Forgive me, I don’t have a great photo of this recipe. Sigh.

For Christmas, my husband got me something that I’ve been wanting for a long, long time: a point and shoot camera. I love my big Canon with its lenses and power and sharpness. But I wanted something that I could tote around everywhere and capture impromptu shots of the kids anywhere.

The only problem? I am completely inept when it comes to taking pictures with this camera. I can’t seem to get the hang of it to get brilliant, clear, in-focus shots … The photo below? Taken with the point and shoot (and thank goodness, since I hadn’t taken many shots of this dip!). Figures, I can handle a camera with about a billion settings, but the point and shoot eludes me. Am I the only one with this problem?

Okay, onto the dip. I love spinach artichoke dip, and have since my very first bite of it years and years ago. The combination of cheese, spinach and artichoke is just delightful — and perfect for a party. Last week, when I wrote about it for Tablespoon, I also decided that it would be great to make for Super Bowl Sunday. This healthier version was a huge hit — Paige, my two year old, couldn’t get enough of it (seriously, she kept asking for more … and licking it off the bread).

With ingredients that are a little lighter (reduced fat cheese, milk, etc), and a hearty dose of spinach and artichokes, this recipe is a little friendlier on your waist than some others … as long as you don’t eat it all yourself.

Looking for an appetizer for a crowd? This is fast, easy and won’t disappoint.

Read the rest of this entry…

When the air hits that certain cold temperature and you can see puffs of breath whenever you go outside, you know it’s time for hearty meals. You know, ones that will warm you from the inside out like stews, roasts, chowders … and also chili.

I love chili. It reminds me of ski lodges, chair lifts and snow covered mountains. When I was younger, I was an avid skier and loved to fold into the lodge between runs for a hot lunch. Among my favorite bits? You guessed it – Chili. I haven’t skied in years, though I would love to.

Anyway, back to the chili. For me, it has to be topped with cheddar cheese and, if it’s spicy, it needs some avocado too.  Shawn likes his with a dollop of sour cream and a big sprinkle of cheddar. Paige isn’t yet a big fan of spiciness, but Will loves it, so he gobbles chili right up. Gosh, I hope Paige discovers a love of spiciness soon.

This chili is beanfree and ultra meaty. It has the glorious smokiness of the chipotle peppers, with the slight sweetness of the red onion. When you take a bite, you are hit with those flavors first, and then a hearty sting of spiciness. It’s divine. If you like chili, that is.

What’s your favorite cold-day meal? Share! Read the rest of this entry…

If Will had his way, we’d eat Blueberry and White Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes every single morning. Actually, scratch the ‘we’ – he’d eat the whole batch himself every day.

Not that I can blame him … they are delish.

But could we really eat pancakes daily? My schedule and waistline say no way, so I try to mix it up with easier options (yogurt, fruit and toast, scrambled eggs) and some alternative more-involved dishes (French toast, waffles, homemade muffins).

This quesadilla is heartier than your standard quesadilla and crammed with flavor. Yes, it’s more-involved, but it’s also a big family favorite. Serve it up plain or with a dollop of salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

What’s your family’s favorite breakfast? Read the rest of this entry…

It was a steamy, hot day today. It was one of those days where you just don’t know what to do with yourself. The kids and I ran errands, took a walk (what was I thinking?!?) and ran through the sprinkler. Because I wanted to. Finally, we gave in and collapsed onto the couch with the air conditioner on (remember how I was boycotting the a/c this year? I still am … but we did install one unit in an unused window).

When it came to dinnertime, I didn’t want to cook. Who would? But that’s exactly why I plan our meals for the week. When the plan is laid out for you, it makes it way easier to just give in and go for it … so I did. And really, when I realized what I had planned for tonight, I couldn’t say no.

That delicious burger above was worth every bit of heat and torment to create it. It’s just that good.

Inside this juicy burger is an oozing center of juicy, savory deliciousness. You bite into it and it spills warm juices down your chin, leaving you to lap them up wipe it away with your napkin. I first made these about two weeks ago and feel instantly in love. Since then, we’ve had them several times … they are rather addicting.

I have to give the credit for this one to Shawn, who wanted “something, some cheese to stuff the burgers with,” one day when I was heading to the store.

Coincidentally, the hamburger is a total New England food. The hamburger – a ground beef patty stuck between two slices of bread- was created right here in a little restaurant in Connecticut. The first burger was created by Louis Lassen, who ran a small lunch cart in New Haven that he called (so creatively) Louis’ Lunch.

Today, Louis’ is still run by the Lassen family and is now located in a small building on Crown Street. It’s a favorite for Michael and Jane Stern, who have written about it on their website Roadfood as well as naming it one of their picks for “20 Burgers to Eat Before It’s Too Late,” in the June issue of Gourmet. I daresay, I will be trying that little hamburger joint quite soon …

Back to my delectable burger, it’s worth every single second and bite. Try it.

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The other evening was one of those nights. You know the ones: where you just don’t feel much like cooking and really aren’t sure what to make anyway. At first, I was going to do something with chicken and serve it over rice, but midway through the rice cooking process, I realized that I really had zero desire to trim the chicken and pound it into an even cutlet. None whatsoever, in fact.

Then, my thoughts turned to the rice, and a package of cubed ham steak in my fridge (freshly cut and packed at my local grocery store, thankyouverymuch!). Perhaps fried rice with ham? I could just see my husband’s skeptical face through the phone when I told him what I was making … I am sure he was thinking Who puts ham in fried rice?

As I was cooking up the rice, I realized the shredded swiss in my fridge would be a perfect finisher to this obviously Americanized dish. I was so right. Every last morsel of it was devoured.

Serve this up with a fresh chopped salad and perhaps some crusty bread for a wonderful, hearty, comforting meal.

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Souffle. It’s one of those words that conjures up notions of complexity and difficulty. It just sounds so fussy. But with some cheese begging to be used and egg whites calling my name, I decided to bite the bullet and try Blue Cheese Souffle from Barefoot in Paris, one of Ina Garten‘s cookbooks and the latest addition to my cookbook collection (thanks, Shawn!).

It really was my first souffle ever. I have never made or eaten one, actually.  Will pulled over a chair to see what I was doing but unfortunately couldn’t do much more than watch since the recipe involved a lot of stirring on the hot stove, chopping and whipping raw eggs.

I have to admit, I whined never again after working feverishly to pull the dish together (about 30 minutes hands on!) and then sliding the dish into the oven. But when I pulled out the fluffy souffle and took my first bite, it won me over. And Will and Paige liked it too … Thank goodness, because I would have otherwise likely eaten it all.

Have you had a souffle before? This one is light as air. It makes Angel Food Cake seem like a dense crumb. The rich blue cheese gives this a robust and comforting flavor. It’s the kind of thing that you slide into your mouth and stop, pause and just take it all in. Simply put: you have to try it.

So delish. Read the rest of this entry…

As my friends can attest, there was a time in my life where I could down a whole box of macaroni and cheese. In the days before organic, eating local and slow food became buzz words, I was all about the quick, easy and accessible. That was also before I (and most people) ever laid eyes on the world wide web. Back then, my metabolism could, um, handle that.

Things change. I still have a soft spot for Kraft’s obscenely orange powdered cheese, but I rarely indulge in it. More often than that I opt for tortellini tossed with some lemon olive oil, Romano and sea salt. As children do, Will loves macaroni and cheese — so does Paige, and Shawn for that matter. And I have learned that homemade food can be equally as accessible as convenience food. Read the rest of this entry…

For a few years now, I’ve had this fascination with frittatas. Convinced that they would be too thick, too dense, too eggy and so on, I swore I would never make one. Yet, I coveted every photo that my fellow food bloggers snapped of the interesting egg dish.

Finally, in search of an easy breakfast recently, I decided to just make one. It would use up the eggs in the house so that I wouldn’t feel guilty buying a dozen at the farmer’s market and it would get this unhealthy frittata obsession out of my system. Read the rest of this entry…

I am a Romano girl. Always have been, always will be. There is almost always a big chunk of Romano from Costco in my fridge, at the ready to be grated, sliced or chopped. Why do I love it? It’s like biting into certainty. That sharp, decisive taste adds dimension to many dishes in my kitchen. But lately, I have been craving something a little more subtle, a little lighter. Parmesan fits the bill in that respect. So, for a little while at least, my chunk of Romano will be substituted with a hunk of Parmesan. Hey, variety is good.

Last night it was just Will and I for dinner. I wanted to cook something and perhaps use the lone tomato I had laying about. But what to do with a perfectly ripened tomato?

I had to stop at the grocery store anyway for milk, so I picked up another lovely red tomato, a chunk of Parmesan, a ball of fresh mozzarella and some chicken prosciutto tortellini. Can you guess what I decided to make?

Pasta Fresca is a favorite of mine, and Will’s as well. We use basil straight from the garden. This is a lighter version than the one I have previously written about here . . . unless you use scrumptious tortellini like I did (more calories than a whole wheat or regular pasta).

Lighter Pasta Fresca
serves 2

1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes
8 leaves basil, chopped
salt
pepper
2 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed
2 servings pasta, cooking while sauce is cooking
2 tbsp Parmesan, freshly grated

Heat olive oil in small frying pan over medium heat.

Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for one minute.

Stir in diced tomatoes and cover, stirring occasionally for 4 minutes. Stir in basil, salt and pepper and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Add mozzarella cubes and stir, quickly removing from heat and turning on to the pasta.

Mix pasta and sauce well. Plate it and garnish with Parmesan.
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This post is for Presto Pasta Night, hosted by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast. It’s my first time participating in this fun weekly event.

Will is a cheese-a-holic. He asks for it all the time in that cute little voice (“chhhheeeeesssssse”) and it’s always followed with a bit of gratitude (“dank you”) for his favorite food item . . . next to chocolate, of course. Fresh mozzarella is his favorite, but he’s not picky . . . he will eat whatever cheese you want to share. Then again, it’s no wonder that he’s a cheese-lover with the excess of cheese I ate while I was pregnant with him (the same justification applies to the chocolate too . . . geez, and I wonder why I was a whale when I gave birth).

Anyway, knowing that he has a penchant for cheesiness, I had him in mind when I created this dish on the fly this week. Originally, I had planned to make a lasagna with the wonderful, fresh flat sheets of egg noodles I purchased at Costco last week. But lasagna takes a while to cook and it was late. Besides, I was hungry and knew Will would love to eat this for lunch the next day.

So instead I made this lovely tray of manicotti. I love manicotti, particularly when the ricotta is smooth (instead of grainy, like it gets when you overcook it). There’s a great little restaurant in Danbury, Conn., that does it just right called The New Sorrento. Their manicotti is to die for. My husband and I actually had our rehearsal dinner for our wedding there since we loved their manicotti (and chicken parm, too) so much. We still drop by for take out once in a while. In any case, it holds a special place in our hearts.

I modeled this after the manicotti at The New Sorrento, with smooth ricotta and a homemade marinara. You don’t have to make your own marinara, but I do recommend it. (Check back tomorrow for my marinara recipe.)

Homemade Manicotti
serves 4-6

3 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup Romano cheese, freshly grated
4 eggs
4 cups marinara sauce (divided)
6 sheets of fresh pasta dough (or 6 manicotti shells, cooked according to package directions)
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, 1 cup of Romano, and eggs. Mix well until smooth.

Spread 2 cups of marinara sauce in the bottom of a baking pan.

If you are using fresh pasta dough, use a pastry brush to brush the sheets with water on both sides. Spread a generous amount of the ricotta mixture on one end of the pasta sheet. Roll up and place in the baking pan. Repeat with the remainder of pasta sheets.

If you are using manicotti shells, fill each prepared shell with an equal amount of the ricotta mixture and place in the pan.

Top the manicotti with 2 cups of marinara sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of Romano on top.

Cook for 20-25 minutes, until mozzarella is fully melted.

Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.