What a beautiful day to be outside. For lunch I used a New York strip to make a hearty steak sandwich. Using onions and peppers from the garden and a little broth to add for an au jus… and we had the perfect lunch for my baby and me… Continue reading
Sauces
Butterfly Shrimp in Barbecue Butter

I remember eating barbecue shrimp at Ruth’s Chris for the first time many ears ago. Now I make my own version that has just the right amount of sweet, salt and heat. My husband said this shrimp was a 10 out of 10. We had broccoli, lettuce and sugar snap peas straight from the garden. I like to butterfly the shrimp for this dish, somehow it just feels like ‘more’. I make this barbecue sauce and use it for chicken, pork and fish. Continue reading
Baked Steak with Onion Sherry Gravy

Beef and gravy…. serve it with a pile of mashed potatoes and comfort just says, Hello. If you have a meat and potatoes fella, than he’s gonna love you for this dish. Tender to a fault and the gravy is rich in flavor. Continue reading
Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms in a Barbecue Wine Sauce
I love making appetizers for dinner instead of a whole meal sometimes. In this case rather than make several small appetizer plates, I made one large appetizer that became a meal. My fabulous husband said it was out of this world and I have to agree with him. You can make this for a crowd with smaller mushrooms, or for an entree with larger mushrooms. Continue reading
Spinach & Oregano Pesto over Brown Butter Pasta

During this bountiful time of year I can’t help but use a plethora of herbs in almost everything. I have several varieties of oregano plants that are practically small bushes. So for today’s pesto I used my favorite…Hot and Spicy oregano. This variety has a surprising bite to it that will leave you tasting a little heat at the end. I paired today’s pesto with a brown butter pasta because the combination of the almonds in the pesto and the depth of flavor when you brown butter gives this dish a wonderful nuttiness. This is also a meatless dish, but if you are so inclined, add grilled chicken or shrimp. Whatever works for you! Continue reading
Don’t Throw Away That Sauce!
I never throw away the leftover sauces from my dishes. Even if I only have a little, they are like little flavor bombs to be used in all sorts of ways. Today’s lunch consisted of Naan bread topped with sauces from last week. I reserve them in little containers and freeze them to be recreated another day. No waste! When you put love into your food, throwing away a great sauce is like throwing away something you treasure. Just for this reason, you will see me finding creative ways to serve up that little morsel of goodness.
Fish & Chips

Growing up in Central Pennsylvania, our family did not eat a lot of fish. The only time I remember seeing fish on our dinner table was during Lent when mom served it with her usual two accompanying side dishes; stewed tomatoes and spinach leaves with a bitter vinegar dressing. Don’t get me wrong, mom is a good cook…she’s made some really delicious meals, but back then fish was not one of them. When I went off to college and met my husband, who is from Panama (which actually means abundance of fish), he was surprised that I didn’t like fish and even though he encouraged me to try it, I still just found it so unappealing that I wouldn’t. I can be pretty stubborn sometimes. Continue reading