Welcome Home…

Well, we’ve been in our new house for about a month now. I’m thinking I’m going to link this blog to some sort of new home-garden-food blog… I just need a name and a bit of extra time to get it set up. We’re finally doing some semi-regular cooking and grilling (yeah – new grill for the Mr!). We’ve already done some big yard corrections and a bit of gardening, along with some interior painting. And that’s where our focus will continue to be… the house, the yard, the garden, the kitchen. That’s the idea that I’m toying with, at the moment, blog-wise, anyway…

Stay tuned…

Read Full Post »

Saturday Pizza…

We haven’t really been in the mood for anything, food-wise, lately… We’re in the process of buying a house, so cooking and kitchen days have taken a back burner for now. I will add, however, that our new kitchen is very roomy, with lots of cabinets and pantry space. I’m looking forward to playing in there…

So, tonight I went with a ‘homemade’ pizza. The pizza dough was of the Pilsbury variety, and the pizza sauce was of the Classico Alfredo kind. I sauteed some mushrooms, garlic and artichoke hearts in a bit of olive oil. The cheese was both mozzarella and white cheddar. It turned out as expected… tasty, somewhat light, and quick… perfect!

Read Full Post »

Sounds Good…

Scrambled pasta something sounds good again for this week. I also think I’ll do a chicken, roasted red potatoes and asparagus meal. I’ll have to plan a bit, and maybe hit the grocery store tomorrow, or the next day. We’re doing some house hunting now, so the cooking is going a bit by the wayside. We’ll see how it all goes….

Read Full Post »

Food Geeky Links and a Thumbs Down…

Mixmygranola.com
Interesting site. You can make your own granola mix or order pre-mixed batches. I’m not sure that I would add candy corn to my mix, but whatever. Batches come in 16-oz. sizes.

Walkerswood Traditional Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
Normally, I do not prefer hot and spicy things, but this jerk seasoning is delicious to me! Years back, a favorite dish was jerked tofu, zucchini, and cabbage over couscous. I need to order a jar of jerk for the pantry now, as I’m thinking it would be delicious on chicken breasts. A little bit of seasoning definitely goes a long way. I’m not sure why I like this… maybe it’s the allspice, thyme and nutmeg combination in there. Anyway, it’s good…

Thumbs Down Link:
Olive Oil
OK, so this one is nominally food-related… It’s a suggestion for taming and smoothing your dry and frizzy hair by working olive oil into it. Being that I had some time to try it today, I did. Apply olive oil, put hair in a scrunchie and leave for 30 minutes, shampoo and rinse. I would not recommend this. My hair is still frizzy, and, as probably should have been more obvious to me, it’s quite difficult to completely rinse the olive oil out of one’s hair in one shampoo session. I’ll stick to cooking with olive oil and leave it at that.

Read Full Post »

Just a Quick Note…

Obviously, I have not been here lately. We started on a healthier eating kick, and while we do feel much better eating in such a way, it’s not so conducive (yet) to trying new recipes and writing about them. It started with going back to good-for-you (but can-be-boring) meals.

Of course, then came the holidays. We began celebrating the first weekend in December, since that’s when my parents came out for a visit to share Christmas with them. Then the rest of the month flew on by…

Next, we are leaving soon for a long weekend getaway to sunny San Diego, where we’ll be celebrating my upcoming ‘milestone’ birthday. I am very much looking forward to that!

So, once we return home and get back into our more ‘normal’ routine, we’ll return to our new-ish ways of healthier eating for a spell. (It was just the holiday season, after all…) Then, I do hope to play in the kitchen more and incorporate more of the good-for-you-ness into our meals and cooking fun…

Read Full Post »

*I* Didn’t Think There Would Be…

Much cooking this weekend, but I was wrong…  D. and kiddo decided on a cookfest for today and tomorrow, and that is, of course, fine by me!    I’ve got to finish getting a CD together for her, as she is putting together recipes and pictures for a cookbook.  I really enjoy having her in the kitchen with us, since we’re all foodies, it’s such fun.  Here’s what we did today, followed by our plans for tomorrow…

• Pasta Salad
• Ham
• Herbed Cream Cheese Spread
• Cheese Straws
• Chocolate Crepes

Tommorow:

• Baked Artichoke Dip
• Buffalo Chicken Pizza
• Creamed Corn (with Bacon)

I do have pictures from today, so I will be posted those recipes and tales eventually.  We’re still going out of town Wednesday night, but it’s nice to have some material for when we get back home. 

Read Full Post »

Jumping the Salad…

I somehow managed to capture the cat jumping over a strainer of lettuce last year. She enjoys scampering along the countertops, and green produce is a particular interest for her.

I’m still on a pseudo-hiatus here for another week or so. But I’m using my fresh balcony herbs in some cooking, and pondering making some pesto very soon. We’re headed out next week on a mini-vacation, and hopefully we’ll find some good eats too!

Read Full Post »

Busy Month…

Well, it’s going to be a busy next few weeks, so I’m not sure how much I’ll be food grooving it. My parents are bringing my nephew out for a visit on Thursday, and our plans include a small league ball game, checking out the big lake, going to a water park and celebrating birthdays. So…

I did find a description of a new local restaurant that should be opening up soon… And it sounds very appealing. Here are some details from Open Table (which I had never heard of until I googled the restaurant’s name). I got the heads-up on this cafe from work, and things must be moving right along, because their website has improved from just earlier this afternoon… a good sign! Here’s the website for Abstract Cafe, currently under construction. This is the part that caught my eye…

We utilize area farmers to provide our guests with locally grown products on a menu that changes with each new seasonal crop. We use organic products and support sustainable farming practices whenever possible.

I’m really looking forward to checking it out…

Read Full Post »

Nothing New…

I didn’t originally plan on doing much, if any, cooking today. But in the car this morning on the way home, I was trying to figure out what I might be able to make for dinner this evening… an extra bonus would be if there was enough for some lunches too for the next day or so. I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store, so I was trying to find something where all the ingredients were on hand. I came up with Macaroni and Cheese, or Rotini and Cheese, as it turned out. It should be interesting, because I gathered up several types of ‘leftover’ cheeses from the fridge… this version has blue cheese, smoked cheddar, mozzarella and sharp cheddar cheese in it. There’s also some mushrooms and bacon too. It was a fitting way to use up those straggler items in the fridge, and it’ll definitely be around for a few days.

Then, while I was at it, I decided to make some Turkey Meatballs for the freezer… because those are always good to have around too. So, soon I’ll be bagging them and tucking them away. For now though, it’s about time to start cooking the mac and cheese dish. (It turned out very tasty, by the way. The blue cheese added some deep flavors to it.). So, nothing new here, just some oldies but goodies from the kitchen…

Read Full Post »

Springtime into Summer…

Well, this year at least we’re enjoying a springtime into summer. Unlike the past couple of years when it seemed that summer arrived fairly unannounced and with a heat-soaked bang. So for now, I’m enjoying gardening and the beginning of fresh fruits and veggies. Which also means I’m cooking less, but that’s fine by me. We’re eating lighter, prepping fresh goodies for munching, and generally eating less actual ‘meals’…

We did make both blueberry and cherry dumplings the other weekend, but alas, I forgot to check the battery on my camera, so no pictures of that afternoon. We were at an amusement park this past Sunday (don’t get me started on the lack of food options and ridiculous prices there!)… Which meant no weekend cooking then. D. did make a batch of fudge tonight to send to my Dad for Father’s Day, while I cleaned some fruit. And we’ll be making some sort of pasta salad for a luncheon at my work on Friday… And my basil is growing ferociously, so I’ll have to find something to do with it (that really won’t be too hard though). So while there’s food stuff going on, not much of it has involved pictures lately. And I do prefer picture posting over words-only posts such as this one… So, posts will probably be a few more days longer in-between, so be it. That just means we’re out enjoying the season.

Read Full Post »