As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve made a pork themed meal for my husband’s birthday for several years running now. Its always fun to come up with a different concept each year and think through the recipes for each of the courses. Last year’s surprise party was so much fun that I decided to do a scaled down version for a small group of … Continue reading Menu Planning: Toby’s Backyard Birthday BBQ
When I first celebrated my husband’s birthday in 2009, we were dating nearly a year, so I felt I knew him pretty well, especially his love of pork. Since I love to cook, I thought a fitting gift was to cook him a really special dinner. As I was brainstorming ideas on what to serve, I had the idea to challenge myself with creating a … Continue reading From Divine Swine to Backyard BBQ
We recently rang in the Year of the Monkey with a delicious spread of homemade Chinese food. Several years ago I found a recipe for Chinese braised ribs that turned out so good, and I’ve been trying, in vein, to search out that recipe. I had found it on a completely random site and I’ve had no luck finding it again, so I decided this … Continue reading Menu Planning: Chinese New Year 2016
We had our neighbors over to watch the Super Bowl and I wanted something easy, so we could all focus on the game (and the commercials!), and didn’t require lots of time in the kitchen for me. Plus, it had to be adaptable and appealing to both adults and teenage boys. I came up with a make your own pizza bar and it worked out … Continue reading Menu Planning: Super Bowl Sunday
Our sweet, funny little man just turned 2! We hosted a party at our house for our friends and family and had a few of Oliver’s friends over too. I love using literary themes for kids birthday parties as there are so many personal touches you can make with them. Last year, I picked “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” by Eric Carle for his first birthday … Continue reading Little Blue Truck Birthday Party
Every year around the holidays, we always get together with my aunt and uncle, who live close by, and my cousin, who is down visiting her parents from New York. Each year, the food and company are amazing and we usually exchange foodie type gifts, which are always welcome! In November, my dad had brought out some frozen brook trout he caught in Illinois and … Continue reading Menu Planning: Seafood Paella, Baked Trout, Braised Cabbage and Raspberry Jam Tart
On our recent trip to the Dominican Republic, several of the restaurant buffets at our resort served up massive 4 foot wide pans overflowing with seafood paella. The paellas were beautiful to look it, but the flavors were a little underwhelming and the seafood was a bit overdone. I wanted to recreate a paella dish when we returned home and use our paella pan that … Continue reading Seafood Paella
A bit late getting this up, since we’ve already moved in to full on Christmas prep, but wanted to share a post about our Thanksgiving. This year, we have much to be thankful for. Healthy family, happy home, new opportunities and a table full of delicious food to eat. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year, as its surrounded with food and … Continue reading Menu: Thanksgiving 2015
This weekend I had the opportunity, through the Master Food Volunteer program, to help promote Family and Consumer Sciences Day, which is supporting a commitment to “dine in” on December 3 to promote preparing and eating a healthy meal together as a family. They are aiming for 200,000 families to commit to this event. If you want to find out more and commit to “dining in”, … Continue reading Dine In on December 3
Several years ago, the Washington Post Food Section printed a recipe for Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille and I knew I had to make it. This was even in our condo living years, before we had a garden that grew too much zucchini and yellow squash. I love the rustic feel of this dish and the flavors really pop. I’ve made it for guests many times as … Continue reading Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille
Half Pint Garden 