When I asked my cousin Michele what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she said “oh, I don’t know, either something with canoli cream in it, or that rose cake that you make.”  So, in the weeks leading up to the big event, I spent a lot of time thinking about cake.  

As part of my gift to her, we hosted about 15 people at my house yesterday to celebrate Michele’s birthday.  We declared it a Pot-Luck party, with my primary responsibility focused on dessert.  With so many people attending, I decided to make a variety of desserts.

I ...<< MORE >>

    Lately, I have thought a lot about bread.  The local grocer/garden center that I shop in (the place that sells lots of locally grown and organic dairy, produce, and meats) also has a bakery.  Their prices are on par with other bakeries and their quality is very good.     While I shopped last week, I reached over to pick up a loaf of cranberry-pecan wholegrain bread.  I looked at the price on the label.  Imagine my shock at the $7.95 price tag. 

    “What?”  I could not believe it!  “Has the price of ingredients increased this much? I ...<< MORE >>

All of my life, I have used a propane grill for my outdoor cooking (sans camping… but that is a different blog).  My Weber has served me well.  However, I longed for the high heat and smoky flavors of a charcoal grill.  I found that I had better results searing a steak in a cast iron pan on my stove than I did on my Weber grill, so after many years and much debating, I finally broke down and bought the charcoal grill.

I didn’t just buy any old grill, however.  I bought the grand pooba of grills, The ...<< MORE >>

This weekend felt like spring!  The thermometer hit the mid-fifties.  I did not even need a jacket to run around outside.  After such a long, cold winter, running around outside is all I wanted to do!  This is also the weekend that The Watchmen hit the box office.  My book club read The Watchmen last month, in advance of the movie, and a few of us got together yesterday to go see it  (It was awesome, BTW, and mostly true to the story).

Before we caught the Sunday night showing, everyone met at my house for dinner.  I started by thinly ...<< MORE >>

What do your pets eat?  Do you shop for pet food based on price? How nutritious is it?  Do you really know?  Well, one of my dogs got sick a few months ago, she lost nearly 15 lbs.  I took her to the vet, and after a series of tests, he determined that she has a genetic liver disorder called Copper Storage Disease.  The dog lacks the enzyme to properly digest and process metals – specifically copper.  So the copper builds up and poisons her liver.

The vet had me buy special pet food without metals at $80 for a 20lb ...<< MORE >>

Weeknight dining at my house is usually a wedge of cheese and some olives.  However, I have been trying to make more conscientious food choices on a day-to-day basis, which includes bringing my lunch to work.  Now, for years, I cooked on Sunday and brought the leftovers with me all week.  Only, that gets boring by day three.

So, these days I have added a midweek dinner to my cooking schedule.  Last week, I roasted a chicken.  Then I made chicken soup from the bones and white meat.
...<< MORE >>

Have you ever had a meal that lingered in your mind?  A meal that left you thinking about it at unexpected times?  Well my dinner at Angelos last week wormed its way into my brain.  I could only think about the next visit.  

So, I indulged my craving and called to made reservations for Friday night.  

Friday turned out to be a rainy, miserable day.  I left work shortly after 5:00pm and inched my way home through 20-mile an hour traffic.  My cousin Michele and her friend Christian were waiting for me when I pulled into my driveway.

We (well, I, really) Scrambled to get in and out of the house so that we could make our 7:30pm reservation.  We pulled up to the restaurant to find every parking spot in the lot already taken.  We entered to find that they already had quite a crowd.  The cozy, quiet atmosphere of last Sunday was replaced with a lively, bustling chatter that filled the space.  

Nicole seated us in the small dining room (this is relative, as both rooms are small – one room seats six tables the other about eight).  Now, Angelos is a bring-your-own-bottle kind of place.  I looked around, saw all the other patrons with their own wine, and regretted not grabbing something from my cellar before leaving the house.  We settled for Ice teas and sodas as we indulged in the delicious, warm semolina bread, olives and tapenade of sundried tomatoes and pepperoncini.




We each enjoyed a simple mesculin salad with a delicious vinegarette.





We decided to share two appetizers among us, the eggplant rollatini




And the Burata special.  Now the burata is a fresh, handmade mozzarella cheese that is stretched around fresh ricotta cheese and served with procuitto, fresh basil, balsamic and tomatoes….   OUTSTANDING!




For dinner, Christian ordered the Shrimp scampi





Michele ordered the penne a la vodka



And I ordered the special, a homemade tateagelli with shreds of pulled pork in a brown gravy. 




Once again, I took home most of my dinner, but this time, I planned. I made room for dessert.  We devoured the homemade zeppolis topped with nutella and served on canolli cream.



Another yummy evening!

        

Shopping for food in the winter is tough.  Most of the local farms close in the winter, so buying local can be challenging.  However, I frequent a local grocery/farmstand/gourmet shop in Newburgh, NY called Adams Fairacre Farms.  

Well, Adams happens to carry a lot of wonderful cheeses from local producers.  One of their suppliers makes handmade ricotta, mozzarella, basket cheese, ricotta salata and several other variations of fresh cow’s milk cheeses.  Their ricotta is excellent.  It is so creamy, sweet and fresh.  I love it!

So, I got to thinking about eggplant rollatini.  I wanted some.  So, I bought the cheese, ...<< MORE >>

Several years ago, my car service driver told me about a “secret” Italian restaurant in Harriman, while en route to the airport. 

“A secret?  How strange,”  I thought, but Al talked of handmade pasta, homemade sauce… real, old-world Italian food. 

After my trip, this mysterious restaurant haunted me.  I drove all through Harriman looking for it; and after some searching; I found it.  Only, it was closed.   The tiny restaurant lived in an old brownstone on what was once the center of a now defunct town, across from a corner store.   Someone hand-painted the name Angelos  on the window that ...<< MORE >>

What a strange and difficult winter!  December sent ice storms that downed trees and destroyed property.  January dumped snow, every week more snow dropped from the sky onto my driveway, lawn, commute, life.  February brought unemployment for so many of my friends.  Every time I log onto Facebook, some new has changed their status to “Now Unemployed” or “Freelancing.”  

Last week, I went to see a play in Manhattan.  As I walked through Times Square, I noticed… I could walk down the street.  Less than half the usual tourists crowded the sidewalks.  I saw disturbing things that I have not ...<< MORE >>