Aisle Twelve

Yes, I realize that we are almost half way through September and I have yet to publish a post for this month.  My apologies.  To make up for it, I have a double post of good fall recipes for you.  Here you go: Fall. I love it for so many reasons. The first reason being how everything outside is so beautiful. Trees are dressed in brilliant shades of warm colors. I love the crisp air. I love pulling out the sweaters and jeans. I love tailgating. There are so many wonderful things about fall, I haven’t even gotten to the food yet! I absolutely love fall foods. Low and slow stews, caramel apples, mulled cider, warm donuts…I could go on but I’m afraid I’d drool all over the keyboard.  What do you love most about fall? Game Day Cookies So here are the ingredients: first cool weather of the year, first weekend of college football and your husband is hosting a poker party. What does that add up to? Baking of course. I decided that those ingredients were the pe...

The first recipe I ever made up on my own came from a craving I was having for chicken enchiladas.  This was a while before I really got into cooking.  I was craving these enchiladas from a restaurant I loved and wondered how they made them taste so good. So one boring day, I decided to try the crazy idea I had of how they might do it and to my pleasant surprise, it turned out quite nice!  This recipe is by no means gourmet or authentic, but I have to say it does get some great reviews when I make it for other people.  It's a pretty quick and easy recipe, not many ingredients and certainly no complicated ingredients.  It's a good, comforting supper that is crowd pleaser.  Get creative with the toppings.  I like sour cream, tomatoes and maybe some guacamole (see Superbowl Guacamole post for recipe).  Serve this with Spanish rice and tortilla chips, and you've got yourself a Mexican fiesta!  Ole! Chicken Enchiladas 1 pound boneles...

(Sorry for the crappy picture.  It was night when I took it and couldn't get good light!) I do not profess to be a baker. I do love baked goods, but baking to me seems like a lot of work; lots of measuring and you have to be exactly precise. Then it seems since no two ovens are the same, it really is a crap shoot if the food will come out underdone in the middle and burned on the edges or just one big, black crisp. As you can tell, I’ve had some baking mishaps. It seems though that you get a much bigger reception when you bake something rather than make (a.k.a. cook) something. Even in this blog I find the biggest reactions to the things I make seem to be to the baked goods. I also sort of subscribe to the school of thought that if it is not made of chocolate, it is just not worth the calories. I do enjoy an apple crisp or strawberry pie from time to time but when I am craving something sweet, more often than not it is chocolate. I tossed that chocolate philosophy out the wind...

  Heat and humidity. When it’s been a heat wave like it has been the last couple weeks, turning on the oven or stove or standing over a hot grill is the least desirable thing there is; and after eating out for days on end, I needed to make up a dinner that was healthful, filling and refreshing. But then the eternal question….what to make for dinner? What would fulfill all these requirements? Sometimes when I over think a dinner question to death, I decide to just give up and let the culinary gods decide for me. Luckily, they were very good to me today. Someone at work graciously brought in their bumper crop of the most delectably ripe cantaloupe. My first plan for this melon was of course, breakfast. But as the melon sat on my desk at work, and the ripe melon smell kept wafting to my nose…my stomach started to get inspired. Who says melons just have to be for breakfast? I decided to make the melon part of dinner in a melon and prosciutto salad. For years I have seen recip...

If you have followed this blog for awhile, you’ll notice that I have a little love affair with peas (see Lemon Spaghetti with Pea Pesto). Not only do I enjoy their clean, bright taste, but I just love the vibrant, crisp green pearls on your plate. It’s like an accessory for your food, they dress up anything! Take this dish for example. Between the green pearly peas and the adorable farfalle it’s almost too pretty to eat. On a practical level (boo) they are cost effective and keep well in the freezer so you can always have them on hand. Peas are a healthy addition to any meal. Other vegetables must be so envious of the pea. This dish is a take on a recipe from my Everyday Food Cookbook. It was supposed to be Salmon Farfalle with Mint and Peas. A very spring dish. I, however, did not have salmon but decided shrimp would be a good substitute. I know there are cultures, the Mediterranean for example, that use mint in savory dishes but I have to say, I am not a big fan of it in my savory...

Sometimes it is hard for me to like fish. I was never a fish fan growing up and there are still many fish that I just can’t make myself like. That fishy smell and taste, and that worry that a fish bone might end up in my throat just kind of makes me nervous. Ok, I realize I am probably not turning you non-fish lovers onto fish with this description. But let me give you a few reasons that might make you open your mind just slightly to giving fish a small place in your diet. The oils in fish, especially the ones in salmon, are terrific for your body. Not only are they heart healthy, but they help make your skin, nails and hair more radiant – couldn’t we all use a little more shine to our hair and nails? That benefit alone forces me to set aside my prejudice and find recipes that make eating fish a more tasty and appealing option. This recipe is a great example for anti-fish converts. Salmon cakes are a great dish for lunch or light dinner. The Dijon mustard and scallions add flavor th...

Who taught you to love food? That answer is not so simple for me because that person is someone I barely remember. In fact, when she did cook for me, I preferred buttered noodles over her spaghetti with “red sauce.” Now I can’t imagine anything I would rather eat in this world than her zugu . My love of food came from my parents and aunts and uncles who have kept the memory of my grandma’s cooking alive and painstakingly tried to make her dishes come as close to her cooking as they possibly could. Which I can’t imagine was easy. It wasn’t for a lack of trying or that they didn’t get the recipes from my grandma before she passed away, but that was the thing with her. She didn’t really have recipes and didn’t really have measurements. She did everything by look and feel – the hallmark of every good cook. From that persistence of relatives trying to match her beloved recipes, I learned a respect for not only the wonderful woman that she was but the magic of good food. Her recipes were a...

Oh the lazy days of summer! That includes me being lazy about updating this blog! It never fails that every summer no matter how hard I try, each work night fills up with things to do to prepare for the weddings, showers, bbqs , reunions, etc. of the weekend. It doesn’t seem like there is much time to eat let alone get dinner on the table. Good thing that salads are quick and easy and the perfect summer meal. This salad is a great, refreshing summer side salad. It’s crisp, crunchy and juicy. It’s tart, sweet and savory. It’s my fennel grapefruit salad. I got the idea from a combination of a Barefoot Contessa and Giada DeLaurentis recipe. I start with spicy arugula and top it with a bed of thinly sliced fennel and thin rings of shallot (I use a mandolin to get paper thin slices). I segment a grapefruit and drop the juicy gems on top of the fennel and shallot. The juice of the grapefruit is reserved for a quick and easy grapefruit vinaigrette with basil, salt pepper and olive oil. T...

Sometimes my favorite dishes are the ones I make up myself.  Yesterday, for example, I only had to cook for myself.  I was tempted to pour a bowl of cereal and call it good, but I had some inspiration on this beautiful spring day.  Problem was, I didn't have much in the house.  I always have spaghetti and while I had no fresh vegetables, I did have frozen peas.  Hmmm...what to make??  I channeled my inner Giada and made a pea pesto.  This recipe is so simple, so decadent, so fresh and springy, I will be making this again and again.  It is cheap to make, I almost always have these things in my pantry and it's fast.  What more could you ask for in a delicious and healthy dinner? Lemon Spaghetti with Pea Pesto  (Serves one - multiply accordingly) 1/2 cup frozen peas - slightly thawed 1 small garlic clove - smashed and rough chopped 3 tablespoons walnuts - rough chopped 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese - chunked 1/2 lemon olive oi...

Barcelona Tuesday, March 9 After a short plane ride from Rome to Barcelona, we land in Barcelona in time to check into our awesome boutique hotel. We cleaned up and walked around to get ourselves familiar with the area. The first thing that became apparent was that we needed to get to a store to buy ourselves warmer clothes. It was FREEZING in Barcelona. Of course the day before we got there they had the first blizzard they had in many, many years. I bought a sweater to wear under my coat and wore it pretty much everyday.  We walked around the neighborhood to familarize ourselves with the area and decided on dinner.  Had to be tapas.  We went to a highly rated tapas bar and boy did we feast!  Among the many dishes we ordered, we had a small bowl of olives, patatas bravas (potato croquettes), and chicken skewers with a garlicy aioli.  It was delicious and I have to say...quite like San Chez at home.  Although this place did not have sangria,...

Rome Wednesday/Thursday March 3-4 We start our journey at 9:30 in the morning at Grand Rapids airport.  From there, it is off to Cincinnati, then to New York.  At 5:00 pm we are in the skies en route to Rome.  We land at 8am Roman time.  After a short train ride, we arrive to our hotel, in the rain and check in.  We change, freshen up and go out to explore the area near our hotel and grab lunch.  We stop in a little deli which serves panini and made to order pizza.  Gelato was also on my mind and oh...how to describe such creamy, rich decadence?  It was pure heaven.  We were in Piazza Barberini.  Luckily, the rain stopped and we were free to roam Rome.  Jet lag quickly set in for me.  We found our way to the Pantheon and walked in.  It was amazing.  It still didn't quite sink into me yet that we were actually in Rome.  We decide to head back to the hotel for a quick nap before we went out for dinner...

In my promise to bake more to perfect my baking skills (or to hone the lack thereof), I have taken to baking citrus cookies.  The first recipe came in my January Everyday Food magazine for Lemon Icebox Cookies.  I made these probably a month ago, they lasted a couple of days and I have to admit, every night I go into the kitchen wanting something...and it's those cookies.  Tonight, Joe was gone which means I don't have to make dinner.  But I still wanted to do something in the kitchen, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to bake. Of course the first thing that came to mind was those lemon cookies.  Problem was, I had an overabundance of limes.  I considered using the same recipe and substituting lime for the lemon, but visions of powdered sugar lime meltaways danced in my head so I hopped on the trusty laptop and found a Martha Stewart recipe for Lime Meltaways.  My inadaptness at baking really shined through tonight.  I di...

I'm not sure why but football season totally passed me by this year.  I used to be a die hard football fan.  I still am but I have to say when your team rarely wins, it's hard to keep up.  Still, it used to be that I could sit down and watch any game and be perfectly entertained.  I'm sure that's still true but I wouldn't know.  I hardly have watched an entire game this year.  We had a lot of weddings in the beginning of football season, then came the busy holiday season and before I know it, here we are at superbowl already.  It came upon me so fast that I barely had time to figure out what I was going to make for a superbowl party we went to.  Luckily, this guacamole is a quick, no cook recipe that whips up in snap and with the right shapped platter and some sour cream piping, its perfect for a Superbowl party...and quite the show stopper. Guacamole 2 ripe avocados 1/2 cup red onion (mince) 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chop 1 tablesp...

It's been six days and I still have a cold.  I have to admit that I've never been one who likes chicken noodle soup.  The too salty, greasy broth and bits of floaty chicken chunks makes me actually even a little more sick.  But I need something to break up this congestion, so this seemed like a good time to try Barefoot Contessa's Italian Wedding Soup recipe.  This was SOOOO much better than chicken noodle soup; canned or homemade.  This recipe made so much soup, that I was able to have three more servings that I put in individual freezer bags so the next time I feel a little under the weather, homemade soup is just a few minutes away! For the meatballs: 3/4 pound ground chicken 3/4 pound chicken sausage, casings removed 2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves) 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra 3 tablespoons milk 1 extra large egg, lightly beaten kosher salt and ground black peppe...