If you know me at all, you know that I could eat pasta every single day. I can admit that my pasta consumption during the fall and winter is bordering on overload and I’d like to say that I take a break from the pasta in the summer. Not so. Just because it is grilling season does not mean that we should cease and desist with the pasta. Let’s just lighten it up a bit.
Read MoreAs I write this, it is 95° outside and my house is a balmy 80° according to my thermostat. The mere thought of turning on my oven just about puts me over the edge.
I know what you are thinking. Turn down the air conditioning already so that you can bake something. Ah-ha, my friend. Here in lies the problem. You are clearly not living on the West Coast, where most of us only have AC in our cars, and some not even that. The thought of 90° weather with no AC makes all of my good Southern relatives go weak at the knees. What on earth do you mean no AC? Houses here in our little mountain town just aren’t equipped. And don’t kid yourself, it is HOT.
Read MoreI’ve previously mentioned my obsession with magazines. I’ve also previously mentioned my admiration of Martha Stewart. So it goes without saying that I have a backlog of Martha recipes that I pull out in a pinch. Except when I can’t find them. Anywhere.
This may have happened to me recently when I found myself at the grocery store completely uninspired and staring at the produce section. I had decided on swordfish for supper and could not for the life of me think of a side. Can we interrupt this blog post for a minute so that I can point out that there was no meal plan? None. I believe this was day three or four in a row that I found myself in the grocery with absolutely no plan for supper. Isn’t that why you started this darn blog in the first place? To be more organized and spend less time in the grocery store and less time thinking about dinner? Why, yes. Yes it is. This would be what we call a complete fail.
Read MoreSaturday night was the first night that I cooked a full meal in over a week. Really and truly. I’m sure you think I've forgotten to write food reviews on this supposed food blog but in truth, I've forgotten to cook.
Read MoreDid you get an email from Pinterest last week about mac and cheese? I did. And I deleted it without even looking because I made the best mac and cheese ever a couple of weeks ago. I am hooked.
Read MoreSunday night was Back to School Night at the kids’ high school. This parents-only affair is held annually to give parents the lay of the land with respect to curriculum and overall expectations. I have never been.
Read MoreRemember a couple of weeks ago when I made that seemingly difficult but really quite simple balsamic reduction and then totally forgot to serve it with my meal? Right. I put it in a jar and put it in the pantry. Probably a major cooking foul, but considering that the recipe came under the header of “pantry”, I went with it. Anyway, that, and the two bunches of asparagus from our produce basket, was the only reason that I chose to make campanelle with asparagus, basil, and balsamic glaze (The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, page 179) on Monday night. The balsamic reduction made the dish.
Read MoreUgh. The Costco run. After two weeks of bare bones food in the house, it was time to suck it up and make the big shopping trip. The good news? Fresh wild salmon. Yippee! And I just so happened to have cilantro and oranges on hand so I was able to revisit the citrus grilled salmon that we made a couple of weeks ago. Still delicious.
Read MoreNo offense, Better Homes and Gardens, but what a completely lame name for a dish. Really? Pasta and Peas? I mean, I get it. That’s exactly what it is: pasta and peas. But the dish itself is way cooler than the name. I think of pasta and peas as a last ditch effort to get your kids to accidentally eat a vegetable by having a pea stuck to the inside of a noodle. Add parmesan and call it dinner. This dish is more than a last ditch effort. And it will also get your kids to eat peas. Lots of them. Let’s call it Dr. Seuss’s noodles on the loose since it is a fantastic bright green. Or, if you want to get fancy, how about ditalini with prosciutto and green pea pesto? I didn’t get the job naming crayons, but I’m working on it.
Read MoreMy little kids (and perhaps my older ones too) think that noodles in any form are the best thing ever. So when Gus saw that I was making three color penne for Tuesday night’s dinner, I thought he was going to jump for joy. The little kids were not impressed with Monday night’s greek meatballs and orzo salad (although I was extremely impressed, as were the older kids, and it’s a good thing too because that orzo recipe makes enough for 20 people even though it says it is for six). I was a bit concerned that they might not be impressed with Farmer’s Beans and Pasta (seriously? who named this dish?) either because of the aforementioned beans and the vegetables. I was happy to be wrong.
Read MoreWe’ve been on the road. Eating junk. That’s not to say that I haven’t been eating some pretty good stuff. I’ve mentioned the crawfish already. The wedding cake was amazing. I’m a sucker for almond wedding cake. I had a shrimp po-boy, and fried catfish, and beignets, and Rob had an amazing blackened snapper sandwich. We also ate at a cool beachside spot near Pensacola called The Gulf.
Read MoreCacio e pepe is my favorite dish. Ever. I know, I know. It’s pasta with pepper and cheese. Simple. Kid food. But when done right, it is absolutely amazing. I’ve been trying to perfect cacio e pepe since I first ate it in Rome nearly four years ago. When I saw this recipe for cacio e pepe with Brussels sprouts, I had to give it a try.
Read MoreIt’s craziness here in the mountains this week. I’m pretty sure that it is warmer than it was the entire time we were in Southern California for spring break. We’ve been able to eat out on the porch and walk to the store for popsicles… I’m hoping this lasts forever.
In the spirit of spring, one of the recipes that we tried this week was Not Yet Summer Greek Pasta Salad from Joy the Baker. I L-O-V-E Joy’s blog. Her photos make me hungry. She’s funny (see especially this recent post). Oh, and she makes really good food. So it was only a matter of time before I tried her Greek pasta salad. Fortunately, my associates were up for the task.
Read MoreCan I start by stating the obvious? Construction projects are not fun. Don’t get me wrong, the results are great. But be honest. If you were putting an outlet in a white island, what color would outlet would you use? Black, of course. Any fool knows that. I mean, you want the very first thing that your eye is drawn to in the kitchen to be the island outlet. Really? Black outlets on a white wall? You would also paint over gouges in the wall without patching them in hopes that no one would notice the gouges that were already pointed out to you. Let’s just say I was NOT at my personal best in terms of behavior yesterday.
Read MoreIt would be seriously amazing if I could just once pick a recipe for which I didn’t have to substitute ingredients because I live in the middle of nowhere. Of course, it isn’t the middle of nowhere’s fault. I should totally read the recipe before planning to cook it. This would leave me with nothing but chuck roast and mashed potatoes but I digress.
Read MoreWe did a little switcheroo on the menu tonight because we are taking the kids night skiing tomorrow. Night skiing. How did they get old enough to go night skiing?
Anyway, through no intentional planning, I served spring on a plate tonight. We switched Tuesday night's tacos for Wednesday night's Italian. Both the penne and the asparagus salad were incredibly light but flavorful. This dinner was very refreshing, especially after last night’s burning man. I wasn’t sure how I felt about raw asparagus salad. I know. I’m the one who planned to make it, but I still wasn’t sure. And while my associates did an excellent job juicing lemon,
Read MoreWe were scheduled to have mac and cheese tonight. The morning’s snow changed that plan. Comfort food on a snowy day? Yes, please.
Read MoreYou have to love a recipe that says, “Cook…until 2 minutes from al dente, and then…” If I knew when 2 minutes from perfect was, I could rule the world.
Read MoreI cannot count the number of times that I have made meatballs. It feels a little cheeky to even write a post about this. I mean, doesn’t everyone know how to make meatballs? And are these the BEST EVER? No. I have made them so many times that I don’t even follow a recipe. I just throw a bunch of stuff in a bowl and go with it.
These meatballs were no different. I had intended to actually follow the recipe in Tony Chachere’s Cajun Country Cookbook, the recipe that my grandmother always used, and that I started using a million years ago. Nope. I opened the freezer to find that I had one ziplock of meat mix that really needed to be used, so I started with that. In a stroke of crazy, I noticed that I had somehow omitted onions entirely when originally making the meat mix. Seriously. How do you ignore an entire ingredient? Yep. That (and my purse) must be the sign of an addled mind. At least I am consistent.
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