Potato and Cheddar Cheese Pierogi

Growing up, our culture was celebrated proudly by our family.  I am Italian, Irish, Polish, and most recently through a DNA testing, I discovered I am French, Albanian, and North African.  So growing up food was a big part of celebrating our roots as is with most families.  Universally, we all celebrate moments of our…

Italian Ricotta Meatballs

I have found that meatballs are a very personal and potentially, a very touchy subject, in some circles.  Mostly by anyone who cooks!  Everyone believes that their “ball game” is tight, and theirs are the best.  I am no exception to this.  I have found that recently I have upped my game, by adding fresh…

Lazy Day Ricotta Pancakes with Mixed Berry Compote

The weekends are big in our household.  It is a day for our family to reconnect and come together for a meal, since, unless it’s wrestling season, or my fireman isn’t protecting our town from fires, we are home lingering.   Breakfasts become a big deal to us, and my kidlets look forward to waking up…

Slow Simmered Pork Ragu with Pappardelle

There is no better smell that is pure comfort to me than when I have a big huge pot of gravy simmering on the stove for Sunday Gravy.  (My gravy is your marinara sauce).  Growing up this was one of the happiest times as a girl, knowing I would be eating my Grandmother’s meatballs and…

Blood Orange & Poppy Seed Muffins with Blood Orange Glaze

Blood oranges are one of those fruits that I naturally equate with my Italian roots. Growing up I spent some of my summers staying with my Grandmother in Jersey City, and back in the 70’s there was a Peddler who would peddle his fruits and vegetables by cart around the Italian neighborhood my Grandma lived…

Tex Mex Skillet Chicken with Charred Poblanos

This is the perfect dish for a busy weeknight, or lazy day lunch.  Using leftover chicken or store bought rotisserie chicken, makes this come together rather quickly, it’s perfect.  You can even char the poblanos one day before you plan to make this, seed them and chop, and put in a sealed container for the…

Sweet & Spicy Thai Chili Wings

I am a sucker for a good wing, something about them just gets me all warm and fuzzy! They are the perfect empty slate for anything you can dream up.  Our family loves to nibble on wings come game time, Go Steelers, or anytime to be honest.  We are impartial to Spicy Buffalo, and Sweet…

Corn Nuggets aka..Corn Fritters

Since the time my kidlets were little one of our family’s favorite snacks/and or desserts were corn nuggets as my kidlets called them.  Now, most people don’t serve them this way, at least in the south, they are meant to be savory, but I took it to another level, and they have been a snack…

Retro Beef Vegetable Soup

I have such fond memories of my Mom and Dad together cooking in the kitchen. For some reason they just loved to cook together. My Mom would usually start and my Dad would jump in and add his touch to things, which didn’t always suit my Mom but they made it work! One of the…

Savory Greek Spanakopita

My earliest memory of this glorious Greek delight came in my early 20’s.  I was at a diner, in my home state of Jersey, (diners are kind of our thing here in Jersey) and I wanted to try something different.  One taste and I was hooked, and I have been ever since.  Spanakopita is a…