Just a brief post about Sunday dinner. We're not vegetarians, but sometimes I get tired of trying to find new ways to fix meat. Beef. Chicken. Pork. And even the fish we have once a week. So on Sunday, my husband cooked artichokes on the grill while I made eggplant parmesan. Just one or the… Continue reading Not the Usual Dinner
Category: Food
Only the Beginning
Look at the pretty colors. It's that time of year again. We tried a different cherry tomato this year. It's the bright yellowish-orange in the photo. The lady at the nursery told us that it was sweeter than the red. They are delicious, but I wouldn't say they're any sweeter. Same flavor as the red,… Continue reading Only the Beginning
How many Tomatoes can fit in a bowl?
Roma tomatoes anyone? How 'bout zucchini? Content warning: Do not read this post if you are already hungry. The batch of two bowls is the third batch of two bowls we've gotten from our garden. Not to mention the stragglers in between. The zucchini has been plenty, too. What to do? What to do with… Continue reading How many Tomatoes can fit in a bowl?
A Question about Pizza
Chicago hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and best of all deep dish pizza. Oh, how I missed those hometown specialties when I lived in Florida. I didn't eat hot dogs at all when I lived in the freak-show Sunshine State, because anything other than Vienna Beef tastes like bologna to me. I don't like bologna.… Continue reading A Question about Pizza
Eating Flowers
In our garden, the tomatoes aren't doing so well. We are getting some, but not like last year. The heat stress is causing them to die or come up with dark spots. The good news is, our other vegetables have been fruitful and we haven't had to buy many at the grocery store. Below is… Continue reading Eating Flowers
My Husband is IBM
No the title does not mean that my husband works for IBM. Nor does it have anything to do with any sort of irritable bowl issue. According to him, IBM stands for something else. Italian By Marriage. My husband is as white as a white boy can be, and I'm not talking about skin color.… Continue reading My Husband is IBM
The Scent Factor (200-word Tuesday)
Have you ever felt like you entered a time machine when you hear a song that transports you to another age and place? Scents are also a powerful flashback inducer. There is a short story in my memoir anthology titled, Hope Lies in Meatballs. It begins with my Grandma and I taking a trip to… Continue reading The Scent Factor (200-word Tuesday)
Get Out Alive
Sometimes I wish I had a TV show where I'd walk around talking to strangers. Can you see my TV camera? I'd talk to people from all walks of life. Can you imagine the stories they'd tell? Maybe it wouldn't make for good visuals on television, but it might make for good blog writing, like… Continue reading Get Out Alive
Must Love Garlic
Summer lasted right through October 21st this year. Then, Mother Nature hopped right over fall and landed in winter. I tried to capture colors of autumn, but not a lot showed up. We actually got a sprinkle of snow over the weekend that didn't stick. Due to the prolonged summer, our garden lasted through last… Continue reading Must Love Garlic
Eat to Live or Live to Eat
When my husband and I were first dating and going out to eat, he told me that he ate to live, he didn’t live to eat. I was foreign to that concept. I’m Italian. Flavor is all I know. I lived for flavors and how to make something even more flavorful the next time. My… Continue reading Eat to Live or Live to Eat
Cavatelli
This is the second installment of a day in the kitchen with mom. Only this time, it was our other mom. My husband had been wanting to spend time with each of our mom's in the kitchen, and a few weeks after he baked apple slices with his mom, he asked my mom, V, to… Continue reading Cavatelli
Simple Olive Chicken Bake
When I first started blogging, I posted recipes to coincide with the comical short story in my memoir anthology about how I learned to cook. The anthology is no longer available, but I hope to re-release it after we move. (If you missed the news about the move, you can find it here) In the… Continue reading Simple Olive Chicken Bake
Return to the scene of a Valentine’s Day non-Date
I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day. I feel like it's a superficial way to force couples to remember each other. And, somehow it seems like it's all the man's responsibility to do something to celebrate. Anyway, I prefer when the love flows naturally. We ignore the holiday by attending a fun filled food affair… Continue reading Return to the scene of a Valentine’s Day non-Date
Frezzelle
What is a Frezzelle, you ask? Well, if you're Italian, you may already know. If you just happen to like Italian food, read on. Since I wrote about my family of Italian cooks in my memoir anthology, and the types of foods they used to make, I thought I'd share another one today. Frezzelles were… Continue reading Frezzelle
Swimming in Flour
Spent the entire weekend baking cookies. Recipe for these yummy dippers are here. It's my favorite thing to do for the holiday. I wrote about these in my memoir anthology. Better than putting up the tree, decorating, shopping and wrapping. Wrote about these here. For the first time in years, I have people to bake… Continue reading Swimming in Flour
2nd Annual Scenes from a Valentine’s Day non-Date
Here’s the link to the blog post of the 1st annual scenes from a Valentine’s Day non-date. My husband and I are not really into this holiday. There are so many other reasons than the naming of an "official day" to show our love and appreciation for each other. So, we escape the crowded restaurants filled with corn-ball… Continue reading 2nd Annual Scenes from a Valentine’s Day non-Date
Food Talk, Tips and My Valentine to You
I don't like onions. Let me rephrase that, I despise onions. I've never understood how anyone can enjoy something that smells like B.O. and makes you cry. Not to mention that they also make my stomach sick. It's my theory that more than a little of them can make anyone sick. My evidence? White Castle… Continue reading Food Talk, Tips and My Valentine to You
Feels Like Home
I subscribe to, and have been published in the magazine Angels on Earth. They usually put one recipe in each issue. One of those quarterly recipes called my name, because not only was it chicken soup, which I love, but it was shared by an Italian family. Its ingredients reminded me of something my own Italian… Continue reading Feels Like Home
Leftover Holiday-Ham Stew
This is not my recipe (but it is my photo). It's one I found on the internet a couple of years ago. Back then, just like this year, I had tons of ham leftover from Christmas. I was searching the web to find something I could do with it. I found this recipe that calls… Continue reading Leftover Holiday-Ham Stew
Biscotti
DEE’S BISCOTTI Below is my Aunt Dee's cookie recipe. It’s the full recipe, so if you don’t have a lot of people to offer them to, or a party where you can share them, I suggest cutting it in half, otherwise this makes a LOT of biscotti. Dee’s Biscotti 2 sticks of margarine melted 6… Continue reading Biscotti
Lori's Lane 