Aisle Twelve

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...

Every once in a while it happens.  You have a kitchen catstrophe; an overall bad day. It all started when I used a useless kitchen utensil (you guessed it, cookie sheet) to roast brussel sprouts and instantly (less than five minutes, I swear) they burn to the bottom of the well-oiled cookie sheet.  If that weren't bad enough, the perfectly seared pork chops I put in the oven somehow, even though I followed a recipe, were leathery enough to put shoe strings on and lace up.  (The one bright spot was the homemade pork gravy I made with the drippings.)  Joe, the good hearted soul that he is, ate all the leathery scraps on his plate and mine. Sometimes a girl just knows when to pour herself a glass of pinot grigio and warm up the left over couscous from the other night...only to then sit down and spill it all over herself and the couch.  As I sat there, wine in hand, inhaling the burned brussel sprout smell that overwhelmed my hous...

I have a confession to make, I am not a great baker.  I know there are a lot of people that say that cooking is so much easier than baking because cooking is forgiving, it's not a science.  While that may be true, I don't want to be one of those people who shy away from baking simply because it's not easy.  And the only way to improve on something you are not that great at is to try, try again.  So that is what I'm doing.  I'll keep baking until I'm not so clumsy, not so messy and confident that I am not completely wasting my time and ingredients. There is one baking recipe, however, that I haven't been able to mess up, that is chocolate chip biscotti.  I got this recipe from my aunt at my bridal shower and it has been one of my favorites.  I haven't messed up this recipe, even on cookie sheets which I maintain are are probably the two most worthless pieces of kitchen equipment in my kitchen (what did I do before my Pampered Chef pizza stone?  T...