I love sweet potato but it’s not one of the most popular vegetables in my family. A few years ago my mother and sister did a sweet potato diet and after less then two days they were sick of it! However, they do still love the brown sugar, buttery, marshmallow sweet potato that we traditionally have over Thanksgiving. Thank goodness!
There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. – O. Henry Despite the fact that I am Irish, I have always grown up with Thanksgiving as my Mam hails from Nebraska. While we never went all out for 4th of July, Thanksgiving was a sight to behold. Mam would have us on clean-up duty the entire week ahead of time, and, while we cleaned, she would bake and prepare tons of delicious food like her almond slices (to die for!), salad jelly (jello–which is one of my favourite Thanksgiving foods), and, particularly when we were younger, her homemade brown bread. By Thanksgiving day we’d be in a state of restless anticipation. Besides my own family, which numbers nine, over the years we’ve had several different guests, but some of the consistent ones include two of my Mam’s best friends in Ireland and my Dad’s cousin who is like an aunt to us kids. When the guests would arrive we’d usher them into the sitting room to chat …
Pasta doesn’t make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat. – Giada De Laurentiis Years ago, I was visiting my sister who lived in Galway at the time. From my memory it was either late Autumn or early Winter. We had gone out the night before and had spent our day recovering by watching TV, chatting, and I believe she introduced me to the magic that was “G’s to Gents”. When we finally decided to eat she introduced me to what has become one of my favourite meals to make when I’m having friends over. All the vegetables and chicken smelled divine by themselves but adding the Dolmio® Creamy Tomato Sauce gave it that extra edge. My sister is one of those people who always ups her game when it comes to cooking and this recipe had already been given to her by another friend in it’s basic form of the Dolmio jar, chicken and pasta. My sister not only added vegetables, but she also stirred in single cream and added hunks …
Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple. – JK Rowling As much as I love spring and summer, there is just something enchanting about Autumn and Winter flavours, smells, colours and holidays. I love the look, taste, and smell of everything these two season have to offer: warm fragrant soups, pumpkin pies, apple tarts, oranges stuffed with cloves, hot minty chocolate, and hot apple cider — to mention just a few. The first time I ever had apple cider was at my first Thanksgiving in America as an adult (way back in 2001!). I was confused. I didn’t understand how it could be cider as there was no alcohol! Eventually I came to appreciate this kind of cider and now I really, really love all the flavours. Last year, for a tea night I decided I wanted to make American apple cider, however, most recipes I saw called for pre-made cider. I didn’t understand why, when surely you could just use apples to …
A box without hinges, key, or lid, Yet golden treasure inside is hid. – JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit A couple of weeks ago, about 10 days before I went on my holidays, I didn’t really have any food in the house. I was trying really hard to use up what I had, and to not buy anymore food, so nothing would go to waste. All I had left in the fridge was a tiny bit of red bell-pepper, an avocado and some eggs. I rummaged through my shelves and found a packet of tortillas and decided I’d make wraps. It was really simple, and really good. I liked it so much I actually went out and bought another pepper and avocado to make it again the following night and the night after that… Each time, I made them I made some slight adjustments – I added onions and garlic one day, as well as tomatoes and courgette another. This wrap is really versatile and I’ve loved each version. I hope you do, too. Fried Egg and Avocado …
Spoon in a Saucepan 