Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

A Wedding in Tuscany

August 8, 2016 by Mary 38 Comments

Our recent trip to Poland and Italy is one that storybooks are made of. It was full of visiting family and friends, discovering family roots, amazing food everywhere, renewing friendships and partaking as family in a Tuscan wedding.

Are you jealous?

Let me tell you about the wedding in Italy first as Poland deserves a whole other post.

Our oldest son did his university semester abroad in Arezzo, Italy some ten years ago and lived with an Italian family in a gorgeous modern house (as only the Italians can do), high on a hill overlooking Arezzo in Tuscany. Here is the view from their house.

The family, Tiziana and Andrea, have a girl and a boy, sandwiched between our two boys in ages with their boy being the youngest. While our son was there, we went to visit him with Zach and both families hit it off splendidly!! Tiziana was interested in having her family learn English better and of course our son needed to learn Italian. Now I really need to learn some Italian!

During the past ten years our boys have been back with their girlfriends to visit the family in Arezzo and their daughter has come to visit us many times, sometimes escorting a Prada bag but always with some Parmigiano and Pecorino cheeses and some olive oil from the olives that grow on the trees in their front yard.

I know. Aren’t I lucky?

Hotel pool in Tuscany overlooking Arezzo.

Our hotel view and pool! The driveway leading to the hotel was bordered with deep beds of lavender – the smell was intoxicating!

So a wedding took place and our whole family (our boys with their fiancées) met up in Italy to celebrate this joyous occasion and let me tell you, this was one big spectacular visit and wedding. Tiziana and Andrea are so very gracious hosts and they insisted our boys with their girls stay with them as Tiziana thought, “Our bride will be much more relaxed if her American brothers stayed there.” And we stayed nearby in a gorgeous hotel while they provided one of their cars for us so we could get around.

It was just so good to be back and visiting and really, it was like no one missed a beat, it certainly did not seem like 10 years had passed since our first meeting.

I got to spend the day with Tiziana on Friday catching up and shopping for cheeses, last minute vegetables and flowers for the family party that evening at their house. Here is Giancarlo Canti, who makes world renown, award-winning cheeses, with Tiziana. Look at all of the Parmigiano!!

Agata and Tiziana preparing the appetizers.

Andrea slicing the delicious porchetta.

A Tuscan spread of appetizers at sunset, overlooking Arezzo.

Part of the appetizer table at sunset.

We all helped in preparing the two pasta dishes and an amazing porchetta was delivered and carved at the table. The cheese, the wine, the prosecco, the sausages, the pasta, the prosiutto, bresaola, were all to die for. Tiziana buys all of these meats as large pieces and slices them on a meat slicer that holds a permanent and prominent space on her kitchen counter.

While here in America, rehearsal dinners are common on the Friday night before a wedding, that is not the case in Italy. It is usually just the immediate family having a quiet meal at home, getting ready for the big day. So Tiziana, in throwing this party for 50 of their closest friends and out-of-towners broke tradition in the most beautiful way as getting to know their close friends before the big day was so special.

The wedding took place in a gorgeous church, the Basilica of San Domenico especially renowned for housing a crucifix painted by Cimabue, dated 1265, which is considered an authentic masterpiece of art.

Guests waiting outside the church for the wedding to begin.

The very fashionable guests wait for the bride and groom to arrive.

Tiziana Bonechi and Steve in conversation.

My husband with Tiziana. She is holding the rings!

The groom arrived in a 1974 red-orange Porsche while the bride arrived with her Dad in a ‘70’s white Alfa Romeo. Isn’t this just so cool?

Here’s our whole family!

The reception was held at Santa Maria a Pigli which is a beautiful outdoor venue with an amazing cocktail time with various different tables featuring oysters and crayfish, sushi, tempura vegetables, cheeses, smoked meats, tripe sliders, and cocktails smoking dry ice. The dinner started with risotto, then a traditional pasta and then Florentine steaks grilled on an open flame with roasted vegetables.
All luscious and delicious and best of all, leisurely paced, which was so nice. Dinner and some dancing ended around 11:30 and then the real dance party started in another tent that lasted until about 5:30 am!! We left at around 3:30 as we were danced out, even with switching out of heels and into flip-flops. Our boys were there until the very end and then watched the sunrise back at their house.

It was an amazing, beautiful, perfect party!!

Tiziana and Christina with another pasta dish.

Tiziana with BFF Cristina!

And Sunday, was lunch at the hotel, Prada store with Cristina – here’s my husband having coffee with Cristina at the Prada café and then another great dinner at Tiziana and Andrea’s.
And here we all are, oohing and ahhing over all the pictures.

It was an amazing, awesome trip and we are hoping that Andrea and Tiziana will be coming to our home for Thanksgiving!

I hope you enjoyed this story and photos as much as I enjoyed putting it together and sharing it. ☺

Chef’s Cut Honey Barbecue Chicken Jerky & Spinach Omelet

July 29, 2016 by Mary 6 Comments

Chef’s Cut Real Jerky in our summer MARY’s secret ingredients box was created by Chef Blair Swiler and Dennis Riedel. Blair has been smoking meats his entire life; a tradition passed along from his father. Today the vision to change the jerky world has resulted in the best tasting, highest quality jerky on the market. They use only premium cuts of steak and white breast meat and always hand-cut each piece, using only the finest real ingredients – just like you would find at your favorite steak house. Chef’s Cut Real Jerky is the jerky you’ve always wanted. It’s Jerky Done Right. Totally.

I have a confession to make.

I am not a jerky lover. I don’t snack much between meals and jerky really is a snack item. I did try biltong when we were in South Africa. I had to – it is such a tradition that they made me! The biltong (a form of dried cured meat very similar to jerky) I had was ostrich and actually I loved ostrich! When we were there we ate several ostrich burgers – delish!

But back to this jerky. I had never heard of chicken jerky! And other jerky’s I’ve had were all super dry and usually beef, but not this! This chicken is moist and flavorful. The honey barbecue flavors are perfect with just the right amount of sweet and heat.

Jerky is actually very healthy, being high in protein, low in fat and great-tasting, if you do snack, this Chef’s Cut brand should be your new ticket!

So what I did here was a way to start your day off right. Years ago, I used to just eat a big fruit salad for breakfast and then I got a doctor who was more holistic who told me that my body, and probably everyone’s, needs protein first thing in the morning. Making this change in my diet was brilliant! I can go until 2 pm or later for lunch without killing someone, whereas in the past, if I didn’t eat by 12:30, well, watch out.

Protein, first thing in the morning provides a great foundation for you to handle any situation. You see the fruit salad just converted quickly to sugar, gave me a fast spike in blood sugar with a mighty fall starting at around 11:30 – I would be starving and not a very nice person. This doctor explained to me that if we were back in caveman/tribal days, living on the land with no refrigeration, you would’ve eaten the leftovers from the night before for breakfast.

So it won’t be a surprise that for this product recipe, I made an omelet! Honey Barbecue Chicken Jerky with some fresh spinach – it was delicious!! And what a great way to start the day, tasty protein with a boost of iron from the spinach and lovely eggs to hold it all together. No need to worry about salt, pepper or hot sauce as the seasoning that comes from the jerky is just perfect.

Make this tomorrow morning and I promise you’ll have an awesome day. Who knows, you may even win the lottery!! But you gotta buy a ticket – in other words – you gotta do the work to make this. Enjoy!!

CHEF’S CUT HONEY BARBECUE CHICKEN JERKY & SPINACH OMELET – serves 2

4 eggs
1 Tbs. heavy cream (optional)
1.25 oz. Chef’s Cut Honey Barbecue Chicken Jerky, finely minced
1 cup packed baby spinach leaves, washed and air dried (I like a lot of spinach!)
½ Tbs. unsalted butter
Fresh mint or chives as a garnish

Whisk the eggs together and then whisk in the cream.

Melt the butter in a medium non-stick skillet on medium heat. Swirl it around to coat the entire pan. Pour in the eggs. Take a fork and holding it flat, quickly stir the eggs once or twice in the bottom of the pan.

Let the eggs set and when a bottom forms, gently lift the edge, tilt and pour the uncooked eggs to move underneath and cook. Continue doing this until the top is nearly cooked.

Then distribute the minced Chef’s Cut Honey Barbecue Chicken Jerky over half of the omelet and top with the spinach leaves, evenly distributed over the jerky. Fold over the unfilled half and let rest and cook a bit more for a minute or two.

When done, slide out of the pan onto a platter. Cut in half to serve with LOVE, enjoy, and you’ll have a totally awesome day when you start it off like this!!

Gustus Vitae Taste of Provence Roasted Fillet of Sole

July 27, 2016 by Mary 10 Comments

Gustus Vitae is a Californian crafter of authentic, artisan, small batch seasoning blends and gourmet finishing salts. Using locally harvested herbs and spices, their all natural, certified non-GMO ingredients are blended in small batches, before being packed by hand in their unique magnetic tins. Yes! It’s true! The bottom of this can is magnetized so you can stick it anywhere where there’s metal and it will always be within each reach! And you will want this within easy reach because the herbs are so fresh and flavorful, even thought they’re dried, you’ll want to use this on anything and everything.

The Taste of Provence is an amazing blend of fragrant, fresh herbal flavors. Use this on chicken, meat, vegetables or fish to create a bright, perky, delicious dish.

Besides the tin being magnetized, I love the entire package, particularly the lid that swivels so you can just sprinkle out the right amount, either through 3 small holes or large long one. It’s very nifty!

The recipe I made here is so stupid easy – it’s perfect for a quick weeknight meal that is really special tasting, all because of this Gustas Vitae Taste of Provence.

I wanted you to taste the herbs pure, so the dish is really simple. I mentioned before that I have really been getting into finishing a protein with an acid, mainly a citrus, lemon or lime or even orange. But the difference is that in some cases, I have been roasting that citrus before using it on the dish and that obviously produces a different flavor, less bold and sweeter with still a little acid.

So here I roasted the lemon and squeezed it on to finish. I also did one version where I placed the fish on top of peeled sliced oranges and that produced a delicious result too, but I neglected to take pictures. Either way, give this a go! You will LOVE it.

I served this with some sautéed Chinese cabbage and garnished both with cilantro or you can use any green herb. I really should have added a tomato for color to this picture but actually I kind of like this duotone plate. Sometimes you just need things simple. Truth be told, it was so good and gobbled up so fast, it didn’t matter.

GUSTUS VITAE TASTE OF PROVENCE ROASTED FILLET OF SOLE – serves 2

2 fillets of sole
Olive oil
Salt – preferably French Grey
Fresh ground pepper
Gustus Vitae Taste of Provence seasoning
½ of a lemon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash your fish and pat dry with paper toweling.

Slick a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Lay the fish on the pan and drizzle a little olive oil on top of the fillet, spreading it around evenly with your fingers.

Season the fillets with salt, pepper and Gustus Vitae Taste of Provence seasoning.

Place the lemon cut side down on the pan and roast the fish for 10 – 12 minutes, until done and white throughout.

Remove the fillets to your dinner plates, squeeze on the roasted lemon and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy!

Joseph Joseph Rotary Peeler & Grilled Eggplant, Prosciutto, Tomato & Arugula Sandwiches

July 25, 2016 by Mary 20 Comments

My husband has a thing about peelers. He wants the sharpest one so he can get the thinnest peel – no pith – for his twist for his perfect Manhattan. Yes! These are the important things in life.

Me? I like raw julienned vegetables.

I love eggplant and butternut squash but hate to peel it. They’re so large, it’s uncomfortable and clumsy trying to peel that big thing with a little itty bitty peeler and then you get frustrated so you peel quicker so it’s over with faster and then you slip and cut yourself.

Sound familiar?

Well the twin boys over at Joseph Joseph have done it again with this very neatly designed tool! Because it’s round and large in your hand, you can get a firm grip on it, stand your squash or eggplant upright (cut a flat bottom first) and peel big wide slices off.

There.

Isn’t that better?

This tool has three different blades – a regular peeler, a serrated edge and my favorite, the julienne side. Just think of how quickly I’ll be able to make this chicken dish now. Yippee!!

Take a look at the luscious Grilled Eggplant, Prosciutto, Tomato & Arugula Sandwiches I made for lunch last Saturday. Here, eggplant is the star, along with the peeler, and just one slice of prosciutto gives you the hit of flavor you need. You don’t need a ton of meat, just enough to make it work!

The eggplant had plenty of fresh garlic bringing heat, while grilling it gave it smoky goodness. The just-picked arugula from the farmer’s market along with the juicy tomato – total yumminess!!

My husband was not excited about this sandwich to start. He wanted more meat but then, he loved it. It wasn’t necessary.

Make this and enjoy!

GRILLED EGGPLANT, PROSCIUTTO, TOMATO & ARUGULA SANDWICH – serves 2

1 medium eggplant
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 tomato – on the vine variety
1 handful arugula, washed and air dried
2 large thin slices of prosciutto
One long loaf of Italian bread or a baguette, cut into sandwich size and in half

Cut a flat bottom to the eggplant and trim off the top. Hold eggplant upright and peel a large swath off of two opposing sides. Slice the eggplant in 1/4″ – 1/3″ slices.

Combine the olive oil and minced garlic and brush on both side of the eggplant and salt and pepper both sides. Grill on high heat until softened and you have some nice grill marks.

Lightly brush cut sides of the bread with olive oil and toast on the grill.

Assemble the sandwiches with two slices of eggplant first, then the prosciutto, arugula and tomato. Close the sandwich and cut in half.

A little bit of heaven!!

And so easy to peel that eggplant with the Joseph Joseph Rotary Peeler!

You can still get your very own peeler in our summer box. We have a few left – but hurry before they’re all gone!

Steamed Broccoli with a Dijon Butter Sauce & Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips

July 23, 2016 by Mary 6 Comments

Inspired by her grandmother, Carrie Mae started making Crunchy Strips in her kitchen with all natural ingredients. While she makes several flavors, we chose the Chia Seeds to include in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. Chia seeds are so darn good for you! They are a “whole grain” food, and are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. Loaded with fiber, protein, Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and various micronutrients, these crackers are a delightful little crunch of goodness.

All crackers are handmade with tender loving care; hence the company’s slogan – Made from the heart to feed your soul. I know that Carrie Mae herself hand made each one of these crunchy strips with a lot of LOVE and then actually drove them up from North Carolina to our warehouse in NJ, to make the delivery date for the box. This woman is determined and dedicated to her delicious and healthy craft, she’s bound to become a huge success.

I love using these crunchy strips as a topping to soups, salads and to this yummy steamed broccoli dish I made up. Think of them as croutons, but better because they’s light and thin. Using the strips on top adds another layer of texture, that crunch we all crave.

For those of you with little ones, I’ll bet this could be a great way to get your kids to eat their vegetables. Crush and sprinkle these little crackers on top to add a chia seed nutritious delight to anything.

Additionally, broccoli has huge health benefits. Check out this link http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/health-benefits-of-broccoli/ Broccoli is rich in vitamins, minerals, nutrients and compounds, promoting good heart health and known even to prevent cancer. So eat your broccoli and it’s even better this way, with our Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seed Crunchy strips!

STEAMED BROCCOLI WITH A DIJON BUTTER SAUCE & CARRIE MAE’S KITCHEN CHIA SEEDS CRUNCHY STRIPS – serves 4

One large head of broccoli, washed, trimmed, stems peeled and stalks cut in half or quartered
3 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. lemon juice
1.25 oz. Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips

Steam the broccoli until crisp tender.

Melt the butter and whisk in the mustard and lemon juice.

Remove the broccoli from the steamer, pat dry with a clean linen towel and lay out on a platter. Drizzle the sauce all over the broccoli. Top with crushed Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy!!

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips on a salad.

Use Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seed Crunchy Strips to top a salad!

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips on chicken noodle soup.

Or garnish a soup!

Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zested Flatbeans

July 21, 2016 by Mary 4 Comments

THIS Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest is one of Oprah’s favorite things!!! Yes!

I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel sooooo baaad. Remember Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music? Of course you do.

Well I can assure you that if you like truffles, one of the most expensive foods in the world, you will LOVE this truffle zest in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. We were able to include three little packets, so you can try it out on a variety of dishes.

I love the truffle zest on scrambled eggs. Total delish!! And also great on a baked potato.

And lately I see a lot of truffle salt around, but this zest is so much better. It is much more potent and rich – it’s wonderful!!

I used it on these green flatbeans cooked in butter and water and I’m telling you, this is amazing!! It is simple to cook and quite frankly my favorite way to cook fresh beans. If you can’t find flat beans, just use regular fresh green or yellow beans. Finishing off this simple recipe with the Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest moves ordinary green beans into the spectacular, memorable area. And all you have to do is open up this little packet of goodness and sprinkle it on.

Of course you could also sprinkle this on a little buttered pasta or even buttered corn this time of year. Experiment and have yourself some tasty fun!!

Since I will be in Italy the week after next, I wonder if I’ll be eating some truffle garnished pasta…
SABATINO TARTUFI TRUFFLE ZESTED FLATBEANS – serves 3 – 4

3/4 lb. green flatbeans
3 – 4 Tbs. water
Butter
Salt
Pepper
1 packet of Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest

Trim the ends of the beans, removing any strings, and wash thoroughly.

Fill your skillet with about ¼” of water to cover the bottom and turn heat to high. Throw in beans and then top with pats of unsalted butter. SEE PHOTO.

Now let sit them a little to brown and then toss over the high heat. You want the beans to get a little brown and they will as the water evaporates. So toss to your liking – taste one for a tenderness check. The butter will start to brown and almost taste sweet. Finish with salt and pepper and place in a wide serving bowl with all the juices.

Sprinkle on the Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest. Total time should be 10 -15 minutes. This takes ordinary beans and makes them extraordinarily rich and special to make a memorable meal.

If you like what is in this box, you can still order it here as we have just a few left.

Additionally, our fall box ships on September 25^th! We are a proud supporter of Feed The Children.