I love Thanksgiving as much as the next girl. I know people always talk about, look forward to and consume Thanksgiving leftovers. I'm not much of a leftover lover, but I did my duty and had them for supper last night, again for lunch today but I couldn't go for #3. So, I made CALAMARI. Have I ever made calamari?  Hell no!  Have you? I was shocked when I discovered squid in the nearby Food Lion. I had to buy it. They stayed in the freezer for awhile because I was duly intimidated. But you know what? They are so simple to cook, I could teach a chimp to do it.  If only I ha ..read more

  Remember that show? Sandra Lee with her semi-homemade dinners?  I loved it, except for her "table scapes." They were all inspired by Holly Hobby or something.  Anyway...I am a pizza fanatic. New York, Detroit, thin crust, veggie, meat lovers, weird combos, you name it. While I love going out for a cheesy heart attack pie as much as the next guy, sometimes just making one at home for a quick dinner is what the doctor ordered. So, yesterday I discovered I had half of a chicken breast half. What can you do with that? I decided on BBQ pizza. I've been known to say that I really ..read more

    The great COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, 2021... It's been forever since I've written here. You would think after the world coming to a grinding halt, then slowly reopening, reawakening, rejoining society that I'd have nothing but time to write. But, living in these weird times has been harder than one might think. Many people in this country, and around the world for that matter, have lost jobs. They have lost family members and friends, lost retirement savings, lost hope. Many have gained anxiety, depression, fear of being sick. Many have been lined up at community food banks, e ..read more

"School Lunch" by our friend John Henry, sometime in the '70sI work from home, so lunch isn't my forte. Work-from-homers tend to just grab leftovers out of the fridge, or a quick snack.  Now that the kids are out of school because of the virus, I've become keenly aware of how ill-prepared I am to cook/create lunch for my girl here at home. Our school district serves both breakfast and lunch.  The meals are free to ALL kids.  It's not based on parents' income; it's available to all.  Again, since we're all confined to home, the district has set up drive through stations for us to pick up mea ..read more

It's a weird time of isolation, "social distancing" (I hate this term, btw) and the prohibition of dining in a restaurant or bar.  Covid-19 would have killed all our restaurants, had our local govt not allowed take out and delivery business. They're still hurting, but hopefully we all can keep them afloat with our take out business. It's a good time to be working for BiteSquad or Door Dash.  I've considered it myself.  I bet those guys are raking it in right now.  As I posted last week, many franchise restaurants are offering freebies to drive business their way, but I think it's also tru ..read more

I'm ashamed that I have not written since November.  No good excuse. Just let life get in the way and neglected any creative outlet. Well, now COVID-19 enters the picture.  Suddenly, we ALL have plenty of time for creativity, laundry, feeling guilty for not being at work, cooking, eating.  Here in SC, we just learned yesterday that our kids are now being kept out of school until the end of April.  OMG, it's getting scary now.  I've been watching all the programs and services that are popping up to help people.  This Friday, I'm going to try out a new one for Seniors (my parents). Kits f ..read more

Today is the big day to think of, reflect about and declare our thankfulness. I'd like to think that I live every day in gratitude.  I try, but I know I'm not always successful.  On this Thanksgiving 2019, I am thankful that I executed my most perfect Eggs Benedict to date. Perfect oval poached eggs.  Perfectly runny, yellow yolk.  Do you hear me?  It was PERFECT!   Look at that shape! It's gorgeous.   I mean, seriously. The key to poaching eggs is all in your technique.  And, I've seen and read many techniques. Some make sense, some are way too complicated.  Here's what I do: Place 1/2 ..read more

It happens to us all.  It's a Wednesday night, we all need to eat, and mom is tired and not feeling terribly creative.  For this reason, I keep a stash of go-to items so I can still whip up something filling, tasty and that constitutes a decent meal on the fly. After spending some of my last week in the hospital (what an experience!) I am still dealing with a dull headache, fatigue and frustration as we try to get my meds straightened out.  So, this was one of those "call it in" nights. Thanks to my beloved Aldi, I had cheese ravioli, jarred Alfredo sauce, regular pasta sauce, and pesto ..read more

We try to eat high protein as much as possible.  We are not those Atkins, Keto, or any other extremists, but we like lots of protein.  In the constant search for snacks and grab-n-go foods, I tried roasted edamame this week.   For those of you who don't know, edamame are soybeans.  You can buy them frozen, either shelled or still in the pod.  You see the pods often served in Japanese restaurants as an appetizer.  The shelled ones are great in salads, or just warmed and eaten like butter beans.  But, roasting them transforms them into a nutty, crunchy snack.  Kind of like high protein popco ..read more

While my sweet girl is, and always has been, an adventurous eater, she's still a little on the mild side.  Since her father is on the Carolina Reaper side of life, I have to modify our food and he "enhances" everything with his own insane pepper oils.  Everything. So, since the kid's at lacrosse camp, I decided to make some Pad Thai, as directed. It was spicy, rich, nutty, all the good stuff you want your Thai food to be, frankly.   For those of you here in Columbia, you may be familiar with the amazing house dressing at our Miyo's Chinese restaurants. It is astounding and if you ask nicely ..read more