Does absence make the heart grow fonder with blogging too? I sure hope so. I realize that it seems like I’ve been a bit out of touch, but really, I’ve been right here in my very kitchen processing fruit. Lots and lots of fruit. I will be posting about the fruit shortly, but for now, can we talk about one of my favorite subjects? That’s right, pasta.
Read MoreOk, so we didn’t eat honey-ginger chicken with lime last night. Nor did we eat shrimp and grits on Sunday. Is this a recipe review blog or what? Maybe not. Maybe it will be again, but for now, let’s call it like it is. I am in perpetual catch-up mode. It could be that I’m also in mid-life crisis mode. My youngest children want to trade in our disguised mini-van (a.k.a. Acadia) for a convertible beetle. I’m actually considering it. Why not? Like I said, possible mid-life crisis. More on this later, I’m sure.
Read MoreLet’s talk about what is really important first. Our second oldest daughter is back from a three week trip to India. She’s tired and trying to readjust to life as usual around here but she is full of cool ideas and beautiful images and new words and concepts. She told us last night that she understands that she won’t learn big things if she stays in her comfort zone. She is excited to be an explorer of the world. She is excited to share that perspective with her brothers and sisters. It is great to have her home.
Read MoreLast night’s dinner was good. It wasn’t great, but it was good. It was so easy to prepare that the preparation more than made up for the less than mind blowing final product. Like any grilled steak, this one needed just the right amount of seasoning before grilling and I may have under-seasoned it a bit. But it was grilled perfectly (thank you, Rob) and the combination of the heirloom tomatoes and toasted spice vinaigrette made for an excellent summer meal.
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 MoreBefore we dive into the week’s reviews, let’s go back for the abbreviated weekend review. Friday night, we were expecting a crowd and had only four. We ate out. Saturday night, we had a lovely bucatini all' amatriciana, which was simple and tasty despite not being able to locate any guanciale. We substituted pancetta (which was sliced thin rather than cubed) and everyone was quite satisfied. This menu change means that we did not try the moroccan chicken brochettes that were originally scheduled for Saturday night. Those will be appearing on the menu again in the near future. If you made them, please send me a little review. I’m all ears.
Read MoreI live in lamb country. We even have sheep festival in the fall with a lamb dine around. So if someone can tell me why I have not tried to make lamb burgers before, I will send you a prize. Really. Conveniently, I’ve seen several recipes for lamb burgers recently and after my first foray into this type of deliciousness, I plan to try the other recipes as well.
Read MoreWait, that’s not asparagus! I know. The asparagus at the store looked awful so I improvised. In truth, the green beans weren’t much better. We are still waiting on our garden up here in the mountains so we get what we get. I might need to hit the farmer’s market today to see if I can score any real produce since I forgot to sign up for our produce basket this week.
Read MoreI think shrimp and grits might be making a comeback as a trendy food. It seemed to be on every menu in Houston last month, I’ve seen quite a few versions on Instagram recently, and two of the magazines that I reviewed over the weekend had recipes for shrimp and grits. It is totally fine with me if shrimp and grits is the new doughnut/macaroon/cupcake. I happen to love grits. And what’s not to love about adding cheese to anything?
Read MoreI had THE BEST dinner last night. Sorry for the yelling but it was so good. And unfortunately for the rest of my family, I was the only one really eating. That’s not entirely true. The littlest people each ate a piece of fish (along with leftover pizza). It was like pulling teeth to get them to try the fish, but once we got over the initial hump, they both actually liked it.
Read MoreI like a recipe with a picture. I like to have an idea of the end goal. I am totally a planner at heart. But I chose to make roasted corn, jicama, and mango salad despite the lack of accompanying photo because I happened to have every single ingredient on hand. How often does that happen? Never.
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 MoreDo you have teenagers at home? Honestly, I think these kids are going to eat the house down. An entire flat of cherries and raspberries gone in one day. Two pounds of flank steak devoured tonight at dinner. I’m not sure I can make it through the summer at the pace we are going.
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 MoreMy Aunt Debra can GROW some tomatoes. I’m sorry for shouting but I have never seen so many tomatoes in all my life. Ok, maybe I have seen that many tomatoes at the farmer’s market (and of course in a 1970s-ish cult movie which shall remain nameless), but not in someone’s yard. I am clearly friends with the wrong people.
Read MoreI have adored Elsie and Emma’s blog A Beautiful Mess for a long time. It is bright and cheery and their DIY projects are fantastic. I have never cooked something from the blog, although why that is I have no idea (take a look at this). On Tuesday night, I ventured into the kitchen to cook Emma’s honey roasted veggies with gnocchi. All four of the teens at the table loved it. It even had a vote of confidence from one of two preschoolers.
Read MoreWarning: The photos of this meal do not represent in any way how tasty this meal actually was. Sometimes, you just have to trust the chef who is still very much behind on her food styling and photography skills.
This week’s menu called for some serious grilling. It is summer and it is time to cook outside. Oh, but did I mention that it is snowing as I write this? In the middle of June? What the heck am I doing living here?
Read MoreIt turns out, I was right. My husband did want ribs for Father’s Day. And he rocked them. But more on that later. I really wanted to try the lamb skewers that I had scheduled for Sunday, so we had a little switcheroo on the menu. Lamb skewers on Saturday night, ribs and barbeque chicken on Sunday afternoon. We were fortunate to have all of our kids at home on Saturday night (not so for Sunday), which meant another change in the menu since the farrotto recipe (via Collards and Carbonara) was not vegetarian friendly. A little flexibility goes a long way.
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.
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