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While I was recovering from hip replacement surgery this summer, my dear friend Marybeth, showed up at my house with dinner; soup to dessert!  Now that I’m six months into recovery and the hassle of the holidays are over for my husband and I, I’m preparing a thank you dinner for my friend and her husband.
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I do need to keep certain dietary concerns in mind. I’ve poured over my cookbooks and I hope that what I’m planning to prepare is to their liking.
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Biscotti di Prato
Rosemary Walnut Biscotti
Rosmary Walnut Biscotti
Biscotti Napoletani
Crisp Chocolate Biscotti and Italian Sesame Seed
As you may remember, I had my left hip replaced in early June. On my previous post-surgical visit in July, I brought my doctor some Italian Anise Seed Biscotti. It turns out that he’s not a sweet eater, but he loved my Italian anise seed biscotti.
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Tomorrow, I have another appointment and I promised him some different varieties of biscotti. I made Crisp Chocolate, Cappuccino, Rosemary Walnut and Biscotti di Prato. The Cappuccino and Rosemary Walnut are from the December 1992 issue of Gourmet Magazine. 
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With Christmas just about two weeks away, I’ve been a little busier than normal. I logged a few extra hours at work and visited my aunt on Saturday. It’s times like this where you need quick weeknight suppers and, if possible, in one pan.
I have a recipe here for chicken pot pie, but wanted to see if there was a different, if not better, one that I could make. I used my New York Times Cooking app and came across a few, but the one that seemed interesting and received good reviews was for Mark Bittman’s Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler. 
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When I was a young bride, my mother got me a subscription to Good Housekeeping Magazine. It was filled with excellent articles on home-keeping, etiquette, recipes, fiction stores, product testing and health and beauty.


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A few weeks ago, as I sat at the breakfast table at 5:30 am, I was fortunate to find Lidia Bastianich on a PBS station. Lidia, on this particular morning, was making a ground beef meat loaf with ingredients that included ricotta cheese, scallions, mozzarella and sprinkle of nutmeg. Somewhat unusual ingredients for a delicious meat loaf.
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Whole Foods has on special until next Tuesday, 85% lean ground beef for $3.99/lb. ($3.59/lb. if you’re a Prime member). I purchased 1-1/2 pounds of ground beef as I was making this meat loaf for three people and merely cut the recipe in half.  I purchased the 15 ounce container of whole milk ricotta cheese at Wegmans on Monday for $1.99 and the mozzarella I already had on hand in the freezer. I also need a bunch of scallions and fresh parsley for the meat loaf. 
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As I was going through my recipe box for holiday cookie recipes, I came across a recipe from my late mother-in-law. It was a meal I made for my husband and I when we were first married. The recipe is kielbasa with bacon and vegetables. I stopped making it as we were trying to eat fewer fatty foods. However, everything in moderation is good for one’s self.
 
I was able to find turkey kielbasa at Wegmans, which will help will to keep this dish healthy. I also needed a package of cut broccoli, carrots and cauliflower which I found at Wegmans, in the frozen food section Wegmans FYFGA Just Picked and Quickly Frozen California Blend. This one pan recipe also calls for a few slices of bacon (I used pork bacon) and an onion, both of which I had on hand.
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​Do you still have the remnants of Thanksgiving leftovers in your refrigerator? Is the family tired of eating Turkey? Here’s a thought, Thanksgiving Leftovers Panini. A couple of years ago, I saw this recipe in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue before Thanksgiving. It’s a grilled sandwich that takes all of the Thanksgiving fixing’s and places them between two slices of bread. The recipe suggested rye bread, however, this time I opted for a loaf of pain de campagne from Whole Foods for our sandwiches the other night. 
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​Thanksgiving is over and I think my menu was well received. I’m not sure if everyone was pleased with the three ravioli per person portion. It met the criteria of having pasta on a holiday, and it was enough so that you didn’t get full before the main course.
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​It’s less than a week before Thanksgiving and I’ve finalized my menu. As I’m working this Sunday and the day before Thanksgiving, time is of the essence. My menu is  apple, dried cherry and walnut salad with maple dressing,  fresh ravioli (2-3 per person so they don’t fill up on pasta), roast turkey with Williams-Sonoma Apple Cider and Sage Glaze, Melissa Clark’s sweet potatoes with bourbon and brown sugar, Great Grandma Freid’s dressing (a family tradition), Brussels sprouts sautéed with pancetta. For dessert we’ll have tapioca (another tradition), pumpkin cheesecake crumble squares and a Delicious Orchards apple pie and perhaps a few mini éclairs from the Orchard. 


​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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