A Dinner Bargain

March 19, 2012April 13, 201374 Comments

Tonight we continue our Greenlandic food adventure with a main dish recipe from The Official Tourism Site of Greenland. I have to say, the tourism department did a convincing job with the website. I had never really considered Greenland among the places I want to see in the world, but the photos are just breathtaking.

That said, I don’t see us packing up Mr. N and Miss A for a tour of icebergs anytime soon; so until then we’ll live vicariously through the cuisine from the warmth of our own kitchen. Now as we mentioned in our previous post, Greenlandic cuisine is high in protein from marine mammals, fish, game and birds. We did try to get our hands on some caribou to make Greenland’s traditional dish of suaasat, but didn’t have any luck. So we went with our fall back recipe for Pan Fried White Fish and Roasted Vegetables. Continue reading →

Pass the Tea Please

March 8, 2012April 13, 201352 Comments

Tonight we wrap up our Armenian adventure with an interesting little dessert. I don’t think we’ve ever done a cookie on one of our international and stateside adventures. In fact, I think the only cookies that we have showcased on the blog are my mom’s from the holidays and Miss A’s birthday cookie request.

So when we came across the recipe for Armenian Cookies, we knew we had to give them a shot. Plus they gave me a chance to use my stand mixer and I like excuses to use my stand mixer. We started by creaming the butter and sugar. Continue reading →

Flowing with the Currant

March 6, 2012April 13, 201354 Comments

We’re back to our Armenian adventures and cooking up one of our favorite foods. Mussels!! Now many of you may remember that back in the summer, on our epic road trip to Maine, we harvested and cooked mussels right from our own backyard.

It remains one of our favorite memories from that vacation. Not to mention one of our favorite recipes.

From the time Mr. N was 3, and Miss A was 3 as well, both of the kids have loved mussels. As a parent I always found this a little odd. I mean mussels aren’t exactly the prettiest of foods and not something you find most kids willing to try. Our little guys though – can’t get enough. So when we found the recipe for midia dolma, or stuffed mussels, we knew this was one we had to try. So we picked up some fresh mussels from the Italian grocer. Continue reading →

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

March 3, 2012April 13, 201362 Comments

First and foremost I want to offer a brief, but sincerely heartfelt, thank you for everyone that left comments or sent me messages this past week. It’s been a difficult time, but the warm words and support were truly helpful. Thank you.

As I mentioned in our last post, Grandpa would not have wanted us to mourn for long. So it’s time to get back in the kitchen, and I know he would have enjoyed this next stateside series…It’s time for our recipes from Hawaii to begin!

Over the next few weeks we’re going to try to replicate some of our island favorites. This particular recipe was hands-down the one I looked forward to recreating the most. The first time I came across this dish was at the Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Company. I wanted something fresh and light to contrast the heavy resort and restaurant food we had been enjoying, and the Anahola Granola looked perfect. Continue reading →

Hold the Cheese Please

February 23, 2012April 13, 201342 Comments

On Sunday afternoon last week, Mike and Miss A went on a little father-daughter excursion. Miss A wore her favorite “fancy” dress and Mike put on a button down shirt, and the two headed out to see a dance recital version of the Wizard of Oz. Miss A was absolutely in her glory. (I think Mike was too. 😉 )

So while Mike and Miss A were off for an afternoon on the town, Mr. N and I took on our next Armenian recipe, an Armenian Lahmajoun. The lahmajoun is similar to a pizza, but without the cheese. We started the recipe with an onion, butter and garlic. Continue reading →

Quest for the Best Banana Bread: Final Showdown

February 16, 2012April 13, 201371 Comments

It’s finally time! Thirteen recipes and nearly a year later, here we are at our final banana bread showdown. As many of you know we began our quest for the best banana bread last spring. It all started with the Big Bird banana bread years ago that I would make with my dad. Then for years without any banana bread at all, we were introduced to Doree’s banana bread and became convinced it was the best. And so the quest was born…

We certainly didn’t come close to touching the millions of banana bread recipes out there, but we did try a variety of often vastly different loaves on this journey. Starting with our Peanut Butter banana bread, we baked 13 loaves and saved several slices of each wrapped up carefully in our freezer. Just before leaving for our trip, we pulled out the slices to thaw, and you should have seen the kids bursting with excitement at the site of all the bags strewn across the table.