Spaghetti Squash casserole is one of my signature dishes and definitely one of my favorite to make, especially when cooking for the week, when I spend a full day cooking and spread the leftovers over the course of the week. The flavor of this gets even richer when made the day before!
I love starting with [...]

CONFESSION: I was afraid of making my own stocks for a long time. It was tedious, quite frankly, and I’m all about the shortcuts, right? Well, who knew that spending a little time to make the stocks could be an awesome shortcut?
When I made my Shrimp Scampi a couple weeks ago I knew I’d be [...]

Recently I spotted a new addition to the always interesting ethnic foods section at our local Woodmans. Something South African’s bagged sauces caught my attention immediately and I knew I had to try them. I started with the Durban curry, and I’m so glad I did.
Earlier in the week I roasted my first duck, a [...]

This actually wasn’t the plan when I picked up some pork cubed steaks from the discount meat bin, but when I started poking around for recipe ideas for cubed steak I felt silly for never considering it! Also, it’s ridiculous how easy this was to make. So easy that I’m sure this will become a [...]

Bravado? Maybe a bit, but it’s true. My meatloaf, even when not in MEATCAKE! form, is the stuff of legend. Back when I made the MEATCAKE! I promised a recipe but failed to deliver. Today I give you my secret (modified from Mark Bittman’s recipe in How To Cook Everything). You’re welcome.

Italian restaurants and I have a tricky relationship. It’s because I make REALLY good Italian food. I’m better at some cuisines than others, but Italian is easily the one I understand the most completely. Because of this I find a lot of Americanized Italian food bland, often salty, and usually end up saying “My lasagna/ravioli/pesto [...]

CONFESSION: I love cookbooks. Like LOVE cookbooks, even though I rarely use the recipes as described. I like browsing through for fun, getting ideas, learning new techniques I can apply elsewhere. Sure, I use the internet to find recipes on occasion, but my first stop is almost always my shelf of cookbooks. And that’s where [...]

Perhaps my most successful experimentation ever, this meal was born from the need for something very quick and I had a few off ingredients that I needed to get rid of, and I sort of made this up as I went along. One of my favorite meals that my grandfather used to make is smoked [...]

Admittedly I was skeptical about trying this recipe, but it sounded so, so good. We picked up some smoked salmon for a steal from the discount meat bin at Woodman’s and I found the recipe when I was searching for ways to work smoked salmon in with pasta.
My shortcut? Vodka sauce from a little fresh [...]

CONFESSION: My secret to my chili isn’t shortcut at all. In fact, it’s a gigantic pain, but it makes it so much better. I grind my own very lean meat.

From there it’s hard to say. My chili’s never really the same twice, though I follow the same steps. Brown the meat with plenty of onions [...]

CONFESSION: To say my husband’s a little timid about cooking is an understatement. Still, occasionally he’s willing to tackle dinner, as long as he has VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. This is the email I sent him to make this delicious beef stew. You really can’t go wrong with this recipe, just season to taste (I season [...]

Since I started teaching in August, my 10-hour days plus my teaching schedule have made dinners at home generally boring and certainly nothing worth posting. Lots of repeats of previous favorite meals, that sort of thing. But I’ve decided to begin harnessing what time I *do* have to begin cooking meals ahead of time. As [...]