January 2011
5 posts
Better than Velveeta: Simple Cheddar Cheese Sauce →
7 tags
Baked Pasta Casserole
The original recipe calls this Macaroni and Cheese, I call it casserole. I think macaroni and cheese is just that, mac and cheese. There no veggies and it’s not baked. Casseroles are baked, as is this.
Back to start - this was soooo good. So incredibly good. Not very filling though, but so good. Would you believe that I wasn’t the one in my family who made this? Yep. My husband made...
Anytime Oatmeal Cookies
On Saturday, our friends Josh and Emily came over for an impromptu dinner. When our friends come over for dinner, we make the main course and dessert and they bring a salad or appetizers. Since this dinner wasn’t planned, after I invited them, I realized that we had no dessert. First, I thought to make brownies because we have cocoa powder and I never made brownies from scratch. Then I...
Hamburger Stroganoff
Ever since our “little bit” was born, as you can imagine, we haven’t had much time to cook. Nevertheless, the 2 months when I was home, I made a lot of effort to make good, delicious meals. Most of the time, though, there just wasn’t enough time during the day. You’d think, while on maternity leave, I’d be laying around, watching daytime TV. I wish! This babe of...
December 2010
1 post
October 2010
12 posts
Chicken with Roasted Cauliflower & Tahini Sauce
Easy. Healthy. So incredibly delicious. Need I say more? Did I mention that this cooks in less than 30 minutes?
Chicken with Roasted Cauliflower and Tahini Sauce (recipe from Serious Eats)
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1 head cauliflower, cored and cut into 2” florets
2 chicken legs (I used 5)
kosher salt and black pepper
1/4 cup tahini
...
Pumpkin Bread
Seriously, October seems to be a month of firsts. This was the first time I made pumpkin anything. Seriously. The only pumpkin anything I’ve ever eaten was Pumpkin Pie and it’s always been store bought. I don’t see myself making pumpkin pie in the near future, but this pumpkin bread can easily become a common dessert found in my house.
Whenever I make brownies from a box or any...
Easy & Quick Mac and Cheese
This was so incredibly easy to make. The only unfortunate thing is the amount of butter that goes in this dish. Fortunately, it make a lot of servings so I didn’t feel that bad eating a bowl (or two).
Honestly, after having made this, I don’t think I’ll ever want to have boxed mac & cheese again. Who am I kidding, of course I will!!!!
Next time, I think, I’ll...
Butternut Squash with Walnuts and Vanilla
I made this as a side dish to the beef stew. Since I’ve never made (or eaten) butternut squash, I really didn’t know what to expect. Secretly, I hoped it was as sweet as acorn squash.
As I stuck my knife in the squash I was became mildly panicked. My knife was stuck inside it. I didn’t expect it to be so super hard on the inside. So I did what I usually do when I need guidance,...
Old-Time Beef Stew
This whole (pregnancy) nesting thing must be really in full force because all I’ve been doing lately is cooking. I wanted to cook a large meal on Saturday and knew that we’d have a ton of leftovers, so we invited a couple of friends to share the meal with us.
I decided to make Beef Stew, some potatoes, and butternut squash. I have never, in my life, had butternut squash (I...
I randomly got an idea in my head to make short ribs on Saturday. Does anyone have a favorite recipe they can share?
Apple Pancakes
I had apples + I had some extra whole milk + I wanted pancakes = apple pancakes.
These were a complete success and almost a failure at the same time. How is that possible, you ask? Well, if you make the pancakes too big and don’t cook them all the way through - you get pancakes that are uncooked in the center and super delicious at the edges. Plus, I didn’t use oil to fry them nor did...
Moussaka
Everytime husband and I go out to a Greek restaurant, I always order the same thing - Moussaka. If they have a vegetarian version, even better. I have a really really good Greek friend with whom I’ve been friends since freshman year of high school. Whenever I came over to her house, I always secretly hoped that her fridge had a bit of moussaka for me. She knew my love for the dish and...
I have whole milk at home and want to use it up before it goes bad. I think I might have about 2 cups worth. Any suggestion what I should make?
(I also have eggs, butter, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and yeast).
Ideas?
tomorrow’s cooking includes a double dose of moussaka, which I’ve never made before, and (more) rugelach. My parents are coming over tomorrow for dinner and my mom requested rugelach, since she didn’t get to try it last time.
I’m more worried about making moussaka though. I heard it’s labor intensive, but oh-so-worth-it. I’ve had it more than a handful of...
We have a ton of mint, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, and dill at home. I’m thinking we should freeze it all to use during the winter. Any clue if any of these herbs freeze well? If so, what’s the best method?
Albondigas (Meatball) Soup
We had a chilly weekend and I wanted to make something warm. I also wanted soup. I also wanted meatballs. So, a meatball soup I made. Saturday was such a lazy day for us with nothing planned except a concert later in the evening. So I woke up, had breakfast, watched a little TV, and made soup - all before noon. The soup was super easy to make and took less than 1 hour from beginning to plate. This...
September 2010
13 posts
Pineapple Blueberry Crunch Cake
My really really really good friend Penny brought a dessert to our baby shower on Sunday. Can I just say, her dessert went faster than the professionally made cake that we also had. The blueberry cobbler was an instant success and my husband had to tuck away a little bit of it just so he could have some left over the next day.
When I told Penny about this wild success, she sent me the recipe -...
Broccoli and Ramen Noodle Salad
My mom has been making a version of this salad for years and my husband just couldn’t get enough. Oddly enough, my mom actually doesn’t like the salad and only makes it when my husband’s around. Anyways, this past Sunday we had our final baby shower (yes, there were more than 1) and I decided to make this salad just for my dear husband…and any other guests that might want a...
Zucchini Rice Casserole
I planned to make this for a few days and finally, last night, I did it. I didn’t exactly follow the directions which, I think, made it a little easier and quicker. Still, took a total of 1 hour to make, but that’s including prep and cooking. Otherwise, according to the recipe, it would’ve taken at least an hour and a half.
The casserole isn’t pretty, but it’s...
Five Tips to a Better Sandwich →
Uzbek-Style Rice Pilaf
The only rice pilaf I’ve ever had was always Uzbek and Georgian inspired. My dad makes killer rice pilaf and that’s the only kind I’ve ever eaten at home. Last week I got a hankering for my dad’s rice pilaf but didn’t want to bother him with the recipe. Plus, no one in my family even uses recipes - which kind of drives me up the wall. It’s always a pinch of...
Rugelach
On Saturday night I made Uzbek-style rice pilaf, but that’s another post. I was also going to make Rugelach but I was just so freaking exhausted that I decided to make them Sunday morning instead. There was no occasion or celebration, I just wanted to make them. It’s very odd, the way my brain works sometimes. I knew that I would end up dozens of Rugelach and didn’t even think...
Mexican Potato Soup
When there’s even a hint of chill in the air, I want soup. All the time - I want soup. So when I saw this recipe I knew that I wanted to try it asap. Plus, it helped that I had all (but one) of the ingredients. Just like all of my recent dishes, this one was easy to make. I usually save the more “complex” ones for the weekend because the last thing I want to do after I come home...
Penne and Broccoli in Goat Cheese Sauce
This was really really easy to make. Seems like everything I make lately is really easy to make. Anyways - sure, I used more pans than I needed, but who cares!? I now have leftovers to last me a while…..or lunch tomorrow. I got the original recipe from thekitchn and then changed a few things. The recipe calls for bacon and squash. Well, unbeknown to me, the bacon decided to spoil ahead of...
Cheese Blintzes
A few days ago I decided to make blintzes. I have never, ever, in my life made crepes or blintzes of any sort so this was a complete experiment. The process was fairly easy and quick and the outcome was delicious.
Next time, though, I think I’ll add some sort of a fruit topping or filling. Honestly, I love blintzes so much that I can just eat them as is - without any filling or topping at...
25 things chefs never tell you →
Mushroom Barley (and Other Veggies) Soup
My grandmother makes the world’s best mushroom soup. Unfortunately, I can’t replicate it and make my own version instead. This soup is healthy, can be made vegetarian (or not), and is super filling. My grandmother’s version has about 4 ingredients, my version has a lot more.
It’s the first week where it’ll be in the 70s all week, with perfect and chilly evenings....
August 2010
4 posts
Eggs recalled over salmonella concerns →
just a PSA
Picking a Perfect Watermelon
A long time ago, my mom told me how she picks a perfect watermelon. I never really understood her method until this year. Maybe the pregnancy made me a bit wiser? Who knows!? What I do know is that I haven’t had a bad watermelon yet - no matter where I buy it.
I only have one problem when it comes to watermelons - I don’t know when to stop. Before getting pregnant, I would eat 1/2...
Has it really been a month since my last post? Impossible!
I guess I just haven’t been cooking anything special lately. It’s been super hot and humid here and the last thing I want to do is stand next to a hot stove. So our meals consisted pretty much of grilling since husband, unlike me, doesn’t mind a little heat. I made tons of salads include Venegret and the basic...
July 2010
9 posts
Big French Salad
I would call this the Big Healthy & Filling Salad or BHFS! But since it’s not my recipe and I’m not the one one called it the Big French Salad…it’s not up to me. It took longer to assemble the ingredients than for me to eat it. Andy hates eggs (unless it’s only the yolk) so he put some pepperoni on his. I was thinking of adding bacon and come bleu cheese, but...
Kitchen Myths →
We’ve all heard of urban legends, those plausible sounding but false stories that circulate so widely on email and news groups, such as the old lady who microwaved her cat or the Nieman-Marcus $250 cookie recipe. There are several web sites devoted to researching and exposing these fake stories. The same sort of thing happens in the world of food and cooking, although on a much smaller...
Peach and Apricot Cobbler
The plan was to go to the farmer’s market, get rhubarb and strawberries, and make a strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Unfortunately, I waited a week too long and rhubarb is now out of season. What did I do? Well, next best thing of course! I bought peaches and apricots and decided to make a Peach and Apricot Cobbler instead.
Problem #1 - I’ve never actually had a cobbler before. At least...
June 2010
22 posts
Tell Me About Rhubarb
I have never had rhubarb. At least not that I know of. I want to stop by the farmer’s market and pick a bunch (is that how they’re sold? In a bunch?).
Here’s my question, rather questions:
1. When buying rhubarb, what do I need to look for? 2. What do I do with it? I want to use it either tomorrow night or Wednesday night. Is dessert the only thing it’s good for? 3. What...
