Does the thought of cooking a ten course dinner party make you sweat? Not me! Not as long as my favorite foodie friend Jim is by MY side! Our long awaited dinner party was scheduled for a Sunday evening. So Thursday was our major league shopping day, and Friday was venue decorating day. “Plan Ahead” […]
Cilino’s – A True Taste Of Italy In Small Town Iowa
Cilino’s. The restaurant name was the first clue. We had stumbled upon a real Italian restaurant on the main street of tiny Wellman, Iowa. IMPORTANT INFO: At the time of this posting Cilino’s in Wellman is CLOSED on Mondays and Tuesdays! Be sure to check their Facebook page for any further updates. Let Me Set […]
Making Spaetzle And Geschnetzeltes – Say What?
When I walked into the Salvation Army thrift store I had no idea I would be learning a new cooking technique by dinnertime. But I found a brand new, still in the wrapper, Spaetzle making tool for $1.95 I just had to give it a whirl. The “official” name for that tool was a Spatzlehobel […]
Spaghetti Puttanesca – A Pasta Dish That’s Meemaw Approved
Happy New Year from our winter snowbird nest in Florida! I know it’s been a LONG time since I’ve shared a new blog post with all of you, but I think this is the last “test” of my newly updated website that now boasts extra security measures for all of us. Today I’m writing this […]
National Maritime Day – Remembering My Catamaran Cooking Experience
Ideas for my blog posts come to me in many different ways. In fact I was headed in a totally different direction until I saw a note on my wall calendar proclaiming today as National Maritime Day. That special designation made me remember my years as a cruise specialist. And I’ll make a point in […]
Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli With Sage Brown Butter Sauce
Autumn is the perfect time to make butternut squash ravioli. And it’s also the perfect season to entertain guests! When entertaining company, I love to try out new recipes, especially when I invite “victims” who seem to be willing to eat just about anything I cook! So imagine how much fun I had when I got […]
Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi…Meemaw’s Version
In honor of the recent announcement that bacon and red meat are going to kill us I decided to serve shrimp for dinner. (These gloom and doom reports sometimes make me laugh…and they always make me hungry!) I checked out a recipe for Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi on a website called chefkey…and then I modified […]
Making Homemade Pasta From Scratch – It’s Child’s Play!
Making homemade pasta is much easier than most people think. It’s basically a mixture of eggs, flour and water, and maybe a sprinkle of salt (depending on which Italian grandma is making it!). So when our Indy girls spent a week with us this summer, (we call it GrandCamp) I decided it was the perfect time […]
Tabbouleh Salad…A Culinary Trip Around The World
I love to try new foods, and a quinoa tabbouleh salad would certainly qualify as a new food to me! I saw the recipe on the back of a bag of Simply Nature organic quinoa I bought at my local Aldi grocery store. Now let me just say this blog post of mine was NOT sponsored […]
Cheesy Canned Salmon Casserole With Spaghetti, Mushrooms And Peppers
Fridays during Lent present a special challenge for me. Sure I can grill a fillet of salmon if I’m feeling like spending the money, but sometimes I look for a more thrifty meal. And that’s when I reach for a canned salmon…and I start throwing things together. That’s exactly how I created this Cheesy Canned […]