We’ve had almost a week of unseasonably warm temps here (in the 80s), so all of the bulbs we planted in the fall are growing by leaps and bounds and I’ve got some gorgeous flowers out. It’s so early in the season, but I’m so glad to see them! Has spring come early for you?

We’ve had almost a week of unseasonably warm temps here (in the 80s), so all of the bulbs we planted in the fall are growing by leaps and bounds and I’ve got some gorgeous flowers out. It’s so early in the season, but I’m so glad to see them! Has spring come early for you?

We just returned from a trip to Aruba. It was shorter than we planned because Continental/United completely screwed up. Forgive me for venting before I share the fun stuff. First our flight from Buffalo was delayed because the flight crew got in late. Then there was a problem they were fixing. We finally got on the plane 2 hours or so late. It took off, flew for 15 minutes and turned around and came back to Buffalo with another mechanical problem. They could not get us to Newark in time for our connection. So they flew us there later in the day and stuck us in a hotel overnight and we were to fly out the next morning (to console ourselves, we took the train into NYC and ate at Basta Pasta, where they make a pasta dish that they mix up inside a wheel of Parmesan cheese). Late at night, the toilet in our room broke and we had to change rooms. The next morning we went to the airport and somehow they had canceled our tickets! They were able to get us on the flight, but not sitting together. We finally arrived in Aruba about 26 hours later than planned, losing an entire day.

My vent is over. Aruba is beautiful. It’s a desert island with palm trees, cacti and the famous divi divi tree (which always bends west due to the wind). It’s windy there but the wind felt good in the heat and kept the bugs away. The island is very Americanized, disappointingly so we thought. There are American chain restaurants everywhere. All the signs are in English. You can pay in American dollars everywhere. The high rise hotel area was tacky and crowded (fortunately our hotel was just past this nonsense).

Divi divi tree

We stayed at the Marriott Stellaris in a gorgeous oceanfront room. It was huge with a huge bathroom. One of the most comfortable rooms we’ve ever been in. The resort was beautiful with a huge pool and wonderful beach. The sand is soft, there are no shells and only a few pieces of coral. The water is an amazing turquoise and was saltier than any ocean water I’d been in before. It was about 87 during the day and 77 at night.

Natural bridge

We visited the donkey sanctuary, saw the natural bridge, and drove north to the lighthouse. We walked the beach, swam, slept on the beach, and had a good time. The shopping was horrendous. There are lots of cruises so there are lots of designer stores and jewelry stores. There were NO artisan shops or galleries. The only nice shop was the mopa mopa store. Mopa mopa is a special technique. Boxes or figures are carved out of wood. Resin from the mopa mopa tree is boiled and stretched by hand and then hand applied to the boxes. It is colorful and amazing. We did track down one art exhibit at an art school where nothing was for sale other than little painted plates, so I bought one of those. I also bought soap at the donkey santuary (made from donkey milk) and a nice

Mopa mopa box, donkey soap, magnet and a handpainted plate

magnet.

The streets have no signs. NONE. There are no street numbers. And GPS is unreliable, going in and out all the time. Even though the island is only 20 miles long, we got lost several times. It was very frustrating. Even the concierge desk gave bad directions.

Flying Fishbone

The people were friendly and the food was quite good. We enjoyed two dinnersat restaurants that have their tables right in the sand at the water’s edge. You kick off your shoes and eat with your toes in the sand. One illuminated the water (Flying Fishbone) which was pretty and the other(Passions) had tiki torches. We had lots of fish–Caribbean lobster, wahoo, grouper, shrimp, and crab. We also went to the The Old Cunucu Housefor lunch. A cunucu is a country house made of thick adobe type walls. This one was 150 years old. This restaurant serves tradtional Aruban food and we were anxious to try it. Bitterballen were deep fried meatballs. Pastechi were like empanadas filled with cheese. We also sampled deep fried chicken leg and the national dish keeshi yeni, described as stuffed cheese. It wasn’t really though – just shredded chicken in a sauce covered with cheese.  There are lots of types of cornmeal sides – deep fried, pan fried, etc. We enjoyed this

Fried chicken leg pieces

taste of real Aruba, except we think my son had some bad shrimp (he had a shrimp cocktail) which meant we weren’t able to go out to

Keeshi yeni

dinner our last night because he was ill.

The last day we were there was Aruba’s national flag and anthem day (think 4th of July). To celebrate, the hotel had a special brunch with native dishes, so we went to that. They had a deep fried cornmeal and cheese side called funchi that was fantastic. They also served oxtail stew (Mr. MarthaAndMe grew up on oxtail soup) and several other traditional dishes. It was fun, but a bit heavy for 8 in the morning, we thought!

Pastechi

When we travel to other countries, we always go to a grocery store and this one was very interesting. There are different types of grocery stores – many with Asian names and others that have English names. We went to one called Super Food. It was filled with Dutch people (Aruba is part of the Dutch Commonwealth, although it is now an independent country – similar to the relationship between Canada and the UK). People were speaking Dutch and many, many food items had Dutch packaging. Gouda is practically the national

Funchi (left)

cheese of Aruba (any dish you order with cheese has Gouda in it) and I was surprised to see they sell it sliced and packaged like we sell American cheese. We bought some Dutch cookies and chocolates. My son was excited by the potato chip flavors – it was Lay’s but they had Cheese and Onion, Paprika, Ham and Cheese and others we have never seen.

Overall, we had a nice time, but it was too short due to the airline screw up. I

Pastchi, bitterballen and some kind of cheese and veg fried item

wish we had had more time to explore or get out on the water.

We just returned from a trip to Aruba. It was shorter than we planned because Continental/United completely screwed up. Forgive me for venting before I share the fun stuff. First our flight from Buffalo was delayed because the flight crew got in late. Then there was a problem they were fixing. We finally got on … Read more →

Sassy Suppers has chosen a leek, bacon, and pea risotto for next week’s project. Can’t wait to taste it!

Sassy Suppers has chosen a leek, bacon, and pea risotto for next week’s project. Can’t wait to taste it!

Cultured butter is made from fermented cream and has live cultures in it. It has a stronger taste than regular butter, one that I find very tasty. It is somehow more “buttery” tasting. This is actually how butter used to be made – cream was collected for several days before it was churned into butter. Michael Ruhlman talks about how to make your own, which I am going to try. If you haven’t tried cultured butter, I urge you to try it. It just tastes so much better!

Cultured butter is made from fermented cream and has live cultures in it. It has a stronger taste than regular butter, one that I find very tasty. It is somehow more “buttery” tasting. This is actually how butter used to be made – cream was collected for several days before it was churned into butter. … Read more →

My author copies of my new book, The Muffin Tin Cookbook, have just landed on my doorstep and I’m so excited to see and hold the book! It has 200 recipes of every kind of dish imaginable (sides, entrees, breakfast, appetizers, breads, dessert, and more) all made in muffin tins. There are recipes using mini, regular, jumbo and even the new square muffin tins. This book was so fun to write (and taste!).

Muffin tin meals are super kid-friendly AND they are great for portion control for us adults too. Some of my favorite recipes include:

Shrimp Cakes with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce

Moroccan Chicken Pot Pie

Potato Parsnip Cups

Mini Ice-Cream Cakes

and there are lots of recipes for mini-pies made in muffin tins (SO easy to make and so cute!). The pub date is listed as mid-April, but it’s in warehouses and will begin shipping sooner than that.

I’m available for guest blog spots and Q&As, so if you have room on your blog, let me know!

My author copies of my new book, The Muffin Tin Cookbook, have just landed on my doorstep and I’m so excited to see and hold the book! It has 200 recipes of every kind of dish imaginable (sides, entrees, breakfast, appetizers, breads, dessert, and more) all made in muffin tins. There are recipes using mini, … Read more →

Thank you Martha for a recipe that was so easy to throw together! This recipe for Lime Bars has only 4 steps, which is unheard of in Martha’s world. I feel as though mine did not make enough filling. I pushed the crust an inch up the side but my filling didn’t even come close to reaching that. I ended up going around the edges, smushing it down so it didn’t look so stupid. And only 15 minutes to bake? What’s up with that?

We liked these. They are almost key lime pie really. Quick and easy and tasty – thumbs up.

Thank you Martha for a recipe that was so easy to throw together! This recipe for Lime Bars has only 4 steps, which is unheard of in Martha’s world. I feel as though mine did not make enough filling. I pushed the crust an inch up the side but my filling didn’t even come close … Read more →

I grew up eating my grandmother’s potato salad, which contains potatoes, eggs, celery, onion, and Miracle Whip. It took me a while to get used to potato salad made with mayo, but I learned to like it. This summer when we were in Arizona, I had sour cream potato salad for the first time and enjoyed it. I’ve thought from time to time about replicating it, but never got around to it. The March issue of Cooking Light has a page with 4 potato salads, one of which is made with sour cream so I gave it a try.

Sour Cream Dill Potato Salad

Cut 3/4 lb fingerling potatoes into 1 inch pieces and boil until tender. Drain. Mix with 1/2 cup diced cucumber, 2 tbsp light sour cream, 1 1/2 tbsp Greek yogurt, 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill, salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.

I enjoyed this as a change of pace. I liked the fact that yogurt was an ingredient and you really could not taste it. The dill added a nice fresh taste. I’m not sure about the cucumbers, but I didn’t mind them. I might try making it with eggs, celery and onion to see how that turns out. How do you like your potato salad?

I grew up eating my grandmother’s potato salad, which contains potatoes, eggs, celery, onion, and Miracle Whip. It took me a while to get used to potato salad made with mayo, but I learned to like it. This summer when we were in Arizona, I had sour cream potato salad for the first time and … Read more →

Megan at Megan’s Cookin has chosen Lime Bars for Monday’s recipe. Enjoy!

Megan at Megan’s Cookin has chosen Lime Bars for Monday’s recipe. Enjoy!

Sometimes I try to make Sunday dinner (roasts or pot pies, things that feel sort of homey), but who feels like spending tons of time doing dishes on a Sunday night? Not me. By Sunday night I’m trying to reserve my energy for the busy week ahead. This past weekend, I made a spinach stuffed pork roast, but I did it in parchment paper and it was fantastic! My mom always says that the pork you can buy today is nothing like it used to be. She always says it is too dry. Well, this recipe is not dry at all. The parchment seals all the moisture right in the roast, and the best part is there is no roasting pan to scrub!

Spinach-Stuffed Pork Roast in Parchment Paper

1 boneless pork roast (1.25-1.5 lbs)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 yellow onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

3 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, ripped into small pieces

1/4 teaspoon dried sage

8 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/8 teaspoon dry mustard

2 tablespoons beef broth

Butterfly the pork roast (cut through the center from one of the long edges, but stop before you get to the opposite side). Open it like a book. Season the pork roast with salt and pepper. Mix all other ingredients, with salt and pepper to taste, in a bowl and place 2/3 inside the roast. Close the “book” and place the roast on parchment paper (see Technique tab on this site for instructions about size and folding). Place the additional stuffing on top of the roast. Fold the parchment and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Open the parchment packet (fold the edges down or cut them off) and return to the oven for about 10 minutes. Allow the roast to rest about 5 minutes before carving.

It came out delicious, moist and filled with flavor. I even ate some of the leftovers cold the next day for lunch and they were amazing!

Sometimes I try to make Sunday dinner (roasts or pot pies, things that feel sort of homey), but who feels like spending tons of time doing dishes on a Sunday night? Not me. By Sunday night I’m trying to reserve my energy for the busy week ahead. This past weekend, I made a spinach stuffed … Read more →

I have always used non-stick pans. I even once had a set of pots that were non-stick. But they don’t last forever – the non-stick coating peels off — and even more frightening, non-stick pans release toxic fumes. Eek. If I’m cooking organic food, why am I using a pan that could be toxic? I’ve worried about this for several years, but couldn’t find a solution. Cast iron just does not appeal to me. It’s so heavy and not as nonstick as I really like.

Recently I hit upon a solution – ceramic pans. I bought a GreenPan from HSN.com and fell in love with it. It’s made of ceramic with non-toxic materials and is nonstick. I bought 2 more and I’m sold. They are more non-stick than my non-stick pans were and I am in love! There are other brands of these you can find online and I may explore other brands as I add to my collection.

I have always used non-stick pans. I even once had a set of pots that were non-stick. But they don’t last forever – the non-stick coating peels off — and even more frightening, non-stick pans release toxic fumes. Eek. If I’m cooking organic food, why am I using a pan that could be toxic? I’ve … Read more →