Years ago, on the First Friday before Mother’s Day, our family was walking downtown, enjoying everything our fair city has to offer, when we were stopped by a photographer for the Sun Gazette. He was doing a “Man On The Street” photo spread asking children what they love about their mothers. Sophia was probably in…
Category: Chef Ben Cooks!
Slump
Now is the season of our discontent. I don’t know why. It doesn’t make sense! We are all vaccinated and we have begun, cautiously, with baby steps, to enjoy some of the things we used to take for granted, like restaurant dining. The weather is tempestuous – hot, cold, rainy, dry, windy, windy, windy –…
You Say Fajita, Ben Says Puffita
Sometimes Ben is malleable, and can be convinced to go down whatever Ben’s Day Wednesday route suits your fancy. This was not one of those weeks. When I asked him over the weekend what he wanted to make, he answered immediately. Shrimp puffitas (fajitas). “Or maybe the kale orecchiette dish?” I tried. “Nope. Shrimp puffitas.”…
Asian Lettuce Wrap-sody (pick your hoison)
We had a great weekend! We are now all fully vaccinated, and so are Ben’s grandparents, so that warranted a family visit this weekend. It was the first time we had seen each other since 2019, and it was a great time of reconnecting. Picture people running across a field in slow motion, to scoop…
Building a Better Taco
…and a better version of your day. I should have been suspicious when I got home and Ben greeted me with, “I missed you! I had a great day! How was yours? Let me laud your safe arrival home with trumpeting fanfare!” OK. I made up the last sentence, but the rest is verbatim. He…
Wing Man
I will likely regret my decision. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of my life. Our cooking plan for the day after Easter was simple – a ham and broccoli casserole to capitalize on the leftover Easter ham – but the day was so very lovely that I couldn’t…
Spring Has Sprung!(er)
We loved the ideas you gave us for making a spring meal! As you can imagine, we had a hard time narrowing it down again. While we loved Kristie’s ham idea, we decided to save ham for Easter Day. Brunch or tea sandwiches also sounded very springy to us, but ultimately, we riffed on Sue’s…
Ben Takes On The World!
Today, fully vaccinated, Ben went back to school for the first time since November! What better way to celebrate his triumphal reentry into the world than to meet his international cooking challenge? Short of riding in on a donkey, on a path lined with palm fronds, cooking international is the next best thing. When France…
Shenanigans O’Sprunger Tips his Hat to the Emerald Isle!
This week’s challenge was to go green, whatever that meant to you, our readers. Ben and I read over all your ideas together, and he wanted to make ALL the food. Green eggs and ham? Yes. Palak Paneer? Never heard of it. Wait. The green ‘Indian rice’? I love it! Ingredients that spell G-R-E-E-N? Why…
The Frugal Gourmet
This week’s challenge was to make a meal for the whole family costing less than $10. (Next week’s challenge is at the end of this post. Don’t forget to weigh in!) We are bargain shoppers more often than not, so it wasn’t too hard to do it this week, but we did the math to…