There is much, much meat going on in my house right now.  Stay tuned for exciting carnivorous adventures as I try to recreate Vacation Stew.  (Stew!  I still can’t believe I ordered stew at a restaurant!  What was I thinking?  But it turned out SO good.)

Thinking Outside the Back of the Box:  Hot  Pimiento Cheese Bacon Dip Back of the box recipes are a national treasure – really.  I know I’ve poked fun at cream-of-something soups before, but when it comes to convenience cooking, it doesn’t get much easier than reading a recipe off the back of a package.  It… Continue reading Thinking Outside the Back of the Box: Hot Pimiento Cheese Bacon Dip

Hey guys – I’ve been on a much-needed vacation for the last week.  I ate some great things, some terrible things, got inspired, got grossed out, and had a wonderful time altogether.  I may put the pizza on hold for a bit to explore a dish that blew my mind (stew, of all the dumb,… Continue reading Dishes Takes A Vacation:

Homemade Raspberry Jam and Blueberry-Lemonade Jam, y’all! (Alternate title 1: Raspberry Beret) (Alternate title 2: My Brand of Crazy) (Alternate title 3: Blueberries for Salmon Rushdie) (No – that’s too obscure a reference, and doesn’t really make any sense.) (Alternate title 4: In which our intrepid cook rants and rambles about poultry plumping, veers into… Continue reading Pump Up The Jam

Ciao Time #3 – St. Louis Style Pizza Guys, I’ve been laaaazy.  It’s been almost impossible to drag my butt away from the computer long enough to top a homemade dough with tomatoes and cheese.  It’s also been restaurant week, so I’ve been eating out a lot.  And work has sucked.  And my kitchen is… Continue reading Ciao Time #3 – St. Louis Style Pizza

I know I’ve made this before, but according to various blowhards on various food websites, what I make isn’t authentic.  Authenticity is up for argument, I guess, but I do want to try something a little different.  (The blowhards rail loudly in all caps that there is NO CORNMEAL or NO BUTTER in the crust.)… Continue reading Ciao Time #2 – Chicago Deep Dish

Easy weeknight pizza recipe. So I’m starting out all wrong, I realize.  This isn’t technically a style, but imagine the millions of stressed out full-time employees struggling through 40+ hours a week at work and still trying to put something on the table more imaginative than a sandwich or salad.  The internet is full of… Continue reading Ciao Time – #1 Pita Pizza

I’ve been terribly diligent guys.  I’m really putting in the time on this one, and today I did my homework, which involved a lot of driving (thanks, husband) and a lot of sniffing. Today was cheese shopping day, which thus far has not been declared a federal holiday, but I may do one of those… Continue reading Ciao Time – Homework:

(Lazy Writing:  Interviewing Yourself:) So what are you doing? Well I’m trying to stay motivated to keep this blog going.  Blogging is hard guys.  It’s hard to think of new and interesting things to make, then new and interesting things to say about it.  I spent a whole day making a chicken and pasta dish… Continue reading Ciao Time – An Introduction

As it’s the weekend of the summer solstice, and as I’m doing nothing more ambitious than grilling burgers, I decided to play around with dark magic this weekend.  Or, I found a recipe for homemade Magic Shell ice cream topping and thought it would be fun to try.   The good folks at Serious Eats provided… Continue reading Do You Believe In Magic?: