It's three days before St. Patrick's Day, which falls on a Sunday this year, and I am feeling we will stay home and I will cook. Though I am part Irish, I'm not a huge fan of the "Irish" bar music often played in the U.S., and I'm not a fan of green beer. Or crowds. Best to stay home and whip up a few dishes.
Read MoreIt's Saturday, March 16th. I'm planning a St. Patrick's Day weekend of food, but my husband does not like corned beef. Too bad, we're having Reuben's tonight. Gotta win him over.
Read MoreSoup is such a great meal on a cold winter day, plus the perfect opportunity to clean out the pantry, freezer and vegetable drawer! This Italian sausage and bean soup recipe can do just that for you, assuming you have sausage or meatballs in your fridge or freezer. This recipe is so versatile!
Read MoreI've been wanting to make paella forever, but I must admit, it's a bit intimidating! I've not eaten a lot of it, so I don't know the gold standard. I feel I need a proper paella pan, so I finally get one. I feel I need paella rice, so I finally find some (it's pretty available, check online). I feel I need some great Spanish saffron, so I get some (again, online). I feel I need a special event, and we have the family over one Saturday in January for a belated holiday party, so all I need to do is to research recipes and come up with my own. So I do.
Read MoreIt's Football Sunday again, I just made the white bean and chicken chili recipe a few weeks ago (check this site for the recipe), so I need another dish, and I've got all day to make it. I head to the Food Network website and one suggestion for game day is enchiladas. For some reason I am in the mood to make enchiladas today!
Read MoreSome of the family is coming over for dinner and a Red Sox World Series game tonight (Game 4). I have been mulling the menu over and over. One thing is for sure -- I want an ice cream dessert of some kind. Lo and behold, the Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) is making not one but three types of frozen desserts!! One is right up my alley -- Ice Cream Tiramisu Cake. She is psychic. Let's do it, it’s meant to be!
Read MoreI went to Slate Bar and Grille in Leominster, MA, last week with my son Adam. They have a great menu! We ordered charcuterie, shrimp cocktail, and I had beef short ribs over polenta. I was torn between that and the short rib grilled cheese, but opted for the polenta. That grilled cheese is haunting me, though. So I'm making one for lunch today.
Read MoreIt's Saturday night and the Red Sox kick off game one of the ALCS. We are pumped! So dinner needs to be quick-ish and sports friendly. I have some pork loin cutlets which were gonna be schnitzel but now they are gonna be burritos. I can prep them in advance and then just bake/broil until they are cheesy, brown and delicious. Game plan on!
Read MoreThis Friday night we met Derek and Sheri (wonderful step-son and his beautiful wife) for dinner in Concord, NH at a new restaurant, Revival Kitchen and Bar. They opened in January of 2017, but this is OUR first visit, so it is new to us. Derek and Sheri went there a month ago for their one year wedding anniverary and decided we needed to go. So here we are.
Read MoreMy family loves this chili, and when I make it they all show up. I have served it at SuperBowl parties as well as random Sundays. Everyone who has had it asks for the recipe. But it has been hard to write down for several reasons. 1. I never make it the same way twice and 2. I never measure anything. So to write a definitive recipe is challenging, and I don't want to steer you wrong. But I am confident you can make a large pot of this bean soup, wow your guests/family, and then maybe freeze some for later
Read MoreThe herb garden got weeded today and was looking pretty good -- except for the chive. It was gangly and in need of a trim. There are (5) chive plants in the garden, so after trimming I wound up with a LOT of chive! My original plan was to dry and bottle it, but I was told that dry chives are NOT tasty, losing most of their flavor in the drying process. Needed a plan "B". Plan "B" was pesto.
Read MoreI first made this chicken referencing an Emeril Lagasse recipe and LOVED it! Each bite sings of lemon, garlic and rosemary. Emereil is a little heavy on the olive oil, though, so I made a few tweaks to it. Today I am using boneless, skin-on chicken breasts and thighs, but have also used a whole spatchcocked chicken -- backbone removed and chicken flattened.
Read MoreI know, it sounds like a strange combo, but I had this dish in Sydney, Australia some 15 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. At some point, I wrote the recipe down but I have no idea where THAT went, so I finally decided, some 15 years later to recreate it.
Read MoreI first had Cacio y Pepe in Milan (though it originates in Rome) and was WOWED by the flavor in spite of its simplicity. Cacio y pepe literally translates to "cheese and pepper". 7 basic ingredients combined in the proper fashion result in am amazing dish that is satisfying, delicious and rustic, yet elegant enough to put on your dinner table in front of family or friends and they will be floored.
Read MoreI had a lovely piece of grilled salmon with a spring salad at The Pearl Restaurant and Oyster Bar the other night, and the salad wowed me! Crunchy, crispy, tasty and healthy.
Read MoreWe have been coming to the Restaurant at Burdick's for years now, and there is literally nowhere I have ever gone that is as consistently above and beyond as this place. It is simple bistro food executed perfectly, time and again, supplemented by an amazing wine menu and cocktail list. Set in Walpole, NH, which epitomizes small town New England, it is an event to come here.
Read MoreI've taken you here before, but brunch at the Bedford Village Inn is something else. And this dish... is killer. Duck hash.
Read MoreWe had two days of warmth in a row this April. Woo-hoo! Except today it is rainy and a little raw. Oh well, April showers bring May flowers and all that. The rain is also melting the last strip of ice off my deck. I can do this. Due to the weather and Bob's head cold, I am calling it a chicken soup day.
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