party tested pasta sauce, meatball version

Fellow foodie blogger Masako hosted a pasta party at her house a few nights ago when I was visiting, and I volunteered to make the sauces (it was the least I could do!). Two other foodie bloggers – Padraig and Elizabeth – were also in attendance. This was the recipe I made, adapted from the [...]

hoska bread

This is a traditional holiday bread made by Mike’s family. I absolutely loved it since the first time I tried it, as did my parents!
Hoska bread, Svarovsky style
Ingredients
5 to 6 cups unsifted flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp ground mace
2 pkgs Active Dry Yeast
1 cup milk
2/3 cup water
1/2 stick margarine [...]

garden herb loaf

This is one of my parent’s favorite bread recipes, originally from the Fleischmann’s Yeast website. I modified it just a bit to add garlic, but you can add whatever herbs you enjoy most. This makes a great round loaf, or you can make two smaller braided loaves if you prefer.
Garden Herb Loaf
Makes 1 loaf.
Ingredients
4 to [...]

scalloped potatoes

This recipe is from Mike’s mom – written on a 3×5 index card for him when he went away to grad school. Definitely a keeper! I’ve only made one change, adding garlic powder to the seasoning mix.
One note – you have to let this stand for one hour before serving, so plan ahead.
Mom’s Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients:
10 [...]

mediterranean quiche by emeril

Here is another recipe from Easter brunch, also vegetarian for my friend Deb. You can also get this recipe from Food Network by clicking here.
Two important safety tips with this recipe. First, be sure to allot enough time for the quiche to sit and firm up – the recommended 30 minutes didn’t seem like [...]

eggplant parmesan

My good friend Deb joined us Saturday in preparation for Easter festivities, and since she’s a vegetarian I thought I’d make her some eggplant parmigana for dinner. I looked at two recipes (from epicurious.com and food network), merged them together, and added a few touches of my own. It turned into a dish that worked [...]

mostly crispy oven “fried” chicken

I was searching for an oven fried chicken recipe, since I defrosted a pre-cut chicken on Thursday but wasn’t able to use it until today. After looking at several recipes online, I noticed that there were a few decision points – whether or not to marinade in buttermilk, what to coat the chicken with (flour, [...]

lugaw: filipino comfort food

Lugaw (loo-gaw) is a chicken and rice porridge type of dish that is a staple in Filipino households. Whenever I start to feel under the weather, or when the winter chill just won’t go away, I turn to lugaw for warmth and comfort. MMMMMM!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 big cloves of garlic, [...]