Everywhere we ate in Italy, our meals were accompanied by potatoes. Not just any potatoes. These were golden chunks of potatoes that were super crispy and flavorful on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Like nothing I’ve eaten at home. So of course I was on a mission to figure out how to make them myself!

First of all, buy organic potatoes. I’ve used conventional potatoes for years and recently switched to organic and they taste much better!

Peel 4 organic russet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Cut each slice into quarters. Parboil until cooked about halfway. Drain.

Place on a baking sheet and drizzle 1/4 cup olive oil on top. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs and 1/4 tsp garlic powder. Toss to coat. Bake at 400 for about 50 minutes, turning the pieces over about every 15 minutes.

Presto! Miraculous Italian potatoes. I’m thrilled to have this turn out! Next I’ve got to figure out the Sorrento lemon cake….

Everywhere we ate in Italy, our meals were accompanied by potatoes. Not just any potatoes. These were golden chunks of potatoes that were super crispy and flavorful on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Like nothing I’ve eaten at home. So of course I was on a mission to figure out how … Read more →

The night started with the intention to make some pesto from the basil I brought home from the CSA. Here’s the delicious dish that ended up on our plates:

Tomato Pesto Chicken Pasta

1 lb ground chicken

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

2 tbsp pine nuts

1 tomato

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp tomato paste

Cook the chicken in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil until almost cooked through. While this is cooking, place basil, pine nuts, garlic and about 2 tbsp oil in the food processor. Process finely. Add this to the chicken with one chopped tomato and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in tomato paste. If it looks a little dry, drizzle a little more olive oil. Serve over pasta of your choice. Cheese optional!

We really enjoyed this. We had Swiss chard and some grapes to round out the meal. Filling, light and yummy!

The night started with the intention to make some pesto from the basil I brought home from the CSA. Here’s the delicious dish that ended up on our plates: Tomato Pesto Chicken Pasta 1 lb ground chicken olive oil salt and pepper 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves 2 tbsp pine nuts 1 tomato 2 … Read more →

I’m still in love with the food we had in Hawaii, so from time to time, I try to recreate that trip on our dinner table. I came upon this recipe in July Taste of Home (a magazine in which I rarely find something I want to make in!) and really enjoyed it – simple to make and delicious to eat. Here’s my adaptation.

Huli Huli Chicken Breasts

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup organic ketchup

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cooking sherry (substitute chicken broth if you don’t have any)

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

3/4 tsp minced garlic

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Mix the marinade in a bowl, then reserve 1/2 cup for basting or serving. Place chicken breasts in ziploc bag and pour the marinade over them. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Grill the chicken, basting with the reserved sauce, or heat the reserved sauce and serve it as a sauce with the chicken. This is great with rice. The leftover chicken is delicious in salads or on sandwiches. I make a double batch and we eat the leftovers for lunch all week.

I’m still in love with the food we had in Hawaii, so from time to time, I try to recreate that trip on our dinner table. I came upon this recipe in July Taste of Home (a magazine in which I rarely find something I want to make in!) and really enjoyed it – simple … Read more →

I’m starting to think about fall food as the weather is beginning to change. This recipe was really easy to put together, but packed a lot of flavor. It cooks in under an hour, so it works even on a weeknight.

Pork with Sweet Potatoes and Apples

1 pork tenderloin

2 large apples, quartered

2 sweet potatoes, cut into 2-inch slices or chunks

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

10 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a roasting pan or glass baking pan (about 13×8) and place the pork tenderloin in it. Arrange the apples and sweet potatoes around the pork. Sprinkle the garlic, onions, sage, thyme, and salt and pepper over everything. Pour cider and vinegar into pan. Bake uncovered for about 45-50 minutes, until the pork is 140 degrees.

If you want to make gravy, remove pork and veggies from the pan and place the pan on a burner. Add 1 cup chicken broth and enough Wondra flour to thicken to your tastes (I like my gravy thick!) and cook over high, stirring or whisking constantly until it thickens.

I’m starting to think about fall food as the weather is beginning to change. This recipe was really easy to put together, but packed a lot of flavor. It cooks in under an hour, so it works even on a weeknight. Pork with Sweet Potatoes and Apples 1 pork tenderloin 2 large apples, quartered 2 … Read more →

I got my final batch of tomatoes from the CSA, so I’m going to be officially done with tomatoes as soon as they are gone. Here’s an incredibly simple end-of-summer side dish to use up your last batch!

Pan-Fried Tomatoes with Feta and Basil

Slice your tomato into slices that are between 1/4 inch and a 1/2 inch thick. Mix one egg with a dash of water. Dip each slice in the egg wash, then in breadcrumbs. Place in a pan that has been coated with olive oil. Fry over medium high heat until browned, then flip. On the top of the tomatoes, place one basil leaf and a sprinkling of feta. When the tomato is brown on the bottom, serve.

How do you like to use up those last tomatoes of the season?

I got my final batch of tomatoes from the CSA, so I’m going to be officially done with tomatoes as soon as they are gone. Here’s an incredibly simple end-of-summer side dish to use up your last batch! Pan-Fried Tomatoes with Feta and Basil Slice your tomato into slices that are between 1/4 inch and … Read more →

This is an incredibly simple recipe that packs a lot of flavor, and helps use up some of those summer veggies. I served this with brown rice and steamed green beans.

Salmon with Summer Vegetables

4 large leaves Swiss chard, chopped

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 shallot, peeled and chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 salmon fillets (about 6 oz each)

Heat your grill. Put the chard in boiling water and cook until tender. Drain and allow to cool, then squeeze most of the water out. Mix in a small bowl with the tomato, shallot, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. Grill the salmon. Place half the veggies and juice on each fillet and serve.

This is an incredibly simple recipe that packs a lot of flavor, and helps use up some of those summer veggies. I served this with brown rice and steamed green beans. Salmon with Summer Vegetables 4 large leaves Swiss chard, chopped 1 medium tomato, chopped 1 shallot, peeled and chopped salt and pepper to taste … Read more →

I spent summers in Maine as a kid and have been back several times as an adult (my daughter’s middle name is Camden, a town in Maine, so we’re pretty attached to Maine around here). I love everything about Maine and when I learned about the Maine Classics cookbook by Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier (owners of Arrows in Ogunquit), I had to get a copy. You can read my review at A Traveler’s Library, where I’ve been reviewing one destination cookbook each month.

I spent summers in Maine as a kid and have been back several times as an adult (my daughter’s middle name is Camden, a town in Maine, so we’re pretty attached to Maine around here). I love everything about Maine and when I learned about the Maine Classics cookbook by Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier (owners of … Read more →

I spotted this recipe in the front of Bon Appetit and made my own version of it.

Malt Vinegar-Glazed Chicken Breasts

Glaze:

1/2 cup malt vinegar

1/8 cup dark molasses

1 tbsp honey

1/4 tsp ground coriander

pinch cayenne pepper

pepper to taste

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 bay leaf

 

Chicken

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup salt

1/8 cup malt vinegar

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Glaze:

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then set aside

Chicken:

Mix sugar, salt, vinegar, thyme and 1 cup water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir in 6 cups cold water. Allow to cool. Add chicken breasts to the pot. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours (or up to overnight).

Remove chicken from brine and grill over medium high heat. When it is close to done, brush with the glaze. Cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165.

We loved the rich, dark flavor of this chicken that was not overpowering at all. You should use all of the glaze when basting the chicken. It cooks to a lovely golden brown and malt vinegar gives it a nice gentle tang. I marinated only 4 hours and it had lots of flavor. I’ll be making this recipe again. The leftovers were fantastic in chicken sandwiches and in salads!

 

I spotted this recipe in the front of Bon Appetit and made my own version of it. Malt Vinegar-Glazed Chicken Breasts Glaze: 1/2 cup malt vinegar 1/8 cup dark molasses 1 tbsp honey 1/4 tsp ground coriander pinch cayenne pepper pepper to taste 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/2 bay leaf   Chicken 1/4 cup brown sugar … Read more →

We used to rent a cottage on beautiful Cayuga Lake every summer when our daughter was little.  We had the greatest times there: fishing, swimming, feeding the ducks, and exploring the Finger Lakes of NY. One of our greatest finds was a little store run by Mennonites, called Sauder’s Store, in nearby Seneca Falls (and if you aren’t aware, Seneca Falls, NY is the town used in It’s A Wonderful Life called Bedford Falls in the movie and is also home to women’s voting rights: the women’s rights convention was held here and began the movement to give women the right to vote – they have a museum about it you should visit if you are in the area).

At the time we used to visit yearly while staying on Cayuga, it was a well-kept secret: hard to find if you didn’t know it was there. It was a small little place that sold Mennonite baked goods, bulk items, produce and specialty items from the area. We used to get up early to get there to have the greatest selection of baked goods! Since we stopped staying on Cayuga Lake, we try to drive out every couple of years to the shop. We hadn’t been in a while, and my parents’ house on Conesus Lake gets us about halfway there, so this past weekend we decided to make the trek (about an hour and a half from the lake house, about 2 hours from our house if we drove from here).

The store has expanded over the years and carries more items than ever before, as well as handmade wood furniture, handmade wagons, Amish quilts (they only had one when I was there, but I looked!), and plants. We filled a cart and brought home many wonderful items:

• birch beer (I bought 2 cases since it can be hard to find!)
• sassafrass soda
• Utz potato chips
• bulk spices
• butterscotch peanut butter
• bulk cake decorations
• smoothie mix
• Lebanon bologna (looks like salami, tastes like bologna or thuringer)
• smoked cheddar cheese
• blueberry cheese
• rolled butter (made from whey cream instead of sweet cream; it’s supposed to have an amazing flavor: I’ve never tried it before and will report back when I have)
• smoked pork chops (now you can buy these in the grocery store, but back when we used to come here, you couldn’t, so they were a special treat and I still think theirs has much better flavor)
• German hot dogs with cheese in them
• beef sticks
• cinnamon rolls
• whoopie pies (chocolate and pumpkin)
• pickles
  

  Sweet Corn puff snacks

• jam
• alphabet noodles (I can’t find these anywhere, ever, so I was thrilled to stumble on them)
• shoofly pie
• Himalayan grain mix
• canned vanilla peaches

and much more. The aisles are jammed with bulk candy, spices, pastas, cooking mixes, flours, snacks, baking products, sodas, and it is all very different from what you can find at a regular grocery store.

We also bought an Amish-made basket as a gift for my mother-in-

law (signed on the back and dated, which is nice).

The shop is owned and run by Mennonites (basically Amish-light) and many, many Mennonites from the Finger Lakes area shop there. My great-grandmother was a Mennonite and I recognize the little caps they wear as one she wore in a photo I have of her. They have a huge selection of books about the Amish and Mennonites. They also sell wooden toys, and things like puzzles, sticker books, stationery, and other interesting little gift items. I am always on the lookout for narrow shopping list pads that are magnetic to keep on my fridge. I like to change them out for the seasons and holidays. They had an entire wall of these (I thought I had died and gone to heaven).

Shopping here always feels like stepping into a different world. There are now several

stores like this scattered throughout the Finger Lakes, but we’ll always go back to Sauder’s since we’ve been customers for almost 20 years and it reminds us of the wonderful times we had staying on Cayuga Lake. And I love that the foods we bring home are simple country-style items.  I love to make complicated meals, but I also love to eat things that are just simple and delicious, and that’s what we find here.

We used to rent a cottage on beautiful Cayuga Lake every summer when our daughter was little.  We had the greatest times there: fishing, swimming, feeding the ducks, and exploring the Finger Lakes of NY. One of our greatest finds was a little store run by Mennonites, called Sauder’s Store, in nearby Seneca Falls (and … Read more →

Homegrown corn is what it’s all about in August in western NY state. We all have our fave farm stands (my CSA does not grow corn – I wish they did because I can’t find a single stand that sells organic corn) and corn on the cob is common part of dinner at this time of year.

I almost always make a batch of corn chowder, when I get tired of corn on the cob. Here is this year’s version:

Summer Corn Chowder
4 slices bacon, diced

1 large onion

2 celery stalks

3 large carrots, peeled

4 cups skim milk

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

7 ears of corn

2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp fresh thyme

2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Cook the bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until cooked through. Remove bacon, leaving the grease. Chop the onion, celery, and carrot in a food processor then cook in the oil until the onion is translucent. Cut the corn off the cobs, reserving cobs. Add milk and broth to the pot and add the cobs and potatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes. Remove cobs. Add bacon, corn, salt, pepper, thyme, and chives and simmer another 15 minutes. Serves 8.

Sometimes I add a diced chicken breast to this to make it heartier. Diced red pepper is also nice because it adds color (but my daughter hates red pepper so I never do that!). You can also sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese on each bowl. This is fantastic with BBQ chicken.

Homegrown corn is what it’s all about in August in western NY state. We all have our fave farm stands (my CSA does not grow corn – I wish they did because I can’t find a single stand that sells organic corn) and corn on the cob is common part of dinner at this time … Read more →