LBI is OPEN

LBI is OPEN

My family has enjoyed Long Beach Island for many years, and I was, well, devastated to hear about the devastation after Hurricane Sandy. So, let’s not fail to notice that quite a few businesses are open again, and eager to see you soon. Over the years, I’ve done some of my best Christmas shopping down … Continue reading →

Visions of Sugar Plums

The Winter Collection of artisan chocolates from Donna & Company reads like a dream: Pumpkin Caramel, Tiramasu, Cranberry Orange, Vanilla Honey, Egg Nog.  Five perfect, hand-made pieces are packaged in a red gift box with magnetic ribbon closure. Other options include a 6-inch chocolate wreath with molded ribbon, pinecones and holly details (and more), or … Continue reading →

Duck Soup

This turned out to be one of the more delicious soups I’ve made recently, I had the carcass from Thanksgiving, still with plenty of meat on it, and decided to just throw it in the pot at home one day. I added the last of the drippings (sans as much fat as I could scrape … Continue reading →

Kitchen Tools

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 →

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 →

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Squash

Now I have another reason to love fall foods. This is Melissa Clark‘s recipe for Roasted Chicken Thighs with Delicata Squash (except I only found acorn at ShopRite, so used that), from the New York Times in October. This was so very, very delicious that I went right out and bought more ingredients for a … 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 →