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

Red Snapper Wildwood Arbol Hot Sauce in Artichoke Dip

December 24, 2014 by Mary 3 Comments

Red Snapper Wildwood Arbol Sauce is great on anything! The McVea family has been making this sauce since 1895 and they say that this is their medium hot sauce but for me, this is hot! It’s much hotter than Tabasco. However, it has a ton of flavor! I recommend that you test it out and see how it fits on your intensity scale. I’ve been using about half the amount of Tabasco that I would normally use, and this is much better. Made from a Louisiana family recipe, this is a great way to add spice to your life! Perfect on eggs (pic) or in my crab cake recipe (link and photo) and it was really, really delicious in my famous artichoke dip. (My kids tell me it’s famous) Perfect for upcoming holiday parties, here’s the full recipe.

Truly, this sauce took my dip to a whole other level!!

ARTICHOKE DIP with RED SNAPPER WILDWOOD ARBOL SAUCE – serves 6 – 8

One 14oz. can of artichoke hearts, drained of juice
One small can of green chilies with the juice
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese, packed
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. Red Snapper Wildwood Arbol Sauce
Chopped fresh basil leaves

Take each artichoke heart in your hand, hold upside down, and squeeze the juice out. Then, place in the food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add all other ingredients and process until smooth. Place in an oven proof dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 30 minutes, until browned around the edges and a little bubbly.

This dish tastes great but is not pretty so top it with some fresh chopped basil leaves.

Serve with LOVE along with crudités and pita chips or small dipping crackers.

Dutch’s Spirits Colonial Bitters Cod Fish Vegetable Stew

December 22, 2014 by Mary 4 Comments

The next item from our MARY’s secret ingredients winter box is this adorable set of 3 different bitters. What do you do with bitters? Make fantastic cocktails, of course! They have lots of recipes both on their website and in the box. However, I’ve used one of them – the Colonial bitters – as a finishing touch in this amazing fish stew! Try this Dutch’s Spirits Colonial Bitters Cod Fish Vegetable Stew on a cold winter’s night and everything will warm up, I guarantee!!

I love the packaging – particularly the hats! Dutch’s Spirits may be a new company, but they have a rich history. Their home – a distillery, farm and upcoming restaurant – was actually the former property of bootlegger and gangster, Dutch Schultz, until the Feds busted him during prohibition in 1932. Isn’t that so cool? The distillery was underground and had an extensive network of interconnected tunnels and bunkers to make the booze then move it out for sale. This property is literally five minutes away from our home upstate. We can’t wait until it opens to get the full tour!

Now, back to food. Try this stew. It is so good, so healthy and has a unique flavor from the bitters. Just add three dashes to each bowl righ before serving, mix around and voila! The Colonial bitters is made up of juniper, allspice, orange, cinnamon and lavender among other things so it goes beautifully with Herbs de Provence. It was a perfect combination!!

Dutch's Spirits Cod Fish Stew ingredients.

The vegetables in this stew.

DUTCH’S SPIRITS COD FISH VEGETABLE STEW WITH COLONIAL BITTERS – serves 4

2 cups fish broth
½ cup white wine
7 small Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered
4 carrots, scraped and cut into pieces
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
5 radishes, scrubbed and halved
3 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
2 handfuls of sugar snap peas, strings removed
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence
1.5 lbs. fresh cod fish fillets, washed and paper towel dried
2 tsp. harissa
Chopped cilantro
12 dashes of Dutch’s Spirits Colonial Cocktail Bitters

Spread harissa all over the cod on one side and let sit for 20 – 30 minutes.

Place broth, wine, carrots and potatoes in a medium-sized skillet, and partially cover, then bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 6 minutes. Add herbs de Provence, radishes, parsnips and tomatoes. Partially cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Scrape some of the harissa off of the fish. Cut the fish into large chunks. Add the fish to the skillet and simmer for 3 minutes, gently turning in the skillet. Add the sugar snap peas and simmer for 3 more minutes. The sugar snap peas should still be crisp but the rest of the vegetables should be tender. The fish should be moist but opaque and flake into sections when gently separated with a fork.

Salt to taste. Portion out the stew and stir 3 drops of Colonial Cocktail bitters into each bowl. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with LOVE!

Maddy’s Sweet Shop Peppermint Chocolate Mousse Trifle

December 19, 2014 by Mary 6 Comments

Shortbread cookies, peppermint candies, chocolate mousse, and whipped cream, all in layers of scrumptiousness – what could be better? I made this Maddy’s Sweet Shop Peppermint Chocolate Trifle recipe with the fourth item in our MARY’s secret ingredients winter box, Maddy’s Sweet Peppermint Shortbread cookies. You could call it heaven in a glass!

First of all, these peppermint shortbread cookies are so good, people will ask you if they’re homemade! (say yes!) Dusted with powdered sugar and buttery rich, yet light, bet you can’t eat just one. Then, the chocolate mousse is a riff on an easy-to-make recipe I used to make a lot, years ago. However, if I were to make this trifle again, I think I’d use bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet. I’d prefer the super-dark chocolate flavor rather than the added sugar. Whatever your preference, this trifle recipe is easy and keeps well. I ate my dessert over the course of 3 evenings, savoring every bite! The cookies didn’t even get soggy. This is a perfect dessert for a holiday meal. I hope you get a chance to make it and enjoy!

While I know this really isn’t a true trifle, I’m calling it that because it sounds fancier than just a layered dessert, don’t you think? I love Benedictine Liqueur, but you could easily substitute Grand Marnier, Triple Sec or even a wonderful, dark rum.

MADDY’S SWEET SHOP PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TRIFLE– serves 4

Make the Chocolate Mouse – serves 8 (you will have half of this leftover for another wonderful dessert!)

3/4 lb. semisweet chocolate or bittersweet if you prefer a darker, less sweet mousse
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup Benedictine Liqueur or Grand Marnier
2 egg yolks
1 cup of heavy cream, chilled
2 Tbs. sugar
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt

Cut the chocolate into chunks and melt in a heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring; add the milk, then stir in the Benedictine Liqueur. Let cool to room temperature. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.

Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff. Whip the cup of cream until thickened, then gradually beat in the sugar, beating until stiff. Gently fold the egg whites into one-half of the cream. Reserve the rest of the cream for use in layering the trifle. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Stir about one third of the cream and egg white mixture thoroughly into the chocolate mixture. Then gently fold in the remaining cream and egg white mixture into the chocolate until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until set.

Assemble the trifle:
One 7 oz. package of Maddy’s Sweet Shop Sweet Peppermint shortbread cookies – cut all the cookies into chunks
One-half of the chocolate mousse from the above recipe
Remaining whipped cream

Take your prettiest clear glasses and alternate layers of chocolate mousse, cookies and whipped cream (make two layers) and then top the final whipped cream layer with a few more cookie pieces.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy!!!

MARY’s secret ingredients Giveaway Winners announced!

December 18, 2014 by Mary 3 Comments

To all of you who participated in my MARY’s secret ingredients Giveaway, thank you for making it a huge success! Everyone’s responses were just wonderful, and I’m so happy to announce our winners today.

A little background: I wanted to make sure that the winner was picked completely at random so I had Marie, my MSI Project Manager (and resident opera singer), input everyone’s names into this Random Name Picker. First, we chose our Grand Prize Winner who will receive a full year’s subscription to MARY’s secret ingredients, followed by our two runners-up who will each receive a Spring 2015 box!

And The Winners Are:

Grand Prize: Anne Maxfield!!!

Runners-up: Shaunie and Bill Bryan!

Congratulations Anne, I’m thrilled to be sending you a whole year of my specially curated ingredients. To Shaunie, and Bill, thank you so much for sharing your lovely holiday dishes, I’m delighted to be sending you each a Spring box.

Here are our winners’ favorite holiday dishes:

Anne cooks recipes to put into beautifully packed gifts with her friend. This year they made a wonderful Crunchy Granola (you can get the recipe on her blog here: http://wp.me/p2SJwY-1y). Shaunie makes her Great Aunt’s broccoli casserole recipe, and Bill make a special bison chili with 3 different kinds of beans!

Once again thank you to everyone who participated, including our international friends who shared with us even though they weren’t eligible to enter because we can’t ship outside the continental US, yet. You ALL are winners in my book!

Stay tuned for more recipes using the ingredients from my winter box!

Gran Luchito & Buttermilk Marinated Roast Chicken

December 17, 2014 by Mary 8 Comments

The next item from our winter box is the Gran Luchito Smoked Pepper Paste from Chelsea Market Baskets. (They also make the best holiday gift baskets!) The owner, David Porat, sent this to me months ago to try out. I immediately loved it and wanted it in a box, but it wasn’t available until just now. This little jar is packed with potent taste and should be invited in to everyone’s kitchen! It truly is an ingredient, not to be eaten right out of the jar as it is super strong. Mixing it with other things allows you to appreciate the full flavor of these rare smoked Mexican chillies that have all been ethically sourced – nice! I made this Gran Luchito & Buttermilk Marinated Roast Chicken recipe and it is so good!! (There are other recipes here as well.)

You may remember that my husband is not a fan of smoked things, but he LOVES this chicken. The paste also has a bit of agave and some garlic. This recipe is so easy with only four ingredients and again, it’s because the chilli paste is packed with flavor. Just plan ahead to marinate it for 2 days. This way, the chilli flavors really permeate the meat and the buttermilk makes it creamy and silky all at the same time. Do it on a Saturday and you’ve got yourself an easy dinner for a Monday evening. Make it with LOVE and it will overflow with extra deliciousness!

GRAN LUCHITO & BUTTERMILK MARINATED ROAST CHICKEN – serves 4

One 3.5 lb. whole chicken
1.5 cups of whole buttermilk – preferably Kate’s
1.5 Tbs. of Gran Luchito Smoked Chilli Paste
1 tsp. crushed Juniper berries

Two days before serving, wash and paper towel dry your chicken. Using poultry shears, cut along each side of the chicken backbone and remove it. Turn the chicken breast side up and press on the breastbone to flatten the chicken. Using a sharp knife, cut partway through both sides of the joint between the thighs and the drumsticks as well as cut partway through the joint between the wings and the breast. This will allow the chicken to cook much faster.

Combine the buttermilk, Gran Luchito and crushed juniper berries in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour this mixture in a ziplock bag and put your chicken in. Close the bag and distribute the marinade all over. Store in the refrigerator for two days, turning the bag over and rubbing the marinade in periodically.

On the day you’re serving the chicken, preheat the oven to 450°. Place the chicken with the marinade in a non-stick, ovenproof skillet. (I did this or you can drain it from the marinade as essentially it does make a mess in your skillet but it probably imparts more flavor this way. With the skillet being non-stick, it fortunately cleans up easily.)

Set the skillet over high heat and cook the chicken until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the chicken for 30 minutes, until the skin is browned and the chicken is cooked through. Carefully remove the chicken from the skillet (remember the handle is piping hot so do not grab it unless you have a hotpad on!) and place on a platter. Let the chicken rest for 5 – 10 minutes. Cut it into 8 pieces and serve with LOVE.

Cranberry Walnut Muffins in PaperChef Lotus Cups

December 15, 2014 by Mary 9 Comments

I made these Cranberry Walnut Muffins in the PaperChef Lotus Cups and I swear they tasted better because they were baked in these cups. You know, presentation and visual excitement adds to the deliciousness of any food! These lotus cups are the creation of the PaperChef company, an offshoot of a Toronto-based, family-owned company that has been making paper products for the food industry since 1882. Everything is all natural and biodegradable. But most importantly, the parchment assures even baking and makes you look oh so professional, like you bought your muffins at a fancy coffee shop. Everyone should have one of these boxes in their pantry, so when the urge strikes to bake, you don’t have to make a cake, you can make beautiful muffins instead!

In these muffins, I used a combination of fresh cranberries and dried, as well as multi-grain flour along with some white flour. You could toast the walnuts first for an even deeper nut flavor. I didn’t because I didn’t have time. Either way, they are delicious. A friend of mine calls muffins “just an excuse to eat a cupcake in the morning,” minus the icing. I think that most of the time, she is right. But here I tried to make these a bit healthier with the multi-grain flour and they are not too sweet. YOU are sweet enough!

Make these muffins with LOVE while fresh cranberries are still around. They would also be great on Christmas morning. Enjoy!!

CRANBERRY WALNUT MUFFINS IN PAPERCHEF LOTUS CUPS – makes 18 muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups multi-grain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place fresh cranberries in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse on and off until chopped as in this photo.

Line 18 muffin cups with PaperChef Lotus Cup liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the milk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir quickly just to combine. Add both of the cranberries, walnuts, and both sugars and stir just to distribute the fruits, nuts, and sugar evenly throughout the batter.

Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until browned on the top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Delish!

Chili Chocolate Pork Chops with Apple Aplenty

December 12, 2014 by Mary 5 Comments

The first item I want to introduce to you from our MARY’s secret ingredients winter box is Apple Aplenty from Peeled Snacks. It is a totally delicious, organic, all natural trail mix with dried fruits, nuts, peanuts and chocolate pieces. Of course it’s terrific right out of the bag. However, these Chili Chocolate Pork Chops with Apple Aplenty really take this mix to another level. I reached back to Mexican cooking for inspiration. Think mole sauce, then, think about how delicious apples and raisins are with pork. Can’t go wrong with some red wine thrown in and garnishing it with cilantro kept it in the Mexican theme.

This dish was so very scrumptious and satisfying. I woke up the next morning still remembering every bite and feeling all nice and yummy inside. I think it was the chocolate in the sauce. It was all deliciousness!

Noha Waibsnaider started this Peeled Snacks company in 2004, when she noticed that the snack aisle was only filled with processed food. She set out to develop healthy, tasty and nourishing snacks using gently dried fruits combined with nuts and sometimes chocolate for a nutritious snack you could feel good about eating. She believes we all should be mindful of what we eat. That is certainly my philosophy here at LOVE.

Try this recipe – it is just so good!!!

CHILI CHOCOLATE PORK CHOPS WITH APPLE APLENTY – serves 2

1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. butter
2 one-inch thick pork loin chops
Salt
Pepper, fresh ground
1/4 tsp. sweet smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 cup dry red wine – preferably a Syrah
1 scant cup of Apple Aplenty
1/8 tsp. red chili pepper flakes
1 heaping Tbs. of chopped cilantro

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Wash and dry your chops. Salt and pepper one side and sprinkle the smoked paprika evenly over both chops on the same side. Rub the seasonings in a bit.

Warm olive oil in a small skillet. Add butter and turn up heat to medium-high. When butter stops sizzling, add the chops, seasoned side down. Brown the chops on that side for about 3 minutes. While the chops are browning, season the top side with salt and pepper.

Turn chops over. After 2 minutes, drain grease, add the wine and sprinkle the Apple Aplenty on top along with the red chili flakes, distributing evenly. Put the skillet in the preheated oven for 10 – 16 minutes. Test with an instant meat thermometer – it should be at 145 – 150 degrees. Remove the chops to a platter, scraping all the goodness on top. Let sit for 5 -10 minutes and the temperature will gain to the perfect degree of doneness.

Garnish with the cilantro and serve with LOVE!

Chili Chocolate Pork Chops with Apple Aplenty on two plates on table

I served these Chili Chocolate Pork Chops with Apple Aplenty alongside roasted zucchini topped with a green salsa. Delish!

MARY’s secret ingredients winter box

December 10, 2014 by Mary 2 Comments

It’s been a whirlwind first year for this subscription box business and I’m delighted to share with you the products in our MARY’s secret ingredients winter box!! It’s the last box of the year so we made this one extra special, overflowing with goodness, giving you a great foundation to start the holiday season with some super unique items. We’ve got bitters to brighten your cocktails, teas to warm your heart on a cold winter night, along with buttery rich peppermint cookies – now that’s a great nightcap! Both the hot pepper sauce and smoked peppers in the chili paste will add some terrific new flavors to your life and then you can go make some wonderful muffins in the prettiest paper cups. You could do some hiking to work it all off with the best trail mix, or wait for my most unexpected recipe using this product. A fun time is coming!!

We hope we’ve made your cooking more inventive and stretched your boundaries a bit. We’ve certainly had quite a fun time testing and choosing the most interesting, different and fun products to work with. We wonder, for those of you who didn’t order a box, do you find these “box posts” boring? Should we move them all to the MARY’s secret ingredients site? Or do you find them interesting?

Take a look at our lovely Marie Anello, once again opening the box in this video to the tune of a seasonal classic, Let It Snow!

Here are all the products, along with a tidbit about each company.

Chelsea Market Baskets – Gran Luchito (Smoke and chilli combine for total deliciousness!)

Their founder’s passion for inspired specialty foods and thoughtfully designed gifts led to the creation of Chelsea Market Baskets in 1993. Owner David Porat continues to search the world for innovative products that are distinctly high quality, fresh, unique, and have a certain indescribable charm. Chelsea Market Baskets’ ultimate goal is to delight their customers through their Chelsea Market retail shop in New York City, their mail order gift business, and their wholesale imports. They believe in product integrity and a high level of customer service. Their mission is to heighten each and every customer’s experience with these core values. And they make great holiday gift baskets!

Gran Luchito Smoked Chilli Paste: An authentic Mexican smoked chilli paste made in Mexico using chilies that have been ethically sourced directly from local farmers. When you try the product, the first thing you’ll notice is the smoky flavor, but then you’ll notice a hint of agave sweetness, perhaps the nuttiness of garlic and, of course, a medium heat.

Dutch’s Spirits: (Aren’t these just so cute?? I love the hats!)

Dutch’s Spirits is an artisanal distillery. Named after an infamous New York mobster of the Prohibition era, Dutch’s Spirits inhabits the same location as Harvest Homestead Farm, where Dutch Schultz set up his bootlegging complex. Dutch’s Spirits has steeped their bitters production in a heady combination of historical reference and dedication to the American cocktail craft.

American Era Cocktail Bitters: Inspired by the United States’ colorful history, Dutch’s Spirits crafted bold new recipes blending unique flavors from each era to create a truly distinctive line of cocktail bitters. The variety 3-pack includes:

Colonial Cocktail Bitters: Wild spicebush berries and Kinnikinnick leaf combined with chamomile blossoms, rose petals, lavender, bitter orange, angelica seed, juniper, allspice and cinnamon. A classically aromatic bitters blend.

Boomtown Bitters: Combines the ingredients of sarsaparilla and wintergreen with flavors representing American whiskies of the day such as coconut and oak from the maturing cask. This is an alternative bitters variety for bourbon and whiskey drinks.

ProhiBitters: Blend of flavors tailored to tweak the usual gin martini. Predominant citrus notes blend with licorice, hibiscus, ginger root and coriander.

Maddy’s Sweet Shop: (Bet you can’t eat just one!)

At Maddy’s Sweet Shop they continue to do things the old-fashioned way. Their delightful products are crafted in their artisanal bakery with time-honored recipes and the finest ingredients. Their award winning Lil’ Maddies are delectable shortbread cookies with a sweet candy crunch, covered in a unique powdered sugar coating.

Peppermint Snaps: Refresh your taste buds with the cool flavor of peppermint. It will wake you up and put a smile on your face. This is a surprisingly light and refreshing shortbread cookie with a peppermint candy crunch inside that is perfect for any time of the day.

PaperChef: (Make your cupcakes and muffins spectacular!)

PaperChef, a Toronto-based company founded in 2010, is a subsidiary of Culinary Papers and McNairn Packaging, a family business that has been making paper products for the food industry since 1882. The company is committed to bringing “The Art of Cooking with Parchment” to North America and the globe. The PaperChef line of products includes parchment rolls, parchment cooking bags and parchment baking cups.

Lotus cups: These cups are 100% biodegradable and they add personality to culinary creations while helping them to look their best. The cups’ inherent non-stick properties make them easy to peel away while keeping their shape, with little to no clean up.

Peeled Snacks: (Hiking never tasted so good – and wait until you see this recipe coming up!)

At Peeled Snacks, they know that food starts out delicious and nutritious. It doesn’t need a machine to improve it or an engineer to perfect it. They strive to bring you natural, premium ingredients so you can feel good about snacking. Eating well doesn’t have to mean eating tasteless, bland foods. It does, however, mean eating a healthy, wide range of foods from every food group.

apple APLENTY: This trail mix is a 100% organic, rich and tasty balance of sunflower seeds, walnuts, and peanuts, mixed with juicy Peeled Snacks raisins, dark chocolate, and apples. Whether you’re out on a hike or in for the night, apple Applenty will get you through, and help you bypass the doctor’s office. Enjoy!

Red Snapper Sauce: (No this is not made of fish – the name is a misnomer and the sauce is hot – a tiny bit goes a long way!)

The story of Red Snapper Sauce and the history of the McVea family are essentially one and the same. Some of the family’s happiest memories have been made while gathered around tables stocked with their legendary Louisiana-style hot sauce. Since they can’t invite each of you to their table, they’re sharing their history and family pride in each and every bottle.

Wildwood Arbol Sauce: This medium heat sauce is made with Chile De Arbol peppers, (a relative of the cayenne), and is quickly becoming the condiment of choice on many food lovers’ tables. It is extremely flavorful, with a woody base. Every bite increases the heat, giving warmth and flavor to any dish.

SerendipiTea: (Just the cutest names!!)

SerendipiTea is committed to the highest quality loose-leaf tea, selecting fine certified organics when available. They work closely with tea gardens, estates and specialists around the world, maintaining knowledge and expertise regarding all facets of tea and its production.

Holiday Cheer: Spread some Holiday Cheer this season! Enjoy this hand-crafted blend of warming spices, festive orange peel, invigorating mint & a touch of Black Tea for fortitude.

Once Upon a Tea: A fairy tale beginning with a delectable ending! Boldly based on rooibos, the mellow notes of vanilla, rich texture of chocolate & the defining essence of mint all blend together, deliciously ever after.

MARY’s secret ingredients GIVEAWAY!!!

December 9, 2014 by Mary 45 Comments

Pictured above was our recent fall box. The winter box will be revealed tomorrow!

My new subscription box business, MARY’s secret ingredients, has been a huge journey for me and my team this year. The support and warmth I’ve received from you means a great deal to me. I want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all of you who have shared your kind words as well as perhaps purchased or reviewed boxes for us. Your help has been invaluable!

So now, since it is the season of giving, and because I want to share not only my appreciation, but also the wonderful gourmet, international products with you, I am hosting a GIVEAWAY!!!

I’ll be giving away one FULL YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION of MARY’s secret ingredients (that’s FOUR boxes filled with surprise products) to one lucky follower, as well as TWO SPRING 2015 boxes as runner-up gifts!

The rules are simple; just comment below with your favorite dish to cook for the upcoming holidays (feel free to add a link to the recipe if you have one) and on December 16^th, my team will use a random number generator to choose the lucky winners. Since there are three chances to win, I do hope that all of you will comment and share with your friends!

Unfortunately, if you live outside of the continental United States, (that’s you, Maureen and Charlie Louie), I’m sorry to say you won’t be eligible for this giveaway, as MSI’s shipping is still limited to the U.S. However, please comment below with your favorite recipes anyway. I can’t wait to see what you have to share!

Best of luck to all of you, and stay tuned for more posts about the contents of our winter box and all the great recipes I’ve created using this season’s ingredients.

Now here I’d like to share with you just how NOT to roast a chicken. Remember that great on-the-flash dish I made in front of our guests – the Cumin and Mustard Roasted Chicken pieces with dried fruit? Well on Sunday night, I tried to do that again with a whole butterflied chicken, with a more complex, delicious glaze (thank goodness, because that’s all that was left) and, of course, a longer time in the oven (30 minutes) since it was a whole bird and THAT was my undoing.

Mmmm, lovely….

The fruit totally charred!! Just look!! (Imagine if that happened when I had the guests over!)

Fortunately we could just remove the fruit and enjoy the chicken, which was cooked perfectly. Two prunes and two pears survived.

I know your holiday recipes will all be smashing, unlike this one!

My Birthday

December 5, 2014 by Mary 13 Comments

I have to share with you the best card that I received from my friend Sheila in Texas for my birthday this year. First of all, you must know, Sheila and I have been friends for like, 37 years. And she always sends me a card, NEVER forgets. But this card, isn’t it the greatest? And it is fitting for me – don’t you think? (I certainly hope no one is offended.)

My real birthday was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. My younger son and his girlfriend made me a beautiful dinner that evening – exactly what I wanted, fulfilling my request superbly – sautéed boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a red sauce with capers over pasta, topped with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, with some green beans and pancetta on the side. It was a simple, robust and perfect meal for a snowy evening in front of the fire after a long day of cooking for Thanksgiving. The only thing is that I forgot to take pictures.

My older son declared my birthday was Saturday as he and his girlfriend did not arrive until Thanksgiving day, so they just moved my day. He recently made Pot au Feu for a Sunday evening dinner for my husband and me and he wanted to revisit that dish, only this time, he started making the broth on Thursday evening with the turkey carcass along with a chicken carcass I had saved for him. He cooked that broth in my giant soup pot for 3 days, as it very slowly simmered, totally permeating the house with luscious stock smells. His meat was pork shoulder and a whole breast of veal. This meal was to die for.

The broth was so dark and rich and his vegetables were cooked perfectly – cabbage still a little crisp, turnips and potatoes were dreamy creamy while both meats were fork tender and so flavorful. Agata made a crusty bread for dipping and his girlfriend made a totally yummy, rich chocolate pie with a ginger snap crust. It was EPIC! And, we got to have the exact same meal on Monday night with all the leftovers. I feel so fat and happy and I don’t care, for just this once. Just like a queen! Lucky me!

Sending LOVE to all of you!!