Mamma can cook

So truth be told... My mother and I hate Stew type foods. Neither of us enjoy a cooked carrot, or the meat in a gooey lump, ack, but my Daddy on the other hand LOVES Stew. The other day Derek took out a package of Beef Cubes and as I looked at the package I thought OH NO Stew?? Well, the good thing was my parents were coming over that night so Derek and I can go to dinner, so I got out of eating it, but I felt bad that my mother was going to be left with the meal. I decided to really find a new recipe that I thought she would enjoy. I went to the Italian GODDESS Marcella Hazan to see which direction she will lead me.... and this was it, and she changed my opinion on Stew. Let me just add.... I am not a fan of pickles in my food, nor am I a fan of capers AT ALL, but the medley was simply perfect. My mother who had brought her own dinner to my house once she found out we were eating stew, tasted the stew was pleasantly surprised and saved her dinner for the next days lunch!!! 2 Tablespo...

I am only a fan of Banana Bread when it is not all wet and soggy and sometimes this is hard to achieve since well Banana's don't really COOK, but if you use THIS recipe you will have perfect Banana Bread or Cake and what IS the difference between Banana bread and cake? I don't know what this would be classified as but who cares call it what you want it is an easy and great recipe!! You can of course add walnuts or whatever you please but I love chocolate with my banana bread. The BEST part of this cake....... ONLY 2 TBLSP of BUTTER!!!!!!!!!! OH YEAH no guilt. Go ahead now. Take those nasty bananas that you would not dream of eating because of the black spots that are covering them and make them into something divine!!! 1½ cups flour ( I used 1 cup White Flour and 1/2 cup Wheat Flour) 1 teaspoon baking powder (I always use Rumford ) ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ¾ cup sugar 2 tablespoons melted butter (salted or unsalted) 1 large egg wh...

Ever since I can remember my brother Richard has been obsessed with finding THE Orange Julius recipe. We would buy the powdered Orange smoothie mix in hopes it would satisfy his fix, but it never did. The other day he came over so excited that FINALLY after about 14 years he has found THE perfect Orange Julius copy recipe. He was right it was fantastic!!! Especially with some alcohol in the evening, mmmm. The kids LOVED it, minus the vodka of course. Anyway, just a warning... The recipe calls for 6oz of OJ concentrate but we bought the 12oz and used that, it came out pretty gross then we realized we used twice as much so we doubled the whole recipe it then was PERFECT. Here you go.... Richards 14 year quest of finding the perfect Orange Julius has come to an end and all the work was done now you can just enjoy: 6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate 1 cup milk 1 cup water 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 10 or so ice cubes 1. Combine all ingredients except ice cubes in blender. 2...

Yes that is right NO BUTTER. I have been making a batch of these a week now for the kids because they LOVE them. I hate them due to the tiny sprinkles that they shed all over my counters and floors and the obsession I have with bending down to a birds eye view to see how many of them I missed after the million times I tried to clean them up. ANYway.... These use olive oil insted of Butter. I use Extra Virgin just because it does have health benefits and you can't tell at all what oil is used. Now this is a very flexible recipe.... Sometimes I use Almond extract in the dough and icing or lemon extract just depends on what I feel like. Try whatever you like. 4 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons salt 6 beaten eggs 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup oil 1 1/2 teaspoon extract (almond, vanilla, anise) *** Icing: *** 2 Cups confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup milk 1 1/2 teaspoons extract Blend beaten eggs into dry ingredients, following with all other ingredients. Knead until smooth. Roll...

I have been making these for a long time, and recently made them for a Passover dinner at my mom's house. I think this is definitely one of my most requested recipes. They are SOOOO easy. I really believe the key to these is to FOLLOW the recipe. The eggs at room temperature should be as directed at room temperature!! I usually just put them in a warm water bath if I have forgotten to take them out. 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or ...

Soooo, I made this as one of the Appies at Owen's 1st birthday and I got a few requests for it then, but I also brought it to Karen's house for Terentieff Tuesday and Stacey hasn't forgotten about this lusciously delicious fellow. So this is for Stacy and anyone else who needs an easy and tasty little appetizer. The Cast of Characters : French bread 6 oz green olives 6 oz black olives 2green onions 1 stick butter softened 1/2 cup real or low fat ( not fat-free) mayonnaise 3/4 pound Monterey Jack Cheese. 1. Place one regular-sized can of black olives on a cutting board. (Mine said "6 oz. Dry Wt."), Do the same with a 6-oz jar of pimiento-stuffed green olives Give them a rough chop. 2. Slice 2 green onions into thin pieces then give them a nice rough chop all over 3. Place 1 stick softenend butter into a mixing bowl. 4. Add 1/2 cup mayonnaise. Please do NOT hurl if you don’t like mayonnaise; I promise, you won’t even know it’s there. 5. Take 3/4 pound grated Montere...

Well yes I love crumb cake who doesn't? I have had a recipe that is just Fantastic!! I thought the perfect time to share it was today. I made a little Birthday dinner for Heather's 30th and she is a lover of Crumb Cake too, so here it is!!! 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (plus ingredients on back of box) 2 Sticks cold salted butter 2 1/4 Cups flour 1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon 1 ¾ Cups sugar 1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla Powdered sugar (for dusting) PREHEAT oven to 350. PREPARE cake mixe in large bowl according to directions on box. Spray 9X13 pan with non-stick spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until center is just barely set. WHILE cakes are baking, prepare crumb topping. In large bowl of electric mixer combine, butter, flour, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla until all crumbly. IMMEDIATELY after cake is removed from oven, break crumb topping into marble size pieces with fingers, sprinkling over top. Put back in oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes (topping wi...

I LOVE me some Mushorooms!! Love Love Love!! and so when I saw gorgeous Shiitake mushrooms at Trader Joes... I said Oh Yeah Funghi Pasta for us. I know people either love em or hate em. I am in a crowd split in the middle with both lovers and haters, BUT the family loved this especially Owen who made me so proud because he too will be a Funghi lover. There is nothing like Olive Oil for bringing out the woody accents from mushrooms, and that is how this recipe begins. Mind you this is SO very easy. 3/4 pound fresh white mushrooms 1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic 2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley Salt 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 Tablespoons butter Black Pepper ground Fresh 3/4 cup Freshly grated Parm-Reg cheese 1 pound of Pasta ( I use Whole Wheat Penne) 1. Rinse all mushrooms quickly, Cut white mushrooms if they are not sliced from cap to stem into thin lengthwise slices. Discard and de...

Hummus & Shawarma ? Richard just got back from Israel and one would assume that the first thing he would talk about were the historical sites he saw or the amazing experience of a friday evening at the Kotel ? NOOO , he came back talking about the amazing Hummus, Shawarma's and the hot girls. He also came back with pictures of the hummus? That is my family though we are all too consumed with food I guess. SO tonight is the Final Four and he was psyched to watch it, what can be better than homemade hummus and a twist on the Shawarma, (I do not have that cone that rotates and chars meat lets be serious here) I made my own version. This is so not typical game with a beer food, but it did go down well with a nice cold one. Rich was happy. He said both of these were fantastic, woohoo!! HUMMUS 1 15oz can chickpea 1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste that you can find in organic section of supermarket or ethnic grocery stores) juice from 1 squeezed lemon 1-2 garlic cloves 1/2 teaspoon cumin...