These little pigs-in-a-blanket, dressed up as Halloween mummies, will disappear before you eyes!

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Finally! For two nights now we have had our windows open. The first evening we could hear the falling rain, all night long. Joy! Although the word from the weatherman is that it’ll be back up in the mid to high 80’s next week, we’re just enjoying it while we can. On that note, the winter squash dish yesterday made me crave more of the same. Today, instead of the exotic Red Kuri squash, we’ll go a little more traditional and work with the super fun spaghetti squash. Although the spaghetti-like strands of squash taste nothing like pasta, it’s a tasty and healthier way to “feel” like you’re eating pasta…

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It’s been a strange week. Dave was out of town on business Friday – Friday. I was in California that first weekend for a wedding (a gorgeous wedding). Then Marissa went down to Tucson for her boyfriend’s birthday (Happy birthday, Alberto!).  And on Thursday, I took Connor up to Flagstaff to begin his sophomore year at NAU (Have a great first day today, Con! Missing you!).

The four of us were never home at the same time, and now we won’t be again until … Thanksgiving, probably (insert sad face here). After all that disruption, what we need is breakfast for dinner. There aren’t too many things that feel cozier than having traditional morning food in the evening.

These sandwiches are delicious with or without the addition of a poached egg. I did four with and four without. Use any cheese you like, but I’m using pepper Jack to go with the jalapeno sausage I purchased at The Pork Shop… so darn good!

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On Saturday, I’ll be serving a pre-Easter brunch to the hardworking people in my husband, Dave’s, office.  It’s a CPA firm and Easter usually falls during the crunch time of tax season, so these people need a break! This recipe is on the menu.

I confess, I totally ripped it out of the Williams-Sonoma catalog. They sell these cute little “breakfast pigs in a blanket”.  The Williams-Sonoma version uses Aidell’s chicken-apple sausages. While I did find Aidell’s sausages at Costco and was planning to use them, I spotted some mango-chicken sausages and decided to go that route… happy I did because – Yum!

So here are your choices… purchase from the catalog and pay $48.50 (that’s with shipping) for 24 “pigs”…  or… make mine, and pay less than $25 for the pastry and sausages and you will wind up with 60 – as in “six- zero”  little pigs!!!

I know what you’re saying to yourself right now…. “I do not need Sixty Pigs, even if they do cost $1.58 less per piece than the Williams-Sonoma pigs.”  

Oh yes – You do!!!  

These are delicious, easy, and so great to have on hand in your freezer.  That’s right, you can bake and serve some now and freeze the rest for later. Of course, you can always cut the recipe in half, use just one package of puff pastry, and find another and smaller (meaning a smaller quantity than sold at Costco) package of sausages. But once you get on the roll of putting these together, it takes no time at all and you’ll feel rich and wise with the knowledge that you have these little gems stocked away.

They can go directly from the freezer to the oven -at the ready for a quick cocktail appetizer or as a fun breakfast, any day of the week. Finally, I call for whole-grain mustard, because I like it, but if you only have regular Dijon, that works too.

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Today is the last day of spring break… I am sad. Connor has been home all week and that has been wonderful. And after five days in Mexico, Marissa arrived home on Friday to spend the weekend with us, which always puts a smile on my face. But today, that is over… Marissa is getting ready to pack up her car and drive back down to Tucson for her last semester at UA and then I’ll drive Connor up to Flagstaff to finish off his freshman year. For the sendoff, we invited my dad over for Sunday Brunch. Nothing like eating outside in March on a gorgeous sunny but mild Arizona day! Today I’m sharing our frittata recipe… tomorrow the breakfast potatoes that accompanied it.

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My husband, Dave, made me dinner last night. And it was not one of the two things he knows how to make well -which would be; grilled filet mignon, garlic bread, along with his mom’s caesar salad recipe… or the Male Chauvinist Pig Chili recipe that he cut out of our local newspaper’s food section some 26 years ago! No, he made jambalaya! I’m sure there are many of you reading this right now, who have never made jambalaya… so as you might imagine, this was really something. I believe it was the New Orleans Saints’ victory over our Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, that inspired him. Although we are both sad that the Cards didn’t go all the way, we are proud they took the NFC West title for the second year in a row and congratulate them on their great season. Now we’re going to put our hopes on the Saints to get to the Super Bowl. Dave, thank you for the night off and for the truly delicious dinner! xoxo

To make jambalaya, you begin with the Cajun/Creole “trinity”; a mixture of onion, bell pepper, and celery. Most cuisines have their own “trinity”, here are a few: French= carrots, celery, onion; Italian = tomato, garlic, basil; Chinese = garlic, ginger, scallions; Greek = lemon juice, olive oil, oregano; and Mexican = corn, chilies, beans.

I do not care for the flavor of green bell peppers (too much of a “green vegetable” taste for me), you may have noticed that the majority of my recipes use red, yellow, or orange bells (sweeter and not green tasting). You, of course, can use green bells instead. There are a wide variety of proteins used in jambalaya; from chicken and sausage to shrimp and ham, to duck or even alligator. The roots of Creole jambalaya are in the French Quarter of New Orleans, it is a close relative to Spanish paella. It began as an attempt by the Spanish to make their beloved paella in the New World, but the key ingredient, saffron, was not available, so tomatoes were used instead. Next came the French influence on the dish and the spices from the Caribbean changed it into the dish it is today.
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Happy New Year, wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, prosperous 2010!

To start the year out on a yummy note, why not combine two Italian favorites? This is a quick and easy lasagna, with no boiling of noodles or making of a time-consuming homemade sauce.

Just purchase the various items for the layers and go to town assembling a big old pan of goodness. To change to a vegetarian dish, substitute diced or sliced zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, and/or bell peppers for the sausage. Sauté the veggies in an additional tablespoon of olive oil and proceed as directed.

When it comes to nutmeg, there is no comparison between freshly ground and the already ground stuff you’ll find in the spice aisle. Purchase the whole nutmegs and use any of the tools above to grind it fresh when you need it.

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It’s hard to beat a great homemade soup on a cold winter’s day. I love soup any time of year, but particularly in the winter, and this hearty winter soup is guaranteed to warm you inside and out. If you made turkey stock with the Thanksgiving bird, all the better, but store-bought broth will work here too. Pair it with warm crusty bread and your day will end on a high note. (In the picture, you may notice the soup is missing the grated swiss cheese on top. Don’t tell my family, but I forgot to add it… they will be sad when they find out, but it honestly was delicious anyhow!)

In addition to the kitchen ornament picture at the end of the post, here is a picture of a fresh pomegranate centerpiece I created for the season. To make; stack pomegranates and use a glue gun to hold them in place.  Put the “pomegranate pyramid” on the pretty tray or plate and fill in spaces with fresh bay leaves, pine boughs, eucalyptus cuttings, holly, etc. Poke cinnamon sticks in to finish. This arrangement is beautifully fresh and will dry wonderfully too.
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Do you know anyone who doesn’t like lasagna? I certainly don’t! It’s right up there with hamburgers, spaghetti, and mac and cheese as the all-time family favorites. All those classics have been posted here already, it is now lasagna’s turn.

Toasted and skinned hazelnuts are used in the pesto. To learn how to do this procedure, either go to the Tip Index at the left and look under “Hazelnuts” or click on this link.
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This is a gourmet take on my grandmother’s traditional sage stuffing. She did not add the apples, sausage, pecans, or cranberries. It took her son, my dad, a couple of years to get used to my version, but now I think even he would miss those yummy additions – although he probably won’t admit it! The picture above is all the components, prepared and ready to put together before stuffing the bird (excluding the pumpkins, of course, those are for decoration!). The dominating flavor is still the sage, so be sure not to skimp on that. And remember to tear and dry out the bread at least 24 hours ahead of time.

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