Italian Nachos and Pay it Forward

A year and a half ago when I published this chicken recipe, I received this comment:


BizFebruary 24, 2013 at 7:01 PM

I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I left out the onions because they are gross, and used two giant bone in chicken breasts, but the results were amazing - super tender chicken, crispy skin and melt in your mouth potatoes.Thanks for the recipe for this

Will the Real Chicken Scarpariello Please Stand Up?

As of yesterday I'm not sure I had ever heard of Chicken Scarpariello, though I have heard of chicken with Italian sausage and peppers. In any case I'm not sure this is either. It appears that Chicken Scarpariello is a dish that contains chicken and hot peppers. Maybe mushrooms. Maybe wine. It is an Italian American dish and that's about as far as I got. Doesn't matter. What matters is

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

Tomato Sauce

Tomato Sauce

The truth is that I hated tomatoes as a kid. My mother always kept them on the window sill in the summer and even had a few tomato plants. They  smelled so good but I just never wanted to taste a mushy ripe tomato. However I loved ketchup. I ate it on everything. I ate it on steak and chicken and turkey. I think my mother always wondered what I’d look like as an adult with

Spaghetti Bolognese and True Confessions

Spaghetti Bolognese or Ragu


                                                 

I have a confession to make. Yeah, I know everyone loves confessions. It must be our deep dark interiors that make us want those Oprah, Barbara Walters moments. Don’t get your hopes up. It is not that juicy. OK, already. It’s this simple. I’m not very good at taking care of myself. I’m a mother. Some mothers put

Ziti Al Fresco

Her return meant Ziti Al Fresco. Beautiful, spicy, rich, warm and basily, (it’s a new word) Ziti Al Fresco. The adjectives suit her and also the ziti. Yes, my daughter is home. There is no better feeling. At least until my son gets home. And then that is the best feeling because it means we will all be together at least for a short while until one of them leaves me again. I don’t know

Lotsa Garlic Pasta or Pasta 4444

It is one of those days-again. I haven’t gotten to the grocery so I’m left with my pantry and a few staples. My staples always include garlic and pasta. I make sure I never run out of these because then I’m guaranteed that I can eat. Actually with pasta there are many ways to go but today I’m sticking with the basics. Aglio olio as the Italians would say. I’m not sure that my recipe is