Our work began early this Memorial Day. Both dad and grandpa (my dad) were outside by 7:30 working on the swing set, the Cedar Summit Panorama from Costco. 
They braved the 90 degree temps and humidity, and worked tirelessly through lunch. By early afternoon the rest of the barn raising crew came by to help finish things up (and break things in!). 
The Philly Phanatic
This meal was all ChefDad, so he’ll share this one in his own words. 🙂
Today we head to Pennsylvania for Philly Cheesesteaks, and if Ribbie and Roobarb merit a spot on this blog, surely we can find room for a true legend among mascots–the Philly Phanatic. I’ve had a taste for a Philly Cheesesteak for the last couple of weeks, though I confess to limited experience with them. We did order cheesesteaks at the old Veteran’s Stadium back in 2003, though I suspect mom was too busy taking pictures of Kyle Farnsworth to pay much attention to her meal.
The internet’s not much help for cheesesteak recipes–it seems there is no universal formula beyond thinly sliced beef, cheese and bread. Nevertheless I felt confident as I began this undertaking, as mom said to Mr. N, “He’s been to Philadelphia once and he thinks he knows how to make cheesesteaks.” Yes I did. We settled on a set of toppings–onions, green peppers, and mushrooms. Continue reading
Ever since last month when Dawn over at First Look, Then Cook posted her recipe for baklava, it’s been on my mind. I instantly thought of an ice wine we have that would match this dessert perfectly. Not to mention I’ve never worked with phyllo before and it sounded like a challenge I needed to tackle. So when we were looking for Egyptian desserts and came across the recipe for Baklawa, the Egyptian version of the dessert, I knew it was time to get to work.
The main differences between Greek baklava and Egyptian baklawa are that the Greek version uses honey in the syrup and almonds in the pastry. The Egyptian form of the dessert uses sugar and orange blossom in the syrup and omits the almonds. Either way, the dessert sounds intriguing to me and dad, and one that we thought even Mr. N and Miss A would enjoy.
Miss A helped me out early in the process. She was very excited to see the mallet coming out again and was eager to crush the walnuts. Continue reading
This weekend we are wrapping up our Egyptian adventure with another winning recipe. When dad first picked Egypt a few weeks ago, we knew little about the local cuisine. We figured we would come across some traditional Middle Eastern dishes such as falafel or babaganoush – and we did. But we also discovered that Egyptian cuisine has influences from the Mediterranean, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and offers a lot of healthy, flavorful cooking options.
Tonight’s recipe is one of the first that we came across for the region and we instantly knew we had to try it. This recipe for Egyptian Seafood Pasta is very similar to an Italian dish that dad and I used to eat a ton of when we were dating. So going in it already had a lot to live up to.
We began our pasta dish by sauteing a chopped onion with some olive oil. Once the onion was softened we added bacon, garlic and ground cloves – yes cloves! This was new to me. Continue reading
We wanted to try an Egyptian dessert this week. We also wanted something healthy so that our waistlines didn’t explode after that Georgia Peach Cobbler. We found a recipe for a strawberry dessert on Tour Egypt and while it’s fairly healthy, I have to say that I’m not really convinced it’s an authentic Egyptian dessert. I’m also uncertain whether it’s a dessert or if it’s breakfast. I think it can easily be both; and if not, well then we just ate dessert for breakfast. I suppose there are worse things that could happen.
The recipe is easy – combine raspberries and sugar in a sauce pan and heat, stirring gently, until a syrup forms. Continue reading
The humble pie is for me because, well, he did it again. We had our greatest number of hits for ChefDad’s post last night. (Although I am suspicious that he was driving up the hits from his computer. 😉 ) I just hope all of this success doesn’t go to his head, but who am I kidding – it wasn’t his modesty that first attracted me some 14 years ago. In all seriousness, even I enjoyed yesterday’s post and I think dad’s earned the keys to the blog controls every now and again. But for now back to the Peach State – and back to dessert!
While we didn’t make a pie tonight – it was close. Georgia being our state for this week, we knew we had to make something with peaches. How could we not?! So today, for my dad, and for Miss A who was not fond of the shrimp and grits, we made a Georgia Peach Cobbler. We adapted this particular recipe from the one found over at Vintage Victuals, mostly because it sounded delicious and easy. Really – very easy. Continue reading
Eat, Play, Love 
