I have long written about how much I love to buy a random ingredient at the grocery store (especially one that’s on sale) and figure out how to use it. But I don’t think I’ve outed Joey as being the same way—except with spices and sauces. I can’t even count the number of times we …
Continue reading “New (to us) seasoning is a ‘rice’ change of pace”
My allergies are totally angry at me right now. I don’t know what kind of plant is surviving well enough in this late-July heat to attack my sinuses, but something certainly has been. So when I told you I was immediately attracted to a soup recipe, you’ll forgive my stuffy nose for wanting a hot …
Continue reading “Don’t leaf through your cookbooks for ideas, make this instead”
When I go to try a recipe I think sounds tasty, I often follow the directions pretty closely, only deviating here and there to kick some of the flavors up a notch. When Joey is inspired by a recipe, he looks up a few more versions of the same dish and then goes completely rogue, …
Continue reading “It’s OK to wing it, even with classic French chicken dishes”
Until I really started exploring some Asian recipes during the pandemic, the ginger in my spice cabinet was pretty much only for baking sweets. If you would have asked me, I would have said it was there merely for projects like pumpkin bread and ginger snaps. Boy, was I missing out on an entire, delicious …
Continue reading “‘Rice’ to the occasion with tasty caramelized pork”
It’s the time of year that Joey’s bowling team comes for their end-of-season cookout at our house. That means Joey throws something on the grill or smoker, and I figure out some tasty sides and desserts to make them all happy. The guys are always gracious enough to put up with new experiments from me …
Continue reading “Your guests will go hog wild for this amazing bean dip”
I’ve said before that trying to figure out measurements while Joey cooks is pretty much a herculean feat. He’s a man who always measures with his heart. And, boy, does his heart love our spice cabinet. That’s perfectly fine with me, though, because he is great at combining flavors, and he’s also the person you …
Continue reading “Get your mojo going with this citrus-forward pork recipe”
After finding a huge, eight-pound pork butt on sale a few weeks ago, our first inclination was for Joey to throw it on his smoker, as he normally would. Instead, we debated a bit back and forth about what kind of new recipe we could try, and it turned into what we deemed to be …
Continue reading “This kick-butt crockpot recipe should be on your list”
Something I love about Joey is that he is often quite willing to jump into a grand kitchen experiment with me. Recently, that was when I pulled out my pasta roller, and instead of merely making noodles, as I have so far since I bought it, I proposed creating ravioli from scratch. He was totally …
Continue reading “This week’s dish is ravi‘whole’i made for someone with spare time”
Back before my married days, one of my favorite dishes to make for myself was a big nine-by-13-inch pan of good, old-fashioned tater tot casserole. Of course, being one person, that also meant I was dedicating one meal a day for the next week to eating plenty of leftovers. I’m a sucker for leftovers, though, …
Continue reading “This classic casserole is entering a new school of ‘tot’”
Sometimes I feel like I must try a recipe, just because it sounds too ridiculous or strange to ignore. In this case, it was finding a guy online making a “Mexican Dutch baby.” If you’re not familiar with a traditional Dutch baby, it’s basically a large, puffy pancake made in an already preheated pan in …
Continue reading “Oh, baby, are you going to love this Mexican-Dutch fusion”
