General family recipes
updated 02/19/2021 I invented this recipe when Lorraine & I were first married, living in Rochester NY. I could shut the oven off half-way through baking, we’d go for an hour bike ride, and it would be hot-n-fresh when we got home. Fast-forward a few years to when we had small children, it was a […]
updated 01/14/2021 I was looking for ideas for dinner when I spotted a recipe for General Tso’s Chicken Nuggets. It sounded interesting, but I wasn’t interested in deep frying chicken nuggets. Or deep frying anything, for that matter. But I had chicken and veggies for a stir fry, so instead of my usual sauce (which […]
updated 08/28/2020 Patrick’s Pizza Sauce 1 x 28 oz can Cento’s* whole peeled tomatoes 1 x 14.5 oz can Cento’s* petite diced tomatoes 2 x 6 oz cans Cento’s* tomato paste 1 tbsp chili paste 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp fish sauce 1/2 – 1 cup warm water Spices: As measured, or […]
updated 08/15/2020 This morning Lorraine asked me to make a chicken stirfry. Cool! I purchased things a few weeks ago with intention of making something Thai-ish, so I had ingredients. She picked up chicken breast and we were set! This one is different from everything I’ve done previously, for two reasons: 1. I added unsweetened […]
updated 08/14/2020 This title is misleading. The real purpose of this post is the Teriyaki Sauce. I purchased a large bag of 13-15 count shrimp for Eric’s birthday dinner a few weeks ago. The bag is FAR larger than was needed, but the price was excellent so I snagged it. When Lorraine and I discussed […]
updated 08/02/2020 Today is Eric’s birthday and Lorraine asked me to get a cheesecake for dessert. I was going to buy a can of cherry pie filling in case anyone wanted sauce on their cheesecake … but there was a good price on fresh cherries so I changed plans. A search produced a lot of […]
updated 07/28/2020 I read a recipe on Better Homes & Gardens recently that caught my attention. It was a beef stroganoff recipe where the sour cream sauce was mixed together, then poured over the meat and simmered. This may be a common way of doing it, but it’s not something I was familiar with. When […]
updated 06/03/2020 As much as I enjoy onion soup, I’ve never made it until recently. For whatever reason, I had a belief that it took significant effort. A few months ago I spotted an onion soup recipe that caught my eye — the onions were baked at low temperature for a lengthy time, caramelizing them. […]
updated 06/02/2020 Most of the family dislikes mushrooms, so when we decided to make Beef Wellington for our New Years Eve dinner, I found a substitution for the mushroom duxelles that surrounds the beef inside the pastry: chestnuts. This produced its own adventure, as we prepared the chestnuts wrong, so peeling them was a PITA. […]
updated 05/25/2020 Lorraine wanted me to cook another brisket for our pre-Memorial Day dinner, but wanted me to do something different than the last 2 times. I hunted through many recipes, but couldn’t find anything that was really different OR that I liked. So I started with the last last recipe and made more tweaks. […]
updated 05/14/2020 Today’s recipes are stream of thought. Lorraine wanted pork tenderloin, so I quick defrosted a package in room temperature water in the sink. With just us, I cook 1 tenderloin that night and the other a night or two later. (two tenderloins are in the package) The first one I cut in chunks […]
updated 04/19/2020 The recipe for the first time I cooked brisket is here: Crockpot Brisket in BBQ Sauce Patrick is coming for dinner today so I convinced Lorraine that we should do brisket again (this took little effort!), this time with a regular brisket, not a corned beef one. Patrick cooked a brisket a few […]
updated 02/02/2020 I saw jumbo shrimp and sea scallops at Costco this morning. The fish that Lorraine asked me to buy didn’t get bought. I spotted prosciutto … and that told me what I was making! Grilled Shrimp & Scallops Wrapped in Prosciutto 1 lb large shrimp MARINADE: 1/2 lb sea scallops 1 Tbsp lime […]
updated 02/02/2020 Lorraine asked me to get fish from Costco this morning. When I arrived, the seafood bar was there — it’s typically open only for special occasions. Apparently the Superbowl is special enough. Instead of fish, I purchased shrimp and scallops (which is another post). I also purchased Baby Bella mushrooms and decided to […]
updated 10/14/2019 I’ve been dissatisfied with my pizza crust recipe — it tastes great, but generally rises too much and just does not spread in the pan. I spotted this recipe and decided to give it a try. The recipe is not necessarily special — however, the method is. I used the method and it […]