Basilgirl

I have complete brain drain when it comes to DiGiorno vs. Freschetta. The brick-oven pizza is made by Freschetta. The brick-oven pizza is made by Freshetta. The brick-oven pizza is made by Freschetta. And it's really good.

Mario Lidia Bourdain Biba Caggiano Tyler Florence Emeril Any Iron Chef

My new "house wine" is Yellow Tail Chardonnay from Australia. Around $7.00, but sometimes on sale for $5.99. It is very quaffable. I'm not crazy about Chardonnay but this one is...buttery/creamy.

Thanks, Smoky T. That sounds great - but I had no apples. Sounds like a good one for October, I'll keep it in mind. Jinmyo's butter sauce turned my ham steak "gor-may," but my latkes turned into hash browns.

God I'm getting hungry Time for lunch.

Yum. I can't wait for dinner now. Thanks, Jinmyo!

Saute in butter & rosemary? Hmmmm....

I have a ham steak to cook tonight...any ideas to jazz it up? Am serving with potato pancakes.

That stuff rocks Yes it does! I like the Parmesan type more than the one with all the melted cheese on it, but my fiance likes the melted cheese, so I just put my own shredded cheese on his pieces before I pop them in the oven. I'm too lazy to do that, so I usually buy both kinds and pick one depending on what we're having with it. They're usually on sale at 2/$5 where I live. Not crazy about cooking on weeknights. Thus the laziness. ALTHOUGH tonight will be a tomato pie with 3 kinds of cheese, onions & basil. With store-bought crust, of course.

That stuff rocks

I jazz up frozen pizza (I know, I know - the DiGiorno brick oven style is really...not bad) with chopped garlic, hot pepper flakes, oregano, S&P. Drizzle with olive oil and fresh basil (if I have it) after it comes out of the oven. Beats Domino's. And Papa John's. And Pizza Hut.

Well, I went with Marcella's but didn't follow the recipe exactly. It still came out great. Just as I finished it up, Tyler Florence came on The Food Network and made - spaghetti carbonara!!! His guest swooned all over the place. Now I have to try his version. Correction: Betty Crocker's version is called "Cheese Spaghetti Toss" not "Cheesey Spaghetti." I don't know which is worse.

James Beard's chili is my favorite. NO BEANS. You would be shot in Texas if you put beans in your chili. My Texan daddy told me so. Wick Fowler's chili mix is also good, if you're in a hurry.

Was going to attempt a Philly pork sandwich last night, but my greens were slimy so I went in a different direction. Probably just as well because I've never had one but have heard they are great. Please explain to me exactly what goes on one - pork, provolone, greens and hot peppers? Do you make it like a cheesesteak? What's the deal? Thanks.

Just making dinner, Bux. "Cheesey Spaghetti" from Betty Crocker. Hmmm. Not as bad as it sounds. Still trying to decide which of my 3 favorite Italian cooks' recipes to choose from: Mario, Lidia, or Marcella. Watch me go back to Betty!

Lynn Rosetto Kasper's The Italian Country Table and The Splendid Table (Emilia-Romagna) Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking

The Betty version is actually really really good, by the way. It has wine!!

I saw that Martha the other day too. Mario seems to be one of the few guests who can get her to shut up.

Can't think of the brand right now but my favorite are those olive oil-rosemary chips they USED to carry at Trader Joe's.

I want to make carbonara tonight. In the past I've used a recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook (red); it's called Cheesy Spaghetti or something. Mario's recipe uses only pancetta, spaghetti, parmesan, eggs & pepper; Marcella's has garlic, white wine, parsley, parm & romano; Lidia's has onions, parm & chicken stock. Mario claims his is the authentic version. I'm confused. Should I go back to Betty?????

My circa-1972 Kenmore (? not sure of brand even) has one large basket with 6 compartments. So far everything's been coming out clean. The machine sounds like a space ship, though.

Using a microplate to grate garlic. And, not a cooking trick, but logic (which I am not hindered by): keep knives, forks, spoons, cooking implements separated by type in the dishwasher. Makes it twice as fast to put away. Duh.

My favorite scene too! So scary. Tabasco makes a good bloody mix. Go figure.

Oscar Mayer BLT's on toasted English muffin bread, chipotle Gourmayo on one side, blue cheese on the other. Onion rings.

Pork loin with Tuscan herbed salt from A New Way to Cook in the Set It and Forget It Lidia's baked potato wedges with lots of garlic, lots of S&P, lots of olive oil and some parsley Tomato-cuke-red onion salad with feta Lindeman's Chardonnay Lots of pork left over for Cubans