Tag: recipes

Pure Michigan. Pure Yummy.

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Ah Michigan. I love everything about it – the quaint lake towns, Traverse City, Trattoria Stella, amazing wineries, B&B’s, even its ad campaign. There are exactly two ad campaigns that can capture my attention and transport my mind and Michigan is at the top of that list. Any season, any medium – radio, billboard, television – and I’m mentally planning my next trip. (The other is Corona. I relax just seeing those commercials!) But back to Michigan. It’s been one of our favorite weekend getaway destinations whether for a romantic getaway or a family trip to a beach house; and then there’s the winery hopping, apple picking, fall drives and pumpkin farms.

I could really go on and on, but let’s get to the food. This week we obviously picked Michigan for our state night dinner which meant that cherries had to be the star of the meal. Afterall, Michigan is home to the National Cherry Festival. We also wanted to make something healthy since we’re still recovering from our soul food dinner, and we wanted to use ingredients we had on hand. The result – a Salmon Spinach Salad with Cherry Sauce.  Continue reading →

Three Things I’m Grateful for: Cheddar, Garlic and Butter

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Enough said right?! What can possibly be better than cheesy, garlicky, buttery goodness? Well probably lots of things, but still…When we asked Mr. N what he wanted to go with his fried chicken, he didn’t have any good ideas. Then dad suggested biscuits – a good southern side dish. Mr. N considered this for a while and then said, “I know! I want Red Lobster’s biscuits! Mommy can you make me Red Lobster biscuits?” How could I refuse, even if I had no idea how to replicate those tasty little evil biscuits (I say evil because I could sit there and eat them all night long).

After a bit of glancing around for ideas on-line it seemed that the majority of copy-cat recipes included the same things – bisquick, garlic seasoning, cheddar cheese, dried parsley and butter. But I thought we could do one better…homemade biscuits with garlic, cheddar, fresh parsley and butter. For our biscuit recipe, we used one from Manna & Quail that I had made a while back with rave reviews from dad and the kids. Then we added the Red Lobster twist.

We started by combining the dry ingredients for the biscuit dough – flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, garlic salt and shortening. Continue reading →

Now on to the Main Course

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As we mentioned yesterday, Mr. N got to pick his whole meal for his birthday dinner. Despite his adventurous nature with food, he asked for one of his long-running favorites – chicken nuggets. This seemed a little lackluster to me, so I asked him if he wanted to try some real, authentic fried chicken. He was definitely game.

So since we’re cooking around the world and throughout different regions of the U.S., we thought we’d add some Southern soul to the night and go with Buttermilk Fried Chicken. For the recipe we turned to Kay over at Pure Complex. While Kay is  a New Yorker now, she comes from a long line of Southern soul food cooking women, including her mom and grandmother from which this recipe was inspired. While we provide a list of suggested ingredients, as Kay said – soul food is about cooking from what you feel, not from what you see; so listen to your heart and adapt the spices to fit your family and tastes. And what a better way to make our first soul food dish – than by cooking it for my little guy’s birthday. It can’t help but come from the heart! Continue reading →

A Special Recipe for a Special Day

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This weekend we celebrated Mr. N’s birthday. I can’t believe my little baby boy is now seven years old! Where does the time go? We had a wonderful weekend full of birthday activities – a party, a trip to the zoo, a big dinner and lots of play time. Tonight, since it’s Mr. N’s special day, we let him choose our meal and his dessert. We’ll share all the deliciousness with you over the next few days, but since it is a celebration, we thought we’d start with dessert.

Every year for the past four years, Mr. N has requested a blackberry cobbler for his birthday dessert. But this isn’t just any blackberry cobbler, it’s my Grandma’s Blackberry Cobbler. This has been my all-time favorite dessert since I was running around in pig-tails and it’s been the family favorite for at least four generations!

I still remember the first time I tried to make this dish. I baked it for my dad – and it was awful. He tried to choke it down, but it was honestly so bad that he couldn’t finish his bowl (and that’s saying something!). Then I found a raspberry tart recipe and it came close to replicating Grandma’s cobbler, but it was still off. So when I was expecting Mr. N I asked my grandma if I could come for the weekend to learn her cobbler recipe. Like most good cooks, she doesn’t have a recipe or measurements written down; and this was one dessert I needed to know how to make and share with my growing family. I’ve made several cobblers since that weekend and if Mr. N and my dad are any indication – I’ve gotten this thing down pretty good. Thanks Grandma! Continue reading →

What’s Not to Love About Colorado

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Tonight we round out last night’s winning Colorado dinner with Balsamic Glazed Fingerlings, again adapted from Agriculture Colorado. I still can’t get over how successful dinner was – and even more surprising, how much the kids enjoyed it! Miss A asked for more steak on two different occasions today and was very distressed that we didn’t have any leftovers. Mr. N finished off the fingerlings tonight and has already asked that we make the potatoes again soon. He also wants to pass the recipe on to his Grandma to make on one of the night’s he goes to her house for dinner. Looks like this meal will become one of our family recipes!

We don’t say this often, but this is one recipe you’ve got to try. We’re sure you’ll love it – if not, send us the leftovers! 🙂 You start with dark balsamic vinegar, white oregano infused balsamic vinegar and honey. Bring it to a simmer on the stove and reduce the mixture until it’s syrupy, about 40 minutes. Continue reading →

Ladies and Gentlemen: We Have a Winner

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This week we’re dishing up a few recipes from the Rocky Mountain State courtesy of Miss A. Colorado is a special place for me, not only due to its unbelievable beauty, but also because it was where I vacationed several times with my mom, dad and sister (sometimes even aunts, uncles and cousins) when I was growing up. As a mom, I have had the opportunity to share many of these places, memories and experiences with my own little guys in Colorado; and it’s been amazing to see familiar sights as new through their eyes. So when Miss A picked Colorado tonight I knew it was going to be fun, but little did I know it would be an absolute winner.

For our meal we found a plethora of fabulous options at Agriculture-Colorado. The site is host to recipes from numerous chefs throughout the state that cook with locally grown produce and meats. Tonight we settled on Peach Teriyaki Buffalo Steak and Balsamic Glazed Fingerlings. Now we’re not new to buffalo – last summer dad and I tried buffalo brisket in South Dakota – but I have to admit I was leery of the steaks. I mean the brisket was lathered in BBQ sauce, so really it just tasted like BBQ. This, however, was going to be unadulterated Buffalo. We started with the marinade – ripe peaches, teriyaki sauce and honey. Continue reading →