What We Ate On Easter Sunday

April 1, 2013 by mymateriallife

Clockwise from upper left: Marion Cunningham’s Featherbed Eggs for brunch with chicken apple sausage and strawberries.  This time I made the dish with a heartier country type bread.  I love that you put this together the night before, so in the morning all you have to do is put it in the oven.  Then make yourself a mimosa and relax.  Good the next morning too! Used these eggs to make an after nap (mine) snack of deviled eggs.  Nothing fancy […]

Categories: Celebrations, Easter, Savories • Tags: buttermilk biscuits, dinner, featherbed eggs, food, honey roasted chicken, jean-georges salad, marion cunningham

La Brea Tar Pit Chicken Wings

February 25, 2013 by mymateriallife

This is a favorite dinner in our house; even the cat goes crazy when he smells these wings baking in the oven.  Having just visited the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles last week, now seems like a good time to share this dinner idea with you.  I got the recipe for the wings (a reader contribution) from the February 1999 issue of Gourmet magazine.  The wings are baked in a sauce made from red wine, soy sauce, sugar […]

Categories: Places, Savories • Tags: cooking, dinner idea, gourmet magazine, la brea tar pit chicken wings, la brea tar pits

Rachel Khoo’s Little Paris Kitchen

January 13, 2013 by mymateriallife

Isn’t it funny that with so many television options these days, there is so little that is new and hopeful and refreshing to watch?  (And it’s not that I’m a TV snob; I’m certainly not above a little Real Housewives of Beverly Hills – not proud of it either – or better yet, Million Dollar Decorators.)  So I was looking for some House Hunters Internationals to record when a title on the Cooking Channel, Little Paris Kitchen, caught my eye.  […]

Categories: Savories, TV & Movies • Tags: crème fraîche, french toast, little paris kitchen, rachel khoo

Giant Oven Pancake

October 19, 2012 by mymateriallife

Have you ever made one of these?  They also go by the name Dutch baby.  I was thinking of what to make for breakfast last Sunday when I remembered that this required only a few ingredients that I happened to have on hand.  It’s also very easy to make and spectacular to observe as it bakes.  You just have to remember to set your oven rack low in your oven because one of these pancakes can rise to incredible heights. […]

Categories: Savories, Sweets • Tags: giant oven pancake, sunset easy basics for good cooking

An Anniversary Dinnner At Home

October 12, 2012 by mymateriallife

I was trying to figure out what to make for our anniversary dinner when I ran across a copy of Elizabeth David’s An Omelette and a Glass of Wine essay in one of my recipe folders.  When I read the words, “Let’s just have an omelette and a glass of wine.’  Perhaps first a slice of home-made pâté and a few olives, afterwards a fresh salad and a piece of ripe creamy cheese or some fresh figs or strawberries …  I knew […]

Categories: Beverages, Savories, Sweets • Tags: an omelette and a glass of wine, champagne cocktail, elizabeth david, mustard vinaigrette, omelette, ranch house pâté

Excellent Eggplant Parmesan

August 29, 2012 by mymateriallife

I clipped this recipe from the August 2004 issue of Gourmet Magazine.  It’s so much more trouble than I would usually go to for dinner, but it’s so worth it.  What you do is dredge sliced eggplant in flour, egg, and a panko bread crumb and parmesan mixture and then fry those slices in olive oil and finally layer and bake them with a fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.  Fresh tomato sauce as in make it yourself – from […]

Categories: Savories • Tags: eggplant parmesan, gourmet magazine, ina garten, rao's lemon chicken

One Zucchini Cooked Three Ways

July 18, 2012 by mymateriallife

             The Beast weighed in at 3-1/4 pounds.  It was a gift from our young friend, Gabriel, a very enthusiastic boy.  He wanted me to take a photo of anything I made with the zucchini and I assured him I would, but in my head I knew I could do better than that.  Why, we could have our own Zucchini Day!  He went home with a plan to make muffins with his mom after camp the […]

Categories: Celebrations, Savories, Sweets • Tags: chilled zucchini soup, flora's famous zucchini cake, how to be a domestic goddess, nigella lawson, zucchini, zucchini pancakes

Shari’s BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad

May 31, 2012 by mymateriallife

My friend Shari shared this recipe with me one day last year or the year before; I had complete faith in her assurance that it would be a hit.  I made it that very night for dinner for a niece who was passing through and she ate at least two helpings. Last night I served it to another niece and her mom and dad and that niece ate two helpings too.  Shari was right.  This is one tasty salad.  A […]

Categories: Savories • Tags: bbq chicken chopped salad, trader joe's

Swiss Chard & Goat Cheese Pasta Casserole

May 22, 2012 by mymateriallife

I dropped this off at school this morning for a luncheon they are having today.  I found the recipe yesterday (on the Kitchn blog), put it together last night, and just heated and ate a small bowl that I’d saved for myself.  Boy was it good.  It’s so satisfying when a recipe you think will be tasty really is, isn’t it? Though it’s only one of today’s luncheon dishes, at home this could be a real one-dish meal.  It is […]

Categories: Savories • Tags: goat cheese, hot or cold, pasta casserole, swiss chard