avablog

Leah and I went to dinner with some friends last night at Cafe Dodici. As always, it was delicious. Aunt Rachel is in town for the weekend, so she offered to babysit for us. In appreciation, I wanted to make her a meal. She likes (among other things) pasta with mushrooms, so I dug up […]

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I first saw this book a couple months ago at a bookstore in Decorah. The pictures of the food were what caught my eye initially, but closer inspection revealed some really nice, simple recipes for traditional Italian dishes. I’m eager to get started on a couple of the entries. Between this and the online membership […]

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I love making this dish this time of year.  Accompanied by mashed sweet potato, it’s a really, really nice meal.  No doubt those of you out there with more culinary imagination than I posses can come up with more exciting sides. Turkey Meatloaf 5 slices of firm bread 1 TB oil 1 onion chopped 2 […]

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I have tomatoes.  Onions.  Peppers.  Cukes.  Olive oil.  I can get parsley and garlic.  And I have a food processor for mixing it all up.  So I’m looking for recipes. My mother-in-law makes a good version following a modified Cook’s Illustrated recipe (modified mostly to exclude garlic, which Leah can’t eat).  It goes a little […]

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Pictured above are some tasty treats from my garden. In the foreground are a couple Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, and in the back is a Sunsweet F1 cucumber. The Sunsweet was a surprise; I’d never seen one before, and at first I was sure we’d been sold some mutant seed. But they’re actually very good, […]

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I have a couple basil plants that’ve been growing like crazy lately with all this hot, humid weather and rain.  Last night I got my first chance to use some when I made pasta for dinner. We had a tube of frozen turkey in the freezer, so I browned it with a little sweet onion, […]

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I finally managed to make a meal last night that Leah enjoyed.  Ava, not so much.  But Leah did mention a couple times that she liked what I cooked, so I thought I’d record it here for future reference. We stopped at our local CoOp yesterday to ask about particular fish that might be more […]

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I rarely do any big blowout recipes anymore.  There just isn’t time. When I do, it’s almost never a dessert recipe.  Leah and I were invited to a chocolate party last month that required us to make a dish to share.  Leah came up with this recipe for peanut butter chocolate buckeyes. The recipe itself […]

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Marcia sent along a review of a restaurant in NYC that has this dish on the menu.  I can immediately spot three dealbreakers for Leah, but it sounds fantastic to me. Salt and pepper 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and cut into 1/8-inch dice […]

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What a classic.  Kevin’s asked me a couple times what it is I do with the delicious free range chickens I get in bulk from a local organic farmer.  In the winter I’ll typically thaw one out and drop it in the crockpot with a little salt and pepper before I head out the door […]

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A recipe Leah got from our friend Megan. 1 lb mild italian sausage (bulk or link) 1 c. onion (chopped) 2 cloves minced garlic Brown sausage, onion and garlic; drain well; combine in a soup kettle with the following ingredients: 5 c. beef broth 1/2 c. dry red wine 1/2 c. water 1 c. sliced […]

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Marcia made these this past weekend; they sound great. Time: 30 minutes 1¾ cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ¾ cup sugar ½ cup (packed) plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground ginger 2/3 cup sour cream ½ cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon honey 2 large eggs 1½ cups peeled, cored and finely […]

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Marcia sent this along today; it sure does look tasty. She suggests I up the onion a little to make up for eliminating the garlic. Maybe “eliminating” isn’t the best word to use in this context…. SQUASH BISQUE WITH MAPLE AND BOURBON Kurt Friese Here’s a simple soup that can be made using any winter […]

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One of the things I’ve tried to keep up on, at least a little bit, during all this Ava madness is my cooking. I have a freezer in the basement (thanks, Harvey and GG!) that’s packed full of tasty organic pork and Greazel beef. So yesterday I defrosted a pork shoulder and tried to come […]

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Hot off the presses. Our friend and trusty source of drama Annette (via her new friend Andrew, as it happens) just sent this perverse recipe for a sushi parody that is easily one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen this week (this doesn’t bode well for the rest of the week). To the four […]

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Well, the knock on the head was worth it. Mark’s Headbanger White Chicken Chili took the blue ribbon among six other contestants today in the office chili cookoff. Even better, Becky’s pecan pie took first in the pie category, so it was all blue ribbons for our department! I actually voted for a different chili […]

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I made this recipe (doubled) for the recent progressive dinner we had with a group of friends. It turned out well. I wish I would’ve had some real mayo and white wine on hand to use in place of Miracle Whip and lemon juice, but it was tasty all the same. Served with an assortment […]

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