How many Tomatoes can fit in a bowl?

Roma tomatoes anyone? How ’bout zucchini?

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Eating Flowers

In our garden, the tomatoes aren’t doing so well. We are getting some, but not like last year. The heat stress is causing them to die or come up with dark spots.

My Husband is IBM

No the title does not mean that my husband works for IBM. Nor does it have anything to do with any sort of irritable bowl issue. According to him, IBM stands for something else.

An Easy Thirty Minutes

Remember Rachel Ray’s 30-minute meals? I never really felt like they were 30 minutes. All of her food was already prepped. If you have a crew on your TV set that preps it for you, it should be under 30 minutes. Of course, you could always buy most foods already prepped at the grocery story.

Cavatelli

This is the second installment of a day in the kitchen with mom.  Only this time, it was our other mom.

My husband had been wanting to spend time with each of our mom’s in the kitchen, and a few weeks after he baked apple slices with his mom, he asked my mom, V, to teach him how to make pasta from scratch.

Decoding Stories

My husband has asked me to write about a subject near and dear to his heart … to both of our hearts.

Simple Olive Chicken Bake

When I first started blogging, I posted recipes to coincide with the comical short story in my memoir anthology about how I learned to cook. The anthology is no longer available, but I hope to re-release it after we move. (If you missed the news about the move, you can find it here) In the mean time, I thought I’d release a new recipe of mine. If you like chicken, and you like deliciously briny Greek olives, you will like this easy recipe. Keep in mind, I cook for two so add ingredients accordingly for more people.

Before I Forget Eggplant

Have you ever created your own recipe for a meal that turned out delicious and then forgot what you did? I have done this countless times. When I try to recreate the same dish, it’s never quite the same.

It’s been a long time since I posted a recipe, which I started doing because of the cooking memoir in my anthology. I’m writing it on my blog immediately after dinner in order not to forget what I did. When I say I made this “today,” it’s actually not the same day that this post is going up.

Frezzelle

What is a Frezzelle, you ask? Well, if you’re Italian, you may already know. If you just happen to like Italian food, read on.

Tomato Basil Shrimp Penne

Due to the sugar detox plan that I almost killed myself on, I haven’t been able to try monthly recipes from WordPress blogs like I had hoped. But, since I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, I thought I’d share this one. I made it on day 28 of the 31-day-detox. It has all the approved ingredients on the list for the diet (except salt). At the risk of sounding like a brag, this turned out fan-tab-ulous!

Food Talk, Tips and My Valentine to You

I don’t like onions. Let me rephrase that, I despise onions. I’ve never understood how anyone can enjoy something that smells like B.O. and makes you cry. Not to mention that they also make my stomach sick. It’s my theory that more than a little of them can make anyone sick. My evidence? White Castle (only some of you may be familiar with this greasy establishment).

If you love the Season

Do you love Christmas and/or the holiday season? If so, would you decorate the inside of your house if no one but you would see the decorations? Would you put up a life-sized tree?

If you had only one person to spend Christmas with (spouse, parent, sibling or friend), and you could choose anything you wanted to do with that person, what would you do?

Pasta and Peasants

Well, it looks like we’ve reached our limit of cooler days here in Florida. ::sigh:: 

I say that because we got one cool day last week so I made a nice, hearty bowl of pasta fagioli. I took a photo of it when I finished and thought I’d share.

It’s a simple Italian meal my family made for dinner. I was told by my grandparents (whom I wrote about in my free memoir read – The Sweet Revolting Development.), that in Italy, the peasants made this meal because it didn’t cost much. They used the word “peasants” referring to the poor there.

The words pasta fagioli mean pasta and beans. The dish was cheap because they couldn’t afford meat, and yet it made a good, heavy meal. I’ll describe the ingredients, or recipe, below.

Mom’s Visit

Well, Mom just called me from Chicago. She made it home safe and sound. Even though I wasn’t well the first week of her visit, we had a nice time. She was a big help on the days I didn’t feel well.

We finally got out to enjoy the weather on Sunday and went to the Ringling Museum. The sky looked like a shiny slate, clear of any defects, including clouds. What a day! A perfect breeze, comfortable in the sun and a tinge of cool under the shade. Here is a picture of the two of us with a touch of sky showing in the right corner.

We also ate … and ate, and ate! I made the meatballs that I talk about in my short story anthology. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go to my page on this blog with the story clips. I didn’t make the cavatelli that I talk about in the story, because we had cheese ravioli with the meatballs instead. Yum! I’m sure I gained back the few pounds I lost when I was sick. 

Anyone else have anything good to eat lately? Anyone have a meal even at a restaurant. We went to Bonefish with Mom one evening. They are well-known for their Bang Bang Shrimp.

Stop by and drop me a line with recipes or a good restaurant.

Health and the New Year

Greetings!

First I’d like to wish everyone blessings and good health in the new year. May our world prosper in all ways.

I’m still struggling with vertigo in the first couple days of this year. It’s strange how illnesses can teach us things about ourselves and others. I’m learning things about the people around me as I go through this unusual experience. I’m also learning how much I can endure, and getting reminded how being out of control leaves me with very little patience.

Mom arrived on New Year’s Eve and we celebrated together. On New Year’s Day we ate my spinach lasagna. I was pleasantly surprised how good it turned out. I hadn’t made it in a long time, and I created it while not feeling well. We ate a lot, but for only three of us, there is a lot left over. The accompanying honey ham was delicious too.

Check out my story Hope Lies in Meatballs for more adventures in cooking.

 

WELCOME

So here it is … finally … my first blog and my memoir anthology Home Avenue. WELCOME! If you can relate to anything I write here, please feel free to dive in with your own stories. I find human behavior fascinating and love to try and figure out why we do what we do. Why did I act, or react, a certain way? Why did s/he act, or react in a certain way? Okay, so maybe I analyze a too much, but in doing so I’ve improved many relationships in my life. Not because others did anything to change, but because I figured out a better way of working with them.

Here is a description of the stories in my anthology.

Don’t Blink is about a trip to Italy with six of my female relatives. The very first page will give you a snicker when you read about the fiascos of my grandma who came along for the trip. Any funny females in your family?

You better not be hungry when you read Hope Lies in Meatballs. Lots of Italian food you may be able to smell right through your tablet when you read this one. Anyone up for a recipe?

What was it like when you were a kid? Home Avenue is what life was like when we middle-agers were kids.

Don’t’ forget to read about my two heroes in In the Bears Den with Dad.

Stay tuned, if I can better figure out how to use this blog site, I’ll put up photos of things I refer to in my anthology.

If you like dogs, I also have one short story about my beloved dog in the book anthology Dogs and the Women Who Love Them.

I look forward to hearing your stories too. Share about your childhood neighborhood. How ‘bout a cooking story or recipe? Any “Daddy’s girls” reading this blog? I’d love to read about you.

Merry Christmas!