My dad took us to The Mexican Grill on Main Street in Santa Ana, California after church on Sundays. I remember the sound of our car driving into the gravelly back parking lot. The restaurant was laid out sort of 50s style with a white formica counter with the band of ridged metal on the edge with fixed barstools and…
Month: January 2016
Not Your Typical Egg Burrito!
This was a first for me! Henry and I have been eating a lot of tacos with all the taco meat I have. That smoked Spanish paprika was so good I had to make more of it. But I ran out of the corn tortillas even though I had everything else. We were snowed in for the weekend so…
Smashed Potatoes copied from Umami Burger
Umami Burger is where I first tasted these. I wasn’t sure what a smashed potato is then. This is it! All you do is boil little baby potatoes in very salted water with the skin on until they are very soft. Drain and once they are not too hot, smash them between the palms of your hands. Not too…
Caramels – A 25 year journey coming to a end, a pause maybe
I think my love for caramels may be starting to wane along with my love for cold cereal which is another story. Two things I never thought I would lose enthusiasm for. I still do enjoy caramels but not the way I used to. I have been making these caramels for probably 25 years. That sounds so long so I…
Spinach Souffles
I made these a while ago after Henry made the chocolate souffles. I came across the pictures recently and they deceivingly look pretty good. I don’t remember the recipe for these and it doesn’t matter because I would never follow it again. I actually did not like these at all. They did not turn out tasting like I wanted them…
Stuffed Zucchini
These are an old favorite and although I don’t make often, they are really good! I got the recipe from epicurious.com which took it from David Ruggeri’s Little Italy Cookbook. These pictures show pretty much every step of the process except the hollowing out of the zucchinis. They turn out so cute! Like little boats of goodness, textures and flavor.…
Fried Chicken Sandwiches with Slaw and Spicy Mayo
These sandwiches are so good! The first time I made these Henry suggested I open a restaurant. The recipe comes from an April 2013 Bon Appetit magazine that I bought from the grocery store because this was on the cover and sounded amazing! It tasted just like I wanted. I love sandwiches with coleslaw and these hit the spot! Hill…
Angel Food Cake with Vanilla Custard Sauce
This is a long time family recipe that started from my Grandmother Ann who passed it to my mom then to me. Actually, I don’t use the family recipe. I use the Betty Crocker Cookbook version. Roger had angel food cake for birthdays, too. So this makes everyone in the family happy. I don’t make this for everyone every time.…
Bolognese and Béchamel Layered Mini Lasagna
Words can’t describe this! Total comfort food! Not something you would make on a hot summer day but in the fall or winter this is so good! I found these cool little lasagna shaped pasta noodles her in NYC. They do have good Italian stuff here which makes up for the lack of good Mexican. I wasn’t sure how to…
My Beloved Bolognese Sauce
A good Bolognese Sauce is such a comfort food for me! I found this recipe in The Book of Pasta by Lesley Mackley back in the early 90s. It was so delicious that I made it all the time and doubled, tripled and quadrupled the recipe, would save it in tupperware containers and pull it out to make lasagna or…