Simple Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

I love breakfast. I love
hash browns and scrambled eggs and bacon. I love French toast and pancakes. And
I love oatmeal. It didn’t start out that way. As a child I remember eating
Oscar Meyer liver sausage on toast with little dried minced onions on top. Yuck.
I know. Really yuck. I remember Fruit Loops and Rice Krinkles, Apple Cinnamon
Cereal and Captain Crunch. And I remember my father

Cantonese Steamed Chicken with Black Mushrooms, Green Onion and Sausage (Good for at least 30 years)

Cantonese Steamed Chicken


It seems kind of funny
that I’ve had a Chinese steamer travelling with me over the last 33 years. I
can even remember where I bought it. My steamer was found on a sidewalk sales
table at a kitchen store in the Foothills Mall in Fort Collins, Colorado.
It must have been cheap and I must have thought that this was a great find or I
never would have bought it.

Not My Mama's Cherry Pie and Toasted Coconut Cookies

Not My Mama's Cherry Pie









               “If life is a bowl of cherries, then
what am I doing in the pits?”

                                                           Erma
Bombeck



Today is George Washington’s
Birthday. A long, long time ago when I walked miles to school we celebrated George’s
birthday on his real birthday. I don’t think President’s Day was invented yet.

Porcini Mushroom Lasagna or Treasure in My Mother's Pantry

I did not grow up liking
mushrooms. They seemed like slimy little creatures and they were brown. They
came in cans and one had to always pick them off of pizza or out of spaghetti
sauce. I DO NOT LIKE THEM said SAM, I AM. Until I had a gorgeous hunk of a
boyfriend. He was very tall and blonde and even my parents liked him. He played
basketball and had great biceps and drove a forest

Brazilian Coconut Lime Shrimp Stew

By the time Sunday night
rolls around I am not in a great frame of mind to cook. I’ve laid around with
any luck over the weekend, and sometimes it is hard to get inspired. Going out
is not an option for us right now as our budget is very tight. I’m not a fast
food person and even if I caved and let my husband go to Chipotle I’d have a
hard time justifying the $8 or so that he would spend on

Chicken Vesuvio, A Wedding, and a Great Shabbat Dinner

Chicken Vesuvio




 It only took me 33 years
to discover Chicken Vesuvio. Pretty pathetic, I know. After all I grew up off
of I57, spent numerous years trailing my parents to various restaurants in Chicago and yet had never
had Chicken Vesuvio. I think they were holding out on me. It took going back
for a wedding 21 years ago to bring it to my attention. And it has held it ever
since.

New Orleans and King Cake

King Cake






  I’ve got New Orleans on my mind. Way back in the 80’s
we were able to visit several times. Twice for a conference, once just for fun,
one with sadness attached. I love New
Orleans. I love the energy that it gives me. N’awlins
makes me feel like I’m in another world and I could use that feeling right now.
When I think of the Big Easy I think of my husband’s relations

Brown Sugar Scotch Pudding to Soothe the Soul

Brown Sugar Scotch Pudding





Some days I need to be
soothed. Yesterday was one of them. I am tired of people that assure you they
will do something and then they don’t. Ok, let’s give them credit for trying. But
just like yellow ribbons didn’t matter when my kids were small (they knew only
the blue counted) trying doesn’t really help. And promising makes it worse.



 Yes,
I’m feeling a bit

Roasted Za'atar Chickpeas or Kadami (Definitely not potato chips!)

I admit it. I don’t really
like chickpeas. I like hummus but only freshly made hummus. The Jerusalem cookbook’s
recipe is fabulous; smooth and silky, creamy and luscious and reminds me of nothing
that comes out of a container here. And I love dipping pita into hummus. But
truth be told I never even liked the garbanzo beans on a restaurant’s salad
bar. (Do they still do salad bars?) So