Today was a very strange day. Nothing went according to plan and it was one of the best holidays ever since all my friends passed on.

Since plans A to C fell through due to technical problems and illness, my son asked on Wednesday morning if instead we could volunteer at the homeless shelter and give out food as we had done once before. That so warmed my heart that I gave him a big hug and a big kiss. more...

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As a public service to all of you who will be making monster turkey's for your loved ones, I will be posting recipes you can use with your leftovers. Here's an old time favorite recipe I used to make that everyone loved. And the best part, its a casserole!

HERBED TURKEY TETRAZZINI - Serves: 4

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 - 6 cloves of garlic - chopped, add only desired amount to your taste
1/4 cup fresh mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried whole tarragon
1/8 tsp pepper
dash of rosemary
dash of ground nutmeg
2-1/2 cups cooked thin spaghetti
1-1/2 cups turkey, cooked/chopped
2/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese or any cheese you have on hand divided in half
Optional: some people like to add 1/4 cup of celery to this dish its up to you.
Optional: as a garnish you can use chopped parsley and red pepper strips

Melt butter and then saute the chopped onions and sliced mushrooms in a large saucepan until shrooms are slightly tender and onions are translucent. Add the garlic and stir, but do not let the garlic burn. While stirring, add the milk, then slowly blend in the flour, stirring well for about one minute. Gradually add chicken broth and then let cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until mixture is thick and bubbly. Stir in parsley, tarragon, rosemary pepper and nutmeg and mix well. Stir in the cooked/drained spaghetti, turkey,
and half of the cheese, mixing well.

Pour into a greased 1-1/2 quart casserole bake at 350 for
20 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and
bake an additional 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley and pepper strips.

Posted by: Michele at 07:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now that the weather has turned colder, and IÂ’m spending more time indoors, IÂ’ve been wanting to cook a lot. Now I donÂ’t post all that I cook because I donÂ’t want: (a) to make people jelaous, and (b) to seem more of an over-achiever than I really am, unlike other folks ; )

But this time I will, if only to help a blog-bro out. In his latest post, Gebiv, tells how disappointed he was in the Kung Po chicken he was given at his favorite Chinese restaurant that is under new mgt. Well, if youÂ’d really like to give it a try itÂ’s not really that difficult. I think youÂ’ll have a tougher time finding all the ingredients in your local supermarket than making this dish.

A little history though, before I start. This dish in China is really called “Gong Bao”. In the U.S. you can find this dish under the name of: Kung Po, Kung Pao and Kung Pow. You can make this dish with beef, shrimp or with Chicken. I’ve included the Chicken recipe and have cut it down from the 8 servings I used to make for my friends to 2. I’ve also indicated some alternative ingredients in the list.

Now, I know that when you at the list of ingredients youÂ’ll probably say to yourself thatÂ’s an awful lot of stuff to buy for one dish. Well, the good news is that IÂ’ll begin posting some of the Asian recipes that I learned to cook while living overseas so that you can use up those ingredients, because they are the staples of Asian cooking.

A word to the lazy and calorie conscious (I'm not linking you 'cause you know who you are) out there (lol!), this dish takes from prep to finished product about 45 min. and it is NOT low cal. If you tried doing that with dish youÂ’d eliminate the flavor so donÂ’t even try it.
more...

Posted by: Michele at 11:25 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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