Aisle Twelve

 Hi Pumpkin.  This is Mom and Dad.  We call you Pumpkin because we first found out about you on Halloween morning.  Here's a little story of how you came to be.  Mom and Dad were very excited to become a mom and dad.  We wanted to start having a family soon after we got married.  But we soon discovered that it was much harder to make a family than we had thought.  It took us 21 LOOOONG months of trying hard and praying hard for you to come into our lives.  There were many times in those 21 months when we were afraid we might never be able to meet you.  It made us very sad.  But then on Halloween morning in 2011, we woke up and took a test that tells us if you were in my belly or not.  Before that morning, we had taken many, many tests and they all said no.  But on that wonderful Halloween morning, the test said YES!   We were so excited, we just had to tell people that you were there!  We told all your Grandmas and Grandpas and aunts, uncles and cousins that night.  It was defi

Tis the time of year for holiday parties and festivities.  The most wonderful time of the year in my book.  What could be better than eating good food and drinking a few festive drinks with family and friends?  What goes better with a festive cocktail then a little spicy crunch?  These Spanish spiced almonds are the perfect accompaniment.  They also make great hostess gifts, and who doesn't need at least a couple hostess gifts over the holidays?  You might want to make an extra batch of these...they are extremely addictive!  Spanish Spiced Almonds (adapted from Eating Well) 1/4 cup light brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon hot paprika 1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 large egg white 1 tablespoon water 1 pound (about 3 cups) Marcona or raw whole almonds Preheat oven to 275°F. Lightly coat a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.  Whisk brown sugar, cumin, paprika, rosemary, salt and cayenne in a large bowl. Whisk e

Wednesday, September 21 After a long flight, we make it to Edinburgh mid-afternoon.  True to it's reputation, it is rainy and grey.  As we walk our way to the hotel, it starts down pouring.  My shoes and luggage are soaked and after a little coaxing, I convince Joe to get us a cab.  We change out of our soaked clothes, freshen up and brace ourselves for the rain by putting on our rain gear.  As we step out of our hotel, we are welcomed with bright sunshine.  That would last for most of our trip.  As we were told time and time again by the locals, we were lucky because it is not typical for it to be sunny and 20 degrees Celsius in Scotland in September!  First on our agenda was, of course, a beer bar.  We went to Brewdog for a pint and then made our way to Edinburgh Castle.  It was about 4:30 and as we learned, most shops and attractions close by 5.  Only pubs and restaurants stay open later than that!  We didn't want to have to rush through the castle so we decided to come ba

Do you have a ton of blueberries left over from the season like I do?  I like to keep some to freeze and use throughout the winter in oatmeal and things, but I can't resist a good blueberry muffin.  Put strudel on top and I'm a goner.  This is a recipe from my Aunt Bonnie and it is my favorite.  I will sometimes go to a bakery and order a blueberry muffin only to be disappointed that they don't have Aunt Bonnie's moist recipe.  There is nothing worse than a dry muffin.  Well maybe there are some things, but dry muffins are no one's friend. The best part about these muffins is that they are so simple to make.  I know I say that about a lot of recipes but these really are.  And they come out moist, cinnamon-y and blueberry-y and perfect every time.  This recipe isn't limited to just muffin form.  My mom made these recently but instead of putting the batter in a cupcake tin, she used a square baking dish.  The result: delectable blueberry crumb coffee cake.  Bonus

 You're welcome.  What for?  Oh, because I already know you will be thanking me profusely for this recipe.  Just thought I'd get that out of the way up front.  I got this recipe from my cousin Jason.  I'd heard that he made these infamously for his family and it had me curious.  I finally decided I needed this recipe when this past winter Joe and a couple friends were going to a home brew festival.  Based on their performance at this festival the year before, I knew they were going to need something of substance to soak up all those heavy beers.  I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make the pretzels.  I wasn't quite expecting the overwhelmingly popular response that these pretzels received, but I gladly accepted the praise.  These pretzels are that good.  Make them and you'll feel like a culinary connoisseur.  I warn you, they are a bit of an investment in time and dishes, but they aren't incredibly difficult and its definitely worth the effort.  I

I'm BAAAAAACK!  I know I've been absent in the blogging department lately, but I actually have been cooking on occasion.  I just haven't had the time to blog about it.  I'm sure you've missed me dearly...well now you can dry your eyes. This dinner reminds me of a tropical summer retreat.  It's a fiesta on your plate.  The flavors are big, spicy, bold...in a word, fun.  This would make a great party meal for entertaining; you can make a lot easily and relatively quickly. Of note, Joe and I found these stuffed jalapenos packed quite a lot of heat.  I can take a little, he likes heat, but for whatever reason these jalapenos were firey! Perhaps they were super fresh because I did take out the ribs and seeds.   Or maybe it was because I stuffed them ahead of time and kept them in the fridge which probably caused the heat to infuse the cream cheese.  You probably shouldn't do that.  Learn from my mistakes. These recipes were based from Everyday

Ok, so I'm big on the drinks right now.  That's because it's summer and as I mentioned previously, summer is not a high time for cooking.  It's either too busy or too hot to stand over a stove slaving away on a meal.  Not that I find cooking to be slave-ish, because I rather enjoy it, but... you catch my drift. This lemonade is so refreshing and sweet and tart and ... it just hits all the bells and whistles.  I crave this almost as much as I crave an ice cold glass of beer on a hot day at the ball park...almost, not quite but almost.  This is perfect though to sip at while laying lazily in the backyard and reading a good summer read.  Lemonade 4 lemons 2 oranges 1 cup sugar 1 quart cold water Juice lemons and oranges.  Add to a pitcher with the sugar and cold water.  Chill to expand (makes more as it chills.)  Serve in a glass filled with ice and enjoy summer.

It's too darn hot to cook.  That doesn't mean though that you can't make something great from your kitchen.  This isn't really much of a recipe but I'm addicted to these right now.  I had one at a great Italian restaurant recently and I couldn't see why I wouldn't be able to make this at home.  Italian cream sodas can be made with any flavored syrup.  My favorite is raspberry.  The cream with the raspberry flavor is an unbeatable combination.  If you wanted to make this a little lighter, you can make an Italian Soda by simply omitting the cream.  This is a perfect summer drink.  Refreshing, uncomplicated and simple to whip up - no cooking required! Fill a glass with ice.  Pour about a half an inch of syrup into the bottom of the dish.  Use any flavor of Torani syrup you wish.  (These can be found at most markets by coffees or teas.)  Fill the glass with club soda and add a splash of cream (or half and half) on top.  Stir and be transported to a refreshing

It pains me to say, but I haven't really cooked much at all in the past couple of weeks.  I've had to force my attention on something else...namely sandwiches.  We'll get into that in another post.  Summer is always a busy time.  For me it feels like a time bomb, the bomb being cold weather, is just tick, tick, ticking away and if you don't spend every available second outside to enjoy the warm weather, its going to pass you by.  That leads to unexpected drinks on patio invitations and golf nights which mean that you have to grab something fast, or by yourself.  I found myself alone for dinner one night since Joe was going to be gone on a golf outing.  I decided it would be the perfect time to make something that I love and he doesn't.  Namely artichokes.  Oh how I love them.  Especially how my grandma made them.  She had the Sicilian word for them that I can't even begin how to spell, nor can I find it anywhere online.  Phonetically it is pronounced "Gi

I have it.  It consumes me.  I have been counting down the days and will not be able to sleep tonight  (in fact I will go out of my way not to sleep tonight.)  Yes, I have royal wedding fever.  Seriously, as I write this I am glued to Bio Channel's coverage of Wills and Kate. I can't really tear myself away so this is going to be short.  Not only has this wedding consumed my thoughts, it is consuming my appetite.  I am going to need something to nosh on at 4 am while I anxiously watch every detail of the big day.  Ok, I seriously need to go, I can't  miss another second of this coverage.  So I did tear myself away long enough to make scones for a royal wedding breakfast.  Good thing these are a cinch to whip up. Oh my gosh, I just had a bite of one and let me tell you - you want to make these... and make a double batch, they will not last long. (Based on recipe from Everyday Food - Letty Hampton) 2 cups all purpose flour (leveled), plus more for work surface 2 teaspo

There.  Just looking at this bright salad has me convinced that summer is on its way.  Because if you live in Michigan you know it is most certainly not.  Last Sunday it was a humid 80 degrees and here we are one week later...cold and blustery.  And yesterday it snowed.  You are such a tease Michigan.  No one likes a tease. A salad is a good fake out into thinking its summer...and also if you don't feel like really cooking.  I know salads are a perfectly acceptable meal but I can't help but think they are kind of a culinary cop out.  I mean, anyone can throw together a salad.  It doesn't take rocket science or much effort really.  So I decided to make this cobb salad which does put forth a little extra effort instead of just piling a bunch of ingredients on a plate.  You know me, I can't take all the fun out of making dinner.  The good thing about a cobb salad is that you can put just about anything on it that you like.  Don't like eggs, don't include them. O

This is one of those recipes that you will either love me for or curse the day that I was born.  (It's August 6 for those of you who make these and then step on the scale.)  These cookies contain about a stick of butter per cookie...well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but that is precisely why they are so irresistible.  I made these a couple weeks ago and what I wouldn't give right now for one of these crumbly, decadent, sweet cookies melting in my mouth as I write this.  Sadly, they were polished off within a day or two of making them.  Yes, August 6 was on the receiving end of some curses the other week.  Poor August 6. This is a recipe I got from Barefoot Contessa.  What I love about it, other than the fact that they are downright addictive, is that it only takes a few ingredients and it is pretty quick and easy to put together.  You don't need a lot of special equipment, but if you have a shortbread cookie cutter, that would make it just that much easier.  Sinc