I had a friend in high school who was Italian and her Mom’s specialty for birthday parties and sleepovers was stromboli. What is effectively an Italian turnover, filled with deli treats, is emblazoned in my memory as a favorite adolescent food memory. It’s also a festive party dish, perfect if you’re feeding a crowd. One […]
Arancini are balls of rice, stuffed with anything from cheese to ragu, then fried to a golden hue. They are a traditional Sicilian dish served in December for the Feast of Santa Lucia, commemorating the arrival of a grain ship to the island in 1646 during a time of famine. What does that mean to us? An […]
We officially have a Halloween tradition in the Simon house. For three years now, I’ve made a big pot of spaghetti with meat sauce (Bolognese if we’re bein’ fancy) and opened up the doors to friends and family before Trick-or-Treating. After a third round of rave reviews and inquiries for a recipe, I spent today […]
When most folks think about rice, two types come to mind: white and brown. But, in reality, most any rice can be brown or white, it’s all simply a matter of how the rice is milled. White rice is milled to remove the husk, the bran and the germ. Brown rice, on the other hand […]
It’s time again for Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup! The latest in my Traina Foods series is a classic comfort food. Cabbage rolls are a staple of delis, but sadly haven’t ever been on my dinner table before this recipe. I always thought these would be complicated and laborious, but with the help of my pressure […]
Ryan loves stuffed peppers. He grew up with his Mom making the classic version with green peppers, rice and ground beef. When Traina Foods enlisted my help to create a series of recipes featuring their Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup, for some reason my brain went to Italian style stuffed peppers. Their ketchup is not like […]
This recipe for Soba Noodles with an Almond Sauce reminds me of when Ryan and I lived in NYC. Two weeks after we got married, Ryan and I relocated to New York City. Specifically, Jamaica, Queens. Not quite the Sex-and-the-City, boho chic corner of the Big Apple that I had imagined, but it was one […]
It’s 3:35pm on Tuesday. I have been wound up all day. Actually, I was amped up last night, too. Laying in bed, asking Ryan, “why am I so tense?” He told me I would feel better if I got some exercise, to which I twisted my face and shot him that glare, silently demanding an answer […]
