Aisle Twelve

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: delect...

 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 a...

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...

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 hal...

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....

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 ...