Hey Amy!

Last summer in one of my many yard/garage/tag sale jaunts through PA, I found a cookbook for kids that was printed in 1973.  A sweet young man was helping his grandmother in the sale and he was in charge of the books.  I wanted this cookbook simply for the 70′s feel of the artwork as I knew it would be a nice addition to my collection.  He was trying to make some money (Grandmother had told him anything he sold, he could keep the profits!) and wanted me to buy more of his grandmother’s children’s books.  I explained that I was interested in cookbooks and he said “Well Grandmother doesn’t cook anymore so you won’t find any of those!”  I howled, she scolded him and we all had a laugh.

The cookbook got me to thinking of my nephew, young William, who I fondly call the ‘Holy Terror’.  He is three and, well, he is three!  Into everything with his mind growing faster than a speeding bullet.  I love watching him learn and discover.  He is interested in everything.  Anyway, the cookbook got me thinking about recipes I could share here that he and Tricia could make together as well as other parents, babysitters, teachers and older siblings with their young ones.

Today’s recipe speaks to that group.  It’s one of the easiest recipes I have ever tried.  You can make this with your children or have it be the treat for the kids at the slumber party to make their own!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Original Bisquick mix
1/3 cup very hot water
1 packet of yeast (Add only if you prefer thick crust.  If you like regular, omit this ingredient)
sauce
mozzarella
Italian seasonings
toppings of choice

Move oven rack to lowest position.  Heat oven to 450.  Grease 12-inch pizza pan. 

Mix Bisquick and very hot water until soft dough forms.  Press dough into pizza pan, using fingers dipped in Bisquick to push to edges.  Pinch circumference to form rim. Bake 8-10 minutes and remove.  Spread pizza sauce, cheese, seasonings of choice and toppings of choice over dough.  Put back into oven and bake an additional 5-7 minutes until cheese is bubbling and melted.  

I have used it to make several types of pizza and just love it.  Remember, it’s not NY style nor Chicago deep dish.  Pizza crust love is in the eye of the beholder.  Enjoy!

xo–me

Today is Nany’s birthday.  If she had the internet and read this post, I would be in big trouble for sharing the fact that today is her birthday as Nany is a humble, private lady and would prefer none of the ‘hoopla’ that goes along with ones birthday.  I can’t think of a better way than to honor her today than to ask you to make one of the great family recipes she has given to me and that I have shared here.

As long time readers know, I turn to Nany for recipes, household knowledge, and general wisdom as I think she knows the answer to just about everything.  Thus why there is an entire category entitled “Nany Knows“.  Her slippery pot pie is my favorite and as I have traveled the world, tasting others pot pie, nothing compares to hers.  I have yet to perfect the recipe, my ribbons of dough never have the flavor they should.  It is my goal this year to figure out what I am doing wrong and share that recipe with you.

I know many of you are lucky enough to have grandparents in your life today.  I am very fortunate to have had grandparents my entire adult life.  I even had a great-grandmother until my mid-30′s.  Today, like every day, I feel blessed to have Nany.  She is my moral compass and my dear friend.  I turn to her for advice, a smile or a wonderful hug when my day is blue.  Her lessons in my life are too abundant to count.

Today I celebrate the birth of a wonderful lady, friend and teacher.  Happy Birthday Nany.

xo–me

For my birthday last year, my brother and sister-in-law got me three delightful specialty cookbooks.  One was a salute to whoopie pies and the other two to general sweet treats.  I have made (and shared) a few treats but today I share my favorite thus far.  I find myself loving it not only for it’s flavor but it’s simplicity.  It looks gorgeous once you serve it and, if your guests are like mine, most find it quite impressive.

You may alter the recipe by sprinkling coarse salt over the top before the chocolate hardens if you have found yourself on board the sweet/salt train of late.

Ingredients:

1/2 +3/4 c. butter
heaping 1 c. all-purpose flour
heaping 1/4 + heaping 1/2 c. baker’s sugar
7 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
3 Tbsp. dark corn syrup
14 oz. condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and line with parchment paper the bottom of a 9-inch square pan. 

Put butter, flour and sugar in a food professor and process until the mixture starts to bind together.  Press into the pan and level the top.  (I roll an orange over the mixture to even it out)  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. 

While baking, place remaining butter, remaining sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a heavy bottom pan.  Heat gently until the sugar has melted.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring until very thick.  (I used a double boiler the first time I made caramel.  It’s an easy way to insure you don’t burn it.)  Pour over shortbread and let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until firm. 

Finally, melt the chocolate and let cook, then spread over the caramel.  (This is where I sprinkled a small amount of coarse salt over the chocolate.)  Put back into refrigerator for 2 hours or until set.  Cut shortbread into 1 inch squares using a sharp knife and serve. 

To make pretty pieces you must have a very sharp knife.  I also dipped mine in boiling water before each cut.

Enjoy!

xo–me

Hello there, it’s been a while.

My 2011 has been the most unexpected year of my life.  While I thought that honor would go to 2010 when I moved from Los Angeles to NYC, it paled in comparison.  I spent most of the year wondering how I would ever find my way back to the things I once loved, including this site.  I hope I am able to turn the page with the dawn of a new year and come home here to write for you much more frequently than I did in 2011.  I do hope you will return with me.  Your emails mean the world to me.

There are many New Year’s messages floating around today online, on TV, and as headlines in the papers.  Most are wishes of success and for the greatest year of one’s life.  Many of you will use this new day on the calendar as a reason to set goals and change your behavior for the better.  Some of you will find yourself quitting a bad habit or working to develop good ones.  Not me.  Not this year.  Don’t get me wrong, I wish all those things for everyone and want each of you to have exactly what you wish in life.  This year, I am only focused on two areas of my life.  This year I will be wishing/praying/willing-it-so-with-my-Jedi-skills for what I believe to be the only two things that truly matter in life.  Health and happiness.  I have traveled a year without those two things and I must admit, I took them for granted.  I also never realized how two elements of one’s life permeate every layer of one’s being.  Lesson learned.

So today I raise my glass of Dom with health and happiness in my heart.  Here’s to a wonderful new year.

xo–me

Trick or Treat! 

I love Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, St. Valentine’s and just about every holiday but I must confess that Halloween holds a very special place in my heart.  My home has been decorated since October 1 and if I felt I could get away with decorating sooner, I would.  I have decor for each room, including the bathrooms.  If the color of each plastic bin in my closets are any indication, I have more orange and black than the other colors (green, white, blue and red for each of the aforementioned holidays) which can only mean I have a lot of Halloween decor.

Today I return to posting after a bit of a hiatus.  It’s been an interesting year for me, peppered with great heartache and great triumph.  I hope today this post will bring me back to something I love, writing this daily blog. Thanks in advance for forgiving me for my silence.

This colorful and fun recipe is courtesy of my sister-in-law Trish.  It’s her first outing as a room mother and I believe she has served the 3-yr-old class at my nephew’s preschool well with these yummy treats. It’s also a very simple recipe that you can make with your little ones.  Doesn’t everyone love creating a spider?

Ingredients:

Double Stuff Oreos
Pretzel sticks
Green, orange or red candies (I used caramel apple sugar babies)
Chocolate frosting

Break four pretzel sticks in half and insert each half into one side of the Oreo cookie. Repeat for the other side. Use the chocolate frosting as “glue” to put two eyes on each Oreo spider.

She believes she found this recipe in Parade Magazine.  I was shocked it didn’t come from her own creative mind.  Yes, she’s that good.  Enjoy!

xo–me

As the warm days leave us and fall shows it’s beautiful landscape, I always reach for my slow cooker.  It’s a great way to make a complete, healthy meal without a lot of prep time and effort.  I also love how hearty these savory meals are for the evening’s meal and for leftovers in the coming days.

This recipe is very timely for a friend who was wondering what to do with his chicken thighs earlier this week.  Adam, this one’s for you!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dry thyme
1 c. pearl barley, rinsed and drained
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/8 tsp. paprika
1 3/4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. coarsely chopped pecans
chopped parsley

In a large slow cooker, combine onion, garlic, mushrooms, salt, thyme, and barley.  Rinse chicken, pat dry, and arrange over barley mixture.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Pour in broth.  Cover and cook at low setting until chicken is very tender when pierced and barley is tender to bite (6 1/2 to 7 hours). 

When chicken is almost done, toast pecans in a small pan over medium heat until gold brown, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Set aside. 

To serve, sprinkle chicken and barley with pecans and parsley.

The best part of this dish is how quickly a small portion will fill your belly.  It’s the perfect dish for a cool, autumn evening.  Enjoy!

xo–me

I have written this post before and lately I feel confident I will write it a few more times.

It is pouring rain here today like it is in most of the northeast.  Buckets.  From heaven.  Which means that most are struggling with their umbrellas and their ability to maneuver around other humans with it.  Yesterday I witnessed behavior that brought me to my laptop to discuss this topic yet again.

The case of a clueless fashionista.

When the train is packed and I am standing in the doorway, I will exit the train to allow those getting off to exit with a bit more ease.  Yesterday, I did this exact thing and walked directly into two fashionista girls who were standing directly in front of the doorway.  Now not only was I struggling to step to the side, but the dozens of commuters who were trying to get out, were plowing through these two young women.  Disgusted that they were inconvenienced, they stepped quickly onto the train and stopped right inside the door.  There was a good amount of room throughout the car but they stopped directly in front of the doorway.  I, along with two others were trying to board.  As we stepped inside, these girls did not move so we three were faced with either pushing through them while saying excuse me or standing in a cramped space.  Before I could say excuse me and step through, the two beside me walking right between the two of them.  They again were shocked that anyone was around them. 

The blonde then looked at the brunette and started to go on and on about her own accessories and how fabulous the brunette looked that day.  Simultaneously, she leaned in with her dripping wet umbrella in hand and grabbed the pole that happened to be next to a dozing man.  Her umbrella flapped open and slapped him across his face.  Her wet umbrella.  On his face.  And she continued to chat away about their fashion.  He got up and moved to another area of the train and I simply watched her bad behavior.  Terrible.

Now I realize accidents can and will happen.  This could very well have been an accident if this person was stumbling or was rushing to catch the train.  Or she simply was falling and had to brace herself.  But unfortunately, none of these explanations apply to this situation.  Once again, I am realizing that as a society, we have lost the importance of manners and self awareness when in the company of others.

I hope today I am proved wrong.  Just one person do something kind and prove your awareness of others on this earth.  Please.

xo–me