I have a strong preference for canned cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and it is my personal tradition to hassle my mother until she agrees to have can at dinner for me. I know that it’s probably made from gelatin and corn syrup and artificial flavors, but I love how it tastes with turkey. Anyway, this…
Author: Alexis
a dinner made from travel memories
A few years ago, before baby and marriage, I took a trip to Morocco with my mother in which we traveled around various parts of the country with an adventure tour group. Morocco is a fun place to visit because it is fairly exotic and interesting, and yet touristed to the extent that it’s easy…
There’s no easier way to feed a crowd than with veggie chili!
When I heard that my mother, my aunt, my brother, his wife and their baby were going to be staying at our house this past weekend I decided to be practical in my planning for meals and to stick to what I know. I’ve been making chili since I was in college and, although I…
a lifetime of indulgent eating
As I sit writing this I am eating one of my most recently acquired indulgent food habits, a chocolate peanut butter sandwich. It’s a snack that I’ve made for several years now, and one that has evolved with my changing kitchens. When I lived alone in a city apartment with a very small kitchen, I…
Apple Pancakes…Bittman’s Way
I have the recipe for Mark Bittman’s Light and Fluffy Pancakes from his How to Cook Everything cookbook memorized because I have been making them for many many years. They require more of an effort than regular pancakes, but if you have the time and energy, I think they’re worth it! The content of these…
Fall flavors explode with simplicity: SOUP!
There is something really lovely about the smell of apples cooking with onion. Especially when they’ve been showered with black pepper. We usually associate apples with sweet flavors, but mixing them with savory ingredients can be a wonderful way to appreciate the complexity of their flavor. Tonight as I pondered my options for dinner I…
{What’s New in My Kitchen Wednesday} Dinner table memories-in-the-making
Probably my strongest childhood memories are of sitting around my mother’s round dining room table with my parents and two older brothers as we finished dinner and lingered to talk. I relished those moments, spent after a good dinner talking, teasing and debating together, sometimes lasting well in to the evening. A dinner table represents…
Curing Kitchen Boredom with Shrimp!
Purchasing the same foods each week can leave me feeling incredibly bored. My usual, figure-it-out-as-you-go cooking method is fun, but can get tiresome because if you’re always starting with the same ingredients, it’s challenging to end up with a different result. Even with the lovely variety of farmers market additions, the repetition of the same…
{Be Adaptable} Coleslaw in a Pinch
So it was the day after pigging out on a dinner of take-out Chinese with weekend guests and we wanted to finish off the leftovers (even though we were still not feeling so good about how it had made us feel the night before). Unfortunately we didn’t have quite enough leftovers to feed us all…
Lazy Chef’s Lentil Soup
On many a cold, dreary day, I have found myself looking for a can of prepared lentil soup in my kitchen cabinets. Fortunately, since I seldom think to buy it when I’m at the grocery store, it’s usually not stocked in my home and I am forced to make a much healthier version from scratch. …
What’s New In Your Kitchen Wednesday
What’s new in my kitchen is actually about seventy or so years old. It’s a Mirro Aluminum Cooky and Pastry Press that belonged to my mother’s mother and has been used to make Christmas cookies for three generations. After my mother married a Jew many years ago, her own passion for making Christmas cookies fizzled…
What’s New In Your Kitchen Wednesday
My What’s New in Your Kitchen Wednesday, is not really a kitchen item, rather a fun, easy, small, portable way to bring things into your kitchen(or any part of your house for that matter). Reusable bags are all the rage now, which is awesome.com, but I mean have you seen some of the designs/ styles?…
PB and J Oatmeal
Oatmeal is a go to breakfast in my house, as in everyday my children eat oatmeal. I have made it so many different ways, cinnamon and brown sugar with carmalized apples, mashed up banana and maple syrup, fresh berries, frozen berries (mashed). You name I have probably tried it. So in wanting to try something different…
I LOVE Pasta!
As stated in the title I LOVE me some PASTA, I don’t care the topping- I’ll pretty much eat anything. I started to get sick of grilled Zucchini after about the tenth or so bag of zucchini brought to us by my WONDERFUL in-laws. I couldn’t stand to see any go to waste, so night after…
Chard Recipe
The recipe calls for swiss chard but any greens will do. I really loved this and plan to make it again. Bright Lights Chard Gratin (From Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets by Deborah Madison) 2 lbs chard, including half of the stems 4 T. unsalted butter 1 onion, finely chopped seat…
