Four for Dinner

[This post was written weeks ago - time got away from me. Start of school and all.] We had a fun, easy dinner last night. Melon with prosciutto to start, plus some white figs with a little blue cheese and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. For dinner, we had grilled boneless pork chops, french green [...]

I am sittling here at my computer and the sun is streaming into the window. I can see birds and bees flitting around the blooming trees. How did this happen? How has time flown by so quickly? L turned thirteen last week, and we celebrated her bat mitzvah as well. What a tremendous milestone. The [...]

When S & I went to Acadia National Park, we planned to do some hiking on the small but steep mountains by the ocean. Unfortunately, our view of the ocean was completely obscured by an incredibly dense fog that hung around the entire time we were there. We saw neither sea nor sky, really. However, [...]

I’m still full. Actually, that isn’t true. I’m full from eating leftovers for lunch. The new recipes that I tried for our celebration last night with JS and JO were a hit. First off, we had wonderful starters prepared by JS. Perfectly ripe honeydew melon draped in shaved proscuitto and creamy, rich deviled eggs sprinkled [...]

Watermelon seeds make me feel old. I know that sounds strange, but it is not easy to find a watermelon with seeds these days. Most watermelons at the grocery store are seedless, including the new mini-watermelons. And, those “watermelons” don’t even make sense to me – since watermelon seems to be about abundance and summer [...]

Ambrosia. Strawberry rhubarb compote is food for the gods. I love rhubarb. I love strawberry rhubarb pie. Rhubarb is such an incongruous plant. It is sometimes called, “pie plant”. The leaves are poisonous. The stems are edible, but very sour and must be cooked with some sugar in order to be palatable. But, not too [...]

My favorite holiday is Passover. I love the tradition of it and the lack of commercialism surrounding it. My favorite part of the holiday is the seder dinner – making the meal, setting the table, putting together the seder plate, reading the Haggadah (we finally bought new ones and graduated from the Maxwell House version), [...]

I went to the farmer’s market with the girls on Saturday and it was packed. There were so many new purveyors of unusual foods, not just the usual fruits, vegetables and flowers. People were selling all sorts of baked goods, grass fed beef, fresh fish, crepes, brick oven pizza, chocolates, and more. It was really [...]

Tonight, we couldn’t figure out if we wanted Puttanesca Sauce with our pasta or Amatriciana Sauce. J wanted only Amatriciana, L wanted Puttanesca, S didn’t care, and I was willing to make both and try a new recipe and freeze the leftovers. I had decided on Puttanesca earlier in the week, without thinking about a [...]

Just finished the meal and it was good, but not as good as I’d hoped for a couple of reasons.  First, the girls were just not that into the cooking.  Raw chicken, not so appealing to 10 and 11 year olds.  Second, we started a little late, everyone was hungry (and cranky), and we didn’t [...]