Maple Season! Maple Glazed Spareribs and Winter Slaw

 

... maple glazed spare ribs with winter slaw ...

 

An Ode to the Creamsicle ... Candied Citrus Cookies with White Chocolate

So ... I promise not to crab about my February Funk again ... I'm coming along nicely toward a full recovery. Thank you for asking. These sunny little cookies have been providing a bit of therapy.

Random Recipe - Stohrer's Cake aux Olives et Jambon

I recently ordered a few used cook books through alibris.com and thinking about Dom's 'do it your way' option for this month's Random Recipe, I decided that I would make the first recipe in whichever book arrived first. Well, today's morning mail offered up Linda Dannenberg's Paris Boulangerie et Pâtisserie .

It's the Simple Things ... Cider Roasted Pears with Sultanas and Pine Nuts

I was intent on making a pear tart when I took these perfect Anjou's from the fridge, but the snow was falling and the fire needed tending, more wood needed to be brought in from the woodshed, and a simpler approach appealed to me the more I thought about it.

Two Words ... Short Ribs

 

 

Storm Clouds

 

 

 

 

Short Ribs

 

 

 

 

 

Portabellas ... Onions

 

Avgolemono - Greek Lemon and Rice Soup with Lemon Pepper and Garlic Bread Sticks

Over the weekend, I made a friend a big pot of chicken noodle soup ... the kind that reminds us of our childhood lunches. It had plenty of carrot bits, was loaded with celery and onion, nice bite-sized bits of juicy chicken thighs, plenty of super thin egg noodles, and a softly salty chicken broth with bits of bright green parsley floating through it all. That's not the soup I am going to share with you today, though.

Hot and Spicy Crabmeat Dip

Like millions of other American football fans, SB and I gathered with friends around the television set to watch Super Bowl XLVII. Before all the action on the field began, though, the cooks brought out the tailgate dinner ... my contribution was a hot crabmeat dip. Easy, spicy, and full of crabmeat!
It was served with gluten-free almond crackers.

Ugh ... The February Funk ...

Bring on the chocolate, folks. It's February and in the little grey cottage, I am settling into the traditional February Funk. This always seems the cruelest time of the year. The sun begins to increase in intensity a bit, but the weather is so changeable. One day it's balmy and gives hope of Spring and the next a bitterly cold wind sweeps in from The North and dashes that hope AND the crust of ice on the driveway puddle. Wind chill makes everything seem even worse. So ... I retreat. I ignore my usual 'about town errands' and computer routines, don't go to church on Sunday morning, rattle the soup pots, put a sweater on over the turtle neck and big shirt, shirk as many responsibilities as possible, re-prioritize my Netflix queue, grab a good book or two, and let the library due dates expire.