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Note: I had a technical problem in tweaking the recipe index. I'm in the process of redoing it, so please be patient. If there is a recipe you can't find, email me and I'll pass it along to you.

I was feeling rather ambitious when I decided to cook 25 pounds of plum tomatoes for fresh tomato sauce for future use. I started making the sauce Monday afternoon after work. Using an old scale that my late mother-in-law gave us, I weighed off 6 pounds of tomatoes per batch in which to make a double batch of tomato sauce. I used both a in a six and eight quart pot. I was able to make six, half gallon containers, which I'm storing in a friend's freezer.

Needless to say Monday's night's dinner was spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. 
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Recently, my daughter gave me a small head of cauliflower as she was going away and didn't want it to go to waste. I've done roasted cauliflower, but I wasn't in the mood for that. What I was craving, was a creamy soup. In my recipe folders I have a recipe for Cream of Cauliflower Soup that I picked up years ago at Delicious Orchards. It's basically a two pot recipe. However, I goofed and did it all in one pot, but it worked out perfectly fine.
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I apologize for being behind  in posting to my daily blog. However, life just gets in the way sometimes. It's not for a lack of cooking, that's been going on. 

Ending tonight are Whole Foods weekly specials. I was able to take advantage of them. There were three great items that got my attention for purchase; they were the BELL & EVANS Air-Chilled Whole Chickens, which are regularly $3.29/lb. on sale for $1.99/lb. and U.S.A. Boneless Beef Sirloin Steaks at $8.99/lb. for a savings of $5/lb. In reviewing the Whole Foods app this afternoon, I noticed that they no longer had on sale the USA wild caught shrimp at $8.99/lb. However, I did purchase some last week when the sale began as I had a craving for cheesy grits. 
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I received a text message from my daughter the other evening that a friend of her and her husband's needed my waffle recipe. It seems that when he makes his waffles, the waffle is splitting when he opens the machine.

It just so happened that I had buttermilk in the refrigerator and to save this poor guy from having to have unsightly waffles, I made waffles for breakfast this morning. 
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​I love kitchen gadgets and different kinds of cooking tools. For example, one summer sale at Williams-Sonoma,  I purchased a small grill top smoker. I used it only once this summer. I'll blame the 90 degree plus days as the reason I didn't use it as much. Another gizmo I purchased was a steel grill meat loaf pan. I believe my husband talked me into this one. It has an exterior pan with an open bottom and an insert that is perforated metal. Thank goodness I have a small kitchen and limited storage, otherwise I would have even more gadgets!
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I like one pot suppers because it makes preparation and clean up easier. Also, recipes done in one pot build upon layers of flavor. Recently, since the weather was a bit cooler, I dug through my recipes to find a one chicken dish that was in the January 2001 issue of Gourmet Magazine. The recipe is Spanish-Style Chicken with Saffron Rice or Arroz con Pollo. 

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Finally, we had our hamburger tasting last Saturday night. My brother was down overnight and my son and his girlfriend were part of the tasting too. We sampled Vrola 6 oz. USA choice cut hamburgers (85% lean) that I purchased from Delicious Orchards, LaFrieda Original Blend burgers (flat iron, brisket and short rib beef from American Black Angus Beef) and Schweid & Sons C.A.B. All American Burgers (made with certified Angus beef both) purchased at Shop Rite at Wall Town Center.
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Last week we met our friends for dinner at Blend on Main in Manasquan. We had reservations for 5:45 p.m. and found the dining room quiet after the summer crowds had departed for the season. Blend has a very nice and spacious dining room. There is also outdoor dining available for those for prefer dining al fresco. Blend also is BYOB, which is a very nice feature.

We perused the regular menu and I found several items which caught my eye. Wednesday is Lobster Palooza Night. They offered a special lobster dinner for $24, which included a whole 1.25 pound lobster, corn, red bliss potatoes served with drawn butter and lemon. To go along with the special, Blend had special appetizers of lobster bisque and lobster salad. Special lobster entrees included a lobster tail dinner, lobster risotto and lobster mac n cheese.

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Today is the official back to school day for children in my neighborhood. The days are beginning to feel like fall. I've noticed that the local grocery stores have field mums.

With that in mind, there's a dish I make every fall and winter since it appeared in the April 1999 issue of Gourmet Magazine. The recipe is Swedish Turkey Meatballs with Egg Noodles. It's a good do ahead dish and I've even made it when I was still working in a school. It contains basic pantry items, but you'll need to make sure that you have on hand egg noodles, beef broth and medium-dry sherry. Instead of beef broth, check out Williams-Sonoma's beef stock concentrate. Right now it's not showing on their website, but as the fall season progresses, hopefully they'll have it back in stock.
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Update September 6th - This recipe from William-Sonoma was developed for a specific type of pan. When make I frittata's, I would cook the eggs and let them set a few minutes. Using a rubber spatula, I begin lifting the edges so as to the the raw egg mixture fills in under the cooked eggs. When I have just about all the raw egg under the setting frittata, I cover the pan to let then frittata finish cooking. I also put the frittata under the broil to ensure the eggs have cooked thoroughly.

As I mentioned previously in this blog, our dog Daisy, is up before the sun is up these morning s. As much as I would like an omelette for breakfast, I need a cup of coffee to make anything more involved than oatmeal. With still more heirloom grape tomatoes left from my son, I wanted to use up the tomatoes before they spoiled. With summer winding down, I decided on another frittata using my some of my favorite ingredients would be delicious this morning.


​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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