Quick Bites: Sandwich Petal Quesadillas

I don’t review a lot of gluten-free products here. There are gobs of other wonderful gluten-free bloggers who do a much better job than I in giving celiacs the low-down on the latest products. But once in awhile, there’s a product that steals my heart and I decide to share it with you. The adorably-named [...]

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Mini Chocolate Orange Pavlovas

I’ve always loved meringue of any sort – piled high on top of a tart lemon pie, or a crisp meringue cookie, doesn’t matter to me. Growing up, my parents’ friend LuAnn was an incredible baker – to the tune of giving my dad a giant, dense chocolate raspberry torte for his birthday. It was [...]

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Thai Red Curry Soup with Shrimp

I love Thai food. On the now rare occasion that we eat out, Thai is usually at the top of my list. I still have to be very careful when ordering to avoid dishes that might have soy sauce in them (there’s wheat in soy sauce), so now I try to make the occasional Thai [...]

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Shauna’s Graham Crackers with Homemade Nutella

I haven’t had a graham cracker in about 8 years. I really didn’t realize I was missing them until we were camping in Minnesota with friends last summer and s’mores became a daily ritual. I’d brought along some gluten-free “graham” crackers, but they were pretty horrible and the chocolate and marshmallow served to mask the [...]

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BBQ Baked Beans

I always find it a little funny that baked beans are a summer picnic food – I guess that’s fine if you’re letting Bush’s make the beans for you and all you have to do is open a can. REAL baked beans require hours in the oven to slowly simmer and bubble away in a [...]

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Love Letter to Rick Bayless: Mojo de Ajo Shrimp Pasta

My favorite way to workout in the wintertime is to hop on the elliptical when I get home from work and catch up on favorite shows that I’ve missed. The TV takes my mind off the chore at hand, makes the time fly and the calories burn. I’ve been known to watch an entire movie [...]

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Lamb Curry with Potatoes

As cold as it is in Chicago in winter, there are some advantages to living in a place colder than a meat locker. One of my favorite sights is a winter sunrise on a shatteringly cold, clear morning. Sunday was just such a morning, and I raced out of bed and into my coat just [...]

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Italian Wedding Soup

I had never made meatballs until today. Crazy, right?! Meatballs have never been very enticing to me – an odd fact, since I love sausage. The idea of the grocery store meatball with loads of crappy filler and little flavor is not my idea of cuisine. But, I’m learning to love the humble meatball. Mark’s [...]

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Pasta Milanese

This dish literally took my entire family to create. When we were in Michigan, my mom gifted me with some pork from my cousin’s pig. Heather and Rick raise a few pigs every year at their home. Come fall, the pigs are butchered and my cousins share some of the meat with our family. I’d [...]

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Skirt Steak Tacos with Chipotle Marinade

My parents gave me a very wonderful hand-me-down gift while we were in Michigan for Christmas – my mom’s old meat grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid Mixer. Dad had gotten Mom a new one, since her old one has a couple cracks in it near the grinder face, but was otherwise still working just [...]

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