This week I treated myself to a Chocolate Bliss Cheesecake http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate-bliss-cheesecake-55885.aspx. It was pretty good, a little dense -- on the scale of all the cheesecakes I've ever made, I'd rank it an 8 out of 10. I always think the best thing about homemade… Read full post »

I can't sleep. We worked late tonight and I ate my dinner later than usual and now I can't sleep. So I'm posting, for a friend at work whose son is allergic to eggs, a method for idiot-proof eggless ice cream.

The basic steps are to whip a pint of heavy… Read full post »

It's been a while since I last posted. It's been crazy busy at work, and life at home is a constant adventure with my elderly dog and my cats. Add to the mix that I've been thinking about going back to graduate school, and the process is its own special kind… Read full post »

Once in a while it's nice to make a recipe that's not too challenging, that doesn't have a lot of bold flavors and extroverted layers, something that's just simple and unexciting, but comforting and filling. This week that recipe was Stuffed Shells with Broccoli, a close approximation of which can be… Read full post »

Tonight I tried a recipe from Jacques Pepin's cookbook "Sweet Simplicity" http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cookbooks.sweetSimplicity called Baked Peaches with Almonds. On paper, it didn't look like much, and there were only 6 ingredients (peaches, maple syrup, light brown sugar… Read full post »

I had planned to cook a large dinner for my regular group of dining buddies but things didn't quite work out the way I wanted. One never responded and one canceled at the last minute due to concerns about road ice up in Westchester. That just left me, my mom, and… Read full post »

I tried a very nice recipe from Gourmet called Chicken Cashew Chili http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Cashew-Chili-13450, from an article about brown-bagging lunches at the office. It was one of the few recipes I've ever seen in Gourmet that was published with an error - 1/2 chicke… Read full post »

I didn't do too much cooking the past several days because my winter vacation was winding down and we spent a lot of time eating meals out. I took my grandmother to see Sherlock Holmes http://sherlock-holmes-movie.warnerbros.com/ early last week - she's an action junkie and loves to see things b… Read full post »

It's been a while since I last posted and there've been a number of recipes tried, a couple of beers tasted, and one or two restaurants. I tried two dip recipes from one of those free cookbooks distributed by Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese and both could be used very nicely as… Read full post »

We had a wonderful time at the family party last week - it was a celebration of my father's 80th birthday. It was a small gathering of good friends and close relatives, and we had a banquet-style meal of more-or-less traditional Chinese food. The menu was relatively tame -- cold jellyfish… Read full post »

First of all, let me shout out to my new best friend, angus mccflop (http://open.salon.com/blog/angus_mccflop), whom, I am very happy to report, I managed to gross out simply with the mention of squid tentacles. Fantastic! Angus - I wish you could be with me and my family this weekend - we'll… Read full post »

I tried another recipe from that big binder that was filled with church recipes, only this one was credited as having been originally from Emeril Lagasse's book Everyday is a Party. It was for Baked Macaroni with Calamari Tomato Sauce - this link will take you to the same recipe, only… Read full post »

Recently, I lived my life THREE recipes at a time, because I've been rather overwhelmed with things at work, things at home, things with my elderly dog, etc. But they were all very successful . Two of them, surprisingly, came from that church cookbook that I wrote about earlier. One was… Read full post »

About 10 days ago I tried another recipe from an old copy of Newsday, which was published in August, 1999. This one was for Blackberry Fool - it called for either blackberries or raspberries so I used both. One of the simplest recipes I've ever made and it would have been… Read full post »

Tonight I made a Perfect Pasta Salad, which I'm pretty certain was cut from a box of Ronzoni rotini. I doubled the recipe because I hate making half a box of pasta. It's really quite good, made with broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, salami, and a 4-cheese blend (the original recipe called for… Read full post »

Today I tried a recipe from an old issue of Cooking Pleasures called Mediterranean Chilled Fruit Soup http://www.cookingclub.com/Projects/Project.aspx?id=112802&terms=chilled+fruit+soup. I had intended to try it before my cookout party in August, but never got around to it. It's a simple concocti… Read full post »

A few days ago I reached back in my past recipes and pulled out one called "Jenny's Shrimp Casserole." The original was published in Bubba Gump's Shrimp Cookbook, which was a cute cookbook based around the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company from the movie Forrest Gump.  The recipes do have serious c… Read full post »

Today was another foray into the past. Eating Well Magazine(http://www.eatingwell.com/) used to publish a column called "R-x for Recipes." Maybe they still do, but years back, they would publish both the original (Reader's) recipe and their low-fat version. I don't think they do that any more.

A read… Read full post »

My mother has never really processed the fact that I don't like HAM. She loves it, and she just naturally assumes that I love it, too. This in spite of the fact that I always screw up my face and say, I don't LIKE ham!

It's weird. I have no problem… Read full post »

This past weekend I took a break from cooking and we went to the Sunday Brunch Buffet at the Polo Restaurant in the Garden City Hotel. That was our second visit and we just love it - it's pricey but worth it. If you're a foodie you'll love the range of… Read full post »

Tonight I'm writing about 2 recipes and 1 takeout place. The other night I made a recipe from a very large binder that my mother purchased at a church bazaar. A lot of church recipes have instructions that tell you to use "1 can" of something or other, but they don't… Read full post »

With a recipe I clipped from a New York Newsday in August of 1999, my losing streak is finally over! I made Peach Raspberry Cobbler the other day and it was absolutely scrumptious - hot, cold, warm, room temperature, doesn't matter. The only thing missing is a big scoop of vanilla ice… Read full post »

I've been cooking for a long time, and I'm always cooking from new recipes. I pull out recipes that I've tried before once in a while on a fairly regular basis, and always use those when I'm entertaining people for dinner. Most of my new recipes turn out really well, some… Read full post »

I tried a recipe that probably originated on the label of a can of Swanson beef broth - a faux version of Boeuf Bourgignonne. You know it's "faux" when the instructions say to simmer it for 20 minutes! No way a genuine boeuf bourgignonne takes less than an hour.

Most recipes… Read full post »

Last night I grilled Chicken Satays with Peanut Dipping Sauce and it was a winner! I've made them before but at the time I hadn't yet developed the patience to slice the chicken thinly enough to weave onto skewers. Satays shouldn't take long to cook - these took less than 2… Read full post »