
Posted in Soups, Tortellini
Most of us have a thing for pasta and cheese; I know I’m not alone. Admit it; you’re in this club. Google macaroni and cheese for more info if you’re unsure of my claim. (There are almost 24 million hits.) We all mostly adore fast, filling, and luscious meals made in minutes from leftovers as well, right? Wed the ultimately pleasurable pasta and cheese idea with a quick next-night dinner and we have a match made in heaven.
Continue reading
24 Tuesday Jan 2017
Tags
A gorgeous pork loin roasted over the weekend for our wine group along with a big bunch of Simon and Garfunkel Vegetables left me with two large containers of fragrant meat and vegetables in the fridge. What to do?
16 Monday Jan 2017
Posted in Beef, Beef Stew, Gluten-Free, One-Pot Meals, Salad, Salad dressings, Salads, Sausage
Give me a cold day. Any cold day. Let me have time and peace to stir together something that incubates in my oven gently easing its teasing, come-hither aromas throughout the house and drawing near all who enter. Add an entrancing, captivating book waiting for me during that 3-hour parole and I am a happy girl. Ok, include a balanced, but lofty bottle of wine and the deal is sealed.
11 Wednesday Jan 2017
Posted in Chicken, Dinner Salads, One Pan Dinners
Tags
I think of fajitas as a summer meal. It’s a hot night on the deck. There are margaritas along with chips and guac to start. Icy cold Dos Equis to go with the meal and just made cinnamon ice cream to finish.
Steak and chicken could both make an appearance and I’d probably even twist Dave’s arm to grill all of the vegetables and heat the tortillas. What’s a husband for?
05 Thursday Jan 2017
Posted in Gluten-Free, Shrimp, Shrimp and Vegetable Stir Fry, Stir fry, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
It’s a snow day. I don’t currently have a paying job–this isn’t to say I don’t work– but I’m still thrilled to think I needn’t go anywhere and perhaps could be excused from accomplishing anything. Too many years of kids in the house or teaching makes me stand up and cheer when the school closings begin. Usually I spend the day in the kitchen with a big pot of soup bubbling away –and I’m about to do that after I’m done with the blog– but today a little perking dream took life.
The neighborhood girls out for a stroll out front…
29 Thursday Dec 2016
Posted in Bean Soup, Black-Eyed Peas
Tags
Alyce and Dave, Dave, Emily Suzanne Morgan, Jill Robinson, Katie Darr, New Year's Day, Sean Anthony Morgan, Sylvie Robinson
New Year’s Day is the perfect time for any old bean soup—
think a long, cold and frozen day nursing a hangover and watching old movies while playing cards with the kids, right?– but since I love black-eyed peas and my folks were both raised in the deep south, I’m going with those little beauties this year. (For an interesting article on many New Year’s Day lucky food traditions, click here.)
Have my cookbook, Soups and Sides for Every Season?
18 Sunday Dec 2016
Posted in Christmas, Cookies, Shortbread
Tags
For anyone with Scots background, shortbread is the Christmas cookie. In whatever “shape or form”, to quote my Dad, it might come. It also happens to be my very favorite cookie of any season and you can find it on the blog in a few incarnations... The endless variations are a large part of its intrinsic attraction for this baker:
Raspberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies and Valrhona Chocolate Shortbreads with Sea Salt:
13 Tuesday Dec 2016
Posted in Breakfast, Breakfast for Dinner, Christmas
Holiday breakfasts, for many people, are laden with tradition. Such as: We always have pancakes. OR My best friend makes scrambled eggs with peppers and onions. OR Bacon gets fried up in huge quantities for me.
In our house, we are addicted to my mother-in-law’s egg casserole and my homemade cinnamon rolls.
06 Tuesday Dec 2016
Posted in Appetizers, Cheese, Christmas, Cookies
Whenever I run into savory little cheese cookies someone’s served with a glass of wine, I’m happy indeed. These days, they’re usually they’re made with Parmigiano-Reggiano, but older food memories include homemade crispy little cheddar crackers that were just as good with beer as with wine. Back in the day, these were called “Cheese Pennies” and while they were usually simply round, occasionally a creative baker would even roll them out and cut them out into shapes (suits, of course) for bridge club.
Things that grow together go together
is the saying–Cheddar and Beer being two things the British do very well and Parmigiano-Reggiano and Wine being two things the Italians do just superbly. So, whichever way you roll –to coin a phrase –these savory bits are luscious.
Checking through my top choice cookbooks for such recipes (and tooling around the internet, of course) showed me there’re just as many varieties of not-sweet cookies as there are baking (or other) books on my cookbook shelves.
29 Tuesday Nov 2016
Posted in Fish, Fish and Seafood, One Pan Dinners, Salmon, Salmon Salad, Turkey
Tags
I adore Thanksgiving. It loves me back. It is my favorite holiday out of the whole year. There’s nothing that makes me more thrillingly anticipating than to bring the last of the sage in, save bread for dressing, take stock of my canned pumpkin supply, or bake cranberry bread along with any pie you can name. To say nothing of the fact that I don’t like Christmas decorating (or shopping or wrapping), but can’t wait to put up pumpkins, corn stalks, leaves, scarecrows, and all things autumn come October. Ok, September. Continue reading
