Winter and spring are perfect for meals that require oven time. Living on a boat, we opt for barbecuing most of our summer and fall main courses so we don’t heat up our living space. But when the cold winds are a’blowin’ the oven helps to keep us cozy and fills our home with a delicious aroma as we tuck in against the elements.
Being from an English family from Northern Ireland, I grew up with a lot of potatoes in our meals … baked, boiled and mashed with gobs of butter. Before Daddy opened Benson Electric he was the head electrician (shout out to IBEW 595) for East Bay Packing in Oakland, which was a major meat packing company for the East Bay. So we also had a lot of beef (we’re talking five out of seven nights a week!) for dinner.
My mother made this recipe using ground beef, but Nana was a purist and used ground lamb. Both used a bag of frozen veggies which other than for this recipe, I never use as we don’t have a freezer on our boat and I prefer buying fresh produce a few times a week. But I do like the uniformity of the pieces and it sure makes it easier than having to cut and prepare each of the different veggies.
Pickled peppers add zing to sandwiches and are used in many Asian and Mexican dishes. This recipe combines just the right amount of sweet and heat and are tasty eaten right out of the jar as a snack or with cheese and crackers. I’m a fan of savory martinis and think I’ll add a slice to my next dirty martini with my usual olives.
Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone how easy this silky smooth bite of chocolate heaven is to make! I made a double batch to bring to a holiday party, give as gifts and have some at home. It has only five ingredients and they are always in stock at our 
Winter is definitely upon us in San Francisco Bay, which means time to break out the Dutch oven and whip up pots of comfort food. I’m a fan of soups that need to simmer for hours to bring out the flavors, but sometimes I want a quick recipe that just tastes like I was in the galley all day.
I’ve been crazy busy with the holidays and babysitting my grandchildren and missed my weekly GO To Tuesday post … so we’ll do a GO To Thursday instead! Our local 
Both sweet and savory … these delicious noodles take minutes to prepare and make a great side to an Asian-inspired meal or, as we did, serve with fresh Dungeness crab and garlic bread. (One can never have enough garlic in my opinion!) Grocery Outlet doesn’t sell fresh crab, but they do feature an amazing ocean caught salmon that would be terrific with a miso-soy glaze. Hubby says he could easily eat just a big bowl of the noodles all by themselves … they are THAT good!
Let’s talk about the meat selection at 
The combination of ingredients in this lasagna make it every bit as delicious as a traditional recipe using beef and ricotta, but with half the calories. The total cost of these ingredients at the 
Vivo O Sonho 