Baked Ziti with Tossed Salad and Apple Crisp

September 28, 2009

Matt and I became unwitting Sopranos fans last summer, when our son was a newborn. Our next-door neighbors had the series on DVD and loaned it to us after we told them we’d never seen any episodes. We broke it out one night when I didn’t have the energy to do anything but collapse on […]

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Steak Fajitas with Pico de Gallo

September 27, 2009

In Milwaukee, you can find dozens of restaurants that serve fajitas, but it’s hard to find great fajitas. Maybe my expectations are too high after a childhood of eating Tex-Mex on a regular basis — in Texas, I should add. In my experience, fajitas are only as good as their ingredients. The meat is especially […]

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Curried Chicken with Cucumber Yogurt Salad and Apple Honey Bundt Cake

September 26, 2009

When my husband was young, his birthday dinner of choice was his mom’s chicken curry. Shortly after we started dating, he made me the dish and, well, we’re married now. It’s just that good. He still makes it for me often. Though we’ve eaten it dozens of times together, we always end the meal by […]

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Spring Rolls with Pork Meatballs and Spicy Peanut Sauce and Pinkberry-style Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

September 25, 2009

I love the idea of appetizers for dinner. Why waste time with big entrees when a succulent starter will do? My in-laws introduced me to a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant on the south side of Milwaukee called Phan’s Garden. After years of ordering and assembling their grilled pork meatball spring rolls, Reuben decided to take a […]

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Stuffed Green Peppers, Salad with Corn, Tomato, and Goat Cheese, and Sweet Potato Pie

September 24, 2009

I know I’ve been watching too much Mad Men when I start craving cigarettes and pull out my Betty Crocker’s Cookbook from 1969. I can’t figure out how women ate these dishes and still managed to squeeze into their wool pencil skirts. Good girdles? Maybe it was the chain smoking. Feeling housewifely after an evening […]

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Tortellini with Spinach and Toasted Garlic and Caprese Salad

September 22, 2009

This is my go-to weeknight meal. You can prepare the whole menu in about 15 minutes, yet it’s tasty enough to serve at dinner parties. I frequently serve it alongside a broiled or grilled steak for extra protein. I made this menu for my good friend and first-time mom, Christie. Anabelle and I had the […]

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Spicy Chicken and Rice with Tossed Salad and Raspberry Crumb Bars

September 21, 2009

Sometimes it’s fun to see what I can pull together for dinner without shopping for any ingredients. I also like having an excuse to use the new Le Creuset brasier my mom bought me as an early Christmas present. I originally thought an arroz con pollo recipe would be fun to try, but there were […]

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Late-summer Roast Beef Dinner and French Apple Tart

September 20, 2009

Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food is one of the bibles of modern-day cookbooks. It’s also one of the first cookbooks I bought in Ireland, and has taught me how to make things I’d never even heard of before moving abroad, like Yorkshire pudding and trifle. It also spells […]

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