When I was in grade school, our family used to frequent a now defunct Mexican restaurant called Zaki’s. For some reason, at that age, I was particularly fond of making bets with my dad, and I can remember two challenges that centered on that restaurant in particular. The first was a bet I won. The …
Continue reading “Deciding to make enchiladas an open and shut ‘queso’”
My sister and I have a fundamental difference in opinion when it comes to potatoes in Mexican food. I’m in the “absolutely” camp, and she’s in the “never, ever” camp. I discovered this philosophical divergence one day when I recommended a local restaurant’s chorizo and potato fried tacos to her, and we were both shocked …
Continue reading “Expand your ‘chorizo’ns with potato tacos”
I have apparently been misinformed about the difference between scalloped potatoes and potatoes au gratin for my entire life. I always thought they both had cheese involved. But after I decided recently to make scalloped potatoes, I discovered that the dish has no cheese at all, and it led me down a rabbit hole of …
While hunting for something in the freezer recently, I caused a bit of an avalanche of frozen food and discovered a bag of caramel bits tucked away on the bottom that I was gifted a few weeks ago by someone cleaning out their pantry. I’ve never used caramel bits in baking before, and although I …
Continue reading “You’ll love these caramel apple cookies to bits”
A couple weeks ago, our family gathered around my maternal grandmother’s table, enjoying a meal with her along with all of the cousins and their children and spouses present. It was sometimes a bit loud and boisterous, and there was plenty of laughter as we all ate way too much while telling stories and catching …
Continue reading “It’s tough to see one more empty seat at the table”
I absolutely adore green beans. They’ve been near the top of my favorite veggies list since I was little. My normal ways of preparing them is to open a can, dump them in a microwave-safe container with some salt and pepper and heat them up or to fry up some bits of bacon in a …
Continue reading “I finally found the cooking method I’ve ‘bean’ looking for”
For July 4th this year, Joey and I were invited to spend the afternoon and evening with my sister and brother-in-law, and of course, my wonderful niece. She’s quickly approaching 2 years old, and although she probably won’t stay up long enough to see any fireworks this year, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun …
When I first started going solo in the kitchen as a youngster, I was very concerned with cooking by the book. Mom never minded me hovering over her shoulder (or if she did, she hid it really well), and I asked a lot of questions. Once I felt ready to make meals on my own, …
Continue reading “Sweet roll recipe is the only ‘bun’ for me”
Last week, we walked into one of our favorite restaurants in Hutchinson, a little hole-in-the-wall called El Rodeo that serves up tons of amazing Mexican food. I have explored all over their menu, and I have yet to find something I didn’t like. I’m especially a sucker for their chorizo and potato fried tacos, which …
Over the seven years since I started writing this column, my family has gotten very used to being guinea pigs for new recipes. So much so, that when I showed up with a dish of still-warm brownies for a board game night with my sister and brother-in-law last weekend, my sister looked at me and …
Continue reading “Cherry Garcia brownies makes friends ‘Grateful Fed’”
