Until I began this column, I had no idea how many variations of pasta there are. I used to think I was pretty knowledgeable until I continued to discover new types that often were tough to find in small-town Kansas grocery stores. My recipe this week called for ziti, a tube-shaped pasta I’m definitely familiar …
Continue reading “Let’s embrace the ‘pasta’bilities this week”
I recently found myself going on a whirlwind trip through the grocery store, quickly grabbing something to make for dinner on my way home from work. Joey and I were all geared up to watch a basketball game, and I (of course) ended up getting caught in the office far later than I wanted. And …
Continue reading “Sometimes speed is what cooking is all a’sprout’”
I recently unpacked a few boxes of books that were stored away and uncovered some cookbooks I hadn’t looked through in awhile. They’re now all neatly in a row on my new bookshelf, so I suspect they will be getting some use in the coming weeks and months, but as I looked at each one …
Continue reading “Your spaghetti may be the ‘bella’ the ball”
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 …
Continue reading “Don’t leave dinner ‘scalloped’ to chance”
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”
A few years ago, we met a young newspaper editor from Kentucky while we were at a conference. She’s one of those “do it all” folks and in addition to being a managing editor, she runs a small farm. I’m friends with her on Facebook, and now that summer is in full swing, I enjoy …
Continue reading “Let’s ‘brocc’ and roll with soup this summer”
A few weekends ago, Joey and his best friend decided to fire up our smoker in the backyard and fill it with everything from several racks of ribs to a pork loin. They tended the fire all day, hanging out in the garage with a set of washer boards to get out of the sun. …
Continue reading “Make garlic pasta salad to be the ‘roast’ of the town”
Last weekend, we decided to go to a late showing of the new “Avengers” movie with a group of friends, so we met early to enjoy the nice weather and grill for supper. One of our friends walked in with a big bag of fresh asparagus. “You can do whatever you want with this,” she …
Continue reading “Let’s have a serious ‘stalk’ about grilled asparagus”
With the Super Bowl right around the corner, I decided I better try out a new snack recipe. That’s especially since I’m likely to be craving something to eat while I grumpily watch the Patriots try to win yet another trophy. I was really hoping to see two teams who’d never won the big game …
Continue reading “Garlic cheese bombs explode with flavor”