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​Several weeks ago, my husband and I visited some friends of his in Delaware. Many years ago, my husband worked for this family when they had a potato and grain farm in Freehold, NJ. As housing developments began to encroach the farm and the third generation wanted to continue farming, the farm was sold and the operation moved to Townsend, Delaware.
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For Easter this year we were a small group of four adults. Traditionally, our family likes ham for the holiday. Last year and this, I purchased a delicious spiral cut Wellshire Farms ham from Whole Foods for $3.99/lb. (prime member price). Although I selected the smallest ham I could find, there is still quite a bit leftover.

What was one way I could re-purpose this ham? How about a quiche Lorraine, but low fat. I checked the internet and found a recipe by Joy Bauer, nutrition and health expert from NBC’s Today show. Her recipe replaces the normal quiche crust with frozen chopped spinach, shredded cheddar cheese, eggs and a bit of Parmesan cheese. The filling uses eggs, egg whites, reduced fat milk and reduced fat Swiss cheese. I did skew the fat by using some of the spiral ham from Easter in lieu of turkey bacon.
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With Easter just days away, I knew that a typical Easter basket for a 20 month old may not be what my daughter wants for her daughter. There’s plenty of time for her to have a more traditional Easter basket with chocolate, jelly beans and peeps. However, I thought small Easter basket with some sugar cookies may be more to my daughter’s likening.
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Lidia Bastianich had a delicious springtime pasta recently on her Facebook page. I couldn’t resist trying orecchiette with asparagus and peas, especially now that asparagus are in season. It’s perfect for a meatless Friday. Orecchiette translates to little ears and they look like little saucers.
 
There is no sauce per say on this pasta. You are using the sautéed vegetables with their flavored, residual extra virgin olive oil and some reserved pasta cooking water. 
 
This is a two pan supper. You’ll need a large pot of salted water for the pasta and a sauté pan to cook the asparagus, sliced garlic, peas and scallions. After the pasta is cooked, use a spider (a skimmer that is wide and made of wire mesh) to transfer the pasta to the sauté pan. The pasta is mixed with the vegetables and tossed with fresh parsley and some additional extra virgin olive oil. 
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Last Friday I was in the mood for another new supper option. In my freezer I had a container of blanched summer corn and in my refrigerator, the container of the blanching water from cooking the corn last summer. Periodically I checked the water over the winter to make sure it didn’t acquire an off smell or taste. I felt confident it was safe as it was boiled for blanching the corn.  It was still good, so I proceeded with my idea of making a corn risotto. I found the recipe in the New York Times.
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I babysit my granddaughter one day a week. After babysitting all day, I like to come home to an easy to prepare supper.  Last week I thought I would try something different. I planned on serving a vegetarian meal of grilled portobello mushrooms, sweet peppers and onions. I found this recipe in Bon Appétit Magazine November 1997.
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Within a 20-30 minute ride from my home I have a large variety of food stores to select from: Shop-Rite, Acme, Foodtown, Whole Foods, Aldi, Wegmans, Lidl and Trader Joe’s. Although there is such a variety of food stores, some with sale flyers, the selection of meal choices was looking thin this week.
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Last Sunday found my husband and I home with nothing in particular to do. We decided to visit Eataly in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. We boarded an express train and were in Manhattan before 11 am. The subway wasn’t crowded at all so we were downtown in no time. 
 
Although it was Sunday morning, Eataly was just beginning to get busy. We wandered through their candy department as I wanted to purchase another bar of Piemonte Classico. It is Gianduja hazelnut milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts that my daughter gave me. The candy bar isn’t firm like American chocolate, but is a bit softer and had a rich creamy texture in the mouth. It’s heavenly. 
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March has a lot of birthdays for my family, my brother-in-law, great nephew and both my father and father-in-law. This year would have been my late father-in-law’s ninetieth birthday. To commemorate his birthday, my husband requested his father’s favorite pie, Lemon Meringue. ​
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​Last week Whole Foods had a prime member special on boneless chicken breasts for less than $5/lb. I purchased a family size package for my husband and I and made small packages to freeze. Before doing that, I kept two breasts out for a quick supper last Saturday night. A short time ago, I purchased a simmering sauce from the sale section of William-Sonoma. For me they are on the pricey side, but if I can find them on sale, I’ll purchase one or two. 


​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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