One of my favorite parts of Christmas, now that my sister and I are adults, is our annual pilgrimage to my parents’ house, where my mom treats us to a delicious spread for breakfast before we retire to the living room, coffee cups in hand, to exchange gifts and watch my niece enjoy the spoils …
Continue reading “‘Role’ into Christmas with a tasty breakfast dish”
One of the most popular questions I get from people when they find out I write a recipe column is whether I have had any food fails when trying new dishes. The answer is a resounding yes. And if you were to ask me what the biggest fail of all time was, I would, without …
Continue reading “Prepare a honey of a meal for dinner this week”
Last weekend, Joey attended a day-long bowling tournament. The day before he left, he lamented that he didn’t think he would have time to throw a whole chicken we bought on the smoker and may have to toss it back in the freezer. Instead, I offered to put it in the oven on my day …
Continue reading “You can cook a whole chicken—even under pressure”
I was so glad this week that the smoke detector in my kitchen isn’t particularly sensitive. As I sauteed thin slices of steak on my stovetop, the room filled with a fine smoke that my exhaust fan just couldn’t keep up with. I am normally really nervous about cooking anything on high heat. I think …
Continue reading “Make a great Asian dish like you’ve never had ‘beef’ore”
I inadvertently jumped into the middle of a food controversy this week. Well, really, it was Joey’s fault. He found a video recently of someone making a sandwich called a “chopped cheese,” and because it looked delicious, we decided we needed to give it a try in our own kitchen. Upon doing some digging, I …
Continue reading “Stop, chop and (hoagie) roll into this week’s fabulous sandwich”
Even though I try not to heat up the house with my oven too often in the summer, I am definitely willing to make an exception for the right recipe. Last week, that exception came when I decided I didn’t want one of the typical cold summer sides like coleslaw, potato salad or a green …
Continue reading “Roasted vegetables will be the ‘bell’ of the ball this summer”
There is enough debate about black-eyed peas that there’s actually an article about them on the Library of Congress website. It starts out very simply, asking, “Are black-eyed peas really peas?” The answer is simple: “No.” The article then goes into a very technical, scientific explanation of how peas, beans and legumes are classified and …
Continue reading “‘Peas’ your tastebuds with a spicy crockpot soup”
There are tons of great copycat recipes out there. I was blown away several years ago to learn that you can make a pretty convincing Butterfinger candy bar with candy corn and a few other ingredients. I also once tried a great recipe claiming to mirror Starbucks’s lemon bread. So when I tried a casserole …
Continue reading “Casserole should tread care’philly’ with its cheesesteak claims”
One of the spots Joey and I chose to visit for our honeymoon over a decade ago was Philadelphia, Pa. As one must when visiting Philadelphia, we tried Philly cheesesteaks at several restaurants around the city. True die-hards will be sad to know that I was not brave enough to try any of my sandwiches …
Continue reading “Cheesy pasta is just the thing to ‘Philly’ you up”
A few months ago, we bought a meat bundle from our local butcher, and since we’ve been stuck at home, it’s been nice to enjoy. We’ve made roasts and steaks and dinners with ground beef, but I still had a few packages of tenderized round steak that I decided I needed to be creative with—mostly …
Continue reading “This will make you come around to a new cut of steak”