A relative walked into my kitchen yesterday, wishing happy Easter and greeting the kids and I. She carried a platter of caprese salad, setting it down on my kitchen island. I could feel her eyes scanning the counter tops, looking … hoping. But there was nothing yet to see, with dishes tucked into the fridge and oven waiting.

I busied myself, sliding thin slices of lemon into the sweating pitcher of ice water and gathering forks, knives and serving utensils to take outside, where we’d be eating. The ham came out of the oven, hot and sweet with glaze. And I slid mini frittatas into the waiting oven to warm them up. I’d cooked them earlier in the day. (Psst! recipe coming later this week!).

“Ooh, what are those?” she asked, and I explained.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Though she didn’t want to ask, she had to know. And in a whispered voice came the question: “Did you make the French toast?” Read the rest of this entry…

Confession: I was kind of picky as a child. I’m not anymore, but when I was young, my list of things that I wouldn’t eat was extensive, including whole cuisines and categories of food. It’s a wonder anyone put up with me.

But even when I was young, really good cooking could sway me to eat things on the no-eat list. My uncle Hugo taught me to love broccoli and cauliflower by whipping up a cheese sauce to drizzle on them. It changed my world.

Another thing that changed my eating world was a trip to visit Hugo and my aunt when I was 12. At the time, I didn’t see myself as particularly picky. But I was and it became more and more apparent as the visit to their new Florida home went on. Everything came to a head when we went to Checkers for hot dogs. It was supposed to be a special thing — something they loved that we couldn’t get up north. But at the mere mention of a drive-thru, I felt a panic rise in me. What if there was mustard on the hot dogs? I couldn’t eat them if there was. So what would I do? I quietly inquired, and asked if my dog could have none.

I’ll never forget Hugo’s reaction. I can’t remember his exact words, but the message was clear: Being picky was selfish and unfair to everyone else. Hugo had never spoken to me like that before (and never did again). It hit me hard, bringing tears to my eyes as I struggled between my desire to please and my absolute hatred of mustard. The shudder of shock, one I had never experienced before, affected me deeply. I didn’t want to be picky. Read the rest of this entry…

After a long day at Walt Disney World last week, all I wanted was a salad. It was tattooed on my brain — the kind of desire that trumps all other thoughts and options. Forget about the long menu with some truly amazing dishes. Show me the salads, people. So when Shawn, the kids and I headed to a restaurant nearby our hotel, I gravitated to the salad menu (naturally!) and was shocked to see that salads were in the $13-$18 dollar range. Seriously? For a salad? Is this inflation at work? It almost pushed me into ordering a more wallet-friendly sandwich instead, but I really desperately wanted a salad.

Are you sensing a theme here?

Finally, I spotted it. A brief entry on the light menu that promised many of the salad toppings that I was craving for a mere $11. Well, not so mere, but better than the other options. Apparently light meant lots of lettuce and sparing amounts of toppings. But whatever. I ordered it and it was tasty.

Still, the idea of spending big bucks on salads floors me. Restaurants are charging more and more for salads with exciting toppings. In some cases, the salads cost more than the lighter entrees on the menu, though I am sure that the work that goes into the light entrees trumps that of making a salad. It’s curious, and definitely takes away some of the luster of ordering a killer salad. Especially when you can make your own at home for a fraction of the cost. Literally a fraction. Like 1/8 or something.

Now that we’re back home again, I am making my own salads with all the fabulous toppings I want. But I’m not going for the chopped salad look with this one (I am of course a huge chopped salad fan, but that’s just not what I wanted here). Instead, I wanted something that was as pretty to look at as it is to eat.  That means substantial chunks of some things and whisper thin bits of others, courtesy of the mandolin. After seeing a food styling demo at Food Blog Forum that involved a mandolin, I couldn’t wait to try making a salad with oh-oh-thin bits too. Read the rest of this entry…

Some times I catch myself saying things I don’t really mean. Like “No, you finish the last bite of the ooey-gooey delicious dessert, I’m fine” or “Sure! Lasagna sounds great!” But the times that just shock me are when I find myself mechanically saying something I said as a child that’s no longer true like “No, I don’t like eggs.” When I catch myself doing that, I end up correcting myself in the same breath, wondering why I said it in the first place.

Folks. I do like eggs. In fact, I like them a lot. While I rarely want scrambled eggs, sometimes an omelet hits the spot. But more often than not, the kind of egg I really crave has a beautiful runny yolk. One that’s so yellow it’s almost orange. Oh, yes. Those I love.

Of course, I will be the first to admit that I haven’t always liked eggs. In fact, for years I just didn’t eat them. Then I discovered the joys of sunny side up eggs and all aversions were forgotten. A good runny yolk can really change everything.

These days, I am mildly obsessed with whole grain toast spread with mashed avocado and topped with an egg. It’s a bite of creamy, rich, nutty heaven. Read the rest of this entry…

On Sundays, I cook. Maybe it’s cliche, I don’t know. But Sunday is the day when I make a big batch of something for lunch that we can nibble from during the week. Hopefully that something is also good for Will’s lunch on Monday too. It’s also the day that I usually bake to fill the cookie jar, which is a fun indulgence. Oh and I test out new recipes too.

Sunday is also the day that we go to the library and enjoy fresh donuts from the local bakery. If I have time, I sit on the couch and read too, getting lost in books. It’s a good day.

This past Sunday started out busy. Too busy. I was rushed, so my breakfast was merely the coffee I drank before dashing out the door with the kids. Don’t worry – they ate, polishing off special toasted bread, berries and more. By the time we arrived home for lunch, I was beyond starving, which added some pressure. Lunch couldn’t be complicated. No, it needed to be fast, simple and still be worth making and eating.

Read the rest of this entry…

This story goes something like this: Girl accepts dinner invitation. Girl makes last minute decision to whip up a double batch of her cousin’s Butterscotch Brownies to take to dinner, thinking there will be plenty leftover. Girl takes the whole tray to dinner and returns home with about 1/3 of the bars left. Then the kids, the husband and the girl herself eat … um, many. Girl realizes she still needs to photograph said brownies, and finds the one and only perfect one left. It’s an edge piece, which a tempting ridge around one side. Bars are gone by the end of the day — about 48 hours after they were made.

True story.

When I decided to make this recipe out of the family cookbook (yes, our family has our own private cookbook), I did so because it’s a recipe I’ve had earmarked for a long, long time. But while I’ve wanted to try it, I wasn’t sure anyone else would enjoy it as much. Ha! I should have known better. Read the rest of this entry…

Lately, I have gotten really into smoothies and juices. Not in a juice-fasting or cleansing sort of way, but in a supplementing all the water I drink way. It’s nice to have something other than coffee and water once in awhile, and juices and smoothies are much better for you than soda. Plus they taste good — I love all the fruit mixes.

Of course, buying the premade ones at the store adds up fast, especially when your kids discover how delicious they are and want some too. Yea. That happened. The premades come with a hearty price tag that just makes them impractical for frequent purchasing. Making them at home? It’s way better — less expensive and you can totally control what flavors go into them. It’s nice to have that control sometimes.

For my Chilled Tropical Smoothie, I set out to make a smoothie with the flavors of the islands that’s refreshing and satisfying. Score. Read the rest of this entry…

My friends can tell when stress is getting to me without asking. Apparently, I recede a little. Chat less. Update my Facebook and Twitter less. A general quieting of my online presence. And they’ve told me on more than one occasion over the last few weeks that they’ve been seeing these things recently. I was surprised, but only because I didn’t realize how obvious it was. Of course, they are right.

January was a hard month for my career. February was a hard month for my bank account. And now it’s March. The good news is things are looking up. Yesterday, the first edition of a new column I’m writing for SheKnows appeared. It’s called Chasing the Dream and is all about achieving those big life dreams we have for ourselves. I am over the moon with excitement about it. Other good things are happening behind the scenes too. It’s like the tide is changing, and it feels good even though I am still reeling from two tough months.

Some weeks, it would be super easy to dissolve into complaints and quips here. When life is harder, it’s so natural to focus on the worst thing happening. I could go on and on about malfunctioning fire alarms in the dead of night and about my internet being spotty in recent storms. I could tell you about the migraine I was fighting earlier today or my strong desire to just sleep, a definitive sign that I am under the weather. But I won’t. I will however tell you that real life happens to me the same as everyone else. If it ever seems otherwise, it’s only because this is my happy place — the place where I choose to focus on the positives. Here on Sarah’s Cucina Bella, I would rather celebrate the good food and good times.

And generally speaking, I think there is a lot to be said for focusing on the positives. Norman Vincent Peale was really onto something with his writings on the power of positive thinking. It’s that positivity that has really helped me during rough patches recently, allowing me to be present with the kids and also focus on forging ahead.

Did I mention good food? Yes? Because that helps too. Good food can brighten a dark moment. Like these fries. A friend recently tossed me the idea of dipping fries in curry sauce after having a similar dish in Boston. I was skeptical but tried it and was totally wowed. Read the rest of this entry…

This soup is five years in the making. No, really. I created and tested the initial recipe five years ago, and then it wasn’t published. It needed something to polish it off — something to take it from good to great. That yogurt drizzle?  Totally did it.

Let me back up a little bit.

Five years ago this week, I was thisclose to having a cookbook published. There were meetings and brainstorming sessions. A signed contract. Then there was a deadline met. A manuscript produced. In the end, for complicated reasons that included a mega economic downturn, it didn’t work out and the book was never published. At my request, I was released from my contract. I was sad and attempted to find another publisher, but that didn’t pan out. Finally, I tucked the manuscript away to think about another time. Read the rest of this entry…

We eat a lot of fruits and vegetables here. Each week, our grocery cart is loaded with berries, bananas, peppers and so much more. And we eat it all. Bunches of asparagus are devoured at dinner.  Bowls of berries are eaten nearly every morning. And sometimes, all I want is some roasted Brussels sprouts or some sliced red peppers.

But we also love sweets. As much as we love our fruits and veggies, we adore our sweets too. But if you are going to indulge, the sweets better be good. If not, what’s the point?

Peanut Butter Cup Whole Wheat Cookies are really good. Worth every indulgent bite. The very second that the kids tried these cookies, they were already asking me when I would make them again. It didn’t matter that they were biting into the warm cookie just oozing with peanut butter and chocolate. They wanted to make sure this wasn’t going to be a one time thing.

I can’t blame them.

When we took these to our Sunday dinner with our extended family, the cookies all vanished, everyone returning for seconds. And some thirds too.

Let me tell you, these are not your basic chocolate chip cookie. No way. They are better. Stuffed with mini peanut butter cups and chocolate chips, but are a sweet-a-holics dream. And they are made with whole wheat flour, not that you’ll notice, so you can even say they are a bit healthier than their traditional chocolate chip cookie cousin. Score. Read the rest of this entry…