I get really stressed out when I have to plan a menu. Typically it goes something like this: Pull every cookbook out of my bookcases and scour them for just the right dishes. Find nothing that meets my expectations and reluctantly put them back — after double checking the ones that I think should be able to help but aren’t. Then I grumble about it and decide on the type of main course I want to serve and work from there.

Then I start the process all over again for dessert. It’s tiring.

As much as I love to cook, and cook well, I am in a never-ending quest to have every meal I serve — but particularly those to guests — be absolutely perfect. Perfect pairing. Perfect presentation. Perfect everything. And that, my friends, really stresses me out. But I’m working on relaxing a bit. No one needs that much pressure.

When I was planning the menu for a special lunch with a very good friend the other day, I decided to go simple. Read the rest of this entry…

My husband loves a good steak. I think if he had his way, we’d be eating steak every single night. In fact, we did eat steak every night for a bit early on in our courtship.

But, let’s face it, good steaks are a little pricey to have often. And when you have kids to diaper, a house to maintain and two dogs who demand their daily doses of kibble … well, steak falls pretty low on the totem pole. That’s why I immediately bookmarked this post at Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen. I had to try the technique she suggests. Read the rest of this entry…

A meme? Me? I never get tagged for memes!

Okay, so I confess. I saw that DaMomma tagged me early in the afternoon on Tuesday and I was in shock. Total shock. Like Does she really know who I am? shock. Even after more than two years at this, sometimes I feel like I am just talking to myself. But then again, I felt that way at the newspaper too. Anyway, when she left a comment on my blog, I knew I had to get moving on the posting.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with DaMomma, she’s a mommy blogger who published a book last year and writes about her adventures mothering two daughters. I’ve been following her blog for about two years now, and really get a kick out of her stories. And knowing that she has segwayed her blogging into several impressive paying gigs is great inspiration too.

First, the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

3. Share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.

4. Tag a minimum of five random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

And we’re off . . .

1) I was tagged by DaMomma.

2) Five Random/Weird Facts About Me:

1. I was afraid of cooking when I was younger. I mean sure, I could bake with the best of them, but when it came to experimenting — well, it terrified me. Perhaps that’s why my onion soup, vegetarian goulash, and potato soup were all shockingly similar. Actually, they tasted exactly the same. …
2. I watched Dirty Dancing so many times as a child — not a teen, as a child — that I wore out the VHS tape. And I would pause the movie when Patrick Swayze got out of bed every time. What can I say? He was cute! Oh, and I still watch it now and again, much to my husband’s chagrin (but I don’t pause anymore … really) …
3. Some people complain about doing laundry. I hate it with such a passion that I just don’t do it. My husband (my wonderful, kind, caring, generous husband) does the laundry for me … except for the children’s, which I pitch in on. Sometimes …
4. The town I live in currently happens to be the same town that my grandmother and all her cousins lived in as children. But I didn’t grow up here — Shawn and I just settled here when we got married. Coincidentally, my cousin owns a farm that abuts my property. …
5. I once worked as a kitchen helper for a well-to-do couple in New York. They lived on Central Park West and had an amazing apartment. My job? To serve and clear the plates. And they let me eat too … the little new potatoes with creme fraise and caviar were my favorite. That really opened my eyes to food.

3) Top five places I want to see or see again:

1. London – I have been to London three times and I never get tired of it. It’s high time for another trip.
2. Egypt – I am fascinated by pyramids and ancient history.
3. Paris – I’ve been to Paris twice before, but have never taken the time to actually enjoy the food. Last time, all I ate was streetside crepes (with sweet fillings) and baguettes with tomato, lettuce and cheese. I want to go back for a food tour of the city and experience the farm markets, the great French cuisine and the amazing cheese mongers.
4. Tuscany – This was DaMomma’s number 4 as well. After seeing Under the Tuscan Sun, I was hooked. I have to go and see this beautiful area of Italy for myself.
5. Ireland – I love a good pint of Guinness. Where better to have one then in Ireland? But seriously, everyone I know who has gone has raved about the beauty. It’s high on my list …

4) Tag at least five friends

• Cate at Sweetnicks
• Patti at Late Bloomer Boomer
• Angel at Chocolate Shakti
• Rachel at Fairy Cake Heaven
• The frolicking one at Virtual Frolic

I love pesto. I make a million different variations of pesto. Pesto is my friend. Unfortunately, my husband isn’t as fond of it though. Too bad for him. But, that means more for me (and Will).

Pestos are great to use on sandwiches, in pastas, on toasted breads, on vegetables … oh, there are a million great applications. This particular pesto is as simple as it comes, but it was fantastic on a sandwich I made the other day (more on that later this week).

Truth be told, this isn’t really a pesto though. Read the rest of this entry…

Advice for New Bloggers is a new regular feature here at Sarah’s Cucina Bella. Inspired by Dine and Dish’s Adopt-A-Blogger event, and written with my adoptee in mind (Hi, Rachel! Click here to check out Fairy Cake Heaven), it appears every Tuesday.

This is a pretty easy, but important, tip.

Use spell check on all of your posts. Having accurate grammar and spelling might seem like a tiny detail but it’s really distracting to be reading a blog with all sorts of spelling errors and poor grammar (Thanks, Patti, for helping me see the light on this one!). If you pay attention to your spelling and grammar, then readers will judge your site on the merits of your writing and your recipes. I don’t know about you, but that’s a judgment basis I don’t mind.

Coincidentally, it took me quite a while to really buy into this point. “Why bother?” I thought. But when I started to consistently check my spelling, I realized that I was also putting more time into what I wrote and turning out better posts. And ultimately, I would trade those 20 seconds of spell checking for better blogging any day.

What’s that you say? Your blog interface doesn’t have a spell check feature? That is so not an excuse. Download and use Mozilla Firefox to surf the net and you will have a built-in spell check that will highlight misspelled words as you go. In fact, it just caught me misspelling “spell check.”

*Sigh.* I never said I was perfect.

I think everyone must have that one person in their family whose food defines comfort for you. For most, it’s probably their mother. But for me, it was my uncle Hugo. Hugo was a big Italian man who served giant antipasti platters and perfectly prepared seafood dishes. He was the only one in my family who could convince me to down big servings of broccoli and cauliflower when neither were favorites of mine. His secret? A quick cheese sauce. And to this day, I love those two vegetables with a nice drizzle of cheese sauce.

Hugo loved to cook. He often would make our New Years Day dinner. We would gather in the townhouse he shared with my aunt Deborah and cousin Whitney and eat till we were all sleepy. Good times.

I honestly cannot remember if Hugo ever made baked ziti for us, but I could definitely imagine this being a creation of his. And considering that my aunt’s signature dish is eggplant Parmesan, this sounds like something that probably appeared on their table at sometime or another. Read the rest of this entry…

Here’s a preview of what’s to come this week:

Monday: Beefy Baked Ziti

Tuesday: Advice for New Bloggers and Fun with Pesto

Wednesday: Tenderizing Steak

Thursday: Baby Spinach Salad with Candied Almonds

Friday: Creamy Spinach with Ricotta

I mentioned it earlier this week, but I really need to tell you about the horrid tilapia I whipped up last week. Like totally yuck. *Splat!*

The whole concept began with the best of intentions. It really sounded like a brilliant idea. I would juice one and a half blood oranges and make a light and tasty marinade to go with the tilapia I had defrosted. Then, I would garnish the dish with bits of the other half of the second blood orange. How could I go wrong? It was just a simple sauce after all.

It. Was. Awful.

It looked like the dish I had planned. But the taste? Eh, not so much.The blood oranges had a flavor reminiscent of lemons, not the light and sweet flavor I had hoped for. Where was the delicious flavor I had read about and envisioned? Where was the dish I’d imagined? I’ll tell you were it wasn’t — on my plate. Will and I both ate about half of our portions. The dish just didn’t work.

I wish I could say that every fleeting thought that I have for a recipe results in a great meal. But the truth is that doesn’t happen – to anybody. Everyone has cooking disasters. And when you cook like I do – experimenting more often than not – you run the risk of having disasters more often.

Fortunately, I am usually pretty good at pairing flavors. When you think about what works together, that can be pretty easy. Rosemary with garlic. Basil with tomatoes . . . or garlic or both.

In any case, this week I am sticking with safer dishes. I can’t take another upset like that. At least not for a few weeks.

So, spill. What kind of cooking disasters have you had lately?

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My husband doesn’t like sweet potatoes. He won’t eat them. He turns his nose up when I mention them. It’s one of many veggies that he just doesn’t like. So the other night, I whipped up a batch of Super Easy Low-Fat Oven Fries and made a batch of Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries for Will and I. Yum! Two kinds of low-fat fries with dinner . . . perfect.

Did I mention that my husband hates sweet potatoes? Okay, just checking. That’s important. See, you can imagine my surprise when Shawn saw me plating the food and asked for some of the sweet potato fries too. He asked to eat them. Of course, I couldn’t say no (even though I wanted to eat them all myself. Mine! All mine!). How can you say no to that?

Perhaps better than his requesting some, he ate the whole handful I plopped on his plate and declared them “not bad.” High praise, ladies and gentlemen. High praise. Read the rest of this entry…

Advice for New Bloggers is a new regular feature here at Sarah’s Cucina Bella. Inspired by Dine and Dish’s Adopt-A-Blogger event, and written with my adoptee in mind (Hi, Rachel! Click here to check out Fairy Cake Heaven), it appears every Tuesday.

Give Comments and Get Comments

I’ll let you in on a little secret: If you want to get comments on your blog, the best thing you can do is comment on other people’s blogs. And, as long as you are checking out other blogs, really read them and comment when you have something to say. In other words, don’t comment just to comment — make meaningful contributions and others will be compelled to check out your blog (and comment) too.

So, where to start? Find some blogs you like and start following them regularly. I personally follow my favorite blogs on Bloglines, where I have all of their feeds saved.

Here are a few resources to help you discover good blogs:

• Kiplog’s Food Blog List
• BlogFlux’s Top Sites

Check out last week’s tip for new bloggers: Define Your Goals