Toasted

Ok, slice in to thin strips, cook in butter till it carmalizes a little, add some lemon and some lemon zest, a bit of sugar and salt. Taste, more seasoning if needed, chicken broth as needed to keep it moist. Try not to overlook.

Wow, lady goes to Olive Garden, actually likes the food, and everybody looses their minds! I also enjoy some of the food at OG. We have many local places around us, some are good-some are great, most are very inconsistent. If the real chef is there- awesome! If not, I just wasted fifty bucks on crappy food and a "who gives a shit response". At least at OG you can talk to a manager, fix the problem, and still have a nice meal.

Roast chestnuts in my oven without cutting an x in them first. Almost lost an eye.

Celery

Top Ramen Oriental flavor- the only vegetarian option widely available. Tasty, salty, and probably very bad for you.

Artichokes around S.CT are about two for 4 dollars. Huge and delicious although they take a long time to cook. Worth it though, just plan ahead.

Parsnips. Roasted in the oven with evoo and sea salt. People tend to overlook this wonderful vegetable. Also excellent boiled and then mashed with butter, salt and pepper.

Great site! Sounds like something everybody in the family would be able to enjoy. I wonder where someone could buy those cute iron pans? I'm definitely going to try and recreate some of those recipes at home until we can get there. Thanks.

Great post. The Grandparent's on the floor with the babies- awesome. Hope you all feel better now!

Can't wait to try all the new recipes. I bought all of the ingredients to the original recipe I posted but I'm waiting until everybody goes to bed before I make it. Shhhh- I don't want to share!

Creamed onions used to mean defrosted boiling onions cooked in cream and dumped on the table like an after thought. I never ate them, never made them. This year my sister's creamed onion's were so simple and yet over the top, that we'll never have a holiday without them. Seriously simple recipe: fresh boiling onions, scallions, small regular onions- all pealed and whole- cook in a sauce pan with heavy cream, butter, fresh thyme, a little fresh nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Cook until cream is reduced and onions are tender. If I could have taken the pot and eaten them all by myself in the pantry I would have. Unfortunately there were too many people around. Is this an outdated dish or do people still make it?

I almost blew up my sister's house at least three times. See, with a gas stove you need to click on the light button before turning it to the heat you need. If you don't, gas will just flow, without the flames, and it turns into a very dangerous kitchen. I have an electric stove at home and habits are habits. I'm just happy they didn't kick me out after the third time. I think I've got the hang of it now. Oh, and I almost burnt my sister's onion dish by mistakingly turning it up to high when I meant to turn it to low. It's amazing how a different stove can turn out to be so challenging!

The rolls. We always forget the rolls. The pity is, we made them from scratch this year and stillforgot them.

By the owner and chef at the Colorado Kitchen in D.C., Out of the Frying Pan, Gillian Clark. I loved this book for so many reasons. A single mom trying raise two little girls by herself has the guts and skill to open her own restaurant. Ms. Clark is honest about the challenges any parent deals with raising children. It's not easy and sometimes you feel over your head. I loved how the author used making and eating food almost a therapy to help herself and her girls get though the hardest times.

Another food magazine addict here. This is my system: cut out the recipes I want as I read, stick them in a large zip lock bag, later organize them into photo albums ( the ones with just the single big page for photos) according to apps., veggies, baking, etc. Now I can just flip open to a recipe and the plastic protects it from stains or sticky cooking fingers. I also do the same thing with recipes that I download. It seems like a waste of time, not to mention paper, to go find a certain recipe I only use a few times a year and keep printing it out. I try to keep one of the albums in my car at all times so I can organize the recipes while waiting for appointments or during one of the kid's sport practices. If the recipe has a photo I try to include some or all it to remind my self why I wanted to make it in the first place.