My sisters-in-law and I have been meeting every couple of weeks to sort through my mother-in-law’s belongings (she passed away in January). My father-in-law is living in the home, so we aren’t completely emptying it, but are dealing with her personal items and all of the decorative, holiday, and non-functional items my father-in-law doesn’t want or need. It is quite a process to sort through someone’s life.  I know she had been on a mission to get rid of a lot of things in the years before her death, so there isn’t as much as there could have been.  It’s hard to haul someone’s belongings to the curb or give them to Amvets when you know they had meaning to that person. But there is only so much each of us can fit into our own homes. I know my MIL would not be pleased to have her daughters-in-law going through her things. However she had only one daughter and it is too much for one person. I am finding the process to be very intimate and feel as if I am getting to know her in ways I never did or could have when she was alive. There are many surprises along the way. She kept stacks and stacks of drawings and cards. There must have been 40 cards from my husband’s birth and first birthdays. She kept all of her shoes in their original boxes. They filled a closet. She had paper doilies in every color of the rainbow. I discovered some gifts I gave her that she must not have wanted since they were squirreled away, brand new, in the basement.

My MIL had a style that was vastly different from mine. So I was very surprised to find the vase I’m including here. It’s gorgeous, heavy crystal. I have no idea where it came from (I never saw it out in her house) and it is so different from everything else she owned. I absolutely love it and am so happy to have it. Small treasures like these give me pause as we continue to work and sort. It’s sad to take someone’s life apart piece by piece, but I feel so happy when I find something like this vase that I can display and cherish.

My sisters-in-law and I have been meeting every couple of weeks to sort through my mother-in-law’s belongings (she passed away in January). My father-in-law is living in the home, so we aren’t completely emptying it, but are dealing with her personal items and all of the decorative, holiday, and non-functional items my father-in-law doesn’t want … Read more →

Every year I share pics of my gardening successes. We planted a lot of bulbs in the fall (and by “we” I mean I set the bulbs where I wanted them and my husband dug the holes). Lots have come up so I thought I would share! My newest realization – forsythia smells wonderful! I never bent down to smell it before. Lovely.

Every year I share pics of my gardening successes. We planted a lot of bulbs in the fall (and by “we” I mean I set the bulbs where I wanted them and my husband dug the holes). Lots have come up so I thought I would share! My newest realization – forsythia smells wonderful! I … Read more →

In my ongoing quest to make vegetables more interesting, I decided to toss some flavors together. I peeled 4 carrots and one large parsnip. I cut them into sticks (the size of carrot sticks). I put them on a baking sheet and drizzled them with olive oil. I added salt and pepper and a teaspoon of dried rosemary (if I had fresh, I would use that instead). I roasted it at 350 for about half an hour(tossing halfway through) or until the veggies were tender. Then I chopped two slices of ham and added about 1/8 cup grated Manchego cheese. I put it back into the oven until the cheese melted. That’s it. Very simple, but it has tons of flavor and is not a boring veggie dish. I ate the leftovers as my lunch the next day, so it could stand as a main dish if you like just a little bit of meat. Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main dish.

In my ongoing quest to make vegetables more interesting, I decided to toss some flavors together. I peeled 4 carrots and one large parsnip. I cut them into sticks (the size of carrot sticks). I put them on a baking sheet and drizzled them with olive oil. I added salt and pepper and a teaspoon … Read more →

I love to pounce on new produce when it appears in the store in the spring. This week my store had ramps. Ramps grow wild and are like a cross between green onions and chives. I always get so excited to bring home something new but then I have to figure out what to make with it! I decided to make a veggie risotto to showcase spring vegetable. It was delicious. The ramps give it a mild garlicky flavor, but with very green overtones. The veggie broth turns the pasta a pretty dark yellow.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Spring Risotto with Ramps, Asparagus and Peas

 

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Serves: 4

Ingredients

• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup risotto
• ½ cup white wine
• 1 box vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bunch ramps, roughly chopped
• ½ bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
• ½ peas (frozen)
• Parmesan cheese to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and add the onion and risotto. Stir until the risotto is coated in oil and is hot.
2. Stir in the wine and wait for it abosrb. Then begin gradually adding the vegetable broth, half a cup at a time, stirring off and on, adding more when the last amount is absorbed. Use only as much broth as you need (possibly only ¾ of the box) to make the rice just tender.
3. Once the risotto is tender, stir in the ramps and asparagus, cooking until the asparagus is tender. Stir in the peas and then add cheese to your taste.

3.2.1249

I love to pounce on new produce when it appears in the store in the spring. This week my store had ramps. Ramps grow wild and are like a cross between green onions and chives. I always get so excited to bring home something new but then I have to figure out what to make … Read more →

I’m a fan of America’s Test Kitchen. I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for several years and love that there is someone out there who takes a methodical approach to recipe testing. If you’re not familiar, they usually take one recipe and then try it dozens of ways to find the very best method and recipe. Their results are always trustworthy. When I heard they had a gluten free cookbook  (The How Can it Be Gluten Free Cookbook) coming out, I was skeptical. I have to say I am generally not a fan of gluten free cookbooks. I buy GF flour, pasta, and bread and I made regular recipes with them. I don’t usually want to have to use 5 kinds of flour to make one recipe when I can buy Cup4Cup and substitute it in most recipes.

So, I was reluctant. But I bought it anyhow. And I sat down to read it and I wondered why I doubted them. They do a very in-depth comparison of existing GF flour blends and also test GF pasta and breads on the market. I found the flour testing the most useful and I agreed with their conclusions, however they did not test my go-to brand, Cup4Cup. I found the pasta and bread evaluations less useful. I can’t find some of the brands in my store that they used and I also rely heavily on my store’s in-house brand for pasta. They offer really good advice about cooking with GF products and storing GF baked goods (in short, they get stale fast). This is a book where the writers thought carefully about what they were making and spent a lot of time figuring out what works and what doesn’t. It is the BEST gluten free cookbook I’ve ever owned. It covers breakfast items, bread (I haven’t tried making any yeast bread but I am definitely going to now), cakes, pies, cookies, and more.

The real gold in this book is that they give you a recipe for their own flour blend. After testing many on the market they create one that they found to be better than everything out there (except Cup4Cup which they did not discuss, sadly). I’m not going to reprint their recipe for flour here (you’ll have to buy the book), but it was easy to make and I found all the items on the shelf in my store – white rice flour, brown rice flour, milk powder, tapioca starch and potato starch. I mixed it up and kept it in a large plastic container. A few minutes of mixing and I had a flour blend I could turn to for all of my baking.

Coffee Cake

So far I’ve made three recipes from the book so far: pancakes, coffee cake and carrot cake. I’m giving all three a big thumbs up. The recipes use their custom flour blend, BUT they tell you how much to substitute if you are using their top store bought flour blends. I love that part of the book. I made the recipes with their flour and was happy with the results, for the most part.

The pancakes turned out perfectly. Their method makes pancakes that are fluffy and cooked completely. They have some great tips about how important it is to preheat the pan and what size makes the optimum pancakes.

I was worried about the coffee cake because the batter didn’t taste great to me at all, but it turned out wonderfully – moist and fluffy. The only complaint I have about the coffee cake is that the glaze was too thin and ran off the cake.

Carrot cake

The carrot cake was fantastic (moist with a depth of flavor), however the baking time was not long enough. I took my cake out of the oven and it was still jiggly in the center. I didn’t listen to my own instincts and let it cool, then it was obvious it was just mush in the middle. I put it back in the oven for 20 minutes, starting with a cold oven. Once it was baked completely, it was delicious.

I’ll definitely be baking more from this cookbook. If you’re GF, you want this on your kitchen bookshelf.

I’m a fan of America’s Test Kitchen. I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for several years and love that there is someone out there who takes a methodical approach to recipe testing. If you’re not familiar, they usually take one recipe and then try it dozens of ways to find the very best method and recipe. … Read more →

I recently stumbled on this quick little online piece about the 10 Most Disappointing Travel Destinations.  I started to write a Facebook post about it but realized I had far too much to say. First, I agree that some destinations are overrated, but travel is always what you make of it.  I think that when you visit a place that has a lot of hype, your job is to find the things that appeal to you. I almost always have a good sense of what I’m going to like about a destination before I go. The key is to listen to your instincts and follow your interests. That being said, I can’t help but comment on some of the destinations in this piece:

Niagara Falls, NY. Yeah, I’m all over this one. I live in Buffalo and the Falls are in our backyard. While it’s true that you can get better panoramic views of the Falls from Canada, there are things you can do on the American side that aren’t available in Canada. The Cave of the Winds gets you as close to the Falls as possible – almost underneath it. You ride an elevator down to the base of the Falls then walk across stairs and platforms where you are absolutely doused by water coming over the brink. You look up and see the Falls coming down. It is absolutely spectacular. Also on the American side there is a platform that takes you out over the gorge with an amazing view. The American side is less crowded and you can actually find a place to park. So I don’t agree that this is overrated. If you go, you’ll want to experience the Falls from both sides and you’ll realize they are completely different, but equally fun.

Temple Bar, Dublin. I didn’t find this to be overrated because it is what it’s advertised: a bunch of bars. There are some street performers which make it fun and you can see the Halfpenny Bridge. If you’re in the city at night, it’s worth a stroll just to see it. If you’re expecting something else, you will be disappointed.

Nassau, Bahamas.  Paradise Island, usually known as Atlantis, is a giant tourist trap. But it’s unfair to lump the entire area together. We stayed outside of Nassau on Telegraph Beach and it was simply gorgeous and very quiet.  Get outside the man-made sites and see the rest of this beautiful island. Go to the Fish Fry, see the marching flamingos, drive around and see the other beaches. We did spend an afternoon at Atlantis where we saw the aquariums, had lunch and did some shopping. It was fine for a few hours, but not a place I would want to stay.

Liberty Island, NY. We loved visiting Liberty Island. Getting up close and personal with the Statue of Liberty was awe-inspiring and being able to go inside the statue was something we will never forget. Don’t go in the middle of the summer on a weekend. We went on a fall weekend and the lines were not bad at all. The ferry ride there is fun. Be sure to go to Ellis Island as well, a place I could have spent hours in, where you will learn all about the immigrants who entered our country through this island. I don’t think there is anything overrated about Liberty Island. In fact, it’s a must-see on my list.

Walt Disney World, FL. I hated it here. Passionately. But I have friends who love to go because their kids are happy and the parents can just relax by the pool and not worry. We had fun on a couple of rides but the lines were outrageous. Epcot did not excite us, although we had a fun meal at a Moroccan restaurant. I knew going in I was going to hate it, but we went because we really believed our kids deserved to go. It’s almost a rite of passage in this country.

Las Vegas, NV. I think the key to Vegas is to set your expectations and plan your trip. We don’t drink or gamble, but enjoyed our visit. Our hotel had a lazy river the kids loved. We saw the Mac King magic show which was just perfect for families. We saw the tigers and the dolphins and looked at the fountains and took a gondola ride. We drove by the Pawn Stars shop. My husband and son went to a pinball museum. We had some fantastic food off the Strip. It was one of those places that I thoroughly enjoyed, but would probably never go back to.  I didn’t find it to be overrated because I found the things our family would enjoy and did those. My biggest complaint was that EVERYTHING smells like cigarette smoke. You leave Vegas and realize you absolutely stink because it is on you and all of your clothes.

I haven’t been to the other places on this list. A Facebook friend of mine commented that she would add Times Square to this list. I admit I am confused by Times Square. There is nothing to actually do there. It’s fun to walk through it at night once but I couldn’t imagine planning it as a the highlight of my trip.  I found Florence, Italy to be overrated (and one of my friends will vehemently disagree!). I thought it was an ugly city with not a lot to do. Hilton Head, SC was overrated in our view. The beaches were great (except for the jellyfish which meant we got stung then never went in again).  Because of the jellyfish, the pool was wall to wall people. There was nothing to do on that island at all – a family destination with absolutely no activities. We ended up driving into Savannah almost daily.

So now it’s your turn. Tell me what you thought was overrated as a destination.

I recently stumbled on this quick little online piece about the 10 Most Disappointing Travel Destinations.  I started to write a Facebook post about it but realized I had far too much to say. First, I agree that some destinations are overrated, but travel is always what you make of it.  I think that when … Read more →

My daughter and I recently enjoyed a girls’ getaway to St. Thomas and after years of traveling to the Caribbean for spring breaks, it wins my favorite island award. Here are 7 reasons why you should consider St. Thomas for your next spring getaway.

1. Comfortably Foreign. While I love the Caribbean, you usually are traveling to another country where there is some kind of language barrier. But St. Thomas is part of the USVI, so everyone you meet speaks English. You pay with the US dollar. You will also find some shops, like Walgreens and KMart, that are American chains. This comfort factor is balanced against the indubitably Caribbean landscape of lush beaches, many hills, tropical vegetation, pictureaque half-rundown architecture, lilting accents, hot sun, and fusion cuisine. All the thrills of a foreign country within a US territory.

2. Beaches. We’ve been to countless Caribbean beaches, but St. Thomas might have the very best. While the beach at Frenchman’s Reef at our hotel was nice, Magens Bay was

Magens Bay Beach

stunning. The water was crystal clear, yet appeared turquoise from a distance. The sand was soft. There was shade. The beach was long enough to walk. Chairs, kayaks, and paddle boards are available for rent. The only downside was the sheer volume of cruise ship visitors. To avoid the cruise crowds, try Honeymoon Beach which has no amenities,

but is just as nice.

3. Shopping. St. Thomas is often described as having the best shopping in the Caribbean and I have to agree. My perspective is slightly different however. The island is often lauded for shopping because of the overwhelming number of jewelry stores. I’m not in the Caribbean to buy a diamond I could buy at home (assuming a diamond was in my budget!). I’m constantly on the hunt for beautiful, unique, artisan-made, locally-created items and St. Thomas was a treasure trove. Don’t miss the St. Thomas Native Arts and

My best find: a basket made of St. Thomas beach refuse

Takati at Revelry

Crafts Cooperative, located on corner directly across from the Vendor’s Plaza (your typical Caribbean grouping of tents selling knock-off goods and made in Malaysia trinkets). You will also find a lovely pocket of shops not to miss in Palm Passage, one of the alleys that runs between Main Street and the waterfront. There are many artisans and artists in the USVI that sell their work on St. Thomas and there is a lot to choose from.

4. Attitude. One quirk of the Caribbean is that every island has its own personality, and each group of islanders is different. Some people are known for being unfriendly or haughty. Other islands are welcoming. St. Thomas is the friendliest island we’ve visited to date. We were never treated rudely and everyone we spoke to wore a smile and took the time to really talk to

The view from our table

us. People are still on island time here, so expect everyone to move slowly.

Sea lion experience at Coral World

5. Food. While I still would rate Grand Case, St. Martin as the best Caribbean town for dining, St. Thomas had excellent dining across the island. Havana Blue topped our list of favorites and for fun and funky you can’t beat Duffy’s Love Shack. I also give high marks due to the prevalence of beachfront dining. This can be hard to come by on some islands, but in St. Thomas we dined at tables a few feet the beach three different nights.

6. Coral World. This tiny little aquarium doesn’t rival the dolphin experiences you can have at Paradise Island in the Bahamas, but it offers some fun and different sea life experiences: swimming with sea turtles, swimming with sharks, swimming or interacting with sea lions, swimming with sting rays, and SNUBA.

7. Beautiful Views. While driving up and over the hills in St. Thomas can take some getting used to (particularly since you are driving on the left side of the road), those same hills offer stupendous views, with specific lookout points. We took some stunning photos from Paradise Point, and there are also great views to be had Mountain Top. Drive to either or take the tramway to Paradise Point.

The view from Paradise Point

My daughter and I recently enjoyed a girls’ getaway to St. Thomas and after years of traveling to the Caribbean for spring breaks, it wins my favorite island award. Here are 7 reasons why you should consider St. Thomas for your next spring getaway. 1. Comfortably Foreign. While I love the Caribbean, you usually are … Read more →

The hotel

A trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands seemed like just the thing to thaw my daughter and me from the polar vortex, so a girl’s getaway was in order. In researching hotels, I soon realized there weren’t a lot of options on this tiny island. The Ritz is the most expensive and the next step down was the Marriott or Sugar Bay. The Marriott seemed to fit our needs, with pools and a beach, comfortable rooms, a large breakfast buffet, and a location close to Charlotte Amalie (every other hotel is another 20-30 minutes away).

We got in our rental car and drove on the left side of the road to the hotel (my first experience driving on the left!). Although we had directions and Google maps, we pulled in at a Marriott that was not our hotel. Before you arrive at the hotel there is a Marriott time share. The sign out front does not indicate it is a time share and not the hotel, so after a confusing attempt to check in, we were directed to the Marriott hotel next door. This time we found it and  walked into the open air lobby to check in. Our room was not ready but we were told it had been cleaned and just had to be inspected. We were given a pager. I asked about parking and was told there are a few spots in front (only about 8 total truly) and then there is a parking garage up the hill. We ended up parking in the garage and hauled our luggage down a very steep hill. No one explained there is a staircase in the garage that leads to a walkway to the hotel. There are signs on one level of the garage, but we did not see any on the top level.

First Impressions

We sat on a terrace and enjoyed the ice water and free rum punch served in the lobby. However, it was hot. We were tired. After half an hour I inquired again at the desk and

View of the harbor

was told the room had still not been inspected and that the desk clerk would call and request the inspection. 45 minutes went by and we hauled ourselves and our luggage into the lobby and conspicuously stood near the desk. Someone asked if we needed help and I explained about the room and said I could not believe it took an hour and 15 minutes to simply inspect a room and in fact I could care less if it had been inspected. I wanted to check in and if there was a problem I would call. This time we were told the room had been inspected but the system had not been updated and thus our pager did not go off.

Our Room

At last we were given our keys (only one of which worked) and directed to the room. Our room was on the first floor, which is below the main area of the hotel (the lobby is on 4 and the pool and restaurant are on 3). In fact this is actually a partial basement, carved into the cliff. Our room had a lovely walk out patio with a view of the Charlotte Amalie harbor. There were three cruise ships in port every day we were there and we had a good view of the cruise ship dock, as well as the entire harbor. The patio entrance was a regular glass door that locked with only a small lock that turned in the door knob. There was a dead bolt but a key was required. I would have been more comfortable with a room that opened to the outside if it had a deadbolt. The floors above us had balconies.

The beach

The room was comfortable with two double beds (both comfortable), an arm chair, a desk, and a dresser that contained an empty refrigerator (no mini-bar nonsense!) and a coffee maker, glasses and safe. Two of the pillows were flat and two were acceptable. The bathroom was adequate but not as nice, as updated, or as comfortable as the room – a cramped one room unit with sink, toilet and tub. We soon discovered that the room was perpetually damp. Our damp (not wet) bathing suits and cover ups never dried when hung over a chair overnight. Bathroom towels never dried. There was also no vent or fan in the bathroom. The dampness definitely made us feel as though we were in the basement. The upside of the basement was that it was very quiet. There were no people pounding through the halls, no footsteps over your head or other sounds.

We paid $649 per night for this room. I felt it was high, but that’s about what you can expect to pay in high season in the Caribbean for a hotel of this caliber. I found some of the hotel staff very helpful and others were adequate. All had clearly been carefully trained however to greet guests with a smile and a “hello, how are you?” Most tried to make small talk as well. This was friendly but it honestly got a bit tiring. Every time I needed to speak to someone I had to have a long conversation. I did appreciate talking to staff who truly tried to be friendly and welcoming.

Our room

The Beach

Our first order of business was to head to the beach. There were no signs and no indication in the guest guide in our room where the beach was. We found the pool area (two pools, both with infinity edges and a hot tub with a bar area and a kids’ sprinkler pad) but could not find the beach. Finally we asked and were directed around a corner near the towel service (no signs pointing the way). We emerged to find a “scenic elevator to the beach” as the sign said, which was out of order. We still couldn’t get to the beach. We asked again and were told there were 87 (!) stairs around the corner from the elevator. This was a bit of a surprise to us. There were indeed MANY stairs, but they were spaced out a big with longer steps. Going down wasn’t so bad. Going up was a challenge and we passed people huffing and puffing their way up.

The stairs ended at a boardwalk by some tennis courts and at last – the beach. It was a lovely private beach, accessible only to guests of the Marriott and Marriott Morningstar resort next door. Chairs and umbrellas were free, but the umbrellas were hard to come by. Behind the beach was another pool. We never did determine where you could get towels down there (we were told you could) but I immediately located the bar for my daily virgin strawberry daiquiris. The water was warm, but the waves are strong with an undertow. It gets deep very quickly. This area is called Frenchman’s Reef because there is a reef out there – and we could see waves breaking on it. There is also an island out

One of the infinity pools

from the shore and plenty of boat traffic. At the end of the day you can see the cruise ships coming around the point from Charlotte Amalie.  The sand was soft but HOT! The beach is long enough that you don’t feel crowded, unless you want to sit under an umbrella. A nice touch is a hose at the base of the steps to the bar to rinse your feet. There is a breeze at the beach (this is the windward side of the island) but it was just enough to keep us from getting too hot without disturbing us.

The hotel offers a shuttle to the Morningstar Resort if you can’t do the stairs down to the beach. We took this shuttle to dinner one evening and it was literally a 2 minute ride and the shuttle is

Our patio

always looping around, so it is possible to access the beach without the stairs.

The Pools

We tried out all of the pools and enjoyed the infinity pools the most. The pools tended to be fairly crowded and it was difficult to find two chairs together on the pool decks. Both infinity pools on

Lounge chairs in the pool

the hotel terrace have lounge chairs directly in the water, to what end I’m unsure, since the chair is above the water (it’s not like you’re touching the water), but I suppose you could reach your foot down to cool off. We found all of the pools to be just a bit too cool for us, although they were definitely refreshing. The Morningstar pool down at the beach is larger, but had more families in it.

The Breakfast

I am not embarrassed to tell you that we make a lot of our hotel decisions based on breakfast. Is it included? Is it a big buffet? And are there some gluten-free options? Breakfast might be one of our favorite things about staying at a hotel. The Marriott included breakfast in our package and what a breakfast it was. Served on the 3rd floor of the hotel in a room with nearly floor to ceiling windows looking out over the Charlotte Amalie harbor, this was a buffet we most definitely approved of. And the best part was one hot dish changed each day, so there was no breakfast fatigue. There was an omelet and waffle station, cereal, fruit, meats and cheeses, pastries and breads, yogurt and cottage cheese and at least 5 hot dishes which always included scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, potatoes, and bacon and regular sausage.  The changing dish included eggs benedict, a frittata, and my favorite  – corned beef hash, which was served to us the morning after St. Patrick’s Day showing me that the hotel not only makes its own breakfast, but someone in the kitchen plans wisely, making the most of all of their resources. Our server offered milk, coffee, tea, and juices. If you ordered coffee (we did not) it came in an

The view from our patio

insulated carafe AND in addition to your nicely sized china mugs, you are given takeout cups to take your coffee with you. Loved this. The staff at the restaurant was friendly but not pushy. We enjoyed our breakfasts there very much. I found a lot to eat that was gluten-free.

The Location

The hotel is situated on a little peninsula so it is possible to look in two directions and see ocean from certain terraces, which is really lovely. Your room will either look out over the harbor (as did ours – although it was called a full oceanview room) or it will look out over the beach to the open ocean (called an island view), however these rooms are above the pool area. We had a rental car, so we drove ourselves to Charlotte Amalie (about a 5 minute drive) and also to Red Hook and up to Magens Bay. Nothing was more than a half hour drive for us, so we felt the location was ideal. If you do not rent a car, you can take a taxi to town (but you will have to wait while one is called for you), or you can take the hotel ferry. Ferry is a bit of a misnomer. There is a small boat that leaves from a dock (down many stairs) that will take you to the heart of Charlotte Amalie.

Looking down at the beach

This is not free and there is a $7 per person fee each way and you must buy tickets in the hotel lobby. It goes every half hour. There is a handful of shops in the hotel, including a gift/snack shop that offers packaged sandwiches and salads as well as desserts. It was vastly overpriced (we paid $9 for a pint of Haagen Daz).

We dined at Havana Blue at the Morningstar Resort and it may have been our best meal. There is also a beachside restaurant called Coco Joe’s, a restaurant near the pool and the dining room where we had breakfast each day.

Overall we enjoyed our stay and found the hotel comfortable and relaxing. The biggest drawbacks are the stairs to the beach (if the elevator would work this would not be a concern) and the limited parking. Once we got the last spot in the ramp and another time we followed some people to their car when there were no spaces.

A trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands seemed like just the thing to thaw my daughter and me from the polar vortex, so a girl’s getaway was in order. In researching hotels, I soon realized there weren’t a lot of options on this tiny island. The Ritz is the most expensive and the next step … Read more →

I’ve been craving lasagna and I also really needed to add some quick meals to my freezer, so lasagna was on. Since my daughter no longer eats read meat, a chicken lasagna was going to be necessary. I found this recipe in Food Network Magazine. I substituted 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts for the chicken thighs. I didn’t use San Marzano tomatoes – just store brand organic crushed tomatoes. I used gluten-free noodles and I had kale from the summer CSA that I had stripped from the stems, chopped, shocked and then froze. It was perfect. We had this for dinner (for 4 people) and then I froze about 12 more servings.

I’ve been craving lasagna and I also really needed to add some quick meals to my freezer, so lasagna was on. Since my daughter no longer eats read meat, a chicken lasagna was going to be necessary. I found this recipe in Food Network Magazine. I substituted 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts for the chicken … Read more →

Sometimes, particularly in the winter, I get really tired of veggies. There isn’t a huge selection and I feel like I’m making the same things every week. This week I decided to try something a little different. I took a bunch of asparagus and melted 1 tbsp of butter in a saute pan on high. I dropped in about 2 tbsp of chopped pecans. I added the asparagus and let it sit about 3 minutes until it got a not-too-black sear, then turned the pieces and continued doing this until it was al dente and seared on most sides. Then I added 1 tbsp lemon juice to the pan and shaved some Parmesan on top. The result was a crisp, richly flavored veggie that did not taste like the boring and soggy asparagus I sometimes get used to.

Sometimes, particularly in the winter, I get really tired of veggies. There isn’t a huge selection and I feel like I’m making the same things every week. This week I decided to try something a little different. I took a bunch of asparagus and melted 1 tbsp of butter in a saute pan on high. … Read more →