Dinner Diva: Something to stew over

I recently wrote blog posts teaching you how to braise and how to sear. So it just occurred to me that I should go ahead and combine the two and tell y’all about how to stew. What hits the spot on a cold day better than a nice steamy hot bowl of thick beef stew? By definition, a […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: Whet your appetite for water chestnuts

If you’ve ever sat down to a feast of Chinese food, you’ve likely encountered a water chestnut or two. These crunchy, juicy morsels are used very commonly in Chinese cooking-more for their bite than for their flavor because on their own, they really don’t have much of a taste at all. So what are water […]

Healthy Foods: Hungry hungry for Mahi Mahi

A couple of days ago, I posted an update to my Facebook page saying that I would be enjoying Mahi Mahi (or mahimahi) for dinner. Let me tell you, it was a killer meal! Do you ever enjoy this ocean predator? Because I think that Mahi Mahi deserves a place in your kitchen on a […]

Dinner Diva: Rich Food Poor Food

I have to tell you, I get a bunch of the same questions every day about what to buy in the grocery store. I get that—it’s a maze of possibilities (and confusion) that needs particular navigation when you venture out to the weekly grocery procuring for your family. There is so much to think about—what […]

Dinner Diva: How to set a dinner table

In my humble opinion, too many modern families have no idea how to set a proper dinner table. I guess that’s no surprise when we consider the sheer amount of meals that are thrown at children’s mouths before racing to one activity or another, or even worse, eaten in the car. Let’s get back to […]

Food For Thought: For meat you will praise, learn how to braise!

If you always seem to end up with stringy, tough meat that you can’t get a knife through (let alone your teeth), you can only blame the animal and/or the cut for so long! I firmly believe that with the right cooking method, you can turn the most humble of cuts into a star. Braising […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: I am sweet on Savory!

Savory, part of the mint family, is a fragrant aromatic herb used in American and Eastern European cooking. Savory has two seasons, bringing us winter savory and summer savory. Winter savory is very pungent, making it less popular for cooking than its cousin, summer savory. Both types of savory have been used medicinally and in […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: Let’s hear it for asparagus!

Today I’m talking about one of my favorite vegetables-beautiful, tender asparagus. Deliciously served with everything from pasta to steak, asparagus lends a bit of elegance to whatever meal you enjoy it with. A member of the lily family, asparagus is a perennial garden plant. It can take several years to establish a good supply of […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: An apricot will hit the spot!

We have the Greeks to thank for bringing apricots to us. These “golden eggs of the sun” came to Europe via Greece way back around 100–50 BC. Apricots are beautiful little fruits with velvety yellow skin and sweet, tasty flesh. Related to peaches, apricots are juicy and slightly tart with a flavor similar to that […]