Create an appetizing antipasto-for-dinner plate using goodies from the fridge, and “special” snacks from the pantry.
Sometimes you get tired of figuring out what’s for dinner. Sometimes it’s just too dang hot to cook (or even think about cooking). Sometimes you aren’t up to preparing a meal, but don’t want to drag yourself out to a restaurant (or even to the phone to order in).
So — what’s for dinner? Time to put out an appetizing dinner of appetizers. More Continue reading
This is only a little bit food-related, but I wanted to share it. You tell me whether this is karma or not:
We recently marked a birthday weekend with lunch at a local restaurant. I thought it would be a nice tradition to share some birthday with another diner, so we decided to pick up someone’s check anonymously. We enlisted the help of our waitress and she brought us Continue reading
A chip clip works to block off your computer camera.
Worried about someone peering at you through your computer’s built-in camera eye? Don’t mess with sticky tape-and-paper solutions. Just grab a chip clip from the kitchen drawer and pop it over the camera! Easy to remove and easy to remember — just clip it to something else you’re using (like your carry bag or sunglasses strap) to keep it nearby.
(c) copyright 2016 Laura Groch
Lychees are a delicious fruit, hidden behind a nubbly reddish-brown shell. Photo by Laura Groch
If you’re a fan of the Honeymooners (and I hope you are), you might remember the phrase, “sweet and sour leechee nuts.”
Lift the cooked part of the scrambled egg with a flexible spatula, letting the uncooked egg flow into the empty spot. What a revelation! Photo by Laura Groch
Sometimes things that are easy to cook turn out to be not so.
Take scrambled eggs. Millions of people manage to cook scrambled eggs every day without a problem.
Not me. For years — I’m embarrassed to say how many — I’ve been scrambling my eggs “wrong.”
Who says pancakes have to be round? Baking them on a cookie sheet makes the job go twice as fast, too. (Photo by Laura Groch)
Oooh, pancakes! What a fun breakfast treat! And yet what a pain in the neck they can be for us cooks, who have to keep working while everyone is eating, and while trying to eat our own pancakes, which invariably grow cold while we are tending the griddle.
Even for the two of us, making pancakes seems always to be a major production. So I tested a different way of making them that lets everyone eat together: Bake them in a flat Continue reading
Mom and me and the struffoli: Sometimes traditions are better remembered than observed. (Photo by Laura Groch)
With most of the holiday fun and fuss behind us, it’s a good time to look back on tradition: what family rituals still work, which ones should be adjusted, which ones need replacing.
I offer you the story of the struffoli.
One December afternoon after school, my little brother and I returned to my paternal grandmother’s house, where we would do homework and watch TV until our parents came home from work to pick us up.
Throwing my book bag on the floor and shedding my winter gear, I was suddenly aware of something out of the ordinary. It sat proudly on Continue reading
On the job in Indiana, interviewing a state trooper. Photo by Mary Patchett
My first reporting job was on the education beat in a small Indiana town, and near Christmastime I thought of how my mom used to puzzle over what to give my teachers as gifts. No gift cards then, and cold cash was frowned upon. On the list were gloves, scarves, candy, dusting powder and lotions (most grade-school teachers were still women).
I wondered what the teachers’ reactions were, and the result was this story (and I wonder how this story would read if it were redone today!). Here it is, slightly abridged. Hope you enjoy:
Most teachers know, when they open a Christmas gift from a student, it’ll probably be something conventional, like gloves or after-shave.
But once in a while, a teacher gets a doozy of a present that brings back Continue reading
I wouldn’t leave you high and dry for Thanksgiving Day without pointing you to a few trusted recipes.
First up, the sweet potato-and-apple dish that brought me back to the sweet potato fold: You can find it here.
Nor would I leave you without a peek at our Italian family’s stuffing recipe, which you’ll find here.
And, in case you’d like to be reassured that even seasoned cooks can make kitchen blunders, check out the tale of my 2014 turkey here.
I do hope you can relax and enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner, whether it’s a Continue reading
Besides bagels, cream cheese and salmon, we served Impossible Ham ‘N’ Swiss Pie (left) and Impossible Green Chile-Cheese pie at our Pre-Thanksgiving. Photo by Laura Groch
We just finished a casual but fun family gathering. What? When Thanksgiving is just around the corner?
Well, yes, because family and friends are often heading to other in-laws’ or other friends’ homes to share this holiday and/or Christmas. So our branch comes together sometimes before Christmas, or in this case, before Thanksgiving, for a get-together.
I’ve heard other folks have christened this idea as “Faux-” or “Fake- Continue reading
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