So Smug, Yet So Delicious

At the top of our weekly menus lately is sautéed tilapia fillets with a pan sauce, sautéed spinach and a baked rice or barley. It’s a pretty plain meal on the surface: fish, green, grain. But put together, I am really pleased with it. The white wine vinegar pan sauce is vinegary and mustardy; the lemon-caper sauce, delightfully acidic; … Continue reading →

On the Menu This Week

The recipes in this week’s menu are almost entirely from cookbooks. I love cookbooks so much. Even though I will happily and easily give up all other paper books (except for my Harry Potters) for Kindle ebooks, I will have bookshelves sagging from the weight of my cookbooks. Monday: Leftovers – It will be nice when … Continue reading →

Minestrone

A dinner my whole family will eat! {New Post} Continue reading →

This Week’s Menu

High Soup Season continues! Even though I’m still sweating in my kitchen making dinner every night.     Sunday – Cook’s Illustrated’s Baked Ziti, salad, Pepperidge Farm garlic bread Monday – Minestrone, salad, rolls Tuesday – Veggie Chili Wednesday – Leftovers Thursday – Miso Sweet Potato and Beoccoli Bowl

The Summer of Pickles!

Pickles. Vinegary, sharp and crunchy. I love them. I think my first child was about 65% pickle in utero (and 35% bacon grilled cheese) because of all the delicious deli kosher dill pickles I ate when I was pregnant. And after having the pickle jar appetizer at Vintage in New Market, I went looking for refrigerator pickled … Continue reading →

Strawberry Pie

Strawberry pie is one of my family’s summer food highlights. Usually the first summer fruit in for the season, in late May I start trolling the farmer’s market for the first cartons of berries. While I am and forever will  be a Cake Person, James is a Pie Person. And since he is my favorite person … Continue reading →

A Split Pea Soup I Can Love

James is by far my favorite person to cook for (he’s my favorite person in a lot of ways). When he tells me he’s in the mood for something in particular I like to hunt around for just the right recipe. We aim to have that lovely 50s moment when he walks in the door … Continue reading →

Soup Season

I start a lot of seasons with grand declarations: It’s the Summer of Pie! The Spring of Salads! I don’t always stick to those plans, or even follow through much. But it makes me feel better heading into a new season with a Plan Or at least feeling like I have a Plan. And then … Continue reading →

Chocolate Stout Cake

This winter, man. I think for a lot of us we have an extended case of the winter blues. Certainly for my family we are in the throes of an “EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE” state of being. We all have cabin fever. School schedules have been intermittent. The only constants are that we are all here in … Continue reading →

Broccoli & Blue Cheese Pasta

We’re going for light (ish) and quick dinners around here lately. An easy one that I love to throw together is this pasta dish with broccoli and blue cheese. I originally got this from my mom, and it’s a great weeknight dinner. I really like this, too, because it dirties only a few bowls: a … Continue reading →