Raising Hands

It's that time of year again. The time when many mugs of tea and coffee are consumed whilst pouring over trusty cookbooks. For some of you, Thanksgiving menus are set in stone. There are certain dishes that are expected to be on the table. That's another post entirely. Today is all about finding ways to incorporate new dishes into your menu and feeling good about it. In my early teens, our family traditions became more fluid. That is, it became our tradition to be untraditional. This wasn't intentional, it was life. What it instilled in me though was that the people around us on a special day are what matter, and while serving the perfect meal and sitting down to the perfectly set table is wonderful. It's not requisite to showing gratitude. Let me explain. One year my high school marching band had the opportunity to participate in the big holiday parade in Chicago, Illinois. My family and I took the train in early to take in some sights and assumed that we would hav...

Do you know the book If you Give a Mouse a Cookie ? Well, that could have been the story for this bathroom renovation. It all began with a hole in the bathtub. The previous owner had attempted to fill it with some sort of caulk in can business. You know the commercial where the guy puts a screen door in the bottom of a boat, sprays some magic goo et voila! He's rowing off into the sunset. Yeeeah, that stuff. Thank goodness it worked, in this case. No structural issues or water damage. We got to skip right to the fun part. Once we determined to replace the tub, it only made sense to refresh the flooring. The peel and stick tiles had seen better days and to replace the flooring the toilet had to come out, and while we're at it that vanity is awful......See where I'm going with this? We took it all out and put all new back in. I've never had the opportunity to take a completely black canvas and make it my own. I had a blast! I have to admit too that I'm a little jeal...

Here at the beach you can find lots of the usual sea side fair. Fish, and seafood, pizza and boardwalk fries. But when it comes to ethnic cuisine choices are limited. So I am forced to take matters into my own hands. As a child every so often we made a trek from Lansing, to Greek Town in Detroit, and ate at this dive of a place called, The Golden Fleece. Even though it boasted the same decor my mother remembers from her trips there as a girl, and probably hadn't changed for twenty years before that this place, hands down, had the best food in Greek town. For dinner last night I was really craving a good gyro. I hate when I order one now and find those processed prepackaged strips of beef unceremoniously tossed on top of some pita and called a gyro. Sometimes I'm so desperate for those flavors I order it anyway. In the absence of owning a vertical spit these gyros will be grilled and made from chicken instead of the traditional lamb and beef. I've experimented with mari...

I'm a sucker for a good copycat recipe. I've been suckered by so-called copycat recipes in the past too. This is not the later. This one is for real! I pinned it ages ago but after an unfortunate incident involving what were supposed to be Texas Roadhouse Rolls I've been hesitant of late. The recipe  is simple but the secret ingredient is both surprising and brilliant. Dill Pickle Juice! I followed the recipe closely with only a couple exceptions and doubled it as it's only written for two. The true test was when our five year old completely unprompted asked if they were Chick-fil-a nuggets. I say they were even better because it didn't cost us $40! What you need: 2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces then seasoned with salt & pepper 3/4 cup milk (I used buttermilk) 1/4 cup dill pickle juice 1 egg 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour  2 Tablespoons powdered sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1/2 cup peanut oil, divided (or canola or ve...

Well, it's really a BLTBS salad but I didn't think that would get your attention. Yes, BS stands for Brussel Sprouts and before you abandon me let me tell you that they are caramelized in rendered bacon fat. See? Trust me. I would never lead you astray. The salad is dressed with the rocking homemade vinaigrette for t his BLT Bowl and provided the inspiration for this salad. Here's what you need (serves two): 4 slices of bacon cut into one inch pieces 1 bag of fresh whole brussel sprouts or one small-med stalk 1 small onion salad greens of your choice (I like the cold crunch of romaine) 1 tomato diced 2 Tbl spoons olive oil 1 Tbl spoon balsamic vinegar (plus a splash for the sprouts) 1 teaspoon djion mustard 2 Tbl spoons lemon juice salt to taste What to do: Cook the cut bacon on med/low heat in a cast iron pan if you have one. Be patient with it.  You want to render as much fat as you can and get your bacon bits as crispy as you can. If you don't have...

So, it's no surprise we eat a lot of chicken at our house. That doesn't mean I don't get stuck in the occasional chicken rut. I was completely lacking inspiration last night and nothing sounded good so I took to my Pinterest board (I mean, that's why I spend hours on Pinterest right?!) and found this recipe I pinned a while back. It boasted the best chicken in the world. We'll just see about that! The recipe is simple enough and cooks in a flash. Which was a good thing as we were having an impromptu family supper with the hubby's folks. I filleted the chicken breast to make sure they cooked in time and soaked up more flavor from the delicious sauce. I also doubled the measurements for the sauce as I started with twice as much chicken. Other than that I followed the recipe as written.  What you need: 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts  1/2 cup Dijon mustard  1/4 maple syrup 1Tbl spoon red wine vinegar  Salt Pepper Fresh chopped Rosemary ...

I'm mobile at the moment. Can't decide where the Big Mac (see what I did there?) should live in the new house.  I've just had one of those rare moments as a parents when my incredibly high hopes and expectations for an event matches what actually takes place.  There's a local restaurant which is home to two antique train cars which have been restored and turned into dining rooms with five huge screens for movie viewing. At Christmas they run five showings a day of the Polar Express to sold out train cars. We didn't make it this year but we're already making plans after tonight.  Last weekend we learned that they have been having breakfast and dinner showings of Frozen complete with visits from the Anna and Elsa and this weekend were the final three days. I just had to take Bella. So we made a girls night out of it. It was magical. Bella acted out every line of dialogue and sang every song. She was mesmerized by her visit with Anna and Elsa (who could not have be...