Pumpkin has many personalities. Americans have experienced the sweet, spicy version we love so much in our pumpkin pies and pumpkin breads. More recently we have learned to love pumpkin and coffee in pumpkin lattes. And slowly we are accepting that pumpkin is also a versatile ingredient for savory dishes like pumpkin gnocchi, pumpkin ravioli, and pumpkin soup…

A few weeks ago Lori, from RecipeGirl, posted her recipe for pumpkin french toast and I was drooling at the pictures. It sounded like something we would love around here so I vowed to try it. As I was looking through my Bobby Flay’s Mesa Cookbook I found that he also had a recipe for pumpkin French Toast. Dang! I have been missing out!

There was seriously nothing left to do but make it myself.

Pumpkin Gnocchi is an easy pasta to make. No eggs, no fat, nothing really but pumpkin, seasonings of choice, and flour. How simple is that? And yet..the result is a faintly pumpkin-y pasta dumpling that goes with anything. Use it as a side, or a main course …and I am thinking it would be amazing added to soup.
The thing is that I have been getting behind on grocery shopping. We have pretty much had to make do with the scraps and bits left on the empty pantry shelves. In fact, the refrigerator echoed the other day. I swear it did. …read more

I like creamy, rich soups the best. In chilly weather there is just nothing like a hot, creamy soup to warm you up. At the same time I love exotic flavors. This Thai Coconut Curry Soup has it all!
Rich and creamy, with a faint coconut flavor that is followed by a tingle of spiciness. As my dad used to say, “This soup has some authority to it!”.

Eating hot peppers really does cause your circulation to increase and it warms you up more than just a warm soup alone would. You can simmer this in a crockpot or make it on …read more

I suppose you could call this polenta but I made it with grits so grits it shall be.
Polenta and grits are similar products, both made from corn. Grits are normally served as a side dish for breakfast, much as you would serve cream of wheat. In recent years they have become more popular and taken on the role of a side dish.
Grits are creamy, somewhat bland, and soothing but they will take on the flavor of almost any ingredient you put into them. They are cheap and filling and those two attributes make them a favorite ingredient at my house.

These …read more

My family’s ability to consume vast amounts of potatoes should allow us to be featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.
It isn’t so much that the family gets bored with the same old potatoes day after day.. I do. I hate cooking the same thing more than once. In fact I am pretty sure that I did not repeat a meal for at least the first ten years of my marriage. After that I got lazy.

I was always taught to eat the whole potato, including skins. This is great IF you are buying organic, but if you aren’t you …read more

The first time I ordered nachos and got fake orange goop over stale Doritos I was incredulous. Nachos? You might as well slap a piece of colored Styrofoam on a hamburger bun and call it a burger…Oh…wait…
If you are eating that stuff stop it. Stop it now. You will end up glowing in the dark and if we ever get attacked by zombies they will find you first. Reason #106 NOT to eat weird food. Besides, in the same amount of time..or close to it you could be eating this:

These are serious nachos. The real thing. Tex-Mex at its absolute …read more

Having recently gone to pick blueberries I am now in the process of  using them for as many meals as possible. We try to get enough to last an entire year but we may be a little short this year. In any case I could not resist attempting to create a sauce for meat. I had originally been thinking of pork medallions for this sauce because it has some presence.  I had chicken breast so that is what I used but I think that  the pork is the better choice due to the fact that it has more flavor.  I …read more

I had my thyroid biopsy this morning so I don’t feel like talking much. Wow. I was expecting the procedure to hurt but it was a piece of cake. It is afterward, with the swelling and bruising that makes you feel like you were hit by a mack truck carrying Sumo-wrestling elephants.
I wanted to get this recipe up in time for you to consider it for Fourth of July though.  I know, I know, you always have the same potato salad and it is tradition…well yeah! Me too, but you have to try this because it is addictive. Have I …read more

Although I made this spicy apricot glaze for chicken it would also be fantastic on pork.  It is sweet and spicy, tangy and smoky with layers of flavor. It really was delicious.  You can find the whole Father’s Day Menu here.
Father’s Day is always fun around here. This year, however, Marc is working on that day so I was glad to test the menu ahead of time. He was very enthusiastic about the chicken, and he tends to be a meat and potatoes (and lasagne) kind of guy. There is enough heat to the glaze to keep it from being …read more