Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Sweetnicks

Food and Life

The Husband Cooks Wednesdays

January 19, 2006 · Narrative

And he did, making Spaghetti Carbonara with extra crispy bacon – yum and double yum! I have truly been spoiled this week as that makes 3 times he’s made dinner so far. No complaints from me. A girl could get used to this, though I know it’s just one of those exception-to-the-rule type of weeks.

Typical Jersey weather today. When I left the house, it was pouring rain and thick humidity hung in the air with temps at 60 degrees! Yuck. By lunchtime, the temperature had dropped more than 15 degrees and they were calling for snow. Geesh. We can start the day with grilling weather, disgusting as the humidity was, and end it with weather chilly enough for soup. Forget not knowing how to dress in this weather, it’s tough to figure out what to cook!

OK, now for Sandra Lee. Now, don’t get me wrong. Like I’ve said before, I have no real problem with her, per se, and will even admit to having a cookbook or two of hers. I just don’t agree with lumping her in the same category as some of the other celebrity chefs, like Emeril, Sara Moulton, etc. Obviously she has an audience, and not everyone cooks from scratch. I’m just not a big fan of recipes where every ingredient is a can of this and a box of that. And yeah, the kitchen matching her sweater has got to go … along with the tablescapes. I also object to her newest line of cookbooks having a big screaming headline, “Nothing made from scratch,” like that’s a GOOD thing. It’s OK to say it, but proclaiming it like that seems to be an odd way to market a cookbook. That said, after I mentioned her last week, Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness helpfully sent me this link to further fuel my healthy debate with The Neighbor Husband, who still idolizes Sandra Lee. With Sam’s take on Sandra, and 26 comments agreeing, maybe The Neighbor Husband will see the light … then again, maybe it’s more fun in the dark. ;)

Now just in case you happen to be a fan, check out her website … all sorts of, ahem, recipes to download, a club/newsletter to sign up for and even a photo gallery. Have fun! ;)

And speaking of The Neighbors, I gotta give her props. She has made dinner THREE nights this week, which, for her, is HUGE! Tonight she made Cavatelli and Broccoli (must’ve been pasta night in the neighborhood!) and even ran some down so we could get a taste. As Rachael Ray would say – yum-o! Way to go!

OK folks, all for tonight. Tune in tomorrow to see what food blogger gets the nod for New (to Me) Blogger on the Block Thursday and what cookbook get rediscovered in my Rediscovering My Library segment. Until then … let the Sandra Lee floodgates open…

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Posted In: Narrative

Comments

  1. Patti says

    January 19, 2006 at 3:36 am

    Arghhh! The link for the SL info would not work! I got a “Not Found” message. I have been waitng for this too, “sob”

    Reply
  2. Cate says

    January 19, 2006 at 3:58 am

    Thanks for the heads up – fixed now.

    Reply
  3. Laura says

    January 19, 2006 at 12:53 pm

    I saw Sandra Lee at the Atla. gift market last week….and wow they must have some great lighting on the food network.She looks really old in the face and well just rough…must be all those processed foods.But she is super skinny,when another person asked how she cooked all the time and stayed so little she held up her water bottle and said I just wash it all down.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    January 19, 2006 at 2:59 pm

    Yes, cooking three days in a week is HUGE for me since I get home around 7-7:30pm. Let alone three days in a row. So, now that I’m cooking I have a question. Ready?

    How do you get the smell of onion and garlic off your hands? YUCK

    The Neighbor

    Reply
  5. Rose says

    January 19, 2006 at 10:13 pm

    Dear Neighbor:

    grab you hand around a stainless steel butter knife and rub it through your hands a few times.

    That gets rid of the worst smells off my hands.

    My rant: I do not like Sandra Lee. There is something about her exploitation of processed foods that just grates at me. I’d rather go buy the product in a store if there’s that much processing.

    There’s just so many great seasonal foods (raw or cooked) that one can eat, why add chemical syrups and like into your system?

    I feel like she encourages our overdependence on canned, processesed foods rather than promote fresh ingredients.

    Reply
  6. linnish says

    January 20, 2006 at 12:49 am

    I totally agree with you, Sandra Lee’s recipes although are all made out of convenience, but certainly unhealthy. I would rather cook from scratch and leaving those convenient recipes for emergencies or really lazy nights!

    Reply
  7. Natalia says

    January 20, 2006 at 4:15 am

    I agree. Sandra Lee is the worst and I do not understand how she ever got a tv show or even one book published. There are way more people out there who can actually cook and deserve way more recognition.

    Reply

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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