My sweet little family of four! xoxo

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.

Here is the final recipe from my April trip to Chicago. It comes, once again, from Half Baked Harvest, and as usual, slightly altered to use what is available.

Here is another recipe I made while visiting Max and his parents in Chicago last month. (less than 2 weeks until I go back for his 1^st birthday!)

I’ve laid out the list of ingredients slightly differently on this one than I usually do. Generally, I will list the full amount of, let’s say smoked paprika, and if the paprika is used in two different parts of the recipe, I’ll write “divided” after the ingredient. That seemed more confusing than helpful in this case. So the point is, don’t put away those spices right away, you’re going to need them again.

Also, as sometimes happens, this is a do as I say, not as I do recipe. I sautéed everything in a large skillet and then had to transfer it all to a large pot to add the pasta and complete the recipe. Better to simply sauté in the large pot from the get-go.

I was visiting Max and his parents in Chicago at the end of last month and tried a few new recipes for Mom and Dad, aka Marissa & Jeff.

This first one was from the Half Baked Harvest blog. It could not have been quicker or easier. Also, delicious, so I’ll be making it again and adding in diced chicken breast or thighs for added protein.

Oh, and May the 4th be with you!

One thing about me, with the exception of holidays, I rarely make a recipe twice, let alone 3 times in the span of a few weeks! This recipe is now a family favorite. I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t often use ground chicken. Ground turkey, all the time, so I may be a bit sick of ground turkey. Ground chicken seems to taste milder to me. It carries other flavors better. I don’t know, I’m just all about ground chicken right now. Then there’s the richness of the dish; cream cheese, Parmesan, mozzarella, pesto; all the good stuff! Give this a try and let me know if it becomes a part of your meal rotation.

Here we are, 4 days until Christmas and I’m finally posting a Thanksgiving recipe. Obviously, it would be great for Christmas too, so if you’re still searching for a new side dish, I highly recommend this one! I found it on Instagram, posted by one of my favorite cheese providers, Murray’s Cheese. The recipe calls for hot honey and burrata.

Burrata is an Italian cow’s milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer casing is solid mozzarella, while the inside is stracciatella and cream, making it extremely luxurious and delicious when broken open.

I’m posting both Murray’s photo and my own. Murray’s used kabocha squash and shows the burrata still in its whole form. While I used acorn squash and broke up my burrata a bit more and scattered mine throughout the platter, ensuring all guests were able to have some on their plates. Also, the lighting in my photo is atrocious, taking on the stove, under the stove light! Terrible!

If you’ve never had hot honey, you’re really missing out! The brand most popular is Mike’s Hot Honey, which you can find at most grocery stores. Trader Joe’s has their own brand and you can also easily find burrata there.