These are the "good old days"

"Look at the sky," remarked my son as we did dishes by an open window.

"November is said to have the prettiest sunsets." There's a happy sigh when you hear a statement like that from your 23 year old son. That maybe in the space of your imperfect life, you did something right. And he was right. It was worth the time to let the dishes wait and appreciate the sky. Because tomorrow - it will be a memory. Of the good old days. But this evening the blues faded into soft pale pinks with red on the horizon and promise. A promise of a new day to be savored.
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"If you long for the good old days, turn off the air conditioning." - Griff Niblick
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I love that line and have used it in my hugely imperfect play Betwixt and Betweened - a play that focuses on being a teen throughout the last 8 decades. A play that is near and dear to me - all the tales are culled from true life stories and it may be messy now - but one day - I will get it right. One day. It's part nostalgia and part today. As is most of my cooking.
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I cannot say a lot of Italian cooking went on last week. It definitely was steeped in nostalgia. In foods from the good old days which are of course yesterday, today and tomorrow. And almost all of my cooking came from blogs.

Except for this one. This was a "use up your red peppers, your dregs of cheese and wallow in fuzzy slipper comfort."
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For each stuffed (vegetarian) pepper: (2 halves)

• 1 slice of stale bread (I used a hunk of wheat bread). crusts removed
• 1/8 cup milk
• 1 plum tomato
• 1-2 ounces favorite melty cheese (I used fontina)
• 1 ounce freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/8 cup chopped Italian parsley (thyme and basil also work well)

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place bread (crusts removed) in milk. Let sit for five minutes.
3. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray.
4. Halve and seed your pepper.
5. Press excess milk from bread and chop coarsely.
6. Add a chopped tomato to the bread, coarsely-chopped fontina, Parmigiano and parsley.
7. Gently combine. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool for 3-4 minutes and serve.

Panko-Crusted Chicken in Maple-Mustard Sauce


Maples are tapped for syrup in March. But for me, they always signal autumn. The thick, sweet, slightly-spicy syrup greets you after a walk in leaves -a walk that brought you past autumn bonfires, haystacks and cornstacks. A walk that asks for a little heartiness without the heavy.
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I found this recipe at Lynda's Recipe Box. I cook a lot (read: A LOT) with boneless chicken breasts. The mixture of the stout sweet nectar and the spice from the mustard turns a mundane chicken breast into a destination. The protective nutty-brown coating of Panko begs to be explored. And because life is hectic, a dinner that comes together in 20 minutes must always be tried. Try it. (You'll like it.)
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Loaded Baked Potato Soup


Reeni's blog Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice yielded me two soups for the week. (I am a soup-o-holic - I will happily slurp soup at 7:30 a.m. for breakfast and will never understand why people don't consider soup a breakfast meal. Warm, nourishing and satisfies so you don't need a doughnut break.)
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I loved that the soups used (or I could use) evaporated skim milk. I am taking a break from cream. I am a muffin -a giant muffin at that. So am exploring options without resorting to "non-fat products" because - they're not real. They don't do things like - melt. Ignore the bacon in the photo. As I told you earlier - I am imperfect.
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In truth, I usually am a broth person. But my family is not enamoured of broth and pasta 7 days a week. (Works for me - some wilted greens, a little Parmigiano-Reggiano... really, I don't see a problem.) The soups were scented with nostalgia. The good old days. A day of coming home tired as opposed to weary. So deep-in-the-muscle satisfying that I didn't even need a piece of dark chocolate... for at least two hours.
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Here's the recipe link: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

And then there is Reeni's Broccoli Cheeese Soup

From scratch. Flecked and studded with broccoli and well, yes cheese and yes, I know - the "hugely imperfect muffin" label strikes again. Am I fooling myself that the lack of cream makes up for the abundance of cheese? There are things that comfort: Bach, cannolis, Julian Bream on the lute, watching waves, sunsets and soup - this soup. And cheese. If you are part rodent which I apparently am. I wsh iceberg lettuce would comfort. (Long sigh denoting that really - it does not.) I made a double recipe thinking it would last another day. Silly me.

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Here's the link to the Broccoli-Cheese Soup: Reeni's Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup
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And for dessert... which I must speed through because I am late for a Weight Watchers meeting... if I decide to go.... if I'm not fooling myself...

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Pumpkin Bread Pudding

From Proud Italian Cook. I am cooking my way through Marie's blog. I've offered to be her apprentice. I'll be her tester, her taster and will be first in line to buy a cookbook should she ever decide to create one.

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This is cozy nostalgia. You enjoy, you are satisfied, you are blanketed with softness. You consider having this with your soup for breakfast. And why not? Pumpkin, spices, eggs, bread - it's a balanced breakfast, a soul-soothing dessert, easier than pie, and... made without cream. I will indugle weekly.

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Marie made it in individual ramekins. My ramekins seemed to be all over the house with Halloween treats and... white vinegar (you don't want to know) so I did it in one. She topped hers with pecans - and oh - please just go look for yourself. You will feel compelled to make it and you won't be disappointed. It's worth making just for the spiced aroma in the kitchen. Last I checked aroma does not contain calories.

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Here's the link: (Consider it for Thanksgiving) Pumpkin Bread Pudding
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Vegetable Galettes

These vegetable galettes with an impossibly soft crunch are from La Tartine Gourmande - just the softest, prettiest blog that is part nostalgia and a celebration of today. I hugely changed her recipe - the herbs, the vegetables, the flour and it was wonderful. I think it is hard to ruin her galettes (unless you add cream) - and it is a wonderful recipe for jumping off and creating.

Serve the galettes with any roasted meats or appetizer or eggs or with your broth during breakfast. I've made them twice and have reheated them for a no-cream midday snack.

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And here's the link to the recipe: Vegetable Galettes
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Having confessed just the tip of my imperfections, I will add that I am also remiss about posting awards that come my way. I post infrequently, get obsessed with the post and remember later and for that I apologize. Many of you have been kind to me and I am not ungrateful. I am often unconscious.

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Because I am a sometime theatre director who casts kids - I hate leaving people out. Casting is gruelling enough. In the past, I have often offered the award to any of my followers. It is what I will continue to do. I would like to thank Beth from Of Muses and Meringues for this award.

Beth is a writer and her blog is indeed filled with muses, recipes and I think you will like her light touch, creativity and optimism. I do hope you will visit her.
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And spend some time - gazing at the sky.

While your maple chicken-soups-pumpking bread pudding-red peppers and galette cook.

A sampling of blog recipes and some sweet awards...

Pull up a chair and sip some wine/beer/margaritas/gin/coffee/tea. Grab some chocolate/cheese/pate/shrimp/cruditees. Take a deep breath and relax. I've been cooking. From your blogs. Above is some Shrimp Aragonate from Proud Italian Cook. Even the non-shrimp eater in my family lapped it up.

I've had a grand spring using your recipes! And to add to fuzzy warm feelings, two bloggers went and sent me an award! The best part of the award is - passing it on. So today's blog is about your wonderful recipes and my thanks to foodie-friends who visit offering to share their cup of sugar and pound of butter - with me!

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I may have to start cooking six times a day in order to try out all of the recipes that entice me. I thought I would have photos for all of your recipes. I intended to catalogue all of them and not forget one. I hoped I would have something lusciously witty to accompany all of your delightful posts. I fell short. I will try to keep better records. For someone who catalogues every play submission, you'd think I could set up a spread sheet for these recipes!

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After mowing the lawn, my children were were rewarded with Sophie's Strawberry Smoothie from Sophie's Foodiefiles. Now, it is expected! What nerve! I offer a healthy treat and they already take it for granted. I guarantee if you promise this smoothie to someone, they will be at your beck and call as long as strawberries are in season.

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To continue on the healthy trend, we have had Natasha's Guilt-free Chocolate Milkshakes from Five Star Foodie Culinary Adventures. It's nice to get that chocolate fix without the guilt!

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The summery turkey tacos from Food and Flavors of San Antonio are beginning to be a staple around here.

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The tortellini salad from My Tasty Treasures elevated my simple grilled herb chicken.

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The San Francisco Chicken from Bunny's Warm Oven is easy, pretty and pasted on my fridge door - with a promise to make a copy for my son - who is spending the month here before he moves out - collecting recipes.

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I already mentioned Katherine's incredible herb and cheese focaccia.

But it's worth mentioning (again) because I made it (again). And I will also be doing her Chicken Potalba so check out Smoky Mountain Cafe. You won't leave hungry.

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It's been a muffin month. I am enticed by all the fruit muffins floating about and the dessert muffin and the anytime-muffins and well, to speak the truth - I don't think I've ever met a muffin I didn't like. I know the muffin man and I am he. She. Non-gender specific. In the last days of college finals, I had these oatmeal muffins ready for my daughter to grab-and-go in the mornings. In addition to providing sweet comfort during stressful days (chemistry final, physics final), they even supplied some nutrients.

These chocolate chip oatmeal muffins are from Lynda's Recipe Box.

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Kowalski's Market which I frequent so much - I should rent a cot - has these pecan-studded chicken breasts. They have always looked so good. But when I bring them home, they are too dry. I should know better than to buy anything pre-seasoned, pre-marinated and pre-pecan studded. To the rescue was Reeni and her Cinammon Spice and Everything Nice blog.

Her Pecan-Bacon Chicken is moist and comes with a sweet/savory honey-mustard sauce.
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Italyville inspired this taste of spring Italian fennel salad. It's actually more than a taste of spring - it was a glorious bite of an Italian spring!

What's on the agenda for June?

Pound Cake from Elyse's Confectionery Creations

Ribs from Cooking in Cleveland

Watermelon and Mango Salsa from Diary of a Fanatic Foodie

and a few hor d'oeuvres from The Unconfidential Cook

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Meanwhile in the midst of tech/dress week for the ten-minute play festival and a host of other "life" happenings, Sophie at Sophia's Foodiefiles

and Catherine at The Unconfidential Cook

sent me this:

How sweet is that? Have you ever noticed that these acts of sweetness come at exactly the right time? That you may be overwhelmed by - anything - a spider? a weed? work? life? strife? And then - there's a comment, a cupcake, an e-mail, a call... or a Sisterhood Award ... to let you know you can wait for the sunshine. You can wait almost anything out.
`In gratitude, I would love to thank Sophie (whose recipes are so elegant and fresh) and let it sprout wings and fly to: Confectionery Creations for knocking on my door a few times and offering to bring her extraordinary treats; Five Star Foodie Culinary Creations for constant inspiration (even though I still cannot access your latest blog post and this is bordering on the criminal); Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice for always making me want to cook everything you dish up; Smoky Mountain Cafe for introducing me to new dishes and getting me out of my rut; Bunny's Warm Oven for warmth, food and complete meals; Girlichef who keeps astounding me with her knowledge of all things food-related and done with grace and humor - and Cooking in Cleveland who dispenses the best advice when I hit a milestone and combines it with the freshest of ingredients.
And I thank Unconfidential Cook (who spins the most marvelous tales to accompany her scrumptious dinners) and send the Sisterhood Award to: Diary of a Food Fanatic who inspired me to make sweet blueberry pancakes awhile back (and I forgot to mention - I am sorry about my loss of brain cells, Heather), Food With a Little Thyme for making my cast addicted to the Outrageous Brownies she posted (and I can send you where the lengthy excerpt is to CANDLELIGHT if still interested;), My Tasty Treasures - who must have a hundred of these - but she makes us all smile and she does everything so well; Mille Fiori Favoriti for bringing my beloved New York City back to me and sharing it with the world; Moments of Mine for spreading joy with her love of nature and family, Italyville for bringing Italy to me since I cannot make it there and Burp and Slurp for sharing an amazing journey with true grace under pressure.
Thanks to you all - may you spread the joy.

May Bon Appetit's Cover Recipe Dinner

As some know, once a month I cook the cover recipe of Bon Appetit. With all the demands on my time, this meal went down to the wire. But it is always a little oasis from "real life." I found the herb-and-cheese foccacia and dessert from my fellow bloggers. A teaser is below. Full details can be found at Cover Girls Cooking.

The salad was fresh from the Saint Paul Farmer's Market.

The herb-and-cheese foccacia was from Katherine Aucoin's Smoky Mountain Cafe.

The Beef Shanks and Sausage Ragu was the cover recipe of Bon Appetit.

And the "sweet-death-by-chocolate" brownies which was culled from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook can be found in Foodie with a Little Thyme.

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Deciding to do these Cover Girl Dinners was one of those ideas that have worked out better than expected. I not only am actually fulfilling a New Year's Resolution (that's a first!) but have a built in excuse to say, "Stop the world, I want to get off and cook." Something that everyone should try! Again, for more details about the dinner, go to Cover Girls Cooking. I had a grand month cooking from your blogs and am busy compiling the listing so hope to catch you later.

To eat (sweets) Or not to eat (sweets)?

After praising my new found ability to credibly bake (NOTE: not smashingly bake or beautifully bake) - but just "simply" bake, I have noted that my chubbiness has been expanding. I had resolved to not bake or eat sweets for the month of May. Oh, I know I had a cannoli ... or two ... or three... yesterday. But they were mini-cannolis, so they don't count. Besides, I walked off the calories stomping around the house.
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And then I went out and bought, radicchio, zucchini, "live" lettuce (yes, I know - as opposed the dead kind), tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, red peppers. And came home resolved to not look at a baked good.

I went soaring through blogosphere instead. And what did I find?
Cheesecake extraordinaire from Cream Puffs in Venice
Linzer Torte bars from My Tasty Treasures
Strawberry Shortcake from Elyse's Confectionery Creations
and from one whose kitchen strives to be healthy -
Chocolate almond macaroons from Sara's Kitchen
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And that's just the tip of the ice-blog-berg. Really! What's a chubby blogger to do? Devise an Italian salad. (NOTE: All my solutions to problems involve food.)

I dutifully took out my "live" lettuce, sliced 1/2 zucchini, chopped up a red pepper (okay I gave some to Sadie - my chubby blind dog - she loves her vegetables), threw on some olives, tomatoes and feta. Scattered some Italian parsley and radishes. Mixed 2/3 olive oil with 1/3 lemon, some chopped shallots and oregano and voila!




Okay. It's not a cannoli or a cheesecake. But it makes me feel virtuous. That I have a semblance of self-control. That I am master of the hand-to-mouth activity. It will do. Yes, it will do.

And now I will go back to savoring blogs. And bookmarking. For June. Or July ... or August.

Cooking from Blogs is as Good as it Gets

Our Fargo-apartment search continues today. Matthew is "running" to Fargo with the intention of signing a lease - somewhere. I guess the "somewhere" is always worrisome. He wants to know he has a place to live come July 1. I want to know he has (ahem) a safe, well-kept place to live. It's the hovering-helicopter-Mom in me and I don't apologize for it. I was handed the Gresio worry gene and I have stopped fighting it.
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So to avoid further thoughts on apartments and the fact that people could only meet with him between 4 and 5 p.m. (how many apartments can you see - miles apart in the space of an hour?), my thoughts turn to food. I am a classic case of someone using food for every emotional reason that exists.
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I was thinking of all the meals I have made this past winter that came from blogs. I thought I would do a brief wrap-up of the joys of cooking from blogs. I am thinking I will do it monthly now. I did not take many photos (I remain photo-challenged. This along with emotional eating and worry genes just serves up my flaws on a huge dinner platter - but there you are.) I will strive to do better. If anyone would like to join me during the third week in May writing of some wonderful meals created from other blogs, join in the fun. I will only post monthly (third week of the month so we can wrap up the month with some new recipes) so if inclined - by all means send your stuff along! It is not a commitment - just drop by if you wish. Coffee will be brewing and wine uncorked - depending (or not) on the time of day.
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Heather's Orange Shrimp (from Diary of a Fanatic Foodie) was a hit. Nothing left. Not one piece of shrimp. I served it over rice and there was nary a morsel of grain to be found.

The addictive Orange/Walnut/Chocolate Chip Muffins from Food Blogga disappeared as well.

The Warm Spinach and Frisee Salad from Sara's Kitchen is the best I have ever had. As were her Scallops with Fennel Pollen - although I never did find the fennel pollen. It will need to be mail ordered.

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I celebrated St. Patrick's Day with Five Star Foodie's Glazed Corned Beef and ended a dinner party with her Meyer Lemon Cream Crepes (people wept).

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The Chicken Tortilla Soup at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice has been made twice in the last two weeks. I love the lime. I love the ease and I love that it gets scarfed up. I am eyeing her spaghetti and meatballs today - it is likely to start getting warmer and that dish disappears until fall. So, maybe the red sauce has its last hurrah today!

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Elyse's Strawberry Bread (a Bread to Bring you Luck) at Confectionary Creations was the perfect introduction of spring food to my table. And I never turn down a little luck.

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The Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies from Donna FFW's My Tasty Treasures was the first thing I cooked from that wonderful blog. I'm still cooking and the barbecue ribs on the same posting are great.

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Cheese Tortellini with Walnut Pesto from Cooking in Cleveland was devoured. And it is so easy to make. I am currently watching her gardening process - she has so many clever ideas.

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I was inspired by Cream Puffs in Venice to go back to my magazines and create my own Hummus. It did not disappoint. My kids had no idea I could make hummus! (After it finally made its way into the Midwest - I bought it instead of making it. It is so easy. I am back to making it.)

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The easy, healthy and scrumptious Carrot Salad accompanied a simple pork dish last week. It is from a lovely posting of "sides" from Proud Italian Cook. There isn't a tastier way to get your vegetables.

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And the so-mouth-watering-delicious Pizza Rustica from Finding La Dolce Vita found its way to the table for dinner, breakfast and lunch and has travelled to two colleges.

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The open-faced Tuesdays Tacos from Gloria Chadwick's The Food and Flavors of San Antonio - had to be almost doubled the after I made them the first time. I love that all is fresh!

Head over to the Smoky Mountain Cafe for a tasty Rice Casserole. It warmed hearts and tummies at this dinner table. I used it as a side dish. My family used it as thier meal.

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And finally, the Banana Chocolate Bread from Orangette has become a staple in this house. For many reasons - but the fact that you can stick it in the freezer and eat it frozen certainly gives it extra points.

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Appetizers, desserts, breads, soups, salads - the world of food is literally at my fingertips and I'm enjoying every moment of it. Now if only I get news that Matthew's found an apartment .... just a clean one-bedroom. A garage would be nice .... near a bus line to the university ...