Pork (or Chicken) and Pumpkin (or Butternut) with Soy and Star Anise

This is a Diana Henry recipe ... and you KNOW how I feel about her! So just take a moment to really look at the photo above and as you do, I want you to imagine the smell of this dish doing a finish in the oven ... a kind of braise in that juice tucked down below the butternut squash and the pork fillets. Do you see the star anise? The red chile bits? The bits of ginger root? The colors alone are enough to recommend this dish, but the sauce flavors really sell it.

Two Words ...

Quick Chop

Pepin's Crepes With a Savory Take ...

Savory French Crepes for Dinner

Crack an egg and add some milk, water, parsley, flour, melted butter, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Whisk it together and let it sit for a bit.

Channel your inner Frenchman by heating a crepe pan until it's good and hot.

Carrot and Apple Panini ...

Sprout Sara made me this sandwich last weekend when I visited her in Boston. She said she'd gotten the idea from a sandwich she'd grabbed in a small bar somewhere in Beantown on one of her nights out with friends. Whoever came up with this sammy combo is a genius! I loved it so much that I made them for SB and I last evening for light supper ... so good!

IHCC - A Riff on Jacques Pepin's Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

This is the first major meal that I have cooked this week. Really. You see, life's been crazy busy of late.

A Birthday Coffeecake ... and a Dream

A post about a pretty perfect birthday or breakfast coffeecake and a wonderful dream .....

Pansies and a Pear Tart

Oh, Spring! At last, you seem to be rearing up and stretching your arms! Blow your breezes and bring on your showers! We are so ready for open windows and clean sweeps!

An Aside ...

What did I ever do without pizza and red wine ? I ask myself that whenever I have an evening when dinner menu planning falls by the wayside and I'm left to putting something satisfying on the dinner plates. Fast. That's when a warm fire provides a good spot for a bowl of dough, and the cutting board becomes the stage for a series of pizza toppers. A glass of red wine and the evening news on the radio  becomes the backdrop for ... pizza.

What's your go to meal? For us it's either pizza or a chicken Caesar salad ... and there were no fresh greens in the house tonight.

So, it was Donna Hay's recipe from one of her cookbooks ...