It’s been a strange week. Dave was out of town on business Friday – Friday. I was in California that first weekend for a wedding (gorgeous wedding). Then Marissa went down to Tucson for her boyfriend’s birthday (Happy birthday, Alberto!).  And on Thursday, I took Connor up to Flagstaff to begin his sophomore year at NAU (Have a great first day today, Con! Missing you!).

The four of us were never home at the same time, and now we won’t be again until … Thanksgiving, probably (insert sad face here). After all that disruption, what we need is breakfast for dinner. There aren’t too many things that feel more cozy than having traditional morning food in the evening.

These sandwiches are delicious with or without the addition of a poached egg. I did four with and four without. Use any cheese you like, but I’m using pepper Jack to go with the jalapeno sausage I purchased at The Pork Shop… so darn good!

[Read more →]

Marissa and I were sharing a little quality mother-daughter shopping time at Scottsdale Fashion Square last week. Lord, how that girl used to roll her eyes and complain when I’d drag her into Williams-Sonoma, in years past. Not any more, now she wants to go in! Oh the joys of adult children! It made me want to buy her even more things than I already had.

As always, I made a beeline to the sale section and found this great grill tray. The fab sale price ($19 instead of $50!) and the item description are why I was so excited about it. “This grill tray keeps an even temperature and holds its heat well after you’ve removed it from the grill, making it as useful for serving dishes as it is for cooking them. Conducts even heat for thorough cooking, then keeps food warm at the table. Also useful for serving chilled dishes – just refrigerate or freeze the tray before use. For use on a grill or stovetop, or in the oven. Heatproof to 1,000°F.”

I decided to finally brave the heat outside, crank up the grill, and test it out. So, what grade do I give it? A++

Don’t fret if you don’t have the grill tray, just bake for about 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven, on a large rimmed baking sheet.

[Read more →]

After putting up the cocktail recipe on Sunday, then posting it on the LPG facebook fan page, I found that my “followers” want and need more cocktail recipes. I am here to serve!

We have a built-in 50 bottle wine refrigerator in the kitchen. It is generally stocked about half full with everyday, drinkable, and reasonably priced bottles. My favorite summer wine is rosé. I find it to be the perfect “cool me down” hot-weather choice. For some unknown reason, my dad figures that if I like rosé, I must love Riesling and Gewürztraminer. I despise both! In fact, I find them so cloyingly sweet that I can not bring myself to serve them to others either. So what to do with the three bottles I have? Yup, that’s right, it took me three weeks to tell my dad, that I do not like these wines – and yes, it hurt his feelings. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to stop receiving bad “gifts”! What I’ve decided to do is make lemonade out of lemons, or in this case, sour up overly sweet wine with a bit of acid.

[Read more →]

Tacos at home – one of the most economical, quick, easy, and kid-friendly meals you can make. If you add rice and/or beans to the meat; not only can you stretch the dollar, but also increase the nutritional value.  But that’s not what this recipe is about!

Those are poor man tacos (“not that there’s anything wrong with that”, as my friends on Seinfeld say). These are rich man tacos. Not only due to the cost of filet mignon, but also the avocado and bell pepper, if they happen to be out of season. Splurge and serve with a nice bottle of Cabernet and… paper napkins; things are bound to get messy. And that’s a good thing indeed!

On a side note:  Marissa had a root canal yesterday morning. Ug! On the way home she purchased yogurt, bananas, and cottage cheese. In the meantime, Connor requested steak for dinner. Perfect, I thought, she’ll have her smoothies and we’ll have steak.  She rallied once she heard what we were having and enjoyed these fabulous taco with us… although I did cut up the meat and peppers for her, like I used to do when she was a toddler. Honestly, who wants to have “poor man” soft food when you can have “rich man” tacos!?!

(don’t know what this picture means? Go back to yesterday’s post)

[Read more →]

Who would think that with four people living here, we wouldn’t be able to get rid of a box of blueberries in a week? I used a portion of the 2-pound box (from Costco, of course) for blueberry muffins, another portion for blueberry pancakes, and was thinking the family would devour the rest. Well, they haven’t, now the sweet little gems are getting moldy, so I have to bake again… this finally finished them off!

[Read more →]

Today and tomorrow feature more recipes from the weekend with Marissa’s friends visiting from Tucson. When they arrived late on Friday afternoon, they promptly hit the pool to cool off and play volleyball and basketball.  There were also some wicked ping pong matches happening under the patio.  I took a dozen pictures of the guys doing the “jump shots” at one end of the pool… showing off for the ladies and for each other.  In every single photo, you can see the guys (John, Will, and Chris above – not pictured: Albert, Kevin, and Shoaib) totally enthralled with their moves – while the girls, (Paige, Astrid, and Marissa) at the other end of the pool, are completely oblivious of them… cracks me up!

There are two ingredients here that you may or may not be familiar with. If you’re not sure what either Nduja or piquillo peppers are, just click on their name and a link will take you to a previous post all about them. With all the young men to feed, I of course, doubled the recipe.

[Read more →]

Now that Marissa is living back at home, the house is always filled with a boatload of friends. Her boyfriend, Albert, and three other friends from Tucson drove up yesterday and stayed overnight. Luckily, I picked up a 2 pound box of blueberries at Costco yesterday and I happily found 3 overripe bananas in the fridge. Thus they shall have these muffins plus blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Actually by the time they roll out of bed, it’ll probably be more like brunch. The pancake recipe will be up tomorrow.

[Read more →]

This is not one of those “super foods” I’ve spoken of before like pomegranates, quinoa, blueberries, or salmon. This is a super wonderful new food I recently discovered … a new ingredient. A difficult thing to do nowadays… find something new that most people honestly don’t know about. My discovery is nduja (en-doo-ya), a soft, spicy and spreadable salame (salami). Have you heard of it? Have you ever even heard of a spreadable salame before? I know, me neither! Nduja originated in Calabia, Italy. It is the perfect blend of spicy, tangy, and smoky. A little goes a good long way. Just a couple tablespoons are enough to enliven a whole pan of sauce. In Southern Italy, they spread it on grilled bread, on pizza, in pasta, or just on a cracker. This is seriously good stuff!

You can find it online at Boccalone, a super cool artisan salumi business located in Oakland, California. Just how cool are they? Their tagline is “Tasty Salted Pig Parts” … that’s pretty cool. Two 8-ounce chubs of Nduja costs $24.  That pound will go a long way to make some amazing dishes!  Here’s one recipe to get you started. Brilliant daughter, Marissa, suggested using the filling as a bruschetta topping next time – super idea – will do!  And just in case you missed it, the words of the day are “super” and “cool”!

[Read more →]

We left early this morning for the drive down to Tucson to pack up Marissa and move her back to Scottsdale. Of course, I love having her home, so that is the really sweet part. But I also know how eager she is to “begin” her independent life, her career, and to have a place of to call her own. I remember that feeling of longing and yearning and wish all those wonderful things for her. But with today’s economy and job market, she is just one of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of young adults and college graduates in the same situation. Daily she is sending out resumes, searching on-line, reaching out to every possible connection; lucky to ever get a call, acknowledgement, or interview. So, we’ll store her furniture and other belongings that one doesn’t need when living with your family (meaning parents) in mini-storage and continue to give her all the love and support we can while she waits for her new beginning. And of course, if you are reading this and know of any positions or possible openings for a brilliant, beautiful, and bold graduate with a bonafide Journalism degree, (such as writing, editing, public relations, journalist, newspaper, magazine, etc.) who will move anywhere for an opportunity; please email or call right this very minute!

[Read more →]

The title of this post is frightening to anyone who really knows me. If I’ve ever left you a voicemail while I’m driving, you already know how I tend to go on and on and on. I begin with the reason for my call, with every minute detail imaginable. Then I will whine about how sad I am that I didn’t reach you personally. And if traffic is bad or there is a horrific driver in my path (and really, when isn’t there?!) I will tell you all about it. After that useless information, I’ll feel the need to let you know where, why, how, who, what, and where I am going.  But aside from the part you just read, this post is not like that…

Instead I am going to share with you some cool stuff of late… at least I think it’s cool stuff.

[Read more →]