Author: Tracey

Planning for Thanksgiving: Farro and Wild Rice with Roasted Autumn Vegetables

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We are full-tilt into the autumn season and I’m busy collecting recipes for Thanksgiving! I came across this beautiful recipe on Williams-Sonoma’s Taste blog and knew I had to make it immediately.  I had most of the ingredients on-hand, along with some leftover cubed butternut squash from last week’s Winter Minestrone.  I made a few changes to the original recipe by using farro and wild rice instead of wheat berries.  I also added some brussels sprouts and cremini mushrooms to the mix as well.  This dish   was hearty enough to be a main dish on a Meatless Monday, or a delicious side dish and I think it is perfect for Thanksgiving.  What’s not to love about whole grains with earthy, roasted root vegetables?  Speaking of root vegetables, the roasted parsnips were a revelation!  I had never had parsnips before and I love an opportunity to try something new!  I wasn’t crazy about the flavor when raw, but when roasted, they had a sweet, herbal flavor–similar to a turnip or a rutabaga.  I really enjoyed them …

Setting the Thanksgiving Table

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Whoops!  I blinked and it’s already November!  How in the world did that happen?  Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I’m not ready yet!  Being somewhat housebound since my surgery, I hadn’t had a chance to look for Thanksgiving and Harvest decorations until late October.  Now, I don’t understand what happens around here, but it seems that unless you get your harvest decorations in August, all you’ll find in October are few picked-over knick knacks and an explosion of Christmas!  I don’t know about you, but I really like Thanksgiving decorations and I’m not quite ready to be thrust headlong into Christmas yet! Since the offerings at the store were slim-pickings, I decided to do something a little different this year and settled on a simple, white and green Thanksgiving table.  I found two preserved boxwood topiaries at Homegoods and paired them with small white pumpkins (I love those) and white pumpkins with green and orange stripes.  I set them on top of a beige table runner and placed some candlesticks and jars with …

My Soup Addiction: Ina Garten’s Winter Minestrone

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A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Barefoot Contessa on Food Network and Ina Garten made this soup on a cold, snowy day in the Hamptons and then ate it in front of a roaring fire!  I immediately thought:  I want that soup right now!!  I also thought: I want it to snow right now! That second thought being completely implausible, of course.  And not that I needed any excuse to make soup, the fact that the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder sure helped my resolve to make an enormous pot of Ina Garten’s Winter Minestrone.   This soup was amazingly good–rich and hearty and loaded with vegetables and tender pasta; it is a perfect, complete meal!  The soup is finished with a bit of white wine and basil pesto, which really adds a lot of depth of flavor.  I love that this soup features butternut squash, which gives it a subtle sweetness.  Plus, it is chock full of dark leafy greens!  The original recipe calls for the addition …

When Life Gives You Key Limes: Key Lime Pie Bars

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One of the things about eating seasonally that has always confused my tastebuds is the fact that citrus season is in winter.  I mean, when you think of a tart, cold glass of lemonade, you think of summertime, not the dead of winter when lemons are ripe for the picking!  I’ve given this some thought, and perhaps this is Mother Nature’s way of perking up our palates after a long season of pumpkins, apples and winter squash. Over the past two years we have planted a few dwarf citrus trees in our backyard:  Eureka lemon, Meyer lemon, blood orange and a key lime tree.  They are still young at this point and I cannot wait until they are all bearing fruit!  I’ve had this Barefoot Contessa recipe for Lemon Bars on my Pinterest board for months, just waiting for that glorious day when the Meyer lemons on my little tree finally ripen (likely some time in December).  But, it so happened that the key limes ripened first, and boy are they wonderful!  They are super …

A Very Spicy Cocktail and Getting Back to Normal

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It has been two weeks since my surgery and I’m finally beginning to climb out of the foggy tiredness that characterized my first week home.  I’m still living in my baggy sweats, but it’s so great to be able to cook breakfast (or shower, or walk 10 feet) without having to take a nap afterwards!  It’s also great to have my normal appetite back–I lost ten pounds that first week and trust me, that’s no kind of diet plan!  I could only manage to eat the tiniest portions of very bland food. Oh, how I’ve missed eating yummy, spicy food! Now that I can eat (and drink!) again, the Man of the House developed this amazing cocktail inspired by a drink called The Crisp that he enjoyed at Bar Chloe in Santa Monica, California.  This cocktail is not for the faint of heart as it packs a spicy punch that lingers long after you’ve finished that last tantalizing sip–seriously, it makes your lips burn, but it’s a good burn! For each drink you’ll need: 2 …

White Bean and Turkey Chili and a Forced Rest Period

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It’s been a little over a week since the last recipe I posted and I wanted fill you in as to where I’ve been.  Well, for the most part, I’ve been on my couch, wearing my floppiest, baggiest clothes and sleeping on and off–believe me, I wish I were off doing something a lot more fun. Last Friday I underwent a major surgical procedure and was in the hospital for a few days, but now I’m at home recovering.  It’s so difficult to sit still and do nothing, but at the same time, doing just about anything tires me out so much that I just end up, well, sitting still and doing nothing anyway.  Every day, I feel a tiny bit better, although the overachiever in me thinks I should be up and about and back to normal by now!  This could not be farther from the truth and even surfing Pinterest tires me out!   Good thing I have Season 3 of Downton Abbey to catch up on!   So, while I don’t have …

Avgolemono Soup – Greek Chicken and Rice Soup with Egg-Lemon Sauce

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This week I found myself on a quest to satisfy a serious craving for Avgolemono soup (Greek chicken soup with egg and lemon sauce).  Last Monday, I stopped at my favorite local Greek cafe for an early lunch.  This little cafe, in my opinion makes the BEST Avgolemono soup and every time I have lunch there, I have to order a bowl.  But this time, I was told that there was no soup!  I was shocked and asked how it was possible that there was no soup, since the restaurant had just opened and I could see the pot of soup in the background!  “Not ready yet!” was the answer I received.  Flash forward to Saturday afternoon:  I went there again, and ordered the soup and was told “No more soup until Monday!”  “But I came in last Monday and you told me there was no soup!”, I whined.  By this time, I was starting to think that something very, very Seinfeld-ian was going on.  My hopes for soup were temporarily dashed, but then I …