Roasted Hoisin Duck Breasts

I simply must share this simple dish. Silent Bob and I had it with a side of fried rice and almonds and stir-fried broccoli and peppers - fast and easy Asian.

Fame and Chocolate - A Heady Combination

This month's 'We Should Cocoa' could go a million ways ... what's the first thing you think of when someone says the word 'chocolate'? For this person, it becomes a link to chocolate chip cookies. I wonder why that is?  Whatever the reason, chocolate chip cookies are surely a favorite chocolate fix for many a chocolate hound. The recipe goes together fast, and the different varieties of chocolate chip cookies have only increased over the years, as different types of chocolate have been transformed to 'chips' by manufacturers like Nestle and Ghiaradelli.

Pub Food - Beef in Stout with Herb Dumplings

Sunday Supper never looked so good ...

Thin Mint Parfait - Bring on the Greens!

I sooo wanted to include this dessert as a topper for our Virtual Supper Club dinner menu, but it's hardly 'light cooking' ... so I'm tagging it along after this month's supper club post. This is an easy and totally yummy dessert ... and it couldn't be easier!

Pub Food - Roasted Beets and Meat Pie

An easy vegetable dish that is so pretty ... it sits nicely beside an elegant poached fish or a homey piece of meat pie. Completely unfussy and just beautiful in its simplicity.

Saturday Morning @ 10 O'Clock ... Time for Muffins

So, here you go! A project for the morning ... roast a couple apples! Get them nice and sweet and lemony and cinnamon-y! Let them cool because in a little while you are going to make the nicest tea time snack! And there's a bonus! There will be plenty of leftovers for breakfast tomorrow morning! How sweet is that?

Bring on the Greens ! ... Virtual Supper Club

This time of year in New England can seem almost bleak, as one rattles the last of the garden squash around the cellar bin, yanks the last of the parsnips from the garden during a warm spell, and roasts potatoes with snippets of the rosemary brought in from the late summer herb garden. The punky potatoes get a soup treatment and then, we start to anticipate Spring fruits and vegetables. Getting fresh green vegetables involves kale and spinach, hydroponic greens and tomatoes from the area growers, and yes, buying asparagus from 'far, far, away'.

May and June seem ages away but we dream of going into the back yard and snipping our own salad greens and lopping off our own spears of asparagus (or getting them at the farmer's market). Right now, though, we begin to feel the return of a more intensely warm sun and the maples are beginning to waken. Sap is flowing and, in our hearts, we know Spring can't be far off. Still that ache for green is urgent. That is why, when asked to choose a theme for March's Virtual Supper Club, I chose "All Things Green".

Gluten Free Pita Breads - Lenten Communion Host

Our little church holds a special evening service during Lent at which members of the congregation do special readings during the service and then share a candle light communion - it is a very beautiful and emotional take on the Last Supper. This year, I was asked to make small flatbreads to use as the communion host. I found a yeast free quickbread dough on a fantastic foodblog called Gluten Free On A Shoestring and I set out to make pita breads.

Nothing Will Do ... Except Chicken Soup

Today is just one of those days! Fresh out of bed, I stubbed my toe on the door jamb. Snapped at the dogs when they came in from the back yard, shaking damp all over my bare legs (like they listened!). Brushed a knot the size of small bird's nest into my hair and then stood before the mirror, contemplating hacking the whole mess off rather than patiently combing the tangle out. Thank God, reason prevailed. And finally, accidentally flipped a whole piece of perfectly buttered and jam slathered toast face down on the kitchen floor. All this before 10AM ... I ask you, what's a girl to do?

Retreat, retrench, retaliate? Refresh! Why can't we just hit a 'refresh' icon when our days start out in the dump? My way of stepping away from the drama is to put my head down and muddle through some mindless housework ... there is nothing like slamming a vacuum around the house at top roar, throwing laundry in the machine, weeding through old mail and magazines, and decluttering life to help me get a grip on a bad mood! And by lunchtime, I was ready for the ultimate comfort food ...

There. All better. I feel good enough to look up at the world and smile - a little. My toe still hurts. Damn it!