I have enjoyed eating pork dishes regularly over the last 50 years! But, early on, my first two decades were void of this savory food. This was because my Jewish heritage, and its restrictions abound about eating pork and the rules my parents kept. One dietary rule states that the pig has evenly split hooves,…
Category: spice
Spinach Muffin fritatta
Sometimes I like to switch up my breakfast routine. I often eat eggs, usually scrambled, sometimes oatmeal with a banana, maybe an opened grilled cheese sandwich, along with whatever yogurt, plain, vanilla, or with fruit, is available. My childhood was mostly eggs, bacon, and sugary cereals, which I haven’t eaten in decades. But lately, I…
Delicious Delicata-squash soup
Throughout much of 2021, I was dealing with extensive dental work including implants and extractions. Therefore, I needed to eat soft and mostly smooth foods. If I didn’t follow these simple directions and exerted effort to chew harder foods, like sandwiches, steaks, carrots, nuts and the like, even chips or crunchy foods, I would need…
Buttery Snickerdoodles – Surprise!
I always thought snickerdoodles were dull, rather hard cookies, not tasty at all, and could easily be bypassed for something more desirable, like a thumbprint lemon filled cookie or a brownie bar. I often imagined people bought snickerdoodles because of their cute name, or maybe they liked a bit of crunch and their sugary pop….
Bun Cha -Vietnamese Meatballs
I had never heard of Vietnamese meatballs, until I was hired to make a light lunch for several ladies. It was a birthday luncheon and the special lady being honored, hailed from Vietnam. The casual event, a brunch, would be served in the backroom of their salon. All the ladies were hairdressers, and when business…
Streusel and Chocolate Chip-Stuffed Banana Bread
Even though my loving father died shortly past my tenth birthday, and that Dad was barely home – working tirelessly at his bakeries – in spite of this–his smiles and baking endeavors have resonate in me for decades. All aspects of baking flash before me, daily; they hound me to bake something, anything. I love…
Stuffed Jumbo Shells, 4 Cheeses, Layered with a Meaty Marinara Sauce, Baked
Pasta for lunch, usually curly kinds or other elbow shaped varieties were common in my childhood. That’s what our live-in maid/housekeeper cooked for us, ( my 3 younger siblings and I) often with butter swirled in, plus a smattering of American cheese scattered from above. As an adult I’m still fond of that meal, but…
Shepard’s pie with fresh Mediterranean flavor
My husband and I ate the pie so fast, I forgot to take a photo! But since we loved it so much, I’m surely going to repeat it. Then I’ll take a picture, and in particular, get a good shot of the meaty bottom, which is where most of the good flavor reside. (I finally…
Marilyn Raff 