It seems like fava beans are all I see in my food porn stream around this time of year. And every year, I pin or save or drool over fava bean recipes only to find that there are no favas available where I live. Last week, I almost shouted in the market (it’s true – you can ask my husband) when I saw fava beans in stock. I had no idea what I was going to make but I bought a bag on the spot.
Read MoreFor some reason during Thanksgiving week, I thought it would be a good idea to make homemade gnocchi. On a weeknight. Crazy talk, people. But what are you going to do when you have an envie?
Read MorePutting aside that it seems a little ridiculous to make a tagine from a recipe in The Daily Mail, this was my most successful tagine yet. The dish had great flavor thanks to a bit of orange zest and a simple combination of spices. Even the kids liked this one (ok, they liked the chicken and chickpeas but not the olives or onions). And I didn't burn it.
Read MoreWe had quite an assortment of meals last week, most of which were just ok. Rather than bore you with a post on each one, I’m going to give you the run down all in one shot.
Read MoreWe have had several meals lately that I swore I was going to review and now I can’t even remember what they were. If you recall, one of the reasons for starting this blog in the first place was to remind myself what recipes we have tried and liked and which failed or needed modification. It helps to actually use the blog for its purpose, you know. No matter. I’ll probably make whatever they were again and hopefully remember what I was supposed to say next time.
Read MoreMy grandmother, Althaé, had a lot of a personality. So much personality, in fact, that I was hesitant to name Théa after her for fear that T might be too much to handle. Ma Ma, as I called her, was known to the rest of the world as Toot (pronounced like “foot”). She passed away when I was still in grade school, but there are bits and pieces that I remember.
Read MoreSorry for the radio silence on the old blog, here. This week has completely escaped me already and I’m not sure it is going to get any better. I promise I will catch up. I may never catch up with meal reviews but I’m sure I’ll catch up with something. That said, we did have Mediterranean chicken pitas on Tuesday night (only one night late), and they were good.
Read MoreI have already mentioned that my husband has this thing about making ribs on Father’s Day. And, honestly, as the father of seven kids, if he wants to make ribs once a year, let him. I don’t particularly care for ribs and that does not matter in the slightest because not only is it “his day” (please, people, you and I both know that father’s day is more work for dads than the average Sunday) but also because he cooks them. Perfect. I’ll have bread for dinner.
Read MoreChicken Lo-Mein is the perfect vehicle for refrigerator clean out. I bought absolutely nothing for this recipe. That said, I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter. Interestingly, I didn’t click over to the original recipe (the recipe that I followed was a modified version) until after I made the lo-mein for dinner. Mine was a lot more like the original recipe than the one that I followed. These things happen.
Read MoreI will admit to not wanting to cook last night. I had’t been to the grocery store in days. Or maybe all week. We were out of everything and all I could think was pizza. But I am really glad that Monday night’s menu was chicken with olives and capers.
Read MoreI know, I know. It’s spring and this is totally a fall dinner. Last week, we were eating Not Quite Summer Greek Pasta Salad. Pick a season, lady. But trust me when I say that it really is ok to make Braised Chicken Thighs with Carrots, Potatoes and Thyme in your kitchen right now. You will eat it and love it. And your kids will have seconds. Of vegetables. Especially if you let them make the Brussels sprouts on the side.
Read MoreThis review is a little late since we had jambalaya for dinner last Thursday, but the recipe was good, so better late than never, right?
Jambalaya is one of my favorite dishes and I am just not skilled at making it. It shouldn’t be hard, right? I mean, it’s just rice with some extra goodies. My aunt Anne makes a mean jambalaya. I dream about her jambalaya. I’ve tried the recipe that she uses (it’s in La Bouche Creole by Leon E. Soniat, Jr., if you are interested), but it never comes out. My rice is always undercooked and I end up with too much liquid. I decided to expand my horizons a bit and try a new recipe. I figured at least I wouldn’t be disappointed when it doesn’t taste like Aunt Anne’s jambalaya.
Read MoreI have been making the same chicken pot pies from The New Basics for years. I’m talking forever. Since I graduated from college and started cooking for myself forever. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried a few other recipes, but I’ve never had the success with other recipes that I have with The New Basics recipe. The only downside to that recipe is all the steps. Lots of steps. Boil the chicken stock with rosemary. Cook each ingredient separately. Find pearl onions (which I never use, by the way).
Read MoreI was a little worried about dinner tonight. First of all, I didn’t get back into town today until Gus was already at riding lessons and I had no groceries. So there we were at the grocery store with no naps, no snack, and late to start dinner. I let the kids buy those ridiculous frosted sugar cookies that look like they are made with an entire gallon of food coloring and lard. And I forgot to buy chicken. I went back in the grocery store only to find that they didn’t have your basic cut up chicken. It was either a family pack for 20 or a 10 pack of chicken thighs. I almost quit right then and ordered pizza.
Read MoreDinner tonight was not just a slight fail, but a total fail. This picture does not begin to do it justice. Burnt dinner, burnt bottom of the tagine (which it has taken my husband longer to clean than the total cooking time of the dish), burnt the cutting board that I set the tagine down on so badly that the plastic melted and created a whole. The only way to go from here is up. With my next adventure into tagines and with the menu for the rest of the week.
Read MoreWe are batting three for five this week. We did not make Philly cheese steaks on Tuesday due to a very important Woodland Council Meeting (a.k.a. school presentation). Tonight, we somehow went from having 6 kids home for dinner to only 2. Making anything out of a Mario Batali cookbook (Braised Chicken with Sweet Onions and Spaghetti Squash with Soft Herbs and Robiola, in this case) seemed excessive.
Read MoreI’ll admit. I picked this recipe for chicken Milanese based solely on the photo. I scanned the ingredients, recognized that I had everything but arugula already and figured it couldn’t be that hard. This recipe was ridiculously easy. And for those of you like me who don’t actually read, let me just say now that this chicken is BAKED. In a good way.
Read MoreI know what you are thinking. What could I possibly write about leftovers? Am I right? Ok, so maybe we didn’t have leftovers last night. Maybe we had what I like to call kitchen sink clean out.
Read MoreWe made a slight deviation from the original meal plan last night. Both the planned recipe (Barley Soup with Chicken and Pancetta) and the actual recipe (Stuffed Chicken Thighs, La Cucina Italiana, January/February 2014, page 27) are Italian. And both call for chicken thighs and pancetta. But you know, sometimes you just aren’t in the mood for soup. And sometimes you have more people for dinner than you anticipate. And they are teenage boys so you can’t very well serve them soup or they will be hungry in five minutes. You improvise. Maybe you turn three pages back in the magazine that you took out for dinner and hey, there’s something that looks tasty. It’s tough work, this kitchen gig.
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