Last night I came dangerously close to choosing a jarred sauce to pair with the lobster ravioli we splurged on at The Pasta Shoppe in Oak Park. I had the jar of alfredo all ready to go, and while I’m sure I’d have loved it (Bertolli Alfredo may not be authentic, but it’s divine), I [...]

So let’s talk a little bit about Quorn. I know I’ve sung it’s praises before, but since my husband and I started doing Meatless Mondays we’ve used it as an excuse to try more of their delicious soy-free, meat-free products.
The Gruyere Chik’n Cutlets made the most phenomenal “chicken parm” (although it lacked both actual chicken [...]

CONFESSION: Risotto has long been one of the dishes that’s eluded me. Now that I’ve nailed it I’m in shock at how easy it is to make.
I had a lot of smoked salmon that I wanted to try to use, and when I saw smoked salmon risotto as an option for using it I [...]

CONFESSION: For a very long time I was a well-done girl. Meat needed to be cooked through… meat-colored meat was unacceptable. I still sort of am, in many ways. I’m venturing into the medium range for my steaks, but burgers must be well-done, and a drip of blood-red meat juice still makes me squick. But [...]

CONFESSION: By stereotypical “Mom’s home cooking” standards, I overseason everything. At least, that’s what it seems like when I read recipes in church and family cookbooks. I need a lot of flavor in my food and I don’t use much salt at all, so I compensate for [...]

CONFESSION: I buy too many vegetables. Like way too many. Way more than we can eat, and we eat a lot of produce. Oh, I have good intentions, and yet it’s embarrassing how much veg we throw away. This is an especially bad problem when I’m cooking for the week and I know all the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

When I discovered Trader Joe’s had langostino tails (little, sweet lobsters) for only $9 a bag I about lost my mind. There’s little I love more than seafood alfredo, and now I would be able to make my own!!
It was really quite simple to do. I thawed and rinsed the langostinos before sautéeing them in [...]

Inspiration hit tonight and boy was it a good one. I present to you a new favorite. The flavor was complex and intense, sharp and sweet. It was kind of the perfect meal, and if I had a restaurant this would so be on the menu.
Since I don’t have a restaurant, I present to you [...]

Okay, so our friends had this party that involved a taco bar. And they overprepared. Like OMG overprepared. Like after TWO dinner parties that weekend they still sent guests home with bags of chopped onion, tomatoes, peppers and cheese. My cooking usually features a lot of peppers and onions, but these formed the base of [...]