Sauce and Meatballs

I enjoy making sauce on Sunday's. It reminds me of Sunday's when I was a kid going to visit my grandmother. She always had some kind of pasta for us when we went to visit. Spaghetti, penne, ravioli, lasagna homemade gnocchi. We always had a salad too but it was at the end of the meal not at the beginning. Don't know why but to this day that is how we still do it.

I make my sauce and never buy it in a jar. I really don't have a specific recipe so I have just listed the ingredients that I use and you can try and experiment if you would like. Same goes for the meatballs. I just go by look and feel. Remember, if you are going to make the meatballs, don't mix to much - they will be like lead. You want a nice soft meatball.

You can always send me an email if you have questions - I will try to help. Ciao

Saturday in the Park

1972 - What a year! Chicago has a hit called "Saturday in the Park". From what I have read, the song was inspired one year earlier in Central Park in NYC on the 4th of July.

One line reads "Singing Italian Songs" followed by ???? foreign lyrics. I must say I have no idea what was next, real Italian words or not.

I do remember it was a very fun time of my life. Just turning 13 and being grounded, my friend Miriam and her sister Teresa made me cupcakes for my birthday. I snuck out of the house and we had a small party in their basement. I think my two sisters were there as well.

The following recipe is a good cupcake recipe and although it may not be the same recipe the little teenagers made 28 years ago, it will be just as delicious if you eat it while listening to the song. You can find many versions of it on you tube.

1 3/4 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1 cup buttermilk, divided
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda


2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift flour and cocoa into small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3/4 cup butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then red food coloring and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with 2/3 cup buttermilk in 2 additions. Make well in center; pour in remaining 1/3 cup buttermilk, vinegar, and baking soda. When bubbles form, stir into batter.

Divide batter equally among paper liners. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; transfer to rack and cool completely.

Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, and remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla in medium bowl until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar

Frost cupcakes

I think I am going to have to forgo the wine suggestion on this one and go with a tall glass of ice cold milk.

Thank God its Friday

After a long week I am happy that today is finally here. I will be attending a friends SLAH party! I am bringing the Texas Caviar and chips. She will be serving a taco soup which I will hopefully be posting the recipe to on this site. I am hoping to win some prizes. I am definately ordering some new pieces to my SLAH flatware and who knows, maybe something else.

I plan to get totally organized this weekend. I am hoping that I can post at least one recipe a day - maybe more.

Enough about food, now for the wine of the evening. I think I will be drinking a Bargetto California Orange Muscat 2007. One of my picks from the July 09 California trip. This wine comes from the Santa Cruz area. It is very yummy.

Here Come the Weekend

Nothing Fishy about Texas Caviar

Make a Smilebox greeting

Kapusta!

Spending several years in an orphange run by Polish Catholic Nuns, you can imagine some of the ethnic foods we were served. Kielbasa, pierogi, Polichinkins, Golomki just to name a few.

We also had to attend a Polish Catholic school and did indeed learn and speak the Polish language fluently. That however was a long time ago and I can only say a few phrases today. I can say thank you, how are you, I'm fine and milk in Polish to this day. Not sure that would get me very far on a visit to Poland.

I do miss the fresh Kielbasa that we use to get from Joe's Deli in Lyndhurst NJ. It was the best. I will have to try and find a place to purchase this in the Houston area and see how they compare.

Another favorite was potato pancakes. I have been told that I make them the best!
I really don't have a specified recipe for these but I will make them and mark down the ingredient and amounts and post them for anyone to try if they wish to. You should try them with a side of applesauce, sour cream or both.

Hump Day

Looking forward a few hours - it will be hump day, Wednesday in other words.

When I was growing up it was know as Price Spaghetti Day and we never used Prince brand spaghetti.

Fortunately I have some spaghetti sauce in the freezer and spaghetti in the pantry.

My choice for sauce is always homemade, never from a jar and my choice for spaghetti or any pasta is DeCecco.


Another favorite of mine is Pastina. I have never been able to find this in a grocery store in TX. If I want to have some I either have to buy it when I am in NJ or have someone I know send it to me. I will have to get some and post some recipes using pastina.

WNEW | Where Rock Lives: Woodstock on WNEW-FM :: Scott Muni Reminds You To Get Your Ticket

WNEW | Where Rock Lives: Woodstock on WNEW-FM :: Scott Muni Reminds You To Get Your Ticket

Two for Tuesday!

Today I have decided to post two recipes.
"Schitzel and Strudel". It is a 2000's version of "Pork Chops and Applesauce"!

I heard a few songs earlier today that reminded me of the 70's when I was still back in NJ and listening to 102.7 WNEW FM radio. They would play two songs from an artist, back to back and it was the "Two for Tuesday" show.

Anyone from Rutherford reading this may have a clue what is to come on Friday. Any guesses?



Pork Schnitzel Recipe
4 boneless pork chops (1 pound total), pounded to 1/4-1/8 inch
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika
3 Tbsp canola oil
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream

1 Cut small slits around the edges of the cutlets to prevent curling.

2 Set out 3 shallow bowls. One with a mixture of the flour, seasoned salt, and pepper. The second with the egg and milk whisked together. The third with a mixture of the bread crumbs and paprika.

3 Heat the canola oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Dredge the cutlets first in the seasoned flour, then dip the cutlets in the egg mixture, and then into the mixture of bread crumbs and paprika.

4 Working in batches, sauté the cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove the cutlets from the skillet and cover with foil or place in a warm oven to keep warm.

5 Add the chicken stock into the skillet to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits. In a small bowl mix the salt into the sour cream. Stir the sour cream mixture into the chicken stock. Heat and stir until mixture thickens (do not let boil).

Serve the cutlets with the sauce, and lemon slices if you like. Serves 4




Apple strudel

2 tablespoons golden rum
3 tablespoons raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe to follow)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using a soft pastry brush. Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs.

Spread the walnuts about 3 inches from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling.

Roll strudel onto itself. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown.

Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Strudel dough Or just by Filo dough!! Its up to you.

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar


1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes.

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches. Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle. Use lots of flour and roll out as large as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it’s about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long, it will be tissue-thin by this time.

Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Remembering the House of Nanking

This past July our family went to California on vacation. I must say that it has to be the best vacation I have been on. I don't think visiting wineries had anything to do with the decision but you never know! Anyway, one of the best places we stopped to eat was at the House of Nanking in San Francisco. It was a very small, dingy place with tables that were pushed close together and needed a few pieces of cardboard under one leg to keep it steady. After a long day of tourism, we walked 20blocks to go eat at the House. We were very lucky to get there when there was no line. The day we first spotted this place, the line was 40 people deep so we figured it had to be good. We sat at the end of a table that had a couple sitting at the other end. They offered us a taste of their food off their plates and recommended some things to order. Lexi had Fried Potstickers as usual, I had Nanking Sesame Chicken with veggies and sweet potatoes and Bill had 5 Spice Whitefish with jade spinach. We all shared Fried Shrimpackets with sesame sauce. One items was better than the next. I will make an attempt to recreate these recipes and post the results. My biggest challenge is the shrimpackets - shrimp, baby green peas and sesame sauce in a pastry packet and deep fried!

from the lemon harvest

Make a Smilebox recipe

Sunday Supper

Make a Smilebox recipe