Cooking & Entertaining

Company’s coming!  The next three weekends I will be cooking and entertaining friends and relatives; my second favorite thing in the entire world to do.  Some of you who have gotten to know me are aware that I like to collect things:  shoes, fabric, and cookbooks.  Well, I also love to collect dishes!  I found…

Easter in our family is always exactly the same.  We all gather at Dad’s house around 11:00, and everyone always brings exactly the same offering to the pot lunch brunch.  No variations, no subsitutions allowed!  No one misses this brunch unless they are in Tierra del Fuego (like my nephew) or sick as a dog…

Saint Patrick’s Day was two days ago.  I know, I know.  Things have just been a bit hectic in my life the past couple of weeks, so that I am behind on my posts.  Every year on March 17, my father and assorted other male relatives beg me to make my version of Corned Beef. …

    The past week has been kind of a topsy turvy one, with me busy keeping up with my new puppy Ozzie, with Ozzie figuring out exactly what it is that I want from him, and with my husband adjusting to his new job.  We woke up this morning and discovered that TODAY was…

This is a picture of some of the side dishes I served at my dinner party on Saturday.  The nice thing about them is that they can all be prepared well ahead of time and served chilled or at room temperature.  They tasted pretty darn good too!  The main part of the dinner was a…

My favorite moment when I entertain is that magical half hour before the guests arrive and I stand in the middle of the room appreciating how nice everything looks.  The house is clean, the table is set, the flowers arranged, the food mostly prepared, the wine chilling—all we need are the guests.  That moment never…

No, I am not about to juggle these eggs, but it sure feels like I am multitasking all the time lately! Is it just me, or is this summer simply racing by?  Every potentially lazy, relaxing day turns into a whirl wind of activity by noon.  All I want to do is sit out on…

We have a plum tree in our backyard.  I am not sure just what kind of plums they are, as they were planted by the previous owner of our home.  What I can tell you is that this plum tree is REALLY happy in our backyard, and for some reason, this year the birds didn’t…

I made one of my favorite salads this weekend.  I call it Mexican Chef Salad, but I have also heard it called Taco Salad.  It goes together pretty fast and the folks in my family request it often.  Thought I would share the recipe with you. 1 lb ground turkey 1 chopped onion 1 envelope…

Are you like me, and constantly buy bananas with the best intention of slicing them on cereal or eating them out of hand?  I buy them all the time and love to see them sitting perched on top of the other fruit in the fruit bowl on the counter.  They look lovely at first, all…