It's recipe swap time again, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking. This round's theme was Cooking or Baking with Alcohol. I was really looking forward to this round because really, I could receive any kind of recipe: appetizer, main dish, dessert, etc. I submitted the Steak and Eggs with Molasses-Beer Sauce that I made …
Main Course
My family is very close. I live in Philadelphia, as do my brother and sister-in-law, and my parents live in a suburb just outside of the city. My aunt, uncle and their three kids live in a different suburb. This allows us all to get together frequently, which I absolutely love. My mom also belongs …
Before I get to the food, I want to express my sincerest thanks to everyone who commented on Monday's post. We're still trying to make sense of our loss, and I'm still a crying mess more often than not, but having people reach out, even just to say, "I'm sorry," or "we're thinking about you" …
With me back at a full-time, in-office job, our home life has basically been turned upside-down. When I worked at part-time at home, I was able to prep dinner during the day and pretty much have it ready to eat when Dave got home. Now, I have an hour commute each way. I leave first …
This baked ziti casserole is loaded with fresh summer vegetables. With so many veggies, less pasta is needed. Part-skim cheese thickened with egg holds everything together. A little while ago, I was contacted by Cooking Light, inviting me to join the Cooking Light Blogger's Connection. I was really honored to get the invitation, because I …
Pregnancy does weird things to a woman's body, in a number of ways. I mean, our internal organs get jostled and squished and pushed out of the way. Ever hear a pregnant woman claim she's starving, then she eats two bites and she's full? Yeah, that's why. Pregnancy also brings weird cravings and aversions. My …
I got my appetite (mostly) back just in time for a seafood theme recipe, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking. I requested a salmon recipe, because it's my favorite, and it's loaded with great nutrients for growing babies. I had a third reason: I was getting bored with my repertoire of salmon recipes. I felt like …
I received an email from Nicole of The Giving Table several weeks ago, asking if I would dedicate one post to spreading awareness of childhood hunger. I said yes without hesitation, and she sent me some information, links, and post guidelines. I have to say, reading the facts about childhood hunger is overwhelming and heartbreaking. …
Considering the blog is named "The Redhead Baker," you're not surprised that I'm a little bit Irish, are you? Only about 50% (the other half is Scottish). I love celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. I bake Irish soda bread. I love to have a slice fresh out of the oven with a smear of Kerrygold Irish …
As soon as I saw the March issue of Food Network Magazine in my mailbox, I was excited. The entire issue was dedicated to cheese. Cheesy appetizers. Cheesy main dishes. Cheesy desserts. And 50 different varieties of macaroni and cheese. As soon as I saw the Butternut Bleu Cheese Mac and Cheese in the pullout …
It's recipe swap time again, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking. This go-round was "special occasion" themed, in honor of Valentine's Day. "Special occasion" meals often involve more expensive or exotic ingredients — splurges, indulgences . . . after all, isn't that what special occasions are all about? Our host asked us to be …
I love taking a typical fattening comfort food and making it healthier. Take fried chicken, for example. I love a good dark meat drumstick, coated in crispy breading. But at 17 grams of fat per drumstick, it's not healthy to eat it often. By subbing white meat chicken breasts, soaking in low-fat buttermilk, and baking …
Happy Mardi Gras! Happy Day to Indulge in All Your Favorite Fattening Foods! How did this day come about? Well, tomorrow marks the first day of Lent, a season of 40 days observed by most denominations of Christians, when they repent and atone for their sins. When I was growing up, my parents asked my …
With our cold, dreary weather lately, I was really looking forward to the bright flavors in this recipe. So simple, so few ingredients, so quick to prepare. So, you know something had to go wrong, right? What should have been a 20-minute recipe turned into 2 hours, and ended with a smoky apartment and a soaking …
I'm forever trying to find new and interesting ways to cook pork. It may be my selective memory, but it seems like every time I cook pork, I use sage. Now, it's not that I don't like sage—I actually love it—but I don't want to get tired of it. Earlier this year, I planned to …
The weather is turning colder. We're about to have the coldest weather in several years, with daily high temperatures not even reaching the freezing mark. We live in an apartment that is partially below ground, with an ancient, inefficient heating system, so sweatshirts, fuzzy socks, and warm meals are in order this week. I've been …
It's the What's Cooking Recipe Swap again, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking! The theme of the swap was celebrity recipes. I submitted the salted caramel brownies I made from Ina Garten's book Foolproof. In return, I received a recipe for chicken pot pie, a Martha Stewart recipe, from Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations. I …
I hope you're not sick of pumpkin. Personally, pumpkin is a year-round ingredient for me, but I know that not all agree with me. Can we at least compromise that it's an all-winter ingredient? Pumpkin is comfort food to me, as is macaroni and cheese. When I saw that The Cookaholic Wife had made a …
Time for another Blogger's Choice swap, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking. Blogger's Choice is when I'm assigned another cooking blog and I can choose any recipe I want to make. I received Kate's Recipe Box, which in the past has brought you tasty recipes like Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies and Cranberry Apple Chutney. …
It's recipe swap time again, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking. This round was a Blogger's Choice swap, meaning I was assigned a blog, and could choose any recipe from that blog to make. I was assigned Christine's Kitchen Chronicles. We were in the midst of a cold snap, even had our first measurable …
With Liam getting especially clingy in the late afternoon, and me being adamant that we eat dinner as a family, I've been choosing most of our week's meals from the "Weeknight Meals" or "30 Minute Meals" sections of the magazines that I buy. I found it a bit funny that this dish caught my eye …
Growing up, I was a chicken noodle soup girl. I wouldn't touch anything else. After a long day outside in the snow, going sledding, building a snowman, and having a snowball fight, I came home to a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. My brother always had tomato soup. I …
Blogger's Choice time again! My assigned blog this time around was Becoming Pigzilla. She has a lot of good recipes to choose from, like Hummus Turkey Burgers, Buffalo Chicken Wonton Cups, and Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites. However, The Peanut has entered his clingy phase. Like clockwork around 4 p.m., when I'm starting dinner prep, Liam …
Creamy pumpkin soup with hints of cinnamon and ginger is my favorite comfort food on a chilly night. Though fall officially began a little over 3 weeks ago, we've only recently had "real" fall weather: cooler temps, lower humidity. Jeans-and-hoodie weather. Hearty, delicious soup weather. I only recently have come to love soup. Growing up, …
When trying to stretch the food budget, ground meat is often less expensive than a whole cut of meat. Also, you can get away with serving less meat per serving (I can eat one 4-ounce burger and be full, but if I ate only 4 ounces of steak, I'd still be hungry). I …
The Mister has been making a few comments lately that I must prefer him on the heavier side. And in hindsight, a lot of what I've cooked lately has been on the higher-fat, less-healthy side. So, I made a concerted effort to throw a few lighter, healthier recipes into the weekly meal plan. I …
While making the weekly meal plan and checking the sale pages, I noticed that crab meat was on sale. We hadn't had shellfish, let alone crab, in quite a while. Now, I don't know about you, but the first recipe that jumps into my mind when I think about crab is crab cakes. I love …
Last week was a bit crazy. Busy on Sunday, sick on Monday . . . I never got around to make a meal plan, or grocery shopping. I felt a little better the next day, yet it didn't occur to me until around 3 p.m. that I had very little (food-wise) to cook with! I …
I've talked before about comfort food, sharing my favorite recipe for white bread. I love nothing more than a thick slice of toasted white bread with some flavor of berry preserves. When I've had a long day, though, and I'm starving, toast isn't going to cut it. I want a warm, hearty meal to fill …
I was staring at the freezer, pondering. The grocery store had Italian sausage on sale (again), and The Mister had bought a ton of it. He likes Italian sausage. A lot. Me? I can take it or leave. And the idea of having sausage and peppers (again) … well, I wanted to leave it. Thankfully, …
Ages ago, I went out to Michigan to visit some friends. I was only there a few days, but had a lot of fun. We went to the Birch Run Outlets (on Black Friday, if my memory serves me correctly), had dinner one in Mexicantown, and dinner the next night at The Redwood Lodge in …
The weather has cooled down a little here in Philadelphia. We've had several days in a row of mid- to high-70-degree temperatures. I love it! I thought the best way to welcome the cooler temperatures was with a savory pumpkin dish. Now, The Mister isn't as pumpkin-crazy as I am, so I chose this dish …
The Mister and I are omnivores — we eat animal-based proteins for dinner most days of the week. Occasionally, I find a recipe for a vegetarian dish that sounds good. Sometimes I add meat to it; other times, I don't. In this instance, I chose not to add any meat. I knew the fiber from the …
The Mister and I eat a lot of chicken. He recently had a physical and his cholesterol was on the high end of normal, so we try keep the red meat to once a week or less. The problem is, we eat chicken so often, I feel like I'm running out of new and interesting ways …
Happy Labor Day, DNCWWO fans! Continuing on with my mission to waste less food, I had several packages of fresh herbs in my fridge that I wanted to use before they went bad. On a side note, I've heard that you can freeze fresh herbs, but even following the directions, I've never been successful at …
The Natural Resources Defense Council recently published a study that Americans waste 40% of the country's food supply every year. That 40% is spread across food that is thrown out at the source (the farm, plant, etc.), at home and in restaurants, but the average family throws away 20 pounds of food per person, per …
Until I entered culinary school, pomegranates were a story from a Greek myth — from Wikipedia: "Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter (goddess of the Harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus, …
For many years now (since I discovered my love of salmon), my preference has been to season it with lemon and dill. Until I was browsing through an old issue of Bon Appetit (see, I really am keeping my commitment to go through my unreasonably-large magazine stash!) and found a recipe for Grilled Salmon with …
You might be thinking that this dish looks very similar to another that I recently blogged (the Pasta Primavera). They both have pasta, tomatoes, and goat cheese. But that's pretty much the only things they have in common.The flavors of each dish are quite different. The pasta primavera has a nutty, cheesy sauce (if you …
It's recipe swap time again! Yeah, I know it's Monday, our posting day was delayed. This theme — "too hot to cook" — was perfectly timed, since the week after I got my assigned recipe, we got hit with a 6-day heat wave. I love summer as much as the next beach bum, but after …