Featured Recipe: Ragu Bolognese
Featured Wine: Chianti
I went out for a mommies night out with Linda from KidFriendlyDC* and some other cool moms from DC.
Let’s pause. I. Went. Out. Can you say, wooo hooooooo?
Outburst over. Continue reading
Tag Archives: food
A bowlful of heaven: Ragu Bolegnese
One Pot Wonder Challenge: Chicken Barley Stew
Featured Recipe: Chicken Barley Stew
If I told you that I could feed mom, dad, big kid #1, and little baby #2 for less than a buck a serving, you’d be like: awesome, right? Let’s add healthy, delicious, and fits in one pot so there’s no clean up: could it be possible? Continue reading
Laissez les bons temps rouler: Gumbo
Featured Recipe: Gumbo
Fat Tuesday is tomorrow! This is one of my favorite holidays of the year because I get to pay homage to some of my favorite food: Creole and Cajun food. Continue reading
Anniversary Wine & Dine #2: Ridge Lytton Springs
A scenic walk to Lytton Springs
Featured Recipe: Balsamic Marinated NY Strips
Featured Wine: Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel
Sometimes, there’s just a moment you remember. No context, no recall on how that moment came to be, just that moment sticks in your brain forever. Continue reading
Anniversary Dinner(s) #1: Champagne Charles de Fere
Featured Recipe: Cioppino
Featured Wine: Charles de Fare Blanc de Blancs
5 years ago I married my best friend, and I couldn’t be happier. We have an amazing family, great friends, and just a wonderful life together. As I think back on all of our years together, I’m so overwhelmed at all of the wonderful memories we’ve created. Continue reading
Spring Love: Shrimp & Pea Risotto
Featured Recipe: Shrimp & Pea Risotto
Hey, East Coasters. Been enjoying the mild winter? You’re welcome.
Oh, did I just take credit for the 50 degree sunny days in February? You tell me: Continue reading
Super Easy Super Bowl
Sniff. Sob. Waaaa.
No, that’s not K, darling child that she is almost sleeping through the night. That’s me, mourning the end of yet another football season. This was a rough one for me. My fantasy team stunk–I lost my first two draft picks in the first week with season-ending injuries. My college team, for which I had such high hopes (Go NOLES!), didn’t show up this season. And my pro team, Go Steelers, did just well enough to get into the playoffs but injured themselves so badly in the process they didn’t have a prayer of making it to the big dance.
So. Here we are. End of the season on Sunday. Pats, Giants, couldn’t care less except I will care less when there’s no football at all. So, to mourn the end of another football season, I will celebrate all of the close match ups, overtime victories and losses, wide left field goal attempts, with a fabulous Super Bowl-worthy spread. But my goodness, I’m not going to put any effort into it.
While I wouldn’t serve the wings to little ones, the chili and guacamole are appropriate for kids over a year or so.
I love Buffalo wings, but they are seriously so bad for you. Deep fried, tossed in hot sauce and butter…I don’t even want to think about how many points they are. And if you make them the traditional way at home, it’s a messy and dangerous endeavor–especially with kids around.
So I use a MUCH easier, and probably a little bit healthier, method: I bake them. Continue reading
Winter “BLT” Night: Grilled Gruyere with Salami Relish and Slow Roasted Tomato Soup
First, a tale. Then, winter BLT that is actually salami and gruyere.
Our friend Steve owns a restaurant. It’s a really cool restaurant with great food, great beer, and a hip vibe. We like to go there because it kind of makes us feel young and hip. Going out to eat at 6pm with 2 kids is so not young or hip, but please don’t burst our bubble.
Steve moved to our neighborhood in the summertime to open his place. Opening a restaurant is hard. And surreal. The stories he would tell ranged from construction snafu’s to wine tastings to city red tape navigation. I think Steve was working 100 hours or more a week to get the place up and running.
That same summer, I found myself going to the farmers market on Sunday mornings and buying way too many heirloom tomatoes and fresh baked bread. And I made bacon for breakfast, but since I bake it I we always had leftovers. Leftover bacon? Weird, but yes somehow we managed not to consume it all.
So, BLT Monday was born. Steve needed a break from whatever he was dealing with that week. And we needed an outlet for our leftover bacon, fresh beautiful tomatoes, grilled day-old bread rubbed with garlic…
I wish it were summer. I miss tomatoes.
But it’s not. Our friend Steve came over on a recent Monday on his night off from his cool place. It’s the first time in ages we’d seen him outside of his restaurant. So I wanted to make the winter version of Monday BLT’s.
We’re back to the salami and gruyere. Almost. Continue reading
My date with…me: popcorn and chardonnay
I don’t get a lot of me time. Two kids, full-time job, family, friends pretty much keeps me in the company of people and things I love constantly. But here’s the thing: I love being alone sometimes too.
Alone means I can blog. Or read. Or clean. Or organize. Organize the toys. Find all of those pieces to Candyland that I keep stepping on. I found a little person in the laundry. Oh laundry. Socks. I need to pair socks. So many socks living single in one drawer, pining for their mate.
Stop. I’m spiraling.
Alone you get to do those things you can’t do with other people. Like pop popcorn. Dan hates popcorn. It’s weird…apparently it has something to do with someone burning microwave popcorn a decade ago, but I hardly ever make popcorn while he’s around because he hates the smell so much.
And movies. How many chick flicks have come out in the past year? 1,000? How many have I seen? Exactly 0. It’s time to get cracking. Where to start? Twilight? Meh. You can’t really watch that ironically by yourself, and I’m not sure I’m ready to admit that I would totally watch it not ironically. Because I would. Maybe something starring Anne Hathaway. She seems to be the queen of romcom these days. Nah. I’m going for Twilight. Ironically. Or maybe not.
I get some alone time tonight. After the kids go to bed. Since alone time just means there aren’t any kids or dogs or adults on the couch with me. It’s enough.
Tonight, while Dan is taking a well-deserved night off with his friends, I am going to sit here with all of my socks living in sin, pop some popcorn, drink some chardonnay, watch ironic movies unironically and have a great date with me.
Buttery Popcorn
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
4 teaspoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon iodized salt
Pop popcorn. I have this weird 60′s looking contraption I put in my microwave to pop the corn easily and without any added fat. Then toss the corn with butter and salt. Enjoy!
Spaghetti Night: Turkey Meatballs Florentine
Wednesday night is spaghetti night in our house. 
Well, not actually IN our house…our favorite pub down the street has a spaghetti special on Wednesday nights and after a day of brain drain we typically blow off whatever healthy dinner we had planned and head on down to the pub. N doesn’t mind.
But, it’s the new year and all, so I’m trying to be healthy…can we get to February already so we can start talking about chocolate and martinis?
Right, still January. Healthy. So here’s an alternative to a huge portion of pub-style spaghetti and meatballs: Turkey Meatballs Florentine. Continue reading
