Mongolian beef is one of the easiest of your typical Chinese restaurant entrées to make at home.  An added bonus – it is so delicious that you may never order Mongolian beef for take-out again! Never again!

The recipe serves six, but can easily be cut down to serve 2 or 4.

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I developed this recipe for two reasons:

1. I wanted to use up a jar of homemade lemon marmalade that was open in my refrigerator.
2. I wanted to make crispy chicken wings for Connor. Connor loves his wings.

The problem was – when I went to Costco to buy the chicken wings, I accidentally picked up a huge package of chicken legs instead. And when I say huge … I’m talking 30 chicken legs, aka drumsticks.

Solution – I made crispy drums instead and Connor loved them just as much as he loves his wings.

Problem – I only used 10 of the 30 legs for this recipe.

Solution – I threw the remaining 2o legs in the freezer so I’ll just have to come up with another leg recipe the next time Connor comes home for the weekend.

This recipe can easily be changed to accommodate chicken wings… just use wings instead of legs.

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Today is Dave’s birthday. Connor came home from school for the weekend and HE, not I, made Dave’s birthday cake! All I did was take the action photos. Dave’s cake of choice is always his Auntie B’s Chocolate Cake. My mother-in-law sent me the recipe even before we were married so that I could make it for her boy who had moved so far from home.

Dave remembers the anticipation of The Beloved Cake when he would see a measuring cup full of milk, covered with a towel, sitting near the heater under the front picture window of his childhood home. You see, the recipe calls for sour milk. That old method of souring milk is no longer recommended since milk that is soured naturally may contain toxins. A safer, quicker, and much easier way to sour milk is to add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of 2% or whole milk and leave it to sit on a counter for 15 minutes before using. All that being said, everyone in Dave’s family is healthy and happy after consuming many of Auntie B’s cakes that were made with naturally soured milk.

Happy Birthday, Dave! xoxo

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Yesterday was National Taco Day, so naturally, we had tacos for dinner. Shrimp tacos to be exact.

Shrimp Tacos with Cabbage Slaw and Avocado Salsa

Cabbage Slaw
1/2 head green or red cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup pickled red onions
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

Avocado Salsa
5 small or 2 large avocados
Juice of 1 lime
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed and coarsely chopped
1/2 small red onion, peeled and finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper (fresh or roasted), finely diced
Kernels cut from 1 cob of corn
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper

Shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

6 corn tortillas

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Every week for the last couple of months there has been a watermelon in my CSA bounty. I pray last weeks was the last one! I am watermeloned out! Isn’t it time for pumpkins instead? Anyhow, I did the only thing left to do with another huge watermelon… I made cocktails!

My new motto: When in doubt – Make a Cocktail!

I found the inspiration for a watermelon mai tai from Ted Allen on the Food Network website. After tasting his version, I changed the quantities of his original recipe so I could use more watermelon. We ended up liking the end product even more than the original.

If you’re not familiar with St. Germaine Liqueur, it is one of the “big deals” in the cocktail world at the moment. It is not new though, it has been made in Paris since 1884, it’s just the new hot thing. St. Germain is a sweet liqueur made in the artisanal French style from elderberry flowers. Personally, I would not drink it on its own, but it is delicious in this mai tai. If you want to give it a try without buying a big bottle, do as I did, and buy the “airplane” size bottle from a well-stocked liquor store. I found mine at Total Wine.

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When I have little bits of various cheeses hanging about in the fridge – this is the sort of thing I make.

Chicken Alfredo Fusilli

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 cups quartered small tomatoes
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup fat-free half-and-half
1  1/2 cups blend of grated cheeses; such as Asiago, Parmesan, and Fontina
1 pound cooked fusilli pasta

One at a time, between two sheets of plastic wrap, pound each chicken breast evenly with a flat meat pounder.

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Salmon is my “go-to” main dish when I really don’t want to make dinner. We all love it, it’s fast and easy to cook, it’s pretty to look at, and lo and behold, it’s good for you.

While in Alaska this past August, we were told over and over again an easy way to remember the five types of Alaskan salmon. Now I share it with you.

• Your thumb rhymes with chum, hence Chum Salmon
• Your pointer finger is the one you might sock someone in the eye with, so Sockeye Salmon
• Your middle is the largest finger – for King Salmon, the largest salmon
• Your ring finger is where you might wear a silver ring….for a Silver Salmon
• And your pinkie finger is easy! It’s the Pink Salmon

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Photo credit: Diane Larimore Garcher (swiped by me from Facebook)

These are peaches from my cousin, Diane’s, two trees. Earlier this summer, my dad went up to Prescott Valley to visit Diane and she sent a bunch of peaches home with him. This all occurred back in mid-August while I was in Alaska.

Upon our return to Arizona, my sister, Sloane, picked us up from the airport. As we were driving home, my dad called Sloane’s cell to see if “we’d made it.” I was assuring him, that indeed we did, when he said, “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? I’ve got a bunch of peaches from Diane – how about I bring them over and we can peel them.”

WHAT?!  I’ve been out of town for two weeks. I landed a mere 25 minutes ago. The day is gone, it is dark outside. I spent the last 10 hours sitting on shuttles, stuck in an airport, languishing on an overbooked airplane, and standing at a carousel waiting for luggage (I know that word “carousel” sounds like such FUN. It is not!)  And my dad honestly thinks I may actually want to just hang out and peel peaches with him in a few hours!

Yeah, thanks. But, no, not so much!

Although clearly disappointed with my obvious lack of enthusiasm – my dad peeled the peaches himself, packaged and froze them, and then brought them to my house later in the week. Upon their delivery, he said, “Maybe one of these days, you could make me a peach pie with these.”

Wow, parents really never lose the knack.  They know exactly how to lay on the guilt, don’t they?

Anyhow, yes, I made the pie and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.  Thank you, Dad. And, thank you, Diane, for the luscious peaches – they were divine! xoxo

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I recently purchased this cool “entertaining set” and have been itching to use it. My first thought was that I’d make my “world-famous” cucumber martinis for one side and a chilled gazpacho for the other – like a Friday night happy hour for Dave and myself. But Fridays kept filling up with other things.  Opportunity knocked last Sunday when my dad came over for dinner and Connor came home for the weekend.

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The first time I stepped foot into America’s Taco Shop, I was completely sold! It was back in February when Tram and I first dropped in during a full afternoon of shopping on 7th Avenue in the Melrose District. And the most recent time I was lucky enough to eat at America’s was this past weekend, with Kim, and yes… we were shopping again.

In addition to the signature tacos, Kim and I shared an “extra” – America’s Corn (sweet white corn, lite mayo, cotija cheese, chili, and lime).

This is how it was served, which would be perfect for one. But since we were sharing, I began to use a little plastic knife to cut the kernels from the cob so we could eat the corn with chips. A server walked by and said it could be ordered off the cob too, so he took it back to the kitchen and cut the kernels off for us (most likely with a metal knife!) Wow! It is terrific – so terrific in fact – that I made it at home for my guys… who loved it too.

Cotija (pronounced ko-TEE-hah) cheese is a hard, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk. Named after the town of Cotija in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It can be hard to find in all grocery stores, so a good substitute is either Parmigiano-Reggiano or feta. I used Parmesan.

The mayo-slathered corn is a common street food you’ll find being sold on corners throughout Mexico.

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