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I was feeling rather ambitious the other day and with the weather being cold, I decided I to make a pot of chicken stock. I found the recipe many years ago in Gourmet Magazine, March 1991. I made it quite a bit when my children were young, but now only once in a great while.

One of the last times I made the stock, both of our Brittany Spaniels were alive. After I separated the liquid from the solids, I would cut up the celery and carrots and feed them to Rose and Daisy. How they loved to eat those chicken flavored veggies!
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One of the many recipes that are tagged for trying in my cookbook, "Lidia's Italy," by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali, is the recipe frittata with asparagus and scallions. I prepared this dish on Tuesday evening as my other supper suggestions were turned down by my husband. As we just came off the holidays, which included some rich foods, this dish seemed like a good compromise.
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One of the things I enjoy is, walking through Williams-Sonoma stores to check out their new products, and more importantly, their sales. At this time of the year, I will try to stock up on fall favorites to see if my husband and I would enjoy eating some of their terrific products. Some of the products below may not be in my local store, but I’ll check another nearby store.
 
What’s on sale right now are some of my favorite items at reduced prices. I store my items in my basement, which is cool and dark. I do purchase some items to be used next fall, but make sure to check your expiration dates.
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My last post to this blog was November 22nd and then month of December flew by. I spent early December being a nanny to my granddaughter while my daughter navigated her return to the work force. It was delightful to spend one on one time with her.
 
During this time, meal preparation had to be done beforehand or ingredients had to be on hand to prepare a nutritious, healthy meal and prepared in under an hour. This became a challenge, so I relied on recipes that I have made [and posted] in the past and occasionally was able to find a new one that worked out. I found a stuffed pepper recipe by Lidia Bastianich. Lidia’s recipe called for ground pork, however, I used ground beef. The dish was very flavorful worked out well as a do ahead meal. 
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Now that the holidays are around the corner, my husband will be staying later at work. In rummaging through my freezer the other day, I was looking for something lighter to have for supper. My last package of fluke was tucked in there. In my recipe file I had a recipe for fish fillets over lentils and vegetables that I found in Prevention Magazine back in March 1999. The recipe has shredded carrots, sliced onions and baby spinach over lentils. 
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Luckily, I have a reprieve from helping with my granddaughter this week. Today, I've been prepping some side dishes for Thanksgiving. I'm also lucky to have guests that have offered to bring side dishes. The side dishes that I'm making this year is Great Grandma Fried's turkey dressing and a recipe that I picked up many years ago at Delicious Orchards for sweet potato casserole with pecans. I've made this many times over the years and it's one of my favorites. What makes it special is that the sweet potatoes are mashed and they are topped with a delicious and crunchy topping with pecans.
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 A walk through a grocery store at this time of the year and you'll notice more pumpkin flavored items than ever before. This past Sunday on CBS This morning, Susan Spencer did a report on "Pumpkin spice takes over the world." 

Over the years I have acquired recipes with pureed pumpkin in them. I found recipes for cakes, bread, waffles and now pumpkin biscotti. I had two recipes in my files for pumpkin biscotti. The first recipe I made resulted in a spongy cookie. In looking through my file a second time, I located a recipe that I previously made that was crispy. It contains no butter or shortening, but does have 1-1/2 cups of brown sugar. I love making biscotti because you get a high yield of cookies for not much effort. Monday afternoon I put together the dough for this recipe in my stand mixer then transferred to a stainless bowl. I baked the cookies this afternoon, which took about one hour. I'll place these on the Thanksgiving dessert table for my guests to enjoy. 

Unfortunately, I do not know where I found this recipe, but I've had the document in my computer since 2006.
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I have a group of old co-workers that get together with our spouses a few times a year. We  enjoy each other's company and have a great time together. I had them over for dinner on Saturday night. I wanted an easy dinner so that I could enjoy my friends. I decided to make Bernice's Brisket,  butternut squash-apple soup and apple dumplings.

The brisket can be prepared several days ahead, sliced and then placed back in the oven the day of the dinner. Although Williams-Sonoma sells jars of butternut squash puree, I purchased fresh squash at Delicious Orchards and cooked it in my pressure cooker. Once the squashed was cooked, I mashed it before placing in the soup. When the soup was done, I  pureed it in my blender. 
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I can't believe that Thanksgiving is this week. I've been busy helping my daughter with the baby. I've been at her house at least one or two days a week depending on everyone's schedule. However, the other night, I was home and felt like meatloaf, but with a twist. In the old Gourmet Magazine they used to have a column called "You Asked for it." In the January 1990 issue someone requested a recipe from a Brooklyn restaurant called Simply Scrumptious. It was a recipe for Turkey Meat Loaves Simply Scrumptious.
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Last night I pulled a package of boneless chicken breasts from the freezer to defrost. I had no idea how I was going to prepare them. Earlier this morning, was looking through the New York Times recipe app to inspiration. I looked in my pantry and refrigerator to see what ingredients I had on hand. I had a small amount of goat cheese, some heavy cream and a bottle of strawberry balsamic glaze from Carter and Cavero.


​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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