The Kosher Food & Wine Experience 2011

I just got home from Royal Wine Corporation’s Kosher Food and Wine Experience, and WOW! From the selection of kosher food stations provided by a variety of restaurants in the area to the selection of kosher wines and wineries, this was the event of the year for any kosher foodie!

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Meatless Mondays: Easy Tomato Soup

I wanted to make tomato soup to accompany the grilled cheese I planned to make with my amazing pita bread! I decided to balance out all of the work it took to make the pita (although it really wasn’t hard!) with this simple recipe I found on the Food Network site, much easier than the version Jessica made, but also delicious. There were so many recipes to choose from, but this one looked easy and had great reviews.

We needed something green for this Meatless Monday dinner, too; I guess that’s where the pickle and avocado come in.

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Lemon Bars

We both tried to make lemon bars about a million years ago, but we failed. First the custard didn’t gel, and then we tried making it with raw sugar (not a pretty picture), and then we forgot about it and went on with our other baking projects. Fast forward to now, when I had some sour cream left over in our fridge and remembered how good it was in baking.

So, upon googling different baking recipes using sour cream, I found this. I knew I had to make it over all of the other possibilities, which would be added to my virtual recipe pile. Why? 1) Lemon bars! We neglected you all these years, but we said we’d try again and we meant it! 2) It’s a recipe written for a Baker’s Edge Pan! As you know, I own one of those, and I love the crispy edges that it produces. If you don’t, you can still bake these bars in an 9×13 baking dish. Continue reading

Potato and Mushroom Gratin

Every month, I’m lucky enough to get the newest Bon Appetit in my mailbox (subscribe here). I always look through it and bookmark all the recipes I want to try. There are way too many, so I like to try at least one recipe from each issue. Back in November, I saw a recipe for a gratin and knew I had to try it. I just didn’t know it would take me MONTHS to actually do it. Not that it was hard or anything, but there are just SO many recipes on my to do list that I don’t always get around to making some until way later than I want. And sometimes when new recipes come along and the ingredients are already in my pantry, older ones just get pushed aside (but never forgotten, because of course I write them down).

Does anyone know a good way to cure myself of this too-many-recipes-on-my-to-do-list syndrome? That doesn’t involve turning off food network or browsing cookbooks. Because otherwise I would be bored. Continue reading

Passion Tea Lemonade

Ever been to Starbucks and spend way too much money on a drink? I know I have. And I love their passion tea lemonade. So when I bought Tazo passion tea from the supermarket, I had an idea. Instead of only drinking it hot with a little bit of honey, why not prepare some iced passion tea and drink it just like at Starbucks? I added some homemade lemonade and it was a hit! A little more lemonadey than the Starbucks kind, but that can definitely be tweaked according to taste. I definitely like it that way.

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Belgian Buttermilk Waffles

I know a waffle maker is a unitasker, but I just love having people over for brunch on Sunday and serving homemade waffles!

Sometimes I add blueberries to the batter. You can also add other berries, chocolate chips, bananas, etc. I usually also make the whole batter recipe and only use half, so I can freeze the other half and have the batter ready for an impromptu brunch party!

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Company Pot Roast

I have seen this episode of Barefoot Contessa many many times. Ina makes this pot roast with some baked potatoes. It’s such an easy recipe, though you do need a whole bunch of ingredients to make it. I finally decided to try it, and it was definitely worth it! The pot roast is soft and flavorful, and the sauce is thick and delicious over rice or couscous. I dipped garlic bread in mine. yum! It’s also a pretty forgiving recipe, so if you don’t have some of the ingredients, don’t fret! Continue reading