Mother’s Day is just four short weeks away, have you started planning yet? I am the mother of two children and grandmother to 3 and I prefer to stay home and not join the throngs of people dining out.  In fact, I wouldn’t mind cooking if that meant my entire family would be together at once. I’ll take it a step further and host my children and grandchildren on Saturday. If, however, you prefer to take Mom out, consider other days besides Mother’s Day. Another suggestion would be to cater the dinner and enjoy it at home thus allowing younger children a bit more freedom.
 
Perhaps you’re sharing the cooking duties with family. I have some wonderful recipes for appetizers. If available by Mother’s Day, Garlic Scape Salad Dressing is decidedly different and delicious on a tossed salad. Marinated Beet Salad with Whipped Goat Cheese is also tasty. If you want to hit wider range of palates, create a charcuterie board using Alexian Pâté. If you’re not sure how to build a charcuterie board, I’ve provided a link to “Better Homes and Garden’s” website for instructions.

​In the Saturday edition of The New York Times, they have a Food page dedicated to “What to Cook Next Week.” Sam Sifton, the founding editor of New York Times cooking encourages you to check your pantry, refrigerator and freezer to see what’s on hand then proceed with your food shopping list.
 
Last week’s recipes inspired me to prepare:

• Skillet Chicken with Tomatoes, Pancetta and Mozzarella 
• Shrimp Creole
• Butternut Squash Pasta with Brown-Butter Bread Crumbs
• Salisbury Steak

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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​As I walked through Wegmans last Sunday, I was trying to think of what I could prepare for supper that evening. As I passed through the seafood department I thought Shrimp Risotto would be a great alternative to beef or chicken. This time instead of purchasing wild caught, uncooked shrimp, I opted for something I haven’t seen before in the frozen seafood case, Wegmans Large Raw Shrimp, Peeled and Deveined Tail Off. The shrimp are farm raised in the United States, no chemical or antibiotics with a price of $12.99 for a pound of shrimp. The shrimp are 43 per bag, a bit smaller than the fresh, but considering I was using them for a risotto, I thought the size would be fine.
 
The recipe came from the website Epicurious and is an old recipe from the long-gone magazine, Gourmet from February 1998. For the recipe you’ll need chicken broth, dry white wine, butter, minced garlic, dried crushed red pepper, uncooked shrimp, onion, arborio rice and fresh parsley. I find using my LeCreuset braiser works the best for this task. The enameled cast iron offers good heat distribution and makes clean up a cinch. Also, for this recipe, I used homemade shrimp stock.