Hello Everyone!!  I’m so sorry I haven’t posted for almost a year.  Why, you may ask? Because I had been so busy preparing to move from my beloved Yellow Farmhouse in Massachusetts to St. Augustine, Florida. (I arrived in St. Augustine in July… with, probably, 1/4 of the ‘stuff’ I used to have..)

There was a lifetime of wonderful family memories etc. stored in the attic, the cellar, the barn AND the loft in the barn. Most of it was ‘good stuff’ and I hate throwing good things away.  Luckily, there’s a well traveled road down the hill in back of the farmhouse. We put ‘stuff’ down there and off it would go, often in minutes.  I tell you, we made a lot of people very happy! One woman told me she was helping her daughter set up her new apartment with my ‘stuff’.

I’ll be flying out tomorrow so I can spend the holidays in Massachusetts, and I’m really looking forward to seeimg family and friends. There’s a lot I miss about New England – but there’s tons of things I love about living here in St. Augustine!  (More about that soon..)

In the meantime I haven’t packed a thing for my trip, which is so typical of me.  I spent today day cleaning up and reorganizing things after my very first dinner party in St. Augustine. I have a BIG problem with ‘time management’.  I tend to underestimate how just long it will take to do things, so, as usual, as my guests arrived last night my kitchen was a disaster area.  (It never matters as long as the food is good, the wine is flowing and the conversation is lively.)

EPIC CHRISTMAS TREE FAIL !!

I purchased this little tree when we lived in Malta.  I loved this little tree. I spent a few hours decorating it a few days ago until every little glass icicle and every treasured ornament was in the ‘best place’.  Then … I moved the tree, maybe, five inches… and the stand broke….     ; o (

New and Improved Christmas Tree!!

A nice seven footer, so ALL the ornaments fit!!  Believe me… I was ‘this close’ to saying, ‘Never-mind’… 

One of my twin sons and his family – plus my twin brother and his wife – were here in St. Augustine for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful!!  If you ever get a chance, come to St. Augustine during the holidays. The Nights of Lights is beautiful to behold. A large part of the city is lit up with thousands and thousands of lights – it’s gorgeous.

The night before Thanksgiving I served my Ravioli Lasagna.  Get this – I made it the day before… so no mess. Why can’t I be like that more often!!

Wishing you all the merriest of holidays!!  (And now… I guess I’ll have to get started on packing that suitcase…)

Here’s the link to the recipe for Ravioli Lasagna

++ Top Photo of St. Augustine – stock image… 

The new ‘thing’ on Pinterest seems to be baking cookies with a Hershey’s Kiss in the center, which is a fabulous idea.  So … I thought, “Why not wrap rich cookie dough around a maraschino cherry & cover the cookie with melted semi-sweet chocolate”?  Yup – Yummy!

Here’s how you get that maraschino cherry in the center. Take a tablespoon of dough, flatten it and wrap dough around the cherry.  It’s fun and easy – as is dipping the cooled cookies in the melted chocolate.

You can make the cookie dough ahead and refrigerate it.  Recently I divided the dough in half, brought half  to my son’s house and made cookies with my grandchildren.  A week later I baked the other half and mailed those cookies to my godmother and uncle. (At the last minute… typical me.  It cost me almost $60.00 to make sure the package would get to Florida by Christmas..)

My grandchildren had fun forming snowmen and candy canes etc.  –  but the dough is far too soft to use for cut-out cookies.

Yield – about 4 dozen cookies 

Oven at 350F      Bake cookies for 15 – 16 minutes – until bottoms are lightly browned.  (The cookies themselves will be very, very lightly browned at the edges.)

Ingredients and Method

• 1 1/2 cups butter  ++ Three sticks allowed to come to room temperature   ++ Here’s a ‘cheat’ – place the three sticks of butter on a small plate. Microwave in 10 second increments. DO NOT overdo it …. or you’ll end up with melted butter. Two times at ’10 seconds each’ should do it.     ; o )
• 1 (8 oz.) package softened cream cheese
• 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar   ++ Also know as ‘powdered sugar’ or ‘icing sugar‘
• 1 egg at room temperature  ++ I  put the egg in some warm water for a minute
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• red maraschino cherries, drained on a paper towel
• 1 (12 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tbs. shortening

Method

In a large mixing bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups softened butter, 8 oz. softened cream cheese, 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, 1 room-temperature egg, 2 tsp. vanilla extract and 1 tsp. almond extract until thoroughly blended, then continue beating for another minute.

Add 4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Dough will be sticky, so I suggest dividing dough into two parts, wrapping in plastic wrap & refrigerating for about 20 minutes.

++ If preparing dough ahead – divide dough into two parts, wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Remove dough and let it warm up a bit before you begin forming cookies.

Using a measuring tablespoon, scoop out a tablespoon of dough and flatten it in your hand a bit. Place a maraschino cherry (don’t forget to put the cherries on a paper towel to dry a bit) in the center and fold up the dough to cover the cherry.  Roll the dough in your hand to form a rough ball.  Place balls about two inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake cookies for 15 – 16 minutes in a 350F oven until cookies are a lightly browned on the bottom.  Cookies will be very, very lightly browned at the edges.  Remove cookies immediately and allow to cool on a rack.

++ Here’s what I learned… if you pick up a cookie to see if the bottom is browned and it falls apart… it’s not ready yet!   ; o )

Melting the Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Place 1 bag (12 ounces) of semi-sweet chips and  2 Tbs shortening in a microwavable bowl.  Melt chocolate at either half-power or the defrost setting.  Keep checking –  and stirring  – until chocolate is melted and well blended.  Dip each cookie ‘face down’ into the melted chocolate and give it a little shake. Set cookie on rack – repeat.  Enjoy!

++  Try not to overheat chocolate or it may harden up.  Here’s h.e.lp. if that ever happens to you – http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/977613/in-a-pickle-how-to-salvage-overheated-chocolate

All the cookies but two made it into the Christmas package I sent to my aunt and uncle in Florida.  I  dare YOU to eat just one…!!

UPDATE – I heard from my friend at Cottage Grove House (formally Tiny White Cottage) and she’s going to return to blogging this summer.  As I mentioned, life just got in her way, but she’ll be back.  HURRAH !!!  https://cottagegrovehouse.com/

Like any writer, the working life of a food blogger can be a lonely calling.  Especially for someone like me, who no longer has a family to feed. Of course, my friends and neighbors are always thrilled to accept a dessert, a casserole or some baked goods which I am unable to consume myself.  BUT – it’s always possible to host a party so your friends and family can enjoy the fruits of your labor!  And that, as will not surprise you, is my first choice!!

But, as I sometimes say, “Life gets in the way” and, as I just discovered, some of my very favorite food bloggers… people I’d come to think of as friends… no longer have the time, or inclination, to blog.

How I miss them.. How I miss being a part of their lives.  And how I miss their observations about life… and news of their lives.  We’d come to know each other. Some as they prepared for their own weddings – others as they prepared for their children’s weddings. Each and every blog was/is unique.  And, like any good friend, I want to know that they’re happy – that they’re alright.  Sure, I miss the recipes, which is, in theory, a recipe blog’s main purpose.  But more than that…. so much more than that… I miss the friendship and the sharing.

So – fellow food blogger… don’t ever think no one cares.  Never think that you and your blog will not be missed. Because that’s not true.  You may feel as if you’re throwing your most recent post out into the Big Void… that no one cares.  But you have no idea… even if you only reach a handful of people … what your blog and you sharing your life… both the good and the bad… means to others.

I just love these Matryoshka dolls (Nesting Dolls) from Russia!  They’re a bit like your grandmother saying, “Never quit”!!  

Sometimes a new recipe can be inspired by the happy occasion of finding something special on a menu  – and then realizing you already have the main ingredients at home!

Yesterday, as I sipped a frosty cold beer at our local Irish pub (Murphy’s), I spied something called Shepherds Potato Skins – which I’d never heard of in my life.  That sounded pretty darn delicious… potato skins filled with shredded simmered beef, corn (or peas) smothered with melted Cheddar cheese. Yummy!!

Hey, I happen to have some ‘shredded simmered beef’ at home… namely, pot roast which had been simmered in a red wine sauce. And I also have potatoes and I can easily pick up some Cheddar cheese.  But let’s go that extra step… let’s dollop on some sour cream and add a bit o’ chopped green onion. Now we’re talking!    ; o )

Get two meals!!     First make ‘Good Old-Fashioned Yankee Pot Roast with Red Wine & Thyme Gravy’ and then use the leftovers for ‘Pub-Inspired Potato Skins’!!

Incidentally, I had already ordered regular potato skins – which were AWESOME – before spying the Shepherds Potato Skins on the menu… so I have no idea what they look like or taste like, but I’ll find out next time I go to Murphy’s.   (Don’t you just LOVE Irish pubs??!!)

++ UPDATE – I returned to Murphy’s Pub and tried their Shepherd’s Potato Skins, which weren’t potato skins at all but slices of fried potato with a bit of a mixture of meat, corn and peas sprinkled with cheese.  I like mine MUCH better!!

INGREDIENTS & METHOD

• 4 large baking potatoes, such as Russet
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 – 2 1/2 cups leftover shredded meat – such as leftover pot roast or pulled pork
•      ++  Could also use leftovers from Sloppy Joes etc. etc. 
• ½ cups frozen peas – cooked
• 1/2 cup frozen corn – cooked –  OR –  drained canned corn 
• 2 tsp. tomato paste      ++ Freeze extras in small portions in a freezer bag
• 1/2  salt
• 1/4 pepper
• 1/8 – 1/4 tsp. paprika
• cooked potato scrapped from potato skins
• ½ cup sour cream     ++ Plus more to dollop on top right before serving. 
• 2 Tbs. SOFTENED butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbs. chopped green onions – top part only       ++ a.k.a spring onions
•    ++  Plus more to sprinkle on before serving
• 2 cups shredded SHARP American cheese  ++ I recommend shredding it yourself. I recently learned that ‘stuff’ is added to the ‘already shredded cheese’ to prevent it from clumping.  So now I know why the pre-shredded cheese never tastes as good…

• Toppings – sour cream & chopped green onions

METHOD

Oven at 350 F

Scrub potatoes thoroughly under running water & dry.  Place potatoes in a medium bowl. Pour on 2 tsp. olive oil and sprinkle on 1/4 tsp. salt. Toss potatoes with olive oil and salt. Pierce potatoes in several places with a fork – which allows the steam to escape.  Place potatoes on the middle rack of oven.  Bake for an hour – or until a knife goes into potatoes easily.  ++  Place a large piece of foil on the bottom rack to catch any drips from the potatoes.

While waiting for the potatoes to bake, mix together the shredded meat, peas, corn, tomato paste, salt, pepper and paprika. Cover and set aside.

In a small bowl mix ½ cup sour cream, 2 Tbs. SOFTENED butter, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and 2 Tbs. chopped green onions – top part only.  Cover and set aside.

Once potatoes are cooked, remove from the oven and cut potatoes in half lengthwise.   Scoop out most of the potato, leaving about 1/4’” around the edges of the potato.

++ Leave oven on at 350F !!

Mash the cooked potato you’ve removed from the potato skins with a fork. Add sour cream mixture and blend until well mixed.

Warm up meat and veggies mixture a few minutes in a microwave until heated through. Divide equally among the 8 potato halves.

Divide the potato/sour cream mixture in the same way.  Sprinkle tops with 2 cups shredded cheese.  ++  Don’t worry about being too fancy when you add the potato mixture – it’s sticky!

Bake at 350F – again on the middle rack – f0r 20 – 25 minutes.   ++ They’ll probably be ready in 20 minutes because everything is already hot.  

Dollop on lots of sour cream and sprinkle on some chopped green onion. ++ I suggest enjoying a cold beer in a frosty mug so you can pretend you’re at your favorite pub!!

I’ve had a real ‘hankerin’ for Yankee Pot Roast recently.  The delicious smells wafting from the pan as the chuck roast is seared reminds of Sunday mornings when I was a child. My mother would brown the roast and then simmer it for hours to serve for our Sunday dinner (or ‘din-na’ as my mother used to say with her Boston accent.)  And she always served her pot roast with creamy mashed potatoes, which I highly recommend!  (We always had mashed potatoes – and I mean always – even with Chicken Pot pie because my father was a Mashed Potato Freak!) 

I discovered this recipe in a cookbook called ‘The New Best Recipe’ from the editors of ‘Cooks Illustrated’. It really is a jewel of a cookbook.  Every single recipe was prepared over and over again until they arrived at what they believed was the absolute BEST.

This Yankee Pot Roast so tender you can cut it with a fork – no kidding!  The secret, according to ‘The New Best Recipe’, is in cooking the chuck roast in the oven at 300F,  and for a longer time than most pot roast recipes call for simply because the long, slow cooking breaks down the collagen which can make some cuts of beef, like chuck, tough. They also discovered cooking a pot roast in the oven maintains the same temperature far better than can be achieved on top of the stove.

‘The New Best Recipe’ makes a great read because they inform you what they did and how they did it… and what they didn’t like and why. I did make few changes, such as adding red wine to the cooking liquid, and thickening the gravy because, personally, I like my gravy to ‘stay where I put it’.

Got leftover pot roast? I suggest Pub-Inspired Shepherds Potato Skins

INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/2 lbs. Chuck Roast OR Chuck-Eye Roast   ++  I purchased a 2 1/2 lb. roast 
• salt and pepper – to sprinkle on all sides of the chuck roast
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 small carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 small celery rib, roughly chopped
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup beef broth   ++  I didn’t have beef broth, so I used 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 – 1 1/3 cups water  ++  Liquid should come up to the middle of the roast.  If your roast is small, you may not need much water at all. 
• 1 sprig fresh thyme    ++  Or 2 tsp. dried thyme – not ‘crushed’.  If you do use crushed thyme, use less.

For the Gravy

• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 pinches dried thyme
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 2 Tbs. cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste

          Oven at 350F      

 Place rack in middle of oven…. (I had to lower my rack to accommodate my Dutch Oven).

For a smaller (2 1/2 lb.) roast – cook for about 3 hours

For a larger (3 1/2 lb) roast – cook for about 4 hours

METHOD

Generously sprinkle roast – on both sides – with salt and pepper.  (I like to press the S & P in.)

Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in a large Dutch Oven over medium-high heat.++  Don’t have a Dutch oven – use an oven-proof skillet and cover skillet with foil.  Brown meat on all sides. The meat will produce some steam as it cooks.  Don’t confuse steam with smoke BUT if your pan does smoke, reduce the heat immediately.  And don’t worry if the bottom of your pan blackens.  Mine does but it’s not ‘burnt’.

Remove meat to a platter while you cook the vegetables.

Reduce heat to medium.  Add 1 medium onion, roughly chopped, 1 small carrot, roughly chopped and 1 small celery rib, roughly chopped.  (Don’t add the garlic and sugar just yet.) Continue cooking vegetables, stirring, until they begin to brown.

Add in 2 medium garlic cloves, minced & 2 tsp. sugar and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup chicken broth and 1 cup beef broth – or 2 cups of either chicken or beef broth, it won’t matter all that much in the end!

Now add 1/2 cup dry red wine, salt and pepper to taste and a sprig of thyme (or 2 tsp. dried thyme.)  Return the roast to the pan.  Add 1 – 1 1/3 cups water – just enough to bring liquid to the middle of the roast.  (There was no need for me to add any water.)

Bring contents to a simmer over medium heat.  Cover Dutch Oven and place in 300F oven.

Cook, turning roast every 30 – 40 minutes, until fully tender.  Remember, the longer the roast cooks, the more tender it becomes.  ++  Meat should be very tender.  A fork or knife should slip easily into the roast.

Remove roast from Dutch Oven and place it on a platter.  Cover with foil while you make your gravy.

Making the Gravy    

++  Get out all the ingredients for the gravy while the pot roast is cooking.

• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 pinches dried thyme  ++  As I mentioned above, if you are using crushed thyme, use less
• 1/4 cup COLD water
• 2 Tbs. cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste

Pour pan juices through a strainer to remove cooked vegetables & sprig of thyme.  Allow juices to sit about five minutes so any fat rises to the top.  Using a large spoon, remove as much fat as you can.  Put pan juices in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat until reduced to about 2 cups or so. (May take several minutes.) Add 1/4 cup dry red wine and 2 pinches dried thyme and continue to reduce until you’re back to about 2 cups.

In a small measuring cup mix 1/4 cup COLD water with 2 Tbs. cornstarch until smooth. Slowly add to hot pan juices. Start whisking (or stirring) right away. Bring liquid to a boil and boil for about a minute until thickened.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice roast into thick slices – or use a large fork and break meat into large chunks. Transfer meat to serving platter. Pour about half the gravy over roast and pass the remainder separately.  And don’t forget those creamy mashed potatoes.     Enjoy!!

Wishing all my American friends a happy Thanksgiving.  (My Canadian friends celebrated their Thanksgiving a month ago, which I think is a really good idea – its FREEZING here in Massachusetts today.)

While running errands yesterday afternoon I saw car after car lined up at various gas stations, preparing to head out to grandma’s or wherever they were going.  I’m staying here in Massachusetts today.  I usually drive – or take the train – down to the Philadelphia area where I spend a truly joyous Thanksgiving with my son and his family.

My son’s in-laws always host Thanksgiving and there’s such a crowd that T. always cooks two turkeys.  (Love you T.!!!)

This browned and beautiful turkey was quickly turned into nothing but a carcass. – from which I made my Saturday-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Noodle Soup.  

For the last few years my son has been in charge of preparing the sweet potatoes following my daughter-in-law’s grandmother’s tried and true recipe.  And I, for the last several years, have been in charge of the gravy and the green beans. Oh, and the homemade cranberry sauce.  (I wonder what they’ll do without me this year?!) P.S. My son informed me that my ‘turkey gravy expertise’ WAS greatly missed !! 

I returned home Monday night from a nine-day trip to Italy – it was fabulous! When we lived in Malta we often went to Italy for either business or pleasure – but Italy’s a place you can visit over and over again and never, ever tire of the food, the sights and the Italian people with their generous hearts and ready smiles.

Today I’m heading over to one of my sister-in-law’s homes to celebrate Turkey Day.  I wanted to make sweet potatoes following my daughter-in-law’s grandmother’s recipe, but I didn’t have any dark Karo syrup.  So I ‘doctored’ the recipe with what I did have – namely regular Karo syrup, 1/2 cup apple sauce, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Plus three cut up apples.  I love how it turned out and I’ll be posting the recipe after Turkey Day!!

This magnificent photo of Venice was taken by a wonderful young woman named Cecilia whom we met on our tour.

Me… in front of the French Embassy in Rome, following the disaster in Paris.  Our hearts were breaking…

++  Clipart courtesy of www.hdlatestimages.com