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When my husband and I go out to dinner, if a Berkshire pork chop is on the menu, he’ll order it. I’ve noticed both at Wegmans Ocean Township and ShopRite of Wall Township, carries Berkshire pork chops, but a price difference that makes one wonder. At Wegmans, they sell for $19.99/lb. and at ShopRite $6.99/lb. I was willing to pay the $19.99/lb. until I saw ShopRite’s price. Earlier last week, I picked up a pair of chops for supper. Unsure what I was going to do with them, I recalled the New York Times Cooking app recently featured a recipe for citrus-glazed pork chops with gingery bok choy. The recipe wasn’t complicated, used common ingredients and takes 40 minutes, sold!
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With the holidays coming upon us rather quickly, I thought it best to get organized as far as menus go. I sent an email to my family to get their input for the Thanksgiving menu. I’m still waiting on one of my children to confirm they are definitely coming for dinner because if they are, here’s my tentative menu:

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Recently while going through files for some different recipes, I came across a “vintage” one I picked up many years ago at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, NJ. It was shrimp Tasca with spaghettini. I’ll admit this dish took me about an hour and a half from start to finish last night. However, in my defense, I used fresh tomatoes to make the sauce. You can save time by just using a 35 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes (Lidia Bastianich’s favorite type of canned tomatoes). I think you’ll agree that the effort will be worth it for this dish.
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My husband hasn’t been feeling well since last week, however, after several days of antibiotics he’s starting to feel a little better. With him under the weather, he wasn’t too hungry except for simple meals and in smaller portions. However, yesterday he was up for something a bit more substantial, so I prepared a Paula Deen recipe for turkey and sweet potato shepherd’s pie. The obvious differences off the bat are the use of ground turkey and a sweet potato topping.  The filling contained carrots, celery, Vidalia onion, parsnip, fresh rosemary and thyme, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth and peas. The sweet potatoes are made with an egg and a bit of cream cheese. It takes approximately 30 minutes to prepare this dish and another 35 minutes for baking, but it serves 8. Depending on your family size, you can get either 1-2 dinners or a dinner or nice lunch for your family.
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Recently I made a batch of Cold Hollow Cider Mill packaged apple cider donuts. The donuts were delicious, fried to perfection. However, I did see on the New York Times Cooking app, a recipe for baked apple cider donuts that look equally as good. These donuts can be baked in a donut or muffin pan.  My son-in-law happened to have a mini electric donut machine that I borrowed to try this recipe.

The recipe was made with flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, light brown and granulated sugars, eggs, vanilla and apple cider. As I just made donuts a few days ago, I opted to make half of this recipe. The batter was made i​n a stand mixer and came together quite easily. Compared to the packaged donut mix, this recipe had just a 1/2 cup of apple cider.
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Not only do I have a vast array if chicken recipes, it seems my files also contain a variety of ground turkey ones too! Last week my local grocery store had on special a three pound package of Shady Brook Farms ground turkey. I do not purchase all breast meat, but 93% fat free. I searched through my files and found a recipe that I hadn’t made, or should I say blogged about, spicy turkey burgers. The source of this recipe is a mystery as I do not have any documentation on the recipe sheet as to where I found it.
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Recently, Whole Foods had on Prime Member special, wild caught Atlantic cod for $8.99/lb. Cod is a favorite fish of my husband, therefore, what better reason to pick up a pound. I wanted to prepare something that was fairly quick and easy. A web search brought me to the website “Everyday Food” and the recipe baked cod with potatoes and olives. 
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My local food store had a special on flank steak last week for $6.99/lb., a great price. I picked up the last one and now had to find a new recipe.  Although, I have a half dozen recipes on my blog, I turned to my reliable resource, the NYTCooking app, and found another wonderful recipe from Melissa Clark for Grilled Flank Steak with Worcestershire Butter.  Flank steak can be a chewy piece of beef. However, if sliced thinly across the grain, you shorten the steak fibers and make the meat easier for chewing.
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 Ms. Clark’s recipe takes 45 minutes to prepare, not counting marinating time.  Mine marinated for at least 2 hours. However, you can go as long as overnight. The marinade contains fresh thyme sprigs, garlic, a jalapeño, fresh chives, Worcestershire sauce, dark brown sugar and fresh lemon juice. Unfortunately, when I picked up the tomatoes, I neglected to purchase a jalapeño pepper. I substitute red pepper flakes in its place.
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This cooler weather has certainly been delightful for helping to inspire me to cook more interesting meals. Whole Foods recently had a Prime Member special of Arctic Char, a new variety of fish that my husband and I tried for the first time.
 
Arctic Char, part of the fish family called Salmonidae, is a cold water fish found in alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Arctic Char is lighter and milder in taste than salmon.  A web search lead me to the website www.food52.com for a recipe called broiled lemon-honey Arctic Char with citrus sauce. The recipe for the sauce recommenced using a mix of citrus, I only had lemons and orange juice on hand. The recipe suggested a blend of citrus such as tangerines, navel oranges, Cara Cara oranges, nectarines or blood oranges. The recipe has a prep time of 30 minutes and only five minutes of cooking (the fish is cooked under the broiler). Besides the citrus, you’ll need honey, olive oil, fresh minced chives, a neutral oil and flaky sea salt.


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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