Tapa

What is tapa in Filipino cuisine? Usually a preserved (dried) meat (or fish) process. It’s evolved over time. This is a simple recipe with an amazing taste. In our area it’s a traditional Filipino food you might find served at a wedding along with many other Filipino dishes. My good neighbor Roselyn brought over a large dish and shared her recipe. It was a hit! Can be eaten warm or room temperature but we’ve been known to pull it right out of the refrig for a taste treat. Roselyn used pork here but sirloin can be used too.

Thank you Roselyn!

Continue reading


Lemon Poppyseed Bread

My delicious experience with Magnolia Table next. This was a near disaster … WARNING: Use of a flared 9 by 5 inch loaf pan may cause baking overflow. Yep, my glaze is more like a frosting (I added a bit of butter. shh). I was gifted Magnolia Table and have really enjoyed trying the recipes. I have to admit it’s just plain delicious to flip through the pages. I love the Joanna Gaines style.

Others have tried this recipe and posted. We all agree it’s amazingly delicious. I have included a few posts so you can see others’ outcome, (the second includes the full recipe), herehere. The bread does tend to have a slight indentation on top when baked. My overflow experience … I knew better. When I filled the bread pan I could tell the batter was too much for the size. I did hold back but apparently not enough. And the glaze included in the recipe, I opted out. Just wanted something a little more like frosting.


Portuguese Pea Soup

Hearty 5 ingredient soup to put together in no time. A great comfort food on a grey damp foggy day. I like cooking it a little longer to create a thick stew like soup … Although, it takes less than 30 minutes to have this ready to serve. Unfortunately for those guys who are not into peas, you can’t hide them but the taste is meaty with just the right snap to the al dente peas. Give this simple recipe a try. The depth of taste will surprise you!

Continue reading


Giant Holiday Cookies

These giant cookie cutters are irresistible. A festive way to decorate your batch of cut out cookies. Much faster (all cookies are cut at once) and the result is a lovely display. Choose your dough carefully. This example (above) is delicious but the dough wasn’t the best choice.. A smooth dough is recommended. The cuts will be cleaner and more defined for decorating and for removing dough in some areas. The house shaped cookie cutter is perfect for a one dimensional gingerbread house and can be purchased at Target. You might find it’s so cute, using my gingerbread cookie recipe, you’ll choose not to decorate it at all!

William Sonoma has several giant cookie cutters in stock. I especially love this wreath.

 

 

 

 

 

Ground Oatmeal

Gingerbread

 

Great cookie dough recipes to use. Delicious!

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 


Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Great cookies for the Holidays. Chocolatey and not too sweet. Delicious quick recipe with few ingredients. Easy to put together for unexpected guests. Chocolate shortbread keeps well but let me warn you, they’ll go fast. You can also personalize by adding your favorite nuts, candy bits or mini chips. Amazing without any addition, my preference. The cocoa used makes a difference. So, use a cocoa product you love. No skimping is my thought.

Continue reading


Our Hanukkah Favorites

We really enjoy putting together these favorites any time of year. Two Sweet and Sour Brisket recipes, one is more traditional, recipe is here. For the other just Read More. The Latke recipe is amazingly simple and the recipe follows along too with the Donuts. Just a heads up about the donuts … These delicious nuggets are best fresh … certainly prepare the day of but if possible just before serving.  As for the Challah, Will makes it the best and here is the recipe.

 

Continue reading


Brazilian Cheese Puffs

Pão de queijo

Just in time for Thanksgiving. Mix up in 20 minutes and eat in another, hot from the oven … A simple foolproof recipe. This small cheese bread is typically eaten as a snack but I say it’s a perfect bread accompaniment for a Thanksgiving meal. It’s mild in flavor, and the cheese is not overwhelming. I suppose you could make them cheesier by using stronger tasting cheeses. And if that’s not enough, you could experiment with herbs or just add some minced garlic. This recipe is pretty authentic and I enjoy the simplicity.

A gluten free recipe … The internal stretchiness and crispy exterior of this little puff come from using tapioca flour. Once the batter is mixed you’ll find it’s quite elastic. Rolling into little balls for baking can be a challenge. (Butter those hands!) All is very characteristic of tapioca flour. Mix the batter by hand or use your electric mixer. Either works perfectly.

Continue reading


Spicy Baked Chicken

(Sweet & Spicy Baked Chicken)

Four years have passed since this video but the dish remains a popular meal to prepare for the Holidays. I hope you enjoy viewing my friend Gayle and I doing what we love … cooking for family & friends.


Vacation and Pork Belly

From my balcony of the Grand Floridian, DisneyWorld … an absolutely fabulous vacation. You might be thinking rides, and yep, I did rides but this was a vacation of great food too. We were lucky enough to stay on the concierge floor, meaning we had all day long access to food & drinks. Many of the taste treats were prepared in the kitchens of the Grand Floridian’s five star restaurants. But we didn’t just eat here.

Every night of our 8 day stay was a grand new food experience. If you’re into breads, we had every imaginable type of bread from Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pan de Queijo), Jiko’s flatbreads, Tiffin’s breads with sauces, yeasty breads to homestyle biscuits. So much food! Our first night was an Irish food experience. My Shepherd’s Pie recipe holds up competitively. Actually, their Shepherd’s Pie and mine are correctly called Cottage Pie, beef used instead of lamb. I even have a chicken version. Every night we consumed fantastic food, steaks, pork belly, fish, vegetarian, while being entertained by the beautiful views and firework displays that exceeded any I had ever seen before. It was all meticulously planned in advanced with perfect timing. Thank you Will for the perfect vacay!

What about the pork belly? This was a favorite dish in many DisneyWorld restaurants. Look for a recipe of Pork Belly soon along with the Brazilian Cheese Bread! In the meantime, enjoy my take on Irish and British foods.

 

Shepherd’s Pie-Beef

Shepherd’s-Chicken

Bangers and Mash


Salted Caramel Candied Pecan Pumpkin Spice

Next to chocolate, caramel is a family favorite for desserts. With the praises over my Best Chocolate Layered Dessert I decided to try this for someone’s birthday who’s into pumpkin spices. It was a hit! All the recipes are on the blog with the exception of the caramel pudding. This can be done with box mixes if time is limited. Scratch is still my favorite.  A drizzle of bourbon can be added over the cake too for an extra special presentation.

Continue reading