A large part of learning to cook as an adult is the willingness (on my part) to try new things. As the recipient of my trial and error dishes, Hubby is a bit more skeptical. He’s a basic meat and potatoes kind of guy and also loves his carbs.
Veggies in particular don’t thrill him, unless they are covered with cheese or sauce. Since retiring, I have been on a mission to eat healthier so created this yummy side dish that was a hit with both Hubby and his Dad and there were no leftovers. (I served this with a barbecued tri tip.) The squash, when made al dente, has a similar tooth to a pasta noodle and doesn’t contribute much to the flavor, which is carried almost exclusively by the pesto sauce.
In past years, I’ve cooked a whole turkey for just hubby and I for Thanksgiving. The leftovers resulted in turkey sliders, turkey casserole and turkey soup. All good, but a bit boring three or four days in a row! So this year I decided to try turkey thighs, mainly because hubby and I prefer dark meat and it seemed like a great one-meal option.
Living in California, we have access to avocados year-round and it’s one of my favorite ingredients in meals and snacks. I found a recipe that called for cracking an egg into each hole, and it was a total failure … it didn’t note that the avocados needed to be extra large or the eggs needed to be extra small or the whole white would run out in a blob. So I tweaked it a bit by scrambling the eggs and making guacamole from the scooped out flesh. Delish and healthy!
Creamy polenta topped with a rustic tomato based veggie ragout is not only comfort food, but an easy option for feeding a picky crowd. I was cooking for a group of writers that included vegetarians and many with food allergies and aversions and this hearty lunch fit the bill.
“Nana, why doesn’t daddy like mommy anymore?”
I wanted to make a dessert for a party celebrating a dear friend’s advancement to the rank of United States Coast Guard Chief. She is a native of Guam, so I scoured blogs for traditional Chamorro fare and took parts from several recipes to create this sweet treat.
This has become my go-to picnic recipe, stolen from a marina friend who brought them to a dock party! Incredibly easy and a definite crowd pleaser, they are a mini-meal unto themselves. They can be made a day in advance and require no utensils. I put the skewers in a plastic container with a lid and it’s ready to grab from the fridge and go.
This quick sweet uses two ingredients and takes all of 5 active minutes, plus 10 of baking and another hour for cooling. Of course you can find these at a huge discount at our 
It was spring of 1982 and I was months from high school graduation. On the horizon was a summer serving as crew on a 101 ft schooner and the beginning of college in the fall. It was also a dull and dreary day sitting in the teeny boatyard office of the marine electrician where I worked as an assistant after school.
