Weekends are funny things. We spend all week looking forward to having a few days off, only to find that those few days fly by so fast, we’re left wondering what in the world we did with all the extra time. Saturdays are especially rascally that way. It’s typically the one day a week that…
Don’t tease the underdog: Fettuccine with eggplant
Eggplants are inherently funny little guys. They grow in the garden along with all the other squash-like things — think zucchinis, summer squash, cucumbers and the like — but they’re slightly stranger, quite a bit tougher and decidedly less popular because they look a bit too different. Actually they remind me of little Rudolph at…
It’s OK to be a picky eater
Utter the phrase, “We’re trying to eat healthfully,” and you’re bound to be hit by an onslaught of advice and opinions on what your new health-conscious diet must entail. Low carbs. High protein. Raw foods. No red meat. Seriously, health crazes can be harder to keep up with than fashion trends (slap bracelet, anyone?). But…
Cinco de Mayo? No problema!
I think every family has a handful of recipes that are aptly dubbed “weeknight meals.” They’re the dishes that can be thrown together in no time flat and magically satisfy everyone sitting at the table. Without fail, they appear on the menu at least every other week because they’re just that easy and just that…
You’re never too old for mac and cheese
Comfort foods are comfort foods for a reason. They warm you up, fill you up and make you all sorts of happy at the same time. With the weather getting warmer and the days getting busier, we haven’t been doing a lot of comfort-food making lately, but every once in a while, the tummy wants…
Horseradish, I think we can be friends now.
What in the world did we do before Google? Remember in the olden days, when we’d have a question about something and had to dig around in the encyclopedia (or Encarta on the computer, for the high-tech folks), the dictionary or our own noggins to find the information we were looking for? Now when I’m…
Hi ho, asparagus! ‘Tis the season
Asparagus is one of those vegetables that (prior to this pasta salad escapade) I only knew how to make one way: roasted in the oven with a dot of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. It’s a simple method, but it’s always delicious and nearly foolproof. And it’s no secret that I…
Amber’s Magic Salad
Sometimes our love for a particular food isn’t entirely explainable. Maybe it stems from a certain ingredient, the perfect texture or a favorite memory. Whatever the reason, it only takes a single bite to know when something has hit the spot. And once that spot is hit, the food adoration ensues. Amber whipped up this…
Roasted carrots: Simple? Yes. Delicious? Definitely.
There is simple but profound nugget of wisdom I’ve discovered during this long, snowy wintertime of root vegetable eating: All root vegetables (and arguably any vegetable, for that matter) taste better roasted. Something lovely and miraculous happens when those chunks of vegetable goodness take a dive in olive oil, followed by a slight sprinkling of…
It’s the lazy (wo)man’s risotto: Creamy orzo
There’s a lot of new-recipe trying going on at our place these days. With everything from desserts to soups to entrees, my pre-grocery-shopping routine usually involves a good hour of cookbook and computer diving to the find a slew of new dishes we can take for a test drive. Some are great, some are so-so,…