~berry trifle with mirabelle cream~ Here’s a perfect recipe for warm summer days. No baking is involved so your kitchen (and you) can stay cool as a cucumber and you can still serve a delicious elegant dessert. What really makes this trifle recipe special is the addition of Mirabelle, a superlative Alsatian eau de vie,…
~pick-a-berry cobbler~ My friend Cami posted this recipe yesterday and I ran up to the farmer’s market to get the ingredients so I could make it. Cami says to use whatever berries you like, so we used strawberries. The main fruit in this cobbler is rhubarb, but I bet it would work with just about…
~shrimp perloo~ Perloo is the word they use for pilaf in the Carolina low country where this dish is famous and prepared as often as Minnesotans make hot dish and fruity jello molds. This is my version of the dish. It’s easy, tasty and delicious. 1 lb thawed large, raw shrimp shelled deveined, tails in…
~seeing~ The world from this point of view as I sip my first cup of morning tea… ~smelling~ the lily of the valley that’s blooming like mad all along the wraparound porch ~feeling~ excited for the long weekend ~hearing~ Beth Orton she cries your name stolen car central reservation ~tasting~ THIS bread… with more of…
This is my favorite recipe for spaghetti sauce. A few people have asked for the recipe and I’m happy to share. If you’ve eaten spaghetti at our home when Jeff was cooking, you’ve had a completely different dish. I like his spaghetti sauce recipe too, but it’s not the same as mine. Simmering the sauce…
~toasted feta with thyme & clover honey~ This is unbelievably good and very easy to make. A perfect appetizer to serve with baguette and your favorite white wine. 8 oz. chunk of feta, blotted 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 3 Tablespoons clover honey fresh thyme sprigs sea salt and fresh ground pepper Preheat oven…
~twisted herb bread~ This bread recipe produces a large loaf of fluffy white bread with a fine crumb. If you prefer a chewier, crustier bread just substitute your favorite recipe for the ingredients listed here. The main attraction of this bread is the different herbs added to each rope of the braid. I used fresh…
photographs by Melissa Placzek ~ grilled thai chicken pizza with spicy peanut sauce~ makes four 10 inch pizzas So far this is my favorite gourmet pizza that we’ve made on the grill. The Margherita pizza is my second favorite (fresh romas, mozzarella, and basil) and the purist’s pepperoni pizza is always good…but this pizza is…
photographs by Melissa Placzek “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast.”~Ernest Hemingway ~Paris Garden Sandwich~ This is a gorgeous sandwich inspired by a Paris garden. I made these…
~scented geranium lemonade~ When I worked at the Tale of Two Sisters Tearoom I was introduced to a beautiful herb called Rose Geranium. Bonnie used this herb in her cakes and as a garnish for sandwich trays. SO pretty. Just recently I had a yen to recreate her chocolate rose geranium cake and ordered rose…