I am so lucky to have a bounty of garden-fresh herbs to cook with all summer long. But when winter sets in, I’m back to buying overpriced, uninspired herbs from the supermarket. No longer! Thanks to another great tip from Cooks Illustrated, you can dry herbs in the microwave. Yes, the microwave! In about 2-3…
Category: Favorite Foods
3-Ingredient Peachy Iced Tea
My friend and neighbor recently reminded me of this deliciously refreshing peach tea that she introduced me to many years ago. It was a favorite of mine but through the years, it dropped off my recipe radar. So when she kindly shared some with me the other day, I knew I had to share it…
Nana’s Chicken Pot Pie
If you google chicken pot pie, you’ll get recipes for an actual chicken pie, with a top and bottom crust. But the Pennsylvania Dutch version of chicken pot pie is more of a chicken stew with square pieces of dough added to the broth (a chicken pie in a pot). This recipe is from my…
Local Flavors of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik is a stunning, seaside coastal town with cuisine that has been influenced by Italy, Greece, and Turkey. My family and I traveled to Dubrovnik in early September and immediately fell in love the country. Restaurant menus were filled with fresh seafood dishes like grilled octopus, stuffed squid, black seafood risotto, and fried sardines. Seasonal…
Shoo Fly Cake (it’s naturally vegan)
Rich and gooey, Shoo fly cake is a twist on the more traditional Shoo fly pie which is deeply entrenched in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. Shoo fly cake is a dark, intensely moist cake with sweet crumbs and a rich molasses flavor. If you like gingerbread, you’ll love Shoo fly cake (this cake is my…
Rhubarb Sauce with Golden Raisins, Ginger and Cinnamon
Here’s round three in the rhubarb recipe series and it just might be my favorite. Rhubarb sauce is so easy to make. I make several batches during the rhubarb season because it freezes well allowing us to have the taste of fresh rhubarb in the middle of winter. Simply cut the stalks into chunks, add…
Around the World with Herbs and Spices
Herbs and spices magically transform a dish. They add rich flavors, aroma and color. Best of all, they add health-protective antioxidants to your meals. Almost any meal can easily be enhanced with herbs and spices, and it’s time to start experimenting! Flavors From Around the World: Use these different herb and spice combinations to achieve flavors…
Cooking and Eating on the Amalfi Coast
Eating and preparing Mediterranean food on the Mediterranean is this dietitian’s dream. I got my Mediterranean culinary fix on a recent trip to the Amalfi coast with my husband. We both enrolled in a cooking class at the Villa Maria Cooking School high up on the mountain in the beautiful town of Ravello. Talk about…
5 Minute Blistered Shishito Peppers
These little sweet peppers are dynamite when they’re flash sauteed! The skins are tender with seeds almost non-existent so you can pop the whole thing in your mouth. If you have a garden, grow them. Just a few plants produce a peck of peppers (I’m not really sure what a peck is but the point…
Homemade Sushi Party
Here’s a fun idea for a hands-on dinner party. Homemade sushi rolls. Sushi rolls are actually easy to make, once you get the hang of it. The most challenging part is finding the ingredients and the supplies needed to make the rolls. My town just happens to have a Japanese market so that was easy…
The Basics of Cooking with Beans
My new cooking goal is to master the craft of cooking dried beans. This should be simple but my past experience resulted in soft, mushy or mealy beans but then I stumbled upon the website, Rancho Gordo. It inspired me to start cooking dried beans and to stop opening a can. Rancho Gordo beans are beautiful,…
Creamy Pumpkin Pie with a Graham Cracker Crust
Here’s a late addition to the pumpkin palooza post. Pumpkin pie. I lightened the recipe by using evaporated fat-free milk instead of cream and made a fast and easy graham cracker crust using liquid vegetable oil instead of the traditional, full fat pie crust. This recipe makes two, 9 inch pies, one for dessert, and…