A Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Mid-Week Meal: Shrimp, Caper & Red Onion Topped Penne on Arugula
When I was a kid, shrimp were luxury items. We had them on special occasions like New Year’s Eve or when watching the Grey Cup. Since then, the price of shrimp has come down A LOT. They’re still not as cheap as chips (that reminds me, they taste super-darned good alongside chips!) but if paired [...]
Read More...The Much-Anticipated Non-Instant Mushroom Gravy
Really, it’s easy. Not quite as easy as the powdered stuff (read about my adventures with powdered mushroom gravy here) but close. The difference in flavour and texture is worth the few extra minutes you have to spend making it.
Read More...A Mad Dash for Corn on the Cob (or for some other unrelated purpose)
These are not the best words to wake up to: Sh*t! The alarm didn’t go off! My response: How the h*ll did that happen?? Whatever. I’ll go make coffee. If there’s time, I’ll get dressed. My husband: At least we have our priorities straight.
Read More...The Roast Chicken Chronicles Episode 2: I’ve Got You Under My Skin
I have a friend who croons I’ve Got You Under My Skin so sweetly. I’ve always enjoyed listening but I honestly never understood the lyrics. If something is under your skin it’s supposed to annoy you, right? So how can it be a term of endearment? Well, I finally understand and I owe it all [...]
Read More...A Korean Stew to Soothe Any Cold (Jaden Hair’s Spicy Korean Tofu Stew)
At Food Blog Forum Orlando last weekend I won an amazing prize: Jaden Hair‘s The Steamy Kitchen: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight’s Dinner. When I got home my little J came down with a fever and cough. My own followed. I wasn’t in the mood to cook, let alone sample new dishes. Or [...]
Read More...How to Have Your Mushrooms and Eat Them Too
If you’ve ever run into us at the grocery story, I don’t blame you for thinking that my little J loves mushrooms. It would be a totally acceptable belief given the evidence: J sitting in the cart with a blue styro package of pre-washed sliced mushrooms on his lap as he happily chows down on [...]
Read More...Gremolata: Green stuff the kids might not like, but that’s o.k.
My son will eat anything as long as it doesn’t have flecks of green on it. Broccoli is fine but if it’s tossed into chicken soup such that little green globules attach themselves to the carrots, then neither the carrots, the broccoli, nor anything else in the soup gets eaten. This goes for all [...]
Read More...Lasagna: Layer on the Veggies
My father-in-law’s favorite meal strategy is to “use up.” He rummages in the fridge and pulls out anything that requires immediate eating. He evaluates the pile of bits and bobs on the counter, grabs a frying pan and starts cooking. It’s never the same twice but it’s always (surprisingly) delicious. People I’ve asked about the [...]
Read More...Pepper Jack Soup from the Falcon Lake Deli
Soup-making is something that I just know how to do. Why? I grew up surrounded by soup-simmering and soup-eating. Tomato Beef Barleys and Chicken Noodles warmed my childhood. Vegetarian Borscht Dappled with Heavy Cream appeared in the spring and returned to freshen Ukrainian Christmas Eve (a meatier version was ladled daily at the Perogy Patch). [...]
Read More...Melty Brie with Garlic, Red Pepper and a Year in the Life of Pittman’s on 44
My brother Mike and his wife Angela (owners / operators of Pittman’s on 44) spend spring gearing up for summer. They plan new menu items and get the staff (mostly students) into shape before May Long hits. From that weekend on it’s non-stop insanity. I know because I’ve had a spin in the whirlwind of [...]
Read More...
