A dish of flavorful Gulf shrimp stuffed with artichokes, shallots, cream cheese, garlic, and seasonings, is perfect for the New Year. There’s a vegan option too! My daughter Amie requests this dish for birthdays and holidays. She absolutely loves it, as does the rest of the family. With a side of Caesar salad, she is…
Christmas Stars
A simple sugar cookie, an old family star cutter, and a little decoration. A shortbread cookie is a simple thing: butter and sugar creamed together, flour, a pinch of salt, and a little vanilla extract for flavor. That’s it! But there is a world of possibilities after you’ve got the basic. A world of flavor…
Warm Up Your Morning with Hot Cereal
It looks like a dish of cereal, a pretty one at that with a few little adornments. However, take a bite, and you might forget forever about those packets of instant oatmeal. Hot cereal in the winter When I was a child, winter months usually meant hot cereal in the morning, and that was…
Salmon Saute over Pasta and Veggies
We stretched a pound of salmon to feed seven, deliciously! I love it when I throw something unplanned together and it is a hit. We recently had a surprise invasion by five hungry teenagers just as I was thinking about starting supper. I had a pound of salmon that was going to be dinner and…
A Side Dish of Gratitude
The Brussels sprouts, cranberries, leek, and spinach that never made it to the Thanksgiving table got their time to shine as a tasty weeknight side. We have lots of local Brussels sprouts available to us through the winter months in the North, so it’s fun to play around with different ways to cook and combine…
Chia Seed Virgin Mary Breakfast Pudding
From chia pet to hot nutritional powerhouse in (only) a few decades, these curious little seeds can boost your morning energy with this savory pudding! My first experience of chia seeds was their thick fur on little clay “pets” that were a rage. My mother grew one on her kitchen window sill. That was pretty…
Sylvia’s Irish Cream Cheesecake with a Cookie Crust
People love pie, but they adore cheesecake, at least most of us. The cheesecake on a dessert buffet is often the first attacked, and I think a lot of people are drawn to this creamy delight because it is not as sweet as some desserts. Also, the toppings on a cheesecake look really inviting! There’s…
Cranberry Orange Relish with Horseradish and Sage
Thanksgiving update. While we had both this relish and beautifully prepared from scratch cranberry sauce, neither made it to the table! Just as we were clearing the dishes, someone remarked, “Where’s the cranberry sauce!” Just five ingredients, buzzed in a food processor, and you have a tangy relish for your holiday table. And no cooking!…
Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes
Shh, don’t tell the kids they are good for them… Of all the dishes I served up at the inn for 18 years, the most frequently requested meal from repeat guests was blueberry pancakes. People remember them, think about them, desire them, and will eat them with gusto when served. Not only a favorite of…
Mom’s Best Mashed Potatoes with a Potato Peeling Twist
What’s better than mashed potatoes? How about a crispy potato peeling topping? If we forgot mashed potatoes at the Thanksgiving table, there would be a revolt. But since we need to please all eaters with this important dish, making it vegan friendly is as simple as it is important! I think I would definitely rate […]
Imposter Pumpkin Pie
We’re all thinking about our Thanksgiving menus this week, including the important pies and desserts to please everyone around the table. I have rarely made a pumpkin pie from scratch, and when I have (once) it did not turn out as good as my mother’s. Couple that with the fact I’m not a pumpkin pie lover, there has been little…
Homemade Lemon Pasta with Lemon Garlic Sauce
Homemade pasta is fun to make (or quick if you do it in a food processor) and with just the simple addition of lemon, you are already on your way to a flavorful dinner. I’ve made homemade pasta with my my kids and grandkids since they were able to form a ball of play dough….
Apple Galette
A sheet of pastry, some apples, and a few other ingredients, and you have a really quick and delicious dessert! A fruit galette bakes up faster than a two-crust pie, and comes together faster as well. Apple is perfect in a galette, and can be enhanced with the addition of other fruits: fresh cranberries, raspberries,…
Smoked Salmon Wiggle over Roasted Vegetables
It sounds silly, I know. But, if you grew up in New England, your mom probably made a “wiggle.” It was usually made with salmon or tuna, and silly name or not, it was the favorite of many. This New England classic was a a delicious and cheap meal when I was a kid, and…
Orange and Paprika Shrimp Stir-Fry
It’s a treat for the eyes as well as the palate, and you everyone can make it their own! At least once a week, and often two, we have a stir-fry of some sort for supper/dinner. A stir-fry is my go-to fast food because it doesn’t require a recipe or even a lot of thought….
Yankee Cranberry Bean Soup
It was an old standby, a large pot of flavorful and filling soup that fed an army using pantry staples and leftover scraps. My mother made yankee bean soup when she had a leftover ham bone and bits of ham and wasn’t planning to make her split pea soup. She didn’t have an actual recipe…
