For this week’s WHB entry, I finally tried a recipe that I’ve had my eye on for weeks. Aloo Paratha from Veggie Cookbook. Aloo Paratha is an Indian flat bread that is stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes. Aloo=potato Paratha=a type of flatbread. I’ve never attempted any type of Indian bread. I’ve read about lots of different types of breads: roti, chapati, paratha, naan. I’ve even found and watched videos online of how some of them are made. I just hadn’t tried any on my own. Sometimes I feel a little intimidated trying something brand new, especially when I have never seen or tasted something similar. But the great thing about food blogs is that not only will you often find step-by-step photos to help you along, you can usually e-mail the author with any questions or concerns you have about the recipe. How many times have you been looking through a cookbook or magazine, seen a great recipe or photo but then realize that the instructions are somewhat confusing. Haven’t you ever wished that you could just call up the cookbook author and ask for clarification? Well, thanks to the internet, you can often do just that. Continue reading →

Hooray! It’s Weekend Herb Blogging time again and this week I’ll be talking about rosemary. And if you keep reading, you’ll even find my recipe for the super yummy rosemary pizza dough I made for lunch today. This week, WHB will be hosted by Kalyn at Kalyn’s Kitchen so don’t forget to head over to her site and see what other herbs are being discussed this week.

What? You still don’t know anything about Weekend Herb Blogging? Go read about it here.

Now, let’s get started!

Here in Sicily, you’ll find rosemary (rosmarino, in Italian) growing all over the place! You’ll see it in gardens growing as a culinary herb, but also in planters and lining sidewalks as decorative shrubs. It can even be trimmed into topiaries and bonsai. Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean region but is a popular culinary herb throughout the world. It pairs well with lamb, chicken, beans, and potatoes and can be added to breads such as focaccia and potato bread. Although some people (like me) can’t get enough of it, it’s important to remember that Rosemary has a very strong flavor and can become easily become overwhelming if you aren’t careful. Continue reading →

For this week’s entry to Weekend Herb Blogging, I’m sticking with the two herbs I’ve used for my previous entries…fresh mint and chives. I didn’t mean to do it but I was looking through my favorite cookbook and was inspired to make a lime and mint vinaigrette to drizzle over the salad I was planning to make for lunch.

I’m sure you’ll forgive me for using these herbs again because this dressing is really good! The original version of the dressing uses only lime juice for the acid but I added some vinegar too because that’s the way I like it! I also substituted chives for scallions because quite frankly, I don’t like raw onions…even the little green ones! But I love the milder flavor of chives. They add a bit of onion flavor but aren’t overpowering. I also used only half the amount of mint that is called for in the original recipe. What I ended up with was a light, refreshing dressing that perfectly complimented the ripe tomatoes that I picked up yesterday at the organic farmer’s market. In addition to tomatoes, my salad contained a mixture of romaine lettuce and baby spinach (also from the organic market), cucumber, and crumbled feta. A nice, simple salad. Continue reading →

First of all, I would like to say happy Father’s Day to my Dad! I don’t think he will be reading this online but maybe someone (Kathy, Pauline, I’m talking to you!) will print it out and show it to him. This Web site would not be in existence if it weren’t for my Dad’s influence on my cooking. My willingness (and sometimes compulsion) to experiment with food is definitely something I get from my Dad and if it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have started creating my own recipes. I am extremely lucky to have come from a family where both parents were great in the kitchen! Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I love you!

For this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging entry, I made some tzatzki using fresh mint. Mmmmmmm…tzatziki! Have you ever tried it? Can you pronounce it? Tzatziki is a Greek sauce made of thick yogurt and chopped cucumber. I called it a sauce but it’s more like a cross between a sauce and a salad. I guess we could just call it a condiment. It can be served with pita as an appetizer and it’s a standard accompaniment to gyros. But you can really do whatever you want with it. I like to just eat it by the spoonful Continue reading →

There’s a weekly food blog event that I have been meaning to participate in for quite some time now. It’s called Weekend Herb Blogging and it’s a great way for people who enjoy using fresh herbs to share tips, ideas, information, and recipes with one another. The event, now on it’s 82nd week I believe, was founded by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen and is still hosted there the first weekend of each month. During the other three weeks, the event roams around the food blog community, hosted by different bloggers each week. If you wish to participate, simply write a little something about a fresh herb and/or post a recipe featuring fresh herbs. Put it on your blog sometime during the week (any week, every week) and then e-mail the link to the person who is hosting the event. All of the links are compiled and then posted together at the end of the week by the host. Like all food blog events, it’s a great way to learn something new, find recipes, and also discover new food blogs. Continue reading →