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Back in 2023 I took on the challenge to prepare a Turkey Porchetta from the cooking show
“America’s Test Kitchen.” Patience was the key to executing this recipe, but it turned out fabulous. I recently came across a recipe by Kay Chun, of The New York Times, for Porchetta-Spiced Roasted Potatoes. These potatoes were scrumptious. They had all the seasonings of a porchetta, minced garlic, fennel, dried thyme, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, freshly ground black pepper, red-pepper flakes with the baby potatoes (such as creamer, baby white or new potatoes) tossed with extra-virgin olive oil.
 
The pieces conveyed a taste similar to that of an actual porchetta roast, but without the hassle. The recipe takes 40 minutes from start to finish and crisped up very nicely in my oven.
 
I was looking for something different to make with ground beef when I stumbled upon Kevin Pang’s recipe for Loose Meat Sandwich. The sandwich is popular in Iowa and will remind you of Sloppy Joe. ​
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Where did spring go, it was here for just a short time. Nevertheless, Memorial Day weekend is early this year. I have my granddaughters coming to stay for a night so Nana better get the red velvet or lemon ricotta pancake batter going.
 
In the meantime, spring sport season continues. I recently made a recipe by Claire Robinson, Asian Beef Roll-Ups from her book “5 Ingredient Fix.” This delicious recipe was a snap to make perfect for weeknight meals when there’s an after-school practice or Mommy “just had a day.” For the recipe you’ll need the juice of two limes, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 to 2 tablespoons chili sauce, or to taste (sriracha is recommended, which I used) and one pound of flank steak.
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​Mother’s Day is now in the rear-view mirror, onto another week of sports, spring cleaning and walking in the sunshine.
 
I hosted a brunch for my daughter-in-law on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the table before everyone dug in. I prepared Creamy Baked Eggs with Leeks and Spinach, Home Fries with Onions and Chives, bacon and Whole-Wheat Bran English Muffins. As we were a small group of four adults, I picked up a fruit bowl from Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck and four pastries from Hey Peach Bakery in Bradley Beach. I selected Pain Suisse, chocolate croissant, all-butter croissant and a cheese Danish. Brunch was delicious if I don’t say so myself. The eggs were perfectly cooked and my husband toasted several English muffins on our gas grill so they were ready at the same time. A fruit salad is always lovely to serve as something light  and sweet. My husband and I shared the Pain Suisse, which was wonderful. There was a light custard filling with a bit of chocolate; all the proportions were perfectly balanced offering a slight sweet flavor. 
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Perhaps you’ve decided to celebrate mom at home this year. I’ll also be at home as I’ll let my son and daughter enjoy the day with their own families. If you’re someone that will be hosting mom and others, here are some suggestions to make the day enjoyable for you too.
 
Brunch is a great option for celebrating. Here are my suggestions for Mother’s Day.
 
If blood oranges are still available, Blood Orange and Grapefruit Juice makes for a wonderful switch from the normal orange juice. ​
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​My son-in-law enjoys sending me IG videos and recently he sent one of chef Christian Petroni preparing lemon pasta. In watching the video you’ll see him cook spaghetti in salted water. Next, he fills a large sauté pan with a ladle of pasta water followed by par cooked spaghetti. To the pan, he squeezes the juice of two lemon then adds them to the pan. A good amount of cheese (Parmesan?) followed by a knob of butter. Toss, toss, done! I couldn’t be that adventurous so I found a similar recipe, Pasta al Limone, on the website “Serious Eats” by Daniel Gritzer.
 
For his recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, finely grated zest of a lemon plus its juice, minced garlic, kosher salt, spaghetti, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and freshly grated black pepper.
 
Mr. Gritzer recommends cooking the pasta in less water so it becomes starchier and he recommends fresh pasta with this lemon sauce. I dove with both into this recipe by whipping up fresh spaghetti.
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​I can’t believe that April is just about over and the start of the summer season at the Jersey shore is in the not-too-distant future. My daughter and her family have had a busy spring, what about yours? Between softball practice and games, soccer and birthday parties how do young families deal with their kid’s busy schedule. My daughter tries to cook ahead for the week, but if you can’t I found some easy to do weeknight meals. I’m also sharing a recipe I found in Cook’s Illustrated Magazine that I made for Easter dessert.
 
There’s nothing like a one pot meal such as Lidey Heuck’s Chicken Potpie with Cornbread biscuits. Eric Joon’s Pepper Steak is a two-pot supper, one for the stir fry and another if you want to serve it with rice. Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin “Filets” from Southern Living Magazine was a delicious meal that took about 35 minutes to prepare. 
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​As a belated birthday gift from my son and his family, he took me to Mabel at Bell Works in Holmdel, NJ. Bell Works is in a pastoral setting just off the Garden State Parkway at exit 114. Once off the parkway you head for Crawfords Corner Road and look for the signs for Bell Work which leads down a long serene drive. The Bell Work’s interior has a huge inner atrium surrounded by various levels of offices. On the main level you’ll find restaurants and retail shops. Mabel sits in the middle of the building. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday with lunch service through Friday, dinner service through Saturday and brunch on both Saturday and Sunday.
 
We had a reservation for a Friday evening. The restaurant is quite large with several dining rooms. We sat in the room off the deck which was  spacious . We began with a cocktail with me ordering the Rotary (Woodford Reserve bourbon, cola syrup, angostura and orange bitters) and my son had the Rum punch. Although the punch wasn’t currently on the menu, the bar was able to make the drink. By the way, they also have several non-alcoholic beverages.
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I’ve discovered my love for all things cacio e pepe, from pizza to pasta and recently with gnocchi. During a mindless search on the internet for recipes, I came upon “Food & Wine’s” webpage for Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi. It’s a thirty-minute meal and you use shelf stable gnocchi. Though the recipe serves four, I made half the recipe for my husband and I.
 
For the recipe you’ll need olive oil, refrigerated gnocchi (I used Wegmans shelf stable gnocchi), black pepper, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, pecorino Romano Cheese and fresh flat leafed parsley for garnish. Using an oven-safe skillet, the gnocchi is sautéed in olive oil until a golden brown. The gnocchi is removed and set aside.  In a clean dry skillet, olive oil is added to the pan along with black pepper. The pepper is toasted which will intensify the flavor making it more fragrant and complex. Next, the cream is added and brought to a simmer.  Off heat the cheeses are added and stirred with the cream until melted and silky. Add the gnocchi and stirred until covered with the sauce. Transfer to a preheated oven and broil until the top of the gnocchi is browned in spots and the sauce is thickened. 
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Some recipes are easier than others when scaling down for two people. Other times, I’m asking Siri for conversions or using my calculator to get the measurements just right. A sheet pan recipe by Ali Slagle of The New York Times made it easy for me with her recipe for Sheet-Pan Chicken with Artichokes and Herbs.
 
For this recipe you’ll need fennel bulbs, a can of artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, minced garlic, ground fennel, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on), pitted green olives, fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes.
 
The fennel is cut into wedges and placed on a rimmed baking sheet along with the artichokes, tomatoes and dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. In a small bowl garlic, ground fennel, rosemary, salt and olive oil are whisked together. The chicken is seasoned with salt and pepper and rubbed with the spice mixture. The chicken goes on top of the vegetables skin-side up. ​
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My husband recently said to me towards the end of a week, “Let’s go to Cape May overnight.” With such short notice I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to locate a room. We previously stayed at The Queen Victoria Bed & Breakfast located on Ocean Street. It’s conveniently located a block away from Beach Avenue and a short walk to the Washington Street Mall. We enjoy staying here because of the off-street parking adjacent to our room, afternoon tea and a lovely buffet breakfast, but more on this later.
 
There are three buildings that make up the inn, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and  House of Royals. Our favorite room is in the Prince Albert building, which is a ground floor room located at the back of the property. The room has a queen size bed, two sitting areas and a generous bathroom with step-in shower. There’s also a gas fireplace across from the bed making the room quite cozy. The front of the Queen Victoria also has a wonderful front porch with rockers and chairs to enjoy the weather. ​


​meet donna

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

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