December 2010
11 posts
8 tags
Sheila's Spaghetti and Hearty Meat Sauce
Spaghetti and meat sauce is always a welcome meal during the winter months at our home. Nothing warms you like a plate of pasta smothered in a hearty red sauce. This is simple down home cooking at its best.
I developed this recipe many years ago when I was still a novice at cooking. However, I wasn’t thinking of it as recipe development at that time. I just figured combining beef,...
8 tags
Caviar Torte
Our good friends invited us for Christmas dinner at their home this year. We especially look forward to being with them at this time. Even though they live only several houses away it is as if we have walked into a winter wonderland when we approach the path leading to their front door. With my display of Hanukkah menorahs and dreidels a distant memory as Hanukkah came quite early this...
10 tags
Holiday Biscotti With Cranberries, Dried Cherries...
It wouldn’t be the holidays without cookies, cookies, and more cookies! These festive, chewy biscotti, with their jewel like seasonal colors, are not only delicious, but are a lovely addition to the holiday table.
This recipe I adapted from the December 2003 issue of Bon Appetit. I made several changes to the original recipe. I substituted dried cherries for half of the dried...
6 tags
5 tags
Sautéed Chicken (Poulet Sauté)
I had decided to make chicken for dinner this evening. I had been rearranging some of my cookbooks earlier in the day, and found myself holding Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I in my hands. Why not take a look at how Julia sauteés her chicken? Interesting…page 254 reads…
In a true sauté the cut-up chicken is cooked entirely in butter, or...
6 tags
Mushroom Barley Soup
I’ve been making variations of this Mushroom Barley Soup for as many years as I can remember. This hearty soup is a meal in itself when served with a loaf of crusty bread. This particular version is made with chicken broth, but vegetarians could substitute a vegetable broth or stock. It’s a simple soup to make, not requiring much time, nor fancy ingredients, but one that I think...
6 tags
7 tags
Rich Roll Cookies
This recipe for Rich Roll Cookies is one I found in the 75th anniversary edition of the Joy Of Cooking given to me one year as a gift from my sons. It is a rich, buttery sugar cookie dough that rolls out easily and makes perfect cut-out cookies. I used it this year to make my Hanukkah cookies.
Here are some helpful hints to ensure success when making cut out cookies:
1. Avoid using too much...
5 tags
Anonymous asked: Celery is so inexpensive this time of year, but how should I prepare it? do you have any suggestions for incorporating celery into my holiday cooking?
8 tags
Potato Latkes
Potato Latkes are the traditional dish of Hanukkah. Latke is Yiddish for pancake. Hanukkah is the Jewish holiday which commemorates the recapture and rededication of the Temple by the Jewish military leader Judas Maccabaeus in 165B.C.
When the Jews took back the temple, they found only enough oil to generate light for one day. Miraculously, that oil lasted for eight days and nights, allowing...
9 tags
Rich Turkey Stock
Making stock from scratch can take a delicious soup, gravy, or other dish requiring a chicken or turkey stock over the top! Most of us have used packaged stocks and broths before, especially now since there are so many to choose from including low sodium, organic, and even free range. There’s no denying the convenience of these store bought versions.
However, there’s also no...