organizing my most useful kitchen tools
I love healthy food, but I love it more when it doesn’t taste like healthy food. Best of both worlds! Click around to find some of my tried and true staples - and new recipes too, whether my own ideas, inspired by other blogs, torn from the pages of a magazine, or passed through friends or family. Learn more about me and My Utensil Crock HERE.
!Very. Special. Recipe. Alert! I had not had these cookies in probably 25 years, but when I made this batch and took one bite, I was instantly transported back to my early teens. I don't have many Proustian madeleine moments, but this was a big one. Totally back in Indiana, complete with peg-rolled jeans and intense bangs that were re-styled … [Read more...]
If I had to pick, potatoes may be my favorite food. Definitely among my very favorite foods. Top three for sure. And potatoes are at their finest when fried. I like the mushy and medium fries best though, not the little crunchy pieces. I mean, I will finish any fries that even slow down in front of me, but I prefer fries to have a little … [Read more...]
This spring has been a busy one, so I am reposting an oldie but goodie. Almost four years ago (!) to the day (unplanned! fortuitous!) I posted this recipe for making tortilla chips out of tortillas. Healthier than a store-bought bag of chips, and about 20 minutes in the oven. Not bad, right? Try them in these Healthy Nachos, like I do! When … [Read more...]
My 200th Post! CUE THE BALLOONS! I wanted to do something special for this post, and while my mom prefers palindromic numbers - like 202 or 222 - to round numbers, I am hopeful she will forgive me and be honored anyway. I present to you: My Mom's Brisket. This recipe is one of the very few I can shop for and make without notes - it's that … [Read more...]
It has been eleven years since my first "cooking date" with my grandma Ga. Time flies. I remember so well the kitchen in her apartment. She never let the building upgrade it - in 50 years. Everything had its place, namely the tin receptacles for leftovers, enormous jars of mayonnaise, and cooked bacon wrapped in aluminum foil left on the … [Read more...]
"Sunday Surprise is pretty much the best thing ever..." - AGA "Ohh my goodness, I LOVE that you're blogging about this!!" - JGL I have many things for which to thank my college roommate, JGL. Let's just breeze right by all of the non-blog-appropriate items ... scrolling ... scrolling ... scrolling ... and land on this. Land IN this? Don't … [Read more...]
Another family favorite! Does your family have some recipes that they have just come to expect at family events? The dish that, when the person who usually makes it arrives at the gathering, you hug and say hello, but reeeeally you're checking their hands to make sure they brought it? Share those dishes in the comments! It's so fun to see … [Read more...]
Love this. A simple Passover-friendly version of a classic comfort dish. This recipe uses matza instead of noodles in a layered lasagna. What? Yep, no joke. With a brief soak in water and bake in the oven, matza substitutes for noodles, and you get your doughy fix for the week. I have not tested this recipe on kids, but I bet it … [Read more...]
Warning: Super-fudgy, super-delicious, super-photogenic brownie recipe coming up in 3...2...1... Boom. Ga's Brownies. You are welcome. Ga, for those unfamiliar, is the nickname given by my brother to my mom's mom. I honestly never saw anything amiss with this nickname. It's short for "Grandma." My brother was a kid when this happened. It … [Read more...]
If anything in this world is certain, my grandmother will always be there, and she will always make her Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies. Little puffy clouds of awesome, a crisp shell protecting a sweet, gooey chocolaty center; messy to eat as all get-out. The only solution is to shove the whole thing in your mouth in one bite - purely out of … [Read more...]
