Cold weather has been hard for us to come by this winter. And...yes...I am complaining about it. As much as I hate being cold all of the time, I also feel that nature needs that period of rest to recuperate from the ravages of heat and bugs and humidity. It cannot and should not always be Summer. But I have no control over the weather. All I can do is experience it ...
Berry Scones with Dark Chocolate Drizzle
Berry Scones with Dark Chocolate Drizzle is a delicious morning treat or even an afternoon snack! Tender dough with fresh fruit and a decadent chocolate drizzle. Yum! A long, long time ago, I was a child. And as a child I wanted to get my parents something really special for Valentine’s Day. Of course this would be the late 80’s so the “allowance” had not yet been ...
Black Bean Sliders
These black bean sliders are designed to be a fun dish that could be shared at a party as a heavy appetizer and are a perfect accompaniment to fries and a cold beer. Set them next to the plate of hot wings so that no one’s carnivore-nature feels threatened. If you want to make a Southern carnivore squirm, give them a veggie burger. The veggie burger came to fame in the late ...
Broiled Flank Steak with Red Onion Marmalade
Broiled Flank Steak with Red Onion Marmalade is an easy a fast dinner dish. It's a great weeknight dinner or company dish! Flank steak with a sweet/sour red onion marmalade is an excellent recipe! I don't know if you knew this about me or not...but I cook a lot. And in cooking a lot, there are not a lot of dishes that I make more than once or twice. I just don't have that ...
Chicken and Shrimp Stir-fry over Black Rice
Some days are just so completely beautiful. Yesterday was one of those days for me. The sky was grey and the rain came down in steady, soaking waves , but nevertheless I had awoken early that morning with a light mood and spirit. You see...it's nearly my birthday. My 35th birthday, and while the pace at which time seems to move ever forward is sometimes way too fast, I have to ...
Wild Mushroom Risotto
I have been mushroom hunting for a while now. I don't get out as often as I would like but, when I get the opportunity and mushrooms begin to pop-up around me, I get the urge to go out and see what nature will offer up. I am not always successful, but when I am it is so exciting! But in order to keep the steady supply of delicious wild mushrooms coming in, we ...
The Serious Cook’s Essential Tools
All product links are affiliate links (that means I make a teency tiny bit if you order through this link) but I honestly highly recommend and own these products myself. There are those in this world who cook because they have to, then there are those who cook because they LOVE to. I am the later. Actually, my husband and I both are avid cooks and we have been in the ...
Rosemary Vegetable Soup
Rosemary Vegetable Soup is a humble soup with lots of warm hearty flavors to keep you warm and nourished this winter. It has been scientifically proven that trying to lose weight during the winter is futile (ok, maybe not scientifically proven, but I have tested this theory on my own) but I tend to not let this knowledge stop me from putting forth a good frustrating ...
Fried Oyster Mushroom Po’Boy
Last Spring my dad, my friend Nicole and I went to this awesome workshop where we learned how to put together our own mushroom logs. It was a fun day full of laughs and learning an interesting new skill and we each came home with three of our own shitake mushroom logs with high hopes of harvesting oodles of mushrooms for years to come. We all got so excited in fact that we ...
Sweet Potato Noodles and Moroccan Turkey Winter Bowl
If there was a poster child for the adage “You can’t out run a bad diet” I would be it. For the last 14 months I have religiously gone to the gym. Two or three times a week I let my trainer, Joe, try to whip me into a thinner shape. Some wonderful things have happened in that time. I’m strong enough now to open any jar in the house. I can walk up several flights of stairs ...
Quick and Healthy Greek Chicken Salad
There is a Greek restaurant just down the street from where I work. It sits on a busy street surrounded by gas stations and fast food restaurants. Parking there is atrocious. There are a few tightly packed spots right off of the busy 4 lane avenue and a few more spots tucked into a dingy alleyway just behind the building that is shared with a title loan and a Cricket phone ...
5 Minute Spicy Black Eye Pea Hummus
A quick and spicy bean dip with a twist, this Spicy Black Eye Pea Hummus is a creamy and delicious adornment to chips and veggies alike. If you were a good Southerner, you would know that every New Year must be rung in with a bowl of black eye peas. You would also know that somewhere in that bowl of tiny cream colored ...
One Pan Bacon Cheddar Hashbrown Flip
Bacon and cheddar come together with eggs and hashbrowns to create a memorable breakfast your whole family will flip for. Easy and delicious, this One Pan Bacon Cheddar Hashbrown Flip feeds a crowd. This time of the year is when life slows down for us, professionally. The vineyards are dormant, the tourist season has long ...
Winter White Bean Bake
The temperature has finally fallen to a degree akin to Winter here in the South. It was a long, hot Summer and I am happy to have to bundle up for a change. Winter cooking is really my comfort zone. The extra hours of darkness and cold weather give me so much more opportunity to tinker with recipes and come up with meals that warm the cockles of my heart. My kitchen is ...
The 10 Must Have Staple Recipes to Stock Your Pantry
I am a HUGE fan of any recipes from scratch (if you hadn't figured that out by now). While the cost savings of making your own can be huge it's really the fact that I know EXACTLY what is going into my recipes. Also, when you live waaaayyyy out in the country you have to be creative and resourceful. And who doesn't love feeling self-sufficient? (Probably no one, but if there ...