​Sometimes I prepare so many new and exciting recipes, that we never have them twice.
 
As it’s been so cold the past few days, I would like to suggest a Broccoli and Arugula Soup. This recipe was found in the January 2022 issue of “Charleston Magazine.” The soup was thick and creamy despite there being no cream in the soup. Both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
 
Some of the best recipes from 2022 came from The New York Times/NYT Cooking. One such recipe is Kay Chun’s Korean Cheeseburgers with Sesame-Cucumber Pickles. These are not your parents’ cheeseburgers. The burgers are flavored with soy sauce, scallions, garlic, pepper and sugar. They’re served with a mayonnaise dressing flavored with the same ingredients as the burgers plus toasted sesame oil. These burgers were incredible. I also made Ali Slagle’s Chicken Parm Burgers that were fabulous. Between the aromatic basil, the intensity of the tomato paste, these burgers were packed with flavor. 

I graduated high school in 1974 and began working for a Swedish steel company in my hometown. It was a diverse group of people working there. One person who I became friendly with was a woman named Paddy, who was from Northern Ireland. One fall day, she invited a group of us to her house in White Meadow Lake, NJ for afternoon tea. She served endless pots of black tea along with Irish apple pie, chocolate haystacks and Napoleons filled with whipped cream and raspberry jam to name a few. Over the years we became a small core group. The group of seven would take turns over the years hosting. Bernice, who was Jewish, cooked brisket and potatoes latkes, Marlene was known for her Italian cooking, Jane was our health-conscious cook and Nancy and I would peruse cook books to prepare slightly involved meals. ​

​I don’t care how hot the weather may be; I still bake a batch of cookies each week. In fact, this week, I baked two batches. On a recent episode of America’s Test Kitchen, Bridget Lancaster did a demonstration of a cookie called Baci di Dama, Lady’s Kisses. These hazelnut sandwich cookies have just a smidge of dark chocolate holding the two halves together.
 
For the recipe you’ll need hazelnuts, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, unsalted butter, vanilla extract and bittersweet chocolate chips. I did find a recipe on pastry chef David Lebovitz’s website for Baci di Dama. Mr. Lebovitz got his recipe from Terresa Murphy. Her recipe calls for rice flour or white flour. The rice flour he says, makes for a crispier cookie. 

The inevitable summer dilemma is what to cook when the weather turns unbearable. Whether your house is air conditioned or not, cooking during heat kitchen isn’t very motivating. Let me share with you some recipes that may inspire you and keep your kitchen cool.
 
Back in May I shared with you a recipe I found at Southern Living Magazine for Sesame Shrimp Stir-Fry. Two Ali Slagle recipes are great one pot meals such as Shrimp Scampi with Orzo or Summer Shrimp Scampi with Tomatoes and Corn. While shrimp requires a short time to cook, so does pork tenderloin. Lidia Bastianich’s recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Onions. Moving from on from shrimp and pork, how about Quick Jambalaya from Vallery Lomas of The New York Times. 
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