Dear Tony (my Italian Father-in-law), The meatball recipe I am providing is no where near what you had the pleasure in devouring as a young child of an amazing Italian cook!  But, I have to say, I really like my recipe.  It’s a little out of the ordinary…but I do think, if you tried them, […]

Russ and I headed to Puerto Rico for well-needed down time.  Why Puerto Rico?  We wanted to visit a tropical location that we have never visited.  We also wanted to get there on a non-stop flight.  Puerto Rico fit the bill and exceeded our expectations. First, the people of Puerto Rico were very friendly and […]

This chicken recipe has been my  favorite lately.  I have made it 2 weeks in a row. 🙂  I love that is is simple and very family friendly. Mix equal amounts of parmesan cheese… and sesame seeds. I usually start with about 3/4 cup of each. Purchase chicken cutlets or pound chicken breasts to even […]

I am the youngest of nine children.  What that meant growing up is that I had very little supervision. (Ha!)   It was a different lifestyle back then; Mom’s stayed home full time, for the most part, and our backyard really consisted of the entire neighborhood.  We played outside from early morning hours until the […]

Russ and I love our hot cereal in the morning.  We have gotten it down to a science with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and our hot cereal is truly heart smart, cholesterol cringing goodness. We start with a mixture of steel cut oats and oatbran.  And top off […]

I found these very cute containers at Pier 1 and thought they would be perfect to fill with homemade mustard. So…I bought them. Of course, once I get an idea in my head, I just have to make it happen. I have made homemade mustard a couple of times, and found that my favorite is […]

This week, I decided to try to make some eggplant chips.  It seems all types of veggies are being made into chips these days, so why not eggplant too? I thinly sliced an eggplant.Brushed both sides with a nice layer of olive oil.  Eggplant’s LOVE oil and literally draw it in, so you kinda need […]

This week while buzzing through the grocery store, I found the cutest little bell peppers. Like really, really small ones. Check out this little yellow guy… This one really was the smallest of the small. The others were a bit bigger.  But seriously, how I could I resist these peppers?  I wasn’t sure what I […]

Today I made a play date with my good friend, Michelle.  Michelle and I have been friends since Junior High {yikes, that is a LONG time} and share a mutual love of crafting, baking and anything that involves creativity. On the docket today, decorating tote bags and making ciabatta bread! Michelle and I took a […]