I’ll be the first to admit that I wouldn’t know a good sports metaphor if it smacked me between the eyes, but a nice, slow-roasted pork shoulder allows for lots of options, so I’ll tell you about the three dinners we made this week. We started by plopping a pork shoulder (7-9 pounds) in the…
Homemade Applesauce – The Funky Apple Paradox
’Tis the season for apples, or to be more precise, a week or two past the season for apples, which inspired our choice to make applesauce this week. Somehow, with the flood of Thanksgiving guests, we ended up with way more apples than we could use, so applesauce seemed like the most practical idea. Years…
The Peter Herdic House: Whole-heartedly Bendorsed!
Last night we celebrated Sophia’s time home by dining out at the Herdic House. What a wonderful treat. We always share the charbroiled oysters appetizer. As is our custom, we had fully enjoyed them before anyone remembered that we should have taken a picture. Shoot. Ben and I share a passion for food that drives…
Thankful
As predicted, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. In fact, we were so busy loving life that we forgot to document most of what makes the 48 hours that we are all together so much fun. Not pictured: Ben waiting Wednesday morning for four hours outside Sophia’s door for her to wake up, because he has…
The Chicken Dance – Thanksgiving Edition
I don’t know if our Thanksgiving is better than yours, but ours is pretty good. Just sayin’. As long as my kids can remember, the tradition has been for Ben’s Aunt Mary and her family, along with friends we’ve known for a quarter of a century, to join us at our house for several days…
Ben’s Restaurant Pick – Don Patron’s
If lovin’ you is wrong, we don’t want to be right. Years ago, Ben discovered the Pancho Villa here. It is an enormous T-bone steak smothered in bacon, cheese and mushrooms, with beans, rice and tortillas on the side. He talks about it so much that tonight I felt I needed to order it too….
The Bridge Tavern – Now added to the rotation!
Tonight we tried the Bridge Tavern after a 20+ year hiatus, due to several closures and reboots. Boy, are we glad we came back! The food was great! When I asked Ben to comment on the food for the blog, his mouth was too full for anything other than “Mmm mmm mmm.” He did offer…
Cornflake Chicken and Ranch Potatoes
When Phil left home, his mom made him a cookbook that included this recipe, which has come to be known in our house as “Cornflake Chicken.” The ranch potato recipe comes from Ben’s Aunt Mary, who revealed after everyone offered rave reviews at a family cookout 15 years ago, that she got it from the…
Ozzie & Mae’s
This week we were super excited to go out to dinner with Jamie and Steve, Lyco alumni friends that were in town for the weekend. Jamie and Steve had not been to Ozzie & Mae’s at their new location, so Ben was happy to show them the ropes. Jamie commented on Ben’s expertise with keeping…
Pickle Soup – Hold the Olives! Plus Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
I will be the first to admit that I sometimes guide Ben to make a choice for Ben’s Day Wednesday that fits my plans for the week rather than complying with his every whim. This week I wanted soup. Left to his own devices, Ben will never choose soup because he thinks it isn’t filling…