In my opinion, spaghetti is one of the quicker meals to make, that is if you are using a jarred marinara sauce. This one, using the Instant Pot, is even quicker. Think of the convenience of no-boil lasagna noddles and you are on the right track with these spaghetti noodles. The only hands-on part of this recipe is browning the meat, then you are free to go about your business while the Pot does the rest. As you can see from the photos above and below, Max was very helpful in the kitchen.

I’m in Chicago again, this time for the birth of grandson number two, Owen James. Owen was born on April 10th, he and Mama are doing great. Max is slowly adjusting to baby brother and is a complete joy to be around. While Marissa, Jeff, and Owen were still in the hospital, I got busy with the Instant Pot and whipped out four meals in one day. This is by far my favorite, and Max’s too.

I found the recipes by Googling “Top 10 Instant Pot Recipes”

I decided to make French Baked Eggs or Oeufs Cocottes for Easter simply for the reason that I wanted to use the new lavendar Le Creuset Signature Petite Cocottes that I had found for a steal at Home Goods a couple of months ago. I already own the cocottes in navy blue, green and brown so when I stumbled upon three of the lavendar beauties for 2/3 the price, I snapped them up.

For Easter Brunch this year, I veered off my usual Easter Brunch sort of menu. No honey-glazed ham or potatoes au gratin. No asparagus tart, asparagus terrine, or asparagus salad. No French toast or herb crepes. No, this year, I went with a super simple and super last-minute sort of menu. Why? Because I wasn’t 100% I’d be in town to make Easter Brunch this year.

My daughter, Marissa, is expecting baby boy #2 any day now. Baby boy #1, Max, arrived three weeks early and if #2 followed suit, he would have arrived on March 26th. But he, and Marissa, are hanging in there for the time being. If all goes to plan, I will be flying out to Chicago next week, until then, I’m on watch to leave at a moment’s notice. Easter shopping didn’t happen until late Saturday afternoon. Here is my last-minute super simple menu:

• Easter Harmony Board w/Crackers
• Deviled Ham-Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
• Oeufs Cocotte (French Baked Eggs)
• Watergate Salad
• Costco Carrot Cake Cupcakes

The guest list was pared down too, with only my dad, Dave, Connor, and me. The overall favorite dish of the day was the deviled ham-grilled cheese. I’ll most definitely be making it again and again. I’m so out of the habit of blogging that I didn’t get a close-up photo of the sandwiches, just a table shot with them in the center on a plate. Sorry!

A close-up photo that I did manage to get was of my April Fools “Grilled Cheese Sandwiches” that I made for my girlfriends today. We were at lunch to celebrate Amy, April and Lori’s March birthdays so I brought along a little “sample of the delicious grilled cheese sandwiches I’d served for Easter.” They were tricked and were actually happy with my pound cake/vanilla frosting creation. To fool your friends next year, simply slice a pound cake, butter one side and brown in a skillet. Set aside to cool. Add orange or a mixture of red and yellow food coloring to purchased vanilla frosting and put together your sandwiches.

Peggy made this yummy dip. It includes one of my favorite melting cheeses, Fontina. So Good! Again, sorry for the less than less-than-stellar photo, I’m snagging these from a video since I forgot to get photos of each dish.

Lisa made these delicious caramelized onion bites. This recipe is a keeper.

Well, it’s taken me more than 6 weeks to get back and post another recipe. The holidays were as crazy as ever, with Marissa and family in town and Harmony Boards Christmas and NYE orders, and … well you know how it goes.

This recipe was made by Mary even though she was not able to attend, she sent it along with her sisters. These cheesy bites were a huge hit!

Tram and Steve chose this next recipe and it was a true crowd-pleaser! Although each guest is only asked to bring a single recipe of each dish, good thing they decided to make a double batch. So Good!

Although I am linking the original recipe from Grilled Cheese Social, I have also copy and pasted and cleaned it up a bit because there are SO MANY ads and popups on the original site. LINK

Pizza Sliders with Pepperoni & Hot Honey

• Non-stick baking spray
• One 12-pack Original Kings Hawaiian Rolls
• 1 heaping cup purchased marinara sauce
• 1 cup low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, hand torn
• 3 ounces pepperoni slices
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon fresh peeled and diced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3 tablespoons hot honey

I hosted my annual Christmas Potluck Appetizer Party last weekend and will share the recipes as often as I can break away from making Harmony Boards during this, my busiest season. Sadly, I did not take photos of each dish. I am so out of practice taking photos for this page! In the rush and joy of guests arriving, I forgot to take any. This first recipe is one that I made so I took photos with the leftovers, the day after. Luckily, I did take a video for Instagram, so maybe I can screenshot halfway decent photos from that for the coming days… but that is wishful thinking. They will most likely be blurry, at best!

I made salmon bowls for Anne’s belated birthday dinner last week. I’ve been on a salmon kick recently, in excess, since now I’m sick of salmon. I do this more often than I’d like to admit. I think it’s simply part of cooking for one. Admittedly, a large part of the problem is that I shop at Costco for my business. While I’m there (several times a week) I will also pick up food for myself. I think we can all agree that shopping at Costco when you’re cooking for one, isn’t the best strategy. This is another “something” that I need to work on.