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Posts from the ‘Food and Recipes’ Category

24
Nov

Holiday Mail Order Sweets

There are certain foods – usually sweets – that we buy or receive once a year around the holidays that lend nostalgia to the season (and a few inches to the waistline).  In our home, we usually kick off the season in mid-November with the purchase of a sweet Italian cake called Pandoro that my daughter sprinkles confectionary sugar over. Read more »

18
Nov

Roasted Autumn Vegetables

There seems to be a lot of chatter about root vegetables in the Autumn and there is no better selection than this time of year.  Root vegetables are not the most colorful or attractive items in the produce section (and actually, some root vegetables are quite ugly) but if you take the time to peel, slice, and mix them with some old standbys (carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and leeks), add some olive oil and seasoning, a delicious side dish emerges. Read more »
31
Oct

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few months ago, I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies from a Neiman Marcus recipe that has been passed along on the internet for years.  The story of the recipe isn’t important as any person reading about its origination (a woman having lunch at Neiman Marcus ordering a chocolate chip cookie and getting a bill for $250 for the recipe) would question why the woman even had a credit card. And, who has ever seen a recipe for sale on a lunch menu? But, that’s not the point.  The issue is:  are the cookies good? I thought so because they contain ground oatmeal and I love oatmeal but that’s not what my family and friends think. Read more »
25
Oct

Cranberry Chutney

Every Fall when the fresh cranberries are harvested, picked, bagged, and eventually distributed to the grocery stores, I start thinking about making cranberry chutney.Not quite Thanksgiving but with a chill in the air, it’s hard to beat a baked chicken served with roasted potatoes and carrots, sautéed green beans with toasted almonds, and cranberry chutney on an Autumn night. Read more »

11
Oct

Pesto – Homemade

Pesto makes pasta dishes special and takes soups from good to great. My friends, Jim and Sheila grow basil – the most important ingredient in pesto – in their garden and gave me the following recipe for “Blender Pesto” which is the most delicious pesto I’ve ever tasted: Read more »

1
Oct

The Right Gift: On-Line Resources

Giving a gift is easy but giving a gift that the recipient will truly enjoy takes time, thought and effort. Gifts are delivered with a message:  Happy Birthday, Thank You, Congratulations, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah  – and the message is best conveyed with a thoughtful gift. Read more »

25
Sep

Vegetable Soup – Homemade

Soup is one of those great comfort foods that tastes especially delicious on an Autumn or Winter day and vegetable soup is surprisingly simple to make.  The only time-consuming part is the cutting of the vegetables which can be chopped ahead of time and stored in a bowl of water in the refrigerator until ready to use. Years ago, I started making my own soups and continue to make variations several times a month. Virtually any vegetable can be used: carrots, celery, onions, corn, potatoes, zucchini, squash, leeks, cauliflower, green beans and more. Read more »

19
Sep

The Honey Crisp Apple

When I was growing up, our neighborhood was adjacent to an apple orchard and the local kids would sneak into the fields when the pickers weren’t in sight, climb a tree and pick an apple off the branches to eat as an afternoon snack. The apples were not always beautiful but they were delicious and because they were so readily available, we took them for granted. Decades passed and the orchard was sold to real estate developers. Farms were consolidated and apples were mass-produced, imported and became readily available in grocery stores. Apples became more beautiful and shinier but they didn’t taste like those orchard apples. Read more »
9
Sep

Peanut Butter – Homemade

Grocery stores in the best of circumstances can make our lives easier and in the not so best times, can make us think we are incapable of making certain products because we don’t have the time, knowledge, or confidence. Before you buy a jar of commercially prepared peanut butter, read the label and notice how much sugar, corn syrup, salt, and other ingredients are added to a product that tastes better plain. Read more »

22
Aug

Peach Blueberry Crumble

Summertime and fruity desserts go together and one of my family’s favorite is a Peach Blueberry Crumble. Sweet, juicy fruit is very important – large white or yellow peaches and plump blueberries – but for me it’s all about the crumble – the more the better. Read more »

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