With my favorite cranberry sauce cooked and a turkey brining in my refrigerator for tonight’s dinner, I am also making a few Thanksgiving inspired side dishes to go along with our pre-Thanksgiving turkey meal.
Even though it is not quite Thanksgiving yet, I can’t imagine eating turkey without butter topped mashed potatoes to go with it… and don’t even get me started about gravy.
Last year I posted a recipe on how to make creamy mashed potatoes using Yukon Gold potatoes and passing the potatoes through a metal mesh strainer. But today I would like to share with you a more traditional mashed potato recipe using Russet potatoes and a potato masher. [click to continue…]
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It’s often said, “Everything tastes better with bacon.” But I would like to make an argument for truffle salt making even the most simple food like popcorn seem gourmet. Truffles are a very rare and expensive fungi. This is why truffle salt is used as a flavoring accent elevating dishes from ordinary to extraordinary. Just a pinch goes a long way and is worth the $20 price for a 3.5 ounce bottle. For anyone who hasn’t tried truffle salt before, I know what you’re thinking. There is no way you would pay $20 for a little flavoring salt. You think this now, but if you try it, you might be singing it’s praises.. so don’t knock it until you try it. [click to continue…]
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When it comes to green beans, I’m a -plain Jane kind of girl. I usually saute them in a little bit of oil, season them with salt and pepper, and top them off with a small pat of butter. But last Sunday for our Easter dinner, I changed it up a little bit. I decided on making a greens beans tossed in a maple syrup-Dijon dressing with crumbled bacon and candied pecans. Oh my word, this was the perfect side dish to serve along side gratin potatoes, mac and cheese, fruit salad, and spiral ham. I loved the the sweetness from the maple syrup with the tang of the mustard. Adding the bacon and pecans pulled everything together for one fantastic side dish. [click to continue…]
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It’s so funny how kids develop certain ways of eating certain foods without rhyme or reason. When I was a kid, the only way to eat asparagus was to eat the bloom-like spear heads first before eating the long woodsy shoots. I felt so rebellious, like a child who insisted on eating dessert first. I find it somewhat ironic that my own children insist on eating only the shoots. They find the heads disgusting. I don’t get it, don’t they realize the tops are the best part? It’s like eating the outside of a cinnamon roll only to leave the gooey center on the plate because you find it disgusting. To each their own.
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There is a time and place for cheap, chain-restaurant style pizza. There is also a time for gourmet pizza. What constitutes gourmet pizza from cheap pizza is subjective and debatable. But when I’m by myself or dining out with friends, I love pizza with quality ingredients, made with fresh mozzarella on a crispy, thin crust -extra points if the crust is also a bit chewy. And when I’m not eating pizza with my husband, I always order vegetarian. I love meatless pies.
Sometimes my urge to eat good pizza happens when I least expect it, like finding a $5 bill in my coat pocket I haven’t worn for months. While grocery shopping today, I wanted pizza. Not just any pizza, good pizza. Being inspired by all the fresh produce in the store, I decided to make myself a chantrelle mushroom and sauteed kale pie. [click to continue…]
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