Shrimp Scampi over Pasta

I love me some shrimps, though unfortunately My Librarian, having grown up in a surfer town, does not like the shrimp, nor other family members of what she calls "sand bugs." Though she implores me to cook my "sand bug" food whenever I get a hankering, I don't when we eat together as I would feel guilty and am perfectly content to cook my shellfish when she is absent at the dinner hour. I made this dish last night while she was at work and for the duration of the meal, was in shrimpy heaven.

I used cooked frozen shrimp since I think the blue uncooked shrimp are gross looking. Using some olive oil and two cloves of garlic, I heated the skillet before adding my shrimp, which, by the way, I had marinated in the juice of one lemon for about thirty minutes beforehand.

As the shrimp were heating, I added 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of sea salt, stirring everything occasionally. While the shrimp were cooking, I started the water to boil my spaghetti. Once the shrimp were turned for even cooking, I added about three tablespoons of butter to the skillet, stirring as it melted down. Then I added some dry white wine and the juice of one more lemon to taste. (The wine and butter combination is tweak-able to taste; just keep dipping your finger in the sauce as you stir to achieve the flavor you desire.)

Once the dish was complete, I tossed the spaghetti and the shrimp with the pan sauce in a medium sized bowl. After plating my dish, I topped it with fresh chopped parsley.

Chicken Gorgonzola over Red Potatoes and Fire Roasted Vegetables

Trader Joe's has a frozen meal that is "chicken gorgonzola" but I'm not really a fan of the meal-in-a-box, so I decided to recreate the dish. I stuffed the chicken with some gorgonzola cheese and then melted down some gorgonzola with butter and lemon and poured that over the potatoes and fire roasted onions, green peppers, and red peppers. Once the chicken was ready to cook with the other components, I chopped fresh parsley and rosemary and sprinkled the herbs across the top along with a dash of salt.

The dish cooked for about forty five minutes at 350 degrees and came out incredibly well. The gorgonzola that I stuffed into the chicken melted and was absorbed by the breast to give it a lovely tenderness that complimented the rest of the dish.

Green Curry Chicken, Potatoes, and Onions over Brown Rice

We love us some curry, especially the Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce from Trader Joe's. Though the simmer sauce is delicious, it is just that - a sauce, so we tend to add a few touches here and there to make a hearty-quick-and delicious-perfect-for-a-weeknight meal. Yes, I know - it's from a jar! True. But sometimes you don't always have time to make a curry and you want something tasty, cost effective, time efficient, and healthy.

Chop two good sized potatoes with a small onion and sauteed these together with a bit of vegetable oil. Vegetable oil is thicker than olive oil, but you don't need much - just enough to moisten your pan, really. Toss rock salt, cumin, and fresh minced ginger into the mix, stirring every now and then. Setting aside the potatoes and onions, saute two diced chicken breasts until nearly done, adding one jar of Trader Joe's Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce and the potatoes and onions. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. We like to serve it over brown rice, but jasmine rice is tasty too. Total time? About thirty minutes.

Recycling in the 215

Quick - take a poll of your friends and neighbors on the topic of recycling and recyclable materials. I guarantee you that not one Philadelphian will get all of the answers correct at the first go-around. At least these were my results, and given the ongoing conversation in my own household ("Are you sure we can't recycle a #6?" and "Why do all the non-recyclable plastic containers seem to come from Whole Foods?") no one seems to have a clear grasp on the recycling system.

In January of 2009, Philadelphia went from biweekly to weekly curbside pick up of recyclables AND around the same time, we also joined the ranks of the highly civilized around the country by going "single stream," meaning that no longer did we have to separate our plastics, paper, and metal and aluminum. Most, if not all of the confusion, stems from which "numbers" on the bottoms of plastic containers may be recycled. The answer is sadly, only Types #1 and #2.

It isn't as hopeless as it seems, however - Type #4 Plastics are the type of plastic commonly found in plastic bread and grocery bags, which can be recycled at local grocery stores. Rather than floating about in the ocean, these are recycled into lumber, trashcan liners, and other plastic bags. Type #6 Plastics are the hardest it seems to recycle as they are the evil foam materials. Some states and counties around the country do have drop off sites for these types of plastics, though Philadelphia currently does not. Click here for all thing (or at least, what the city offers) recycling in the 215.

Whole Foods has a program where you can drop off your Type #5 plastics (which tend to be commonly found on nearly everything - medication bottles, hair product, rotisserie chickens from Trader Joes, hummus, etc.) in the corresponding bin. Whole Foods will send the amassed Type #5 plastic containers to Preserve, a company who makes recycled household products. When they get your plastic, Preserve gets a little Sweeney Todd and grinds up your old shampoo, medicine, and/or yogurt and hummus containers into clean plastic pellets. These pellets will then be used to make new items. Click here for more information about Preserve's Whole Foods program and to find a participating store near you.

Aside from the plastic confusion, there is another very important contamination issue to be covered with your recycling: that which has not been rinsed of food residue. We all understand the need to be tidy and desire to make a difference but clearly, people, pizza boxes covered in grease cannot be recycled just as it would be preferable if you there, eating your chicken wings while walking your dog did not see open recycling containers on the sidewalk as "trash." When you do either type of "co-mingling" the recycled material just sits there. Because the recycling attendants do not collect trash. They collect recycling. And trash is what dog poop, chicken wings, and greasy pizza boxes are.

Kathy's Krazy Chicken

Guest Blogger Lawral the Librarian (aka My Librarian) introduced this and many other delicious "meal in a bowl" recipes to the kitchen. From time to time she might drop in with a recipe or two that won't disappoint. Enjoy! - CMolieri

This is a recipe that my mom made all the time when I was little. It is GREAT potluck fare, and having grown up Baptist, I know potlucks. The actual recipe appeared in a Blackfoot Baptist Church fundraiser cookbook, or maybe a Campfire Girls fundraiser cookbook. Whichever book my mom found it in, it is long gone now. Kathy, whoever and wherever you are, I am so glad you spilled Coke in your bbq and decided it was good!

Ingredients:

• 6 lbs chicken - I usually use boneless breasts; my mom used bone-in drums and thighs. Whatever you use, just make sure it's skinless
  
• 2 bottles of bbq sauce - I prefer a bottle of Kraft's regular or Mesquite with a bottle of Honey or Brown Sugar
• the "recipe" calls for 1/2 a can of Coke, I usually use the full can. I cannot stress to you how important it is to use regular Coke and not diet. I don't know why, but the diet makes this whole thing taste nast.
  

Directions:

• Throw everything in the crock pot or countertop skillet and cook it till it's done!

Now seriously, I use a full can of Coke to make everything a bit saucier and cook it in the crock pot on low for roughly 8 hours and then serve it over rice. Left in the crock pot that long all the chicken will fall apart and it will end up tasting as American as Apple Pie (and goes really well with it too) but will look like Indian food. I like my food this way; it fits better in the ice cream bowl I take most of my meals in.

My mom uses only half a can of Coke so that the sauce is more likely to cook down into something un-runny enough that you could actually eat it off a paper plate. She cooks it in the countertop skillet for about an hour at around 350. This way the chicken is still cooked all the way through but still in whole pieces which she pulls out of the sauce. If the chicken is actually going to a potluck, only a little bit of the sauce is kept to keep everything moist during transport and the rest gets chucked. If we're eating at home, Mom also serves this with rice, using the leftover sauce as a kind of rice gravy.

Now that we're getting to the colder months, I love cooking "outside" recipes like this so I can pretend it's warm enough to picnic (or potluck). I hope you all have fun putting Coke in your food!

MANNA Pie in the Sky 2009

Each month, MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) prepares more than 65,000 delicious, nutritious home-delivered meals for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS, cancer or other life-threatening illnesses. MANNA's small professional staff and 1,000 dedicated volunteers deliver 100% complete nutrition to their clients - 3 meals a day, 7 days a week - at no charge. MANNA dietitians promote wellness through nutrition education and counseling. Every day, people at acute nutritional risk from life-threatening illnesses count on them to deliver delicious, nourishing meals along with counsel and hope. By buying pies, YOU help MANNA continue to provide this vital, free service to people living with life-threatening illnesses right here in the greater Philadelphia region.

Buy a pie and a MANNA client will be delivered six life-sustaining meals. It doesn't get any sweeter than that. This year marks the 13th anniversary of the Pie in the Sky fundraiser! Help MANNA celebrate a baker’s dozen of delicious years by purchasing gourmet pies!

Since the beginning of November, tasting events have been the fashionable craze around these parts, but if you’ve been unable to make one you still have time to order. Can’t decide which pie to buy to woo your family and friends this Thanksgiving? I ask you but one question: Can you say “Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake?” We can. And yes, it tastes as good as one can imagine. Actually, scratch that – it tastes better than one can imagine. As an added bonus, with the purchase of just one of the aforementioned cheesecake pies, you’re entered to win the US Airways $1,000 raffle. In addition to the Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake, take your pick of Pumpkin, Pecan, Apple Crumb, and Sweet Potato.

So buy one, or two, or (as in our case) three; you can’t go wrong with tax-deductible gourmet pie for a great charity.

Roast Chicken with a Rosemary-Orange Butter Rub, Sugar Snap Peas & Sweet Corn, Mashed Potatoes and Pan Sauce

The Rosemary-Orange Butter was a success and this is definitely something we plan on repeating.

Mix 3/4 of a stick of softened butter, 1 shallot, 4 teaspoons of minced rosemary and 1 tablespoon of zested orange peel. When zesting, rotate your orange often as you don't want to include the pith - that's the white skin between the peel and the fruit - with the peel.

Use your fingers well with the skin - you want to be careful not to break the skin apart, but insure that you are able to get the rub inside throughout the chicken across the breast, thighs, and wings. I seasoned the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper and stuffed it with peeled boiling onions and the two oranges, sliced, zested and their juices squeezed over the top of the chicken, along with the remainder of the butter rub. Figure that half will go under the skin, half across and over the chicken, again paying attention to the thighs and wings.

I almost didn't make the pan sauce from the giblets, but I decided that I couldn't really call myself a foodie chef and avoid touching organs. As it was, they were all nicely wrapped in butcher paper stuffed inside the chicken so really, I didn't have to touch them - I just dumped them into a saucepan. adding 3/4 cup of dry white wine and 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, along with a chopped onion, 2 carrots, and 1 celery stalk.

When the chicken was nearly done, I steamed the sugar snap peas, started the sweet corn, and strained the potatoes to prepare for the mashing. As the chicken was setting, I mashed the potatoes and strained the sauce after adding the chicken roasted pan sauce. Total prep and cook time, from raw chicken to heaping plates was approximately an enjoyable 3 hours.

A Teaser for What's To Come

Greetings Fellow Foodies! Do not dismay at the lack of posts; I promise there is a scheduled arrangement coming your way very soon. Life has been busy, but it has certainly not been too busy to cook and bake (!), though, sadly, I have had difficulty in finding the time to post.

Coming this week and next I have a Roast Chicken with a Rosemary-Orange Butter Rub, Green Curry with Chicken and Potatoes, an example of a cozy and sweet Autumnal snack, Classic Italian Chicken Parmigiana, a delicious concoction called Kathy's Krazy Chicken, and a homemade adventure resulting in a chocolate cake for a recent birthday. I'll also be taking on some more baking challenges and adventures and posting about a local fundraiser - Pies for Charity - what could be better?

Challah French Toast

My Librarian and I picked up some tasty Challah Bread last week since it was in abundance for the High Holiday. We couldn't resist the pretty squishy knots that tempted us from every bakery shelf. They were oggling us, begging to be purchased.

On a lazy morning last weekend we made Challah French Toast. L mixed the eggs, cinnamon sugar, vanilla extract, and milk into a bowl and I snuck some bread off the cutting board while the pan heated up. Dip and Soak. Browned on each side, tossed on a plate and topped with powdered sugar, and breakfast is (or, in this case, was) served.

Pan Seared Chicken and Shiitake Mushrooms with Mashed Potatoes

Autumn truly is my favorite season. I find that the endings and beginnings of two seasons can be wonderful occassions to combine the resources of in-between seasonal produce into a meal. I knew I wanted something that was earthy and warm, but not too heavy. After reviewing some of the items I had picked up the previous day I got a few ideas, rolled up my sleeves and dove in.

Before searing or cooking anything in a large pan, I let the oil heat on low in the pan with the herbs and spices, allowing them to absorb the heat and bring out more of their natural flavors. In addition to some fresh minced garlic, I added crushed red pepper flakes, fresh thyme, chopped basil, black pepper and rock salt. For good measure, I tossed in a pinch of The Spice Corner's Olive Dipping Mix for good measure.

Turning up the heat, I pan seared the chicken first, and in the same pan, I brought the heat down just a bit and added the shiitake mushrooms from Oley Valley Mushrooms, left whole but for the stems which I removed. Sauteing both the chicken and mushrooms, I started to mash my potatoes, which had come to a boil.

Served with a salad of wild spicy arugula tossed with parmesan cheese from this post, the end result was a relatively simple, healthy dish which had the earthy tones of Autumn I was seeking.

Lost and Found: Wings to Go?

Philadelphia is known for many things: Rocky Balboa, Cheeseteaks, South Street...and wings? Yes. Wings. I'm not going to spend time on the infamous and trashy Wing Bowl that occurs every year at the Sports Complex in South Philly (how fitting, really), but instead on Hot Wings. Or more precisely, this plastic bowl of hot wings that someone left on The Inky's newsstand at 22nd & Arch. Interestingly enough, I smelled it before I saw it, so these were fairly fresh and recently left behind. Perhaps by a conscientious SEPTA passenger, though I personally surmise it was more forgetfulness than thoughtfulness which led me to my strange discovery.

Without question, I felt a picture was in order. Later, after contemplating just how often the staggering number and variety of chicken wings (and those remnants of what once were said chicken wings) which I stumble upon in Philly - i.e, on the bus, in the street, sometimes hanging out of the mouths of and being gnawed on by pedestrians, in the gutter, on sidewalks, being eaten by pigeons on sidewalks - in places that have been listed, yet are not limited to, I decided a short ode for entertainment's sake was in order.

Salmon and Spaghetti Limone with Brussel Sprouts

We stumbled upon a great tiny Italian restaurant in the Lower East Side last winter and one of the dishes we ate was a simple Spaghetti Limone, which we loved and then realized we could easily make to accompany some of our dishes.

This is a quick and easy delicious after-the-gym-after-a-long-day meal that is filling and flavorful and doesn't take too much time at all to prepare. We took the salmon fillets, laid a couple tablets of butter under and on top of the fish in glass cookware and squeezed the juice of one or two lemons, depending on the size of the fillets. Bake.

Boil water and cook your pasta. Drain. Dump the pasta back in the bowl and add a half of a stick of butter with two to three lemons (again, according to the amount of pasta) and stir, mixing evening, tossing the pasta over to ensure even distribution.

The fish will take about thirty minutes at 375 degrees. Generally it's done and ready within 25, but I like a nice crisp on the top and edges, so I leave it in the oven a little longer before pulling to cool. As the fish is cooling, you should be nearly done or done with both your spaghetti limone and your steamed sprouts, which you can start once your pasta water begins to boil.

Plate. A dash of oregano on the pasta and Buon Appetito!

A is for Arugula

Arugula is an annual green, a member of the Brassicaceae family. It's great for salads and actually fairly easy to grow from seed. I got two bags of Baby Arugula last Saturday at the Fair Food Farm Stand and we munched on it all week in simple side salads.

This bunch from Paradise Organics in Lancaster, PA was wild, which gave it a slight spicy kick, which I love. The wild arugula paired with a simple vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil and juice of fresh lemons) was a great side to some of our dinners this past week. As a standalone, I added some dried cranberries and some leftover chicken breast to be heartier and tossed it all together with some fresh parmesan.

Arugula is a great source of Vitamins A and C, rich in potassium, and even considered be an aphrodisiac (!). Though its origins trace way back to the Roman Empire, it was all but adopted as the USofA's official salad green in the mid 1990's. Generally used as a salad green, it has limitless possibilities - cooked, added to pasta sauces and meats, pizza, and even made into pesto...

For Arugula Pesto, take a bunch of arugula and remove the stems. Pan brown three or four large garlic cloves in olive oil. Finely chop the arugula and add the garlic cloves, a 1/2 cup of fresh parmesan and chopped arugula to a blender or food processor, and on a low setting, blend while adding 1/2 a cup of olive oil. Remember to taste the sauce frequently as you add more of one ingredient or another.

The Garlic Plate: Baked Mashed Blue Potatoes with Parmesan and Mozzarella, Green Beans, and Chicken

I truly love my garlic press and cook with fresh garlic whenever possible. With this dish, I indulged my love of Allium sativum. I took a few locally produced blue potatoes and boiled them until tender. In a bowl I added milk, some parmesan and mozzarella, a dash of rosemary, a couple of tablespoons of butter and then, using a hand mixer, mashed them.

However, the mozzarella posed a bit of a problem with it's taffy like consistency so I decided to hand mash and then bake the potatoes at 375 degrees for about twenty minutes, sprinkling the top with some fresh grated parmesan. The result was an almost casserole like potato pie. The mozzarella softened and spread and the parmesan hardened and formed a nice crisp on top.

I sauteed the chicken breast in garlic, olive oil, italian herbs, rosemary, lemon and white wine while the fresh and local greens were sauteeing in olive oil and fresh garlic. Once plated, I tossed a dash of rock salt on the green beans and the chicken and Voila! My garlic glands were ready to be sated.

K is for Kale

Inspired by a question from a food lover and good friend, I'm posting about this delicious and versatile green. Kale is one of the healthiest greens you can find, a member of the Brassica family of plants and high in phytochemicals (they help you live longer!), Vitamins A, B, and C, as well as bunches of other vitamin goodness. Roast it, saute it, bake it, may your preference be simple or glamorous, this leafy cabbage-like plant comes in several different varieties for you to choose: Curly kale is ruffled and deep green with a strong smell and a peppery, sharp taste; Ornamental kale or salad savory, can be white, purple, or green and has a more subtle taste; and Dinosaur kale is dark blue or green and is slightly sweeter than Curly kale.

Though technically a winter vegetable, you can find it at Farmer Markets almost year round (at least at some of the farms here in the Philadelphia area). It should be kept in cool temperatures when purchases as the heat may cause it to wilt. It's also worth noting that the longer its stored the more bitter it grows.

I have found that kale responds really well to being paired with one really strong flavor; my preference is a little red chile and some garlic but yours may differ depending on palate and plate. Other suggestions for a pop on your plate are tamarind, peanut sauce, even onion will complement well depending of course, on your entree.

In response to the initial request for direction on cooking with kale, I suggested a simple, yet delicious Tuscan Variation. Take your kale and blanche it in salted boiling water for about three minutes before chopping. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil, some salt, 1/2 a sprig of rosemary, a small red dried chile, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 of a white onion to a frying pan over medium heat.

Once your onions are translucent, add your kale. The kale will take about 30 minutes in the pan. You'll want to stir it often so as to keep things moist and even. As it cooks, it will turn a deep green (almost black) as it softens. It will crisp a little (which you do want) after it softens, but if the greens get too dry, you can add some vegetable or chicken stock (no more than 1/4 cup).

Once it's slightly crisp and a deep, dark color, voila!

Urban Stoop Gardening

Who says you need a yard to have a garden? Urban living may not be all that conducive to the traditional concept of "gardening," but with a little creativity, we found container gardening to be fulfilling not only to us, but also to our neighbors walking past our stoop.

Back in May we bought two storage footlockers and planted gladiola bulbs in one and shooting star bulbs in the other. The shooting stars never really came to fruition but the glads shot up out of the moisture control soil like rockets and have bloomed for the last three months. They have been so successful we recently staked the plants with bamboo to maintain their height. We added some snapdragons, a few annuals, a henna plant, blue daze, and Mexican heather to the mix in addition to the aloe plant we transplanted from my to-be-father-in-law's monster aloe plant in his southern California backyard. The strangest part? All plants have remained untouched, unharmed, and unlittered in, except that recently we noticed that someone stole the terra cotta planter with the aloe in it, which to be honest, was alive, but hasn't looked so great in it's new northeastern home.

Moral of the story: regardless of how dead or how great your container garden looks, go with plastic planters which are ultimately better for the plants and drainage, but also aren't as likely to be stolen.

More on our vegetable, herb, and fruit garden on the roof next time.

Sauteed Chicken, Pears. & Rainbow Chard in a Balsamic Lime Vinaigrette

This was definitely one of those recipes that start out well-planned but due to ingredients being not in the best condition, immediately turns experimental. Initially, we had planned a simple grilled chicken salad over rainbow chard, fresh strawberries and ricotta drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. However, half the strawberries were bad (hence the great sale price) and the ricotta was not worth testing as we had been having some fridge issues.

We grilled the chicken in some balsamic and then added chopped rainbow chard, sauteing until tender. We cut up some pears, adding these with the juice from two fresh limes, and added a dash of rock salt and fresh ground pepper. We were pleasantly surprised by the dish, which took all of about twenty minutes start to finish. The chard's slightly bitter taste was complemented by the sweetness of the pear and the tangy balsamic and the lime really melded the two.

Pony Rides...on Filbert Street

I may or may not have mentioned that I volunteer bimonthly for the Fair Food Farm Stand in the Reading Terminal Market, which is a project of the White Dog Cafe Foundation. Fair Food is "dedicated to bringing locally grown food into the Philadelphia marketplace and promoting a humane, sustainable agriculture for the Greater Philadelphia region." I work the 3-6pm shift and totally forgot about the Pennsylvania Dutch Festival, which was in full swing with donut making demonstrations, homemade ice cream, chicken pot pies, Amish buggy rides around the terminal, live bands singing and performing bluegrass, pony rides, and a petting zoo. I almost ran in the opposite direction, but I mustered what strands of crowd courage I could and pushed on (actually pushed) toward the stand to sling locally farmed (within 150 miles) fruits, veggies, eggs, meats, and cheeses. It wasn't nearly as painful as it looked it might be, and I left with a dozen homemade PA Dutch donuts.

Baked Salmon in a Lemon-Garlic-White Wine Butter Reduction, with Sauteed Spinach & Goat Cheese

The best thing about this recipe is that it looks, smells, and tastes so impressive but doesn't take much effort. Whenever I have company I wish to impress, or cook for a co-worker who is kind enough to let us cut out half of her wild rosemary tree from her garden (more on that later), this comes out of my shirt-sleeves.

You have two options for choosing your cuts of salmon, which will depend on your preference. One is to try to select a thin cut of fish, which may be difficult OR you can request that the fish be butterfly cut, which will make stuffing it with the ingredients easy.

Take your salmon filets and rest them in a cooking pan, preheating your oven to about 350 degrees. In a large saute pan, drizzle some fresh baby spinach with olive oil, 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic, and a dash of rock salt. With an eye on the spinach, in a small saute pan, add the juice of two-three lemons, 1/4 cup of white wine, 1/4 cup of butter, and crushed fresh garlic (I generally add about three-four cloves). Stirring occasionally until the butter is melted, cover and reduce heat.

When the spinach is done, layer this on top of the salmon filets, adding a layer of fresh goat cheese on top. Sprinkle with fresh chopped thyme, chervil, basil, parsley, and tarragon.

At this point, if you chose the thinly sliced salmon, take your salmon-spinach-goat cheese and roll them up, sticking through with toothpicks to hold. Depending on the thickness of the cut, you may need only two per roll, or you may need upwards of 5. If you chose the non-rolled and/or butterfly cut fish, you can just disregard the previous step.

However you chose to prep your fish, the next step is to slowly pour your sauce over the fish.

Put the pan in the oven and cook for about 30-45 minutes. I like my fish to get a little crisp so I leave it in just a few minutes longer before serving it with the remaining spinach over brown rice.

Lemon Herbed Cornish Hens, Roasted Potatoes, & Balsamic Carrots

The one ingredient that really made this dish pop was the lemon. I cut up a few potatoes, mixing with some pearl onions for taste, and layered the bottom of a 9x14 glass pan. After melting down a 1/2 stick of butter, I tossed the potatoes and onions with the butter, seasoned salt, ground pepper, and lemon juice and then placed the two cornish hens on top.

I stuffed two birdss with three pearl onions and a few wedges of lemon after squeezing the juice over the top of the birds, along with some olive oil. I sprinkled the birds with rock salt, ground pepper, rosemary, thyme, and some chicken seasoning that I got from The Spice Corner in the Italian Market.

While the hens roasted at approximately 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour, I began on the Balsamic Carrots. I chose to peel the carrots before sauteing them in some melted butter (1/4 stick). Once they were tender I added some sugar (2 tablespoons) and the balsamic vinegar (1/4 cup). The carrots only took about 20 minutes and once it was all done it was mouthwatering.

The Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Baking Adventure

I truly believe that the word "Banana" should have at least one more "n," but that's neither here nor there.

What is extraordinarily pleasing is that I assisted in baking a tasty sweet bread, which I am told is technically a quick bread. I will admit that I was wary when informed to add 1/4 tablespoon of vinegar to a 1/2 cup of milk to act a substitute for buttermilk, but I quickly got over my initial reservations once it came out of the oven, carrying with it a mouth-watering aroma. As an added treat to the standard, we mixed in half a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips which oozed chocolaty deliciousness as they cooked.

The best part? Squishing the bananas.

A Philadelphia Foodie [An Introduction]

The pure alchemy of cooking has always been something that I lose myself in. There's something extremely suspenseful, exciting yet soothing, and experimental in the creation of a dish. It's only been recently that I've toyed with the notion of sharing my dishes with the world at large, more so as I trade recipes and methods with friends and coworkers. Over the last two years I've become extremely interested in and supportive of the locavore movement.

We're a household that is environmentally conscious of our impact on our geographic locale and supportive of local farmers as often as possible. Sometimes though, the occasional out of season craving and the supermarket sales on chicken and beef can get the best of us. While my hand at baking has been so-so, I'm learning from the delicious concoctions that come out of the oven every now and then by a certain librarian who is as patient as she is brilliant with a brick of baking chocolate. These adventures, along with our burgeoning urban container garden endeavors, will be documented here.