Author: RJ

What Am I Making This Week?

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Good question!

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I will be taking the week off from making dinner for my family. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to cook anything.

This decision is both good and bad for me. I have the freedom to make whatever I want: an appetizer, a side dish, a lunch recipe, or even something from the Breakfast category. The downside to this is just that: there are still sooo many choices!

After some deep thought, soul searching, snacking, and examining recipes. I settled on a recipe: Chocolate Banana Crumb Cake.

Why?

Cuz why not! It sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I think it does. And I can’t wait to share the final product with you all.

This recipe comes from the Breakfast section of Make it Ahead. The recipe photo in the book looks divine and Ina’s headnotes for the recipe consist of but two sentences. Which is very unlike Ina. I guess she wanted the recipe to speak for itself!

Practically, this recipe will be a rather cheap make. Looking over the ingredients, I see I will only need a small handful of items. I am considering omitting the sliced almonds to help keep the cost down (unless I can steal since from my Grandma). After all, I don’t need very many (3 tablespoons).

I’m not sure yet when I will make this recipe. It will be sometime this weekend (so between today and Sunday afternoon). But since this recipe calls for ripe bananas, I need to do some prep work first: I bought the bananas Thursday evening and I’ll have them sit in a bag overnight or longer so that they get to the proper ripeness, if needed.

But other than that, I’m ready to go!

Also, this is my 50th post on the blog! If you’ve been with me since the beginning: Thank you! Your support and “Likes” mean a lot. Don’t forget that I do welcome comments. So don’t be afraid!

Review of “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”

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This is part of a 12-part series where I review each one of Ina Garten’s twelve cookbooks. The previous reviews can be found earlier in the feed of posts. They come out on Thursdays, usually for 1:30 PM. This is the sixth review in the series.

Who doesn’t love green as the main color on a book? It’s so vibrant and pairs nicely for a cookbook.

Ina Garten’s sixth cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics is another one of quintessential “TV Ina.” But that’s not a bad thing! This is another book that makes Ina related to the home cook, whether they are seasoned or just starting out.

Continue reading “Review of “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”” →

Recipes #15 and #16 Orange-Honey Glazed Carrots and Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

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Both of these recipes can be found in At Home

In addition to the Parmesan Chicken I made last Saturday, I made two side dishes. Both of which complemented the main course nicely.

The buttermilk mashed potatoes are amazing! As someone who doesn’t get to have mashed potatoes very often, these were a welcome addition the meal. The potatoes were so creamy and flavorful. The salt Ina calls for is a lot, but the potatoes do not taste overly salty. The addition of pepper merges all the flavors and makes for a very tasty side dish.

The Orange-Honey Glazed Carrots are hands down, the BEST carrot recipe I’ve come across!

Using ginger, honey, and orange juice to turn up the volume on these carrots was a great choice for the meal I made. But, it’s also a great recipe crafted by the great IG! In fact, my family loved these carrots so much that we will be making them for our small family gathering at Thanksgiving. I can see them making a regular appearance at the Thanksgiving table year after year.

They are also going to be the first side dish recipe added to my list of Favorites!

As I may have mentioned earlier, I will be taking this week off from cooking dinner. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to make an IG recipe! I plan to bake this weekend, but not dessert! Probably muffins or scones. Both of those are types of food I haven’t attempted yet. Plus it’ll be a good excuse to tackle one of the Breakfast recipes!

Come back to the blog tomorrow to check out my review of Back to Basics!

Until next time…

Recipe #14 Parmesan Chicken

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This recipe can be found in Family Style.

One of the recipes I made for Saturday dinner was parmesan chicken. But, I have a confession to make. I bought the wrong cheese! Instead, I bought a combination of grated Pecorino Romano NOT Parmesan. So, since I kind of messed up the title ingredient, by review won’t be too long.

This recipe is very simple to make since it is essentially fried chicken cutlets. However, the addition of cheese to the bread crumbs is what really sets it apart. And if I’m being honest, I think the Pecorino Romano cheese added even better flavor than the parmesan would have.

I also decided not to serve this recipe with the recommended salads greens and lemon vinaigrette. But, it is still worth trying. It’s a simple meal than can be any night of the week and can easily accommodate and please a large group of friends.

Did I make sides for this? Yes, yes I did! I made two basic recipes: mashed potatoes and a separate carrot dish. Those reviews are coming tomorrow!

Happy November, by the way!

Tired…

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In addition to the three Ina recipes I cooked for dinner, I also made two loaves of bread. These were NOT Ina recipes, so I won’t go into detail. But, all I can say is….I’m exhausted!!

Reviews of the recipes I made tonight will be posting starting tomorrow.

Stay tuned! Happy Halloween!

Saturday Cookin’

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This week I will be making three recipes!

The main course will be Parmesan Chicken from Family Style.

I will be serving it with two side dishes. For a vegetable, I’ll be preparing Orange-Honey Glazed Carrots (At Home) and for a starch, I’ll be making Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (At Home).

I may modify some of the recipes a little bit to cut down on the ingredients needed to be purchased. For example, I will only be using the amount of buttermilk I have left from last week (about a half cup) and not buying anymore. So I’ll be short a bit for the recipe, but I also plan to not make the full amount the recipe yields.

Pics (hopefully!) and reviews to come!!

Review of “Barefoot Contessa At Home”

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Garten’s fifth cookbook begins what I call “Quintessential Ina.” This was around the time I discovered and fell in love with her cooking show. And I think her best recipes stem from the next few books. The tagline “everyday recipes you’ll make over and over again” rings true for this book since Ina had finally settled into her target audience: untrained, home cooks.

Continue reading “Review of “Barefoot Contessa At Home”” →

Living in a Dreary World

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Today is a rainy, cold, end-of-October day here in Connecticut. We’ve barely seen the sun over the last two weeks and they are expecting snow (!) tomorrow. I’m not really a fan of snow, but thankfully I am off from work that day.

Sadly, the time got away from me this week, so the next cookbook review will be delayed until later this evening.

I am still thinking of things to make this weekend. I am leaning towards a chicken recipe and some type of side…possibly vegetable or maybe risotto! But definitely, no dessert this week! I had to throw out roughly half the cake I made last Friday. No one was eating it and I already had more than my fair share.