How efficient! When it was time to prick my Thanksgiving duck all over before putting it in the oven (stuffed with apple, onion, fennel), I remembered I had this handy tool from a long-ago Pampered Chef home party I’d attended. (My other purchase: a heavy glass measuring/pouring bowl with plastic lid for storage. Very handy!) … Continue reading
Filed under Eating in …
PB&J
Ah, the lowly PB&J. Every now and then I get such a craving. In this case I had some of those multigrain “slims” sandwich breads on hand. I bought them out of curiousity one day, and actually find them handy, as I’m not a fan of sandwiches that are too “bready.” The peanut butter was … Continue reading
Spaghetti Sauce & Home Cooking
No convenience food here, unless you count the fact that I had frozen purchased sausage from a supermarket (a mix of hot and sweet), and the tomatoes were canned, a mix of JerseyFresh crushed and BioNature organic crushed. I did use rigatoni for this, my favorite dried pasta, De Cecco. (Although I do like Barilla … Continue reading
Chicken Soup for the Storm
I count myself lucky to have only been without power for a little over two days. And I got gas without waiting in line, just by chance. But so many others are still powerless (in more than one way, as one friend of mine put it), and in many cases, without homes, too. It is … Continue reading
Sunday Cooking
This was the rest of my Sunday cooking spree that produced the butternut squash soup in my previous post. A busy day! I made the Brussels Sprouts slaw here with shredded sprouts from Trader Joes (so convenient!), throwing in some carrot I needed to use up. I used just a smidge of a mustardy mayonnaise … Continue reading
Kimchi Fried Rice
This dinner, built, I admit, almost entirely on convenience foods, was just delicous. I’d had it in mind for a while, so decided it was time to raid the freezer. Kimchi Fried Rice from Trader Joe’s formed the base. I really like this frozen item, as it is a tasty (somewhat spicy) accompaniment to whatever … Continue reading
Annual plum fest
I do this every fall. I start checking the local markets for Italian prune plums so I can make one of my favorite desserts, the Plum Pie (Zwetschgenkuchen) from Joan Nathan’s Jewish Cooking in America. The most reliable source for these plums is ShopRite, other markets may or may not have them. Regular plums don’t … Continue reading
Sausages & Grapes
I did get a little ahead of the cool weather when I made this dish a couple weeks ago. But I’d been to Mallery’s Grazin’ Meats and brought home both sweet and hot Italian Sausage. And I had these amazingly flavorful Thomcord grapes from Trader Joe’s. It’s been years since I’ve enjoyed seedless grapes, as … Continue reading
Happy Labor Day!
My brother Mark, who loves to cook out, emailed me this photo early today to let me know how he was celebrating the holiday weekend. It’s hard to beat the taste of grilled lobster and corn. In my grilling days I always split the lobster and buttered the inside after sort of flattening it. This one looks like … Continue reading
Swordfish
This turned out to be enough swordfish for three meals, because it was so rich, and cut a good inch or so thick. And that’s a good thing, because good fresh (i.e. never frozen), wild caught fish is an investment purchase these days – I believe this was almost $20. I drizzled some olive oil in … Continue reading
NJ SPICE 