A Girl's Gotta Eat!

Like many of you, today we celebrated Easter, the resurrection of Jesus. And, of course, no celebration is complete without friends, family, and food (not necessarily in that order). My contribution this year is Amaretto Fruit Salad, found in the Junior League of Chattanooga's latest cookbook, Seasoned to Taste . I love this cookbook (each chapter is a different season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) and cannot wait to try many other recipes from it, but one thing at a time. We made this recipe as listed, leaving off the garnish because we didn't have any mint on hand. Let me add that I never thought I liked pineapple. I thought it was stringy, and I am definitely a texture person when it comes to choosing what foods I like. This time, we opted for buying a whole pineapple instead of one that was already cored and peeled. It was almost $2 cheaper, and prepping it myself wasn't that difficult. Mike also convinced me to try just one piece. I did, reluctantly, and di...

Mike and I planned on grilling steaks and having some sort of frozen veggie tonight, and then we realized we had a bit of asparagus we needed to eat before it went bad. Upon looking at it, however, we also realized there wasn't quite enough for both of us to enjoy. And so, I whipped up a new side dish. I know you've had or heard of broccoli rice casserole, but we were dealing with asparagus here. We had white rice in the pantry and a little shredded Cheddar in our deli drawer... Cheesy Asparagus Rice it is! 1) Cook 1 cup rice according to the package directions. While it's cooking... 2) Chop asparagus spears (a little less than half a bunch) into about 1-inch pieces (after trimming off the bottoms.) Saute those in 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoons butter. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons minced or pressed garlic (depending how how garlicky you like it.) Cook over medium-low to medium heat while the rice is simmering. 3) When the rice is done, add the asparagus ...

There's no story behind this post...just a recipe we saw in our latest Food Network Magazine that tickled our fancy: Salami-Mozzarella Calzone. As you have probably gathered by now, I'm a sucker for anything with cheese in it; what you may not know is that salami may well be my favorite deli meat (try a grilled cheese and salami sandwich and you'll see what I mean.) Calzones with salami instead of pepperoni? Yummy indeed. Don't be scared by the pickled vegetable ingredient (giardiniera). It comes in a jar and can be found in the pickle and olive aisle of you grocery store. Look in the international aisle near the Italian food if it's not with the pickles. (This week, Publix has Mezzetta brand on sale for $ .99!) I've never made my own calzones before, so I liked that on my first attempt, two factors made it seem easier. 1) The recipe uses store-bought pizza dough. I'm all for fresh, homemade doughs and pastries, but there is a sense of relief is being ...

In the fall of 2008, Mike and I went on a fantastic cruise to Alaska . While in Ketchikan , we decided we needed a light lunch while out on the town. We had been walking around for a while, taking in the sights and trying to catch a glimpse of the jumping salmon in the river that runs through town, and spotted a little café tucked away, with the tasty aroma of coffee wafting from its doors. Mike had a cappuccino; I had a mocha. We both ordered smoked salmon bagels, which was easily one of the tastiest things we ate on the entire trip. And let me assure you that we ate lots of tasty things. When we returned, we wanted to re-create that delicious spread, but encountered 2 dilemmas. First, we needed to find he right recipe. Second, we had to find good, affordable smoked salmon. Finding the recipe was easy (see below). Mike discovered it on food.com (previously recipezaar.com). Finding smoked salmon that wasn’t crazy expensive proved a little more difficult, so we reserved making the spr...