Pasta For Kids of All Ages

I'm hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night Roundup, so I thought I'd start the week with an all time favorite comfort food....mac 'n cheese....but not just any mac 'n cheese. This one is for kids of all ages. It's from a new cookbook (I'll be writing more about it this week) 250 True Italian Pasta Dishes: Easy and Authentic Recipes and it is particularly delicious.

Maccheroni ai Formaggi (I do love how just saying it in Italian adds an exotic touch even before I tell you about it). It's in the "Pasta for Kids" section of the book and, basically it is Mac 'n Cheese. Just don't think KD. Ricotta, mascarpone, Parmigiano-Reggiano and if you're lucky enough to find it...Gorgonzola dolce (I haven't found it yet but I still have one more shop to try) which makes this the creamiest, sweetest mac 'n cheese ever.

Yesterday I made some for three generations of kids...my Honey and I, my son-in-law and my two delicious grandsons, aged one and almost three. Now Boaz, the older one is not into eating...in general, so his eating a couple of spoonfuls is actually impressive. His younger brother Dov, loved using his hands to gobble up his portion. When I say he's delicious...I'm not kidding...especially covered in pasta. And the rest of us "kids" licked our plates clean too.

Don't forget to send me your latest pasta dish to add to the Presto Pasta Night Roundup. Just send your entry to me ruth(at)4everykitchen(dot)com by Thursday night and then check back to see everyone else's dishes on Friday. And if you're interested in hosting a PPN roundup, drop me a line about that too.

The Latest Delicious Presto Pasta Night Roundup

Deb at Kahakai Kitchen did a superb job of hosting this week's fabulous Presto Pasta Night Roundup #141. The roundup is fantastic - Nineteen droolingly delicious dishes to whet your appetites.

I don't know where the time flies, but it does...in spades and we're about to start that really crazy month.... December....with lots of holidays toward the end of the month and pre-holiday celebrations and preparations before that. A perfect month for whipping up stress reducing pasta dishes. Hopefully your December will be more JOYful than STRESSful and I do hope you plan on sharing your pasta treats with us.

I'm hosting next, so send all your tasty pastas to me by next Thursday... ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com to start off December's PPN roundups. If it's half as great as this week's roundup it will be amazing.

Thanks Deb for a terrific hosting job. And all you excellent pasta makers...you make every week special!

Revisiting an Old Pasta Friend

Since I didn't actually make any pasta this week, I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane and see what pasta dishes I wrote about when I started blogging back in 2005.

I found this one, adapted from an early Donna Hay Magazine, back in June, 2005 and still makes it onto our table often...Winter Greens, Pancetta & Mushroom Pasta. It's still my favorite- easy-to-put-together, comfort food. And, believe it or not, that's still my favorite pasta bowl.

I'm sharing this with Presto Pasta Nights...this week Deb of Kahakai Kitchen is hosting. Next week it's back to me and, if I don't see you at this week's round up, I can't wait to see what you all plan on sending my way.

Hard to Believe - No Pasta To Write About

What a sad day indeed. Somehow, I made it to Thursday without one pasta dish this week! Shocking, I know. I even tried to make a pasta for lunch...sounded good - crab, peas & white wine. What could be bad? It even looked pretty. That said, it was probably the blandest pasta I've ever made. Good thing that tomorrow Deb of Kahakai Kitchen is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night. I know I'll find some amazing choices there.

If you're not too busy celebrating American Thanksgiving, you still have time to share a dish by sending it to debinhawaii (at) gmail (dot) com and cc me - ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

Happy American Thanksgiving

Wishing my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you're spending it with those you love and ....on the off chance that you don't have all the dishes done for your dinner, here are a couple of fantastic side dishes from The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good Life which is stunning and delicious. I'll be writing much more about it soon.
Even if you usually turn your nose up at Brussels Sprouts, you should give these Roasted Pecan Brussels Sprouts a try. The toasted pecans and the oven roasting with olive oil give the leaves a crispness and cut that often bitter flavor.
While this is not the prettiest photo I've ever taken, the Roasted Winter Squash Puree was unbelievably easy to prepare and (shhhh...don't tell anyone...) I must have eaten more than a portion during the "tasting"...even though it didn't need anything else to make it delicious.

These two sides are so tasty, I could easily forget about the turkey!

A Lovely Anniversary Dinner

I won't tell you how long we've been married....long enough to not believe it's been that long, and yet it still feels perfect and as if we've always been together. Enough mush!

This post...without photos of food, if you can believe that!...is about our dinner. We went to Da Maurizio in the heart of Heritage Properties just off the Halifax Harbour and right next door to my favorite Saturday haunt...the farmers' market. They specialize in Northern Italian food and the rich setting, with high ceilings and Botticelli et al prints and lots of candles makes it a perfect refuge on a wintry day. We could imagine snow outside, a sleigh pulled by horses, waiting for us outside....but I digress...service was friendly, but not intrusive. Our knowledgeable waiter seemed to show up just when we wanted something or other, like he read our minds.

But let's face it....you really want to know about the meal. We almost went for the all inclusive seasonal dinner...appetizer, main and dessert for $40, with lots of choices in each category, but I had my eye on ....I was going to say a couple of dishes ...but actually, make that a bazillion choices... on the regular menu.

We started out sharing Calamari alla Gradese - flash fried calamari finished with tomato, sautéed garlic, crushed chilies, lemon and fresh Italian parsley. It was so fantastic, I could go back and make a complete meal of a double portion...crispy yet light batter coating the tenderest calamari rings and lightly topped with a perfect sauce. I'm drooling as I write about them, before 8A.M. the next morning.

Perhaps next time I'll just do appetizers...
Salmone Affumicato Cipollato - Nova Scotia smoked salmon layered with horseradish mascarpone, lime marinated red onion, shaved cucumber, lemon, capers and grilled bread.

Lumache al Tartufo - Snails sautéed with garlic butter and white wine, baked on crostini with melted truffled pecorino and fresh herbs.

Fegato Grasso all’ Amarena -seared foie gras deglazed with brandied cherries, orange, honey and port, served on toasted brioche.

Muscoli alla Triestina - fresh mussels sautéed with garlic, onions, chilies, white wine, leeks, tomato and fresh herbs, topped with crusty bread.

Prosciutto e Fromaggi ai Datteri - San Daniele prosciutto and medjool dates stuffed with goat cheese and fresh basil, garnished with shaved grano padano and balsamic reduction.

There's more and I haven't even mentioned the soups and salads.

But on to the next course....we should have done a pasta course, but passed. Not because there was nothing appealing...there are ten droolingly delicious sounding varieties to choose from. Perhaps next time I'll forgo the Secondi Piatti (main course) and choose Fettucine All’ Aragosta - Fettucine sautéed with fresh lobster, shallots, garlic butter, wine white, tomato and cream, finished with fresh herbs.

This time around, though we opted for veal scaloppine - Lombarda for my Honey -sautéed with cremini, oyster, porcini and shiitake mushrooms, finished with red wine and demi-glaze and, for me.... all’ Astice - sautéed with fresh lobster and finished with a garlic, tomato, brandy and cream sauce. One word - DIVINE! So rich, I could barely eat a third of our shared dessert...Crema Bruciata alla Canadese - maple crème brûlée garnished with candied nuts and cinnamon sugar cookie. Don't worry, my Honey finished it up.

So...stretchy pants and much yoga on tap for today before I make my own simple pasta for dinner...not sure what exactly...stay tuned.

Just don't forget that this Friday, Deb of Kahakai Kitchen will be hosting Presto Pasta Night Roundup #141, all the way from Hawaii. You can send your entries to her debinhawaii (at) gmail (dot) com and cc me - ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

Now that I've whetted your appetite, where do you like to go for a celebration dinner?

Lentil Soup -Old Favorite with a New Twist

Let me start by saying...I love cookbooks. I love flipping through them in book stores, at friends and family...in fact I just borrowed New Vegetarian: Bold and Beautiful Recipes for Every Occasion from my daughter, but more about that some other time. And currently there are eight evaluation copies of great cookbooks from various publishers and author/agents for me to review, sitting on my table.

One of them is even called "Soup" and even though there are tons of great recipes in the book, I was in a very particular mood. I wanted to use the short ribs and marrow bone I had on hand to go with a lentil base. And the funny thing is, I ended up making my own old favorite - Mellow Lentil Soup, adding, not only a marrow bone for extra richness, but a grated sweet potato to thicken and sweeten it up a bit.

It was the grated sweet potato that was really calling me, and I was worried that it would overwhelm the earthiness of the lentils. It didn't and I got to add all that nutritional value without anyone being the wiser.

Did you know that nutritionists at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), ranked the sweet potato number one in nutrition of all vegetables? With a score of 184, the sweet potato outscored the next highest vegetable by more than 100 points. (Info found at FoodReference - almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories).

Just curious....what healthful ingredients do you "hide" from your family?

Lots of Butternut Squash at Presto Pasta Night #140

PPN #140 is up and delicious as usual....Kait of Pots & Plots did a lovely job of hosting and everyone brought such wonderful things to the table, it's hard to know where to start. One thing is for sure...I'll be using the butternut squash that's been sitting on my counter for a week.

Thanks everyone for a job superbly done!

And even though we have tons of recipes to try out this week, don't forget that Deb of Kahakai Kitchen will be hosting all the way from Hawaii. You can send even more tasty treats her way by Thursday. Email your entries to her debinhawaii (at) gmail (dot) com and cc me - ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

Urgent: And believe it or not...December is fast approaching. And although it is a busy time of year, I'm hoping to find two more hosts to help out with the hosting line up before we break for the holidays. If you're interested, please drop me a line.

Early Reminder about Presto Pasta Night #140

Presto Pasta Night Roundup #140 isn't quite ready, but on the off chance that I don't get back to the computer until late tonight....

Please check Pots and Plots. Kait is our fantastic host this week and I don't want anyone to miss out before I get to add my two cents!

Next week Deb of Kahakai Kitchen will be hosting all the way from Hawaii. You can send your entries to her debinhawaii (at) gmail (dot) com and cc me - ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

And believe it or not...December is fast approaching. And although it is a busy time of year, I'm hoping to find two more hosts to help out with the line up before we break for the holidays. If you're interested, please drop me a line.

Farfalle with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

Normally for Presto Pasta Nights, I like to do a main dish for my entry. This week, I went another route...sort of. I recently received a copy of Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home and I'll be writing all about it over at Cookbooks4EveryKitchen very soon. It's pretty spectacular...but I'll save that for later.

I just realized that it's already Thursday and I haven't sent anything to Kait over at Pots and Plots. She's our wonderful PPN host this week. You still have time to send her your last minute pasta delight. Just drop her a line with a link to your post... potsandplots (at) gmail (dot) com and cc me...ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

Back to my dilemma...Martha's new book is divided by season and each season has tons of menu ideas...that's right...not just tons of recipes, but entire menu ideas. For PPN I was just going to find a pasta that looked good and ...voila!

But in the Winter section, one of the menus caught my attention:

Cheese Fondue,

Crisp Pork Cutlets (with an intriquing Caraway Sour Cream Sauce),

Egg Noodles with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts Leaves for the main course

and for dessert...Cherry Compote over Chocolate Ice Cream.

I knew I had to make the Crisp Cutlets and I was very tempted to the Grated Potato Cake from Winter Menu #10 (Duck Breast with Fig Sauce, Braised Red Cabbage, and Hazelnut Brittle over Ice Cream for dessert...just to make you drool), but I really needed a pasta dish for Kait.

Loving Brussels Sprouts as I do, made the choice easy. I used Farfalle, because I just think they're so cute. In fact, the green of the lightly sauteed Brussels Sprouts and the chopped parsley made me feel like Spring had arrived early...which was perfect for a dreary, gray & cold day. The lemon zest and juice, along with the capers added a salty punch and the butter just softened the dish and made the sauce silky. I don't even have to mention the garlic factor....I'm drooling. Perhaps it's time to grab what little was left over for a snack.

One really special thing about pasta...it's like that little black dress, you can dress it up, dress it down, be sparkly for "the big event" or downplay it for a more casual setting. And this quick and easy pasta is perfect as a side, even better all by itself. As good as the cutlet and sauce was...the pasta stole the show!

Kait, thanks for hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night, I'm really looking forward to seeing all those other choices.

Everyone else...get those pasta dishes over to Kait - potsandplots (at) gmail (dot) com and if you're interested in hosting a Presto Pasta Night Roundup yourself, drop me a line.

Sneak Peek at Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

A while back I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking and I absolutely adore it. I wrote about how fantastic it is, how easy it is to make, and how delicious and authentic the breads taste.

So you can imagine...or maybe you can't, just how excited I was to be contacted to review their second book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients. Just how excited, you ask?...so much so that I'm sharing a video clip of Jeff & Zoe creating the basic bread ....

...and I've already started the dough for the Chocolate Espresso Whole Wheat Bread. You'll have to come back tomorrow for that though.

A Thai Cooking Class Party

I just did a post about reducing stress around the holidays...especially if you're the host!

I forgot one other way to give a great party for a small group - host Cooking Class Party in your own home - I now facilitate them in the Halifax area, but you probably can find them in your neck of the woods. Everyone gets in the act and you never have to worry about doing anything other than inviting the guests and providing the beverages.

Elizabeth & Chris invited some of their friends over on Saturday for a Thai Themed dinner and I had to share the photos (collage above) and menu.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls & Thai Salsa
(perhaps not exactly authentic, but huge thumbs up from the cooks - the photo is an old one with shrimp - theirs was vegetarian)

Grilled Thai Beef Salad

Fancy Thai Chicken Fried Rice
(your eyes are not playing tricks, this was my practice dish at home with shrimp)

Thai Cashew Chicken

Thai Green Curry with Vegetables & Tofu
(no photo or recipe - sorry)

Everyone arrived around 6 and we ate and cooked, ate and cooked and finally just ate. They all had a great time and everyone got in the act....and I didn't see a stressed--out look in the place!

As luck would have it, I had just received a copy of Basic Thai Cooking, by Jody Vallasso...plus Basic Japanese Cooking, which I'm sure will be equally fantastic.. Naturally I started flipping through the Thai cookbook for ideas for the party and all the recipes above except for the Summer Rolls came from it. You can read my review of the Thai cookbook, but the bottom line - all plates licked clean.

The BloggerAid Changing the Face of Famine Cookbook

Many of you may know about BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine. It's a wonderful virtual organization of food bloggers from around the world who want to make a difference. Given that we all share a love and passion for food, it was easy to choose a project...create a cookbook with 100% of the proceeds targeting children and education through the World Food Programme - School Meals which benefits 22 million hungry children each year. School meals are important on many levels. In countries where school attendance is low, the promise of at least one nutritious meal each day boosts enrollment and promotes regular attendance.
This book is a virtual way for all of us, wherever we may be and however rich or poor we may be, to pull up a chair at the same table and share what we have.

That part was easy, as was getting 140 fantastic international recipes from terrific food bloggers around the world - 60 countries to be exact. And finally, after much recipe testing, editing, formatting, etc., the gorgeous cookbook - all those photos will have you drooling - is ready and waiting for you to buy a copy and make a difference.

And if the cause isn't enough to entice you...take a gander at some of the tasty treats you'll find between the covers...

"Through these recipes they share their traditions and insatiable curiosity about
new flavours. They pay tribute to the home cooking of our grandmothers, while
celebrating the exoticism and richness of a world brought closer together by their hopes to make a difference. With recipes such as Tomato-Cheese Ravioli with Eggplant Sauce, Spicy Serundeng Tuna and Peanuts, Serrano Ham Paella with
Oyster Mushrooms, Raspberry Mascarpone Bites and Triple Layer Orange-Passion
Fruit Tart we are doing our part to say that bloggers can change the face of famine."

Wait no more...head over to the Create Space eStore. The book will make a perfect gift for the holidays ahead. So that's one for you...one for your sister, daughter, brother, best friend....whoever your favorite foodie is. Go on...make a difference.

Presto Pasta Night Roundup #139

UPDATE: The most fantastic Presto Pasta Night Roundup #139 is ready and Chaya of Sweet and Savory Says it All did an absolutely awesome job of hosting this week. Everything looks so tempting, but given our early onset of Winter...frosty, dark and dreary, I'm opting for the many variations of mac 'n cheese.

That said, Chaya did a brilliant job of presenting tempting, tantalizing tidbits of everyone's dishes, so I'll be visiting them all and I know you will be too.

Thanks, Chaya for hosting and everyone for contributing. Check out the bottom of the post for next week's host info.


It's a busy day around here, what with flu shots, babysitting and getting ready for the Thai Cooking Class Party I'll be facilitating tomorrow, I thought I'd at least link to Chaya's main page at Sweet & Savory Says It All. She's our fabulous Presto Pasta Night Host this week and I know, like me, you can't wait for the roundup to be posted.

I'll follow up this evening when things calm down around here and add all the details to all the right places.

Just remember that next week Kait of Pots & Plots will be hosting. Send your entries to potsandplots (at) gmail (dot) com and cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

And if you're interested in hosting a PPN in December, or next year, for that matter...2010 is just around the corner, it seems....drop me a line.

Pasta from Southern Italy

I'm trying to get ahead of things around here. I'm getting ready to run a cooking class party this weekend and the theme is Thai so I'm busy experimenting... I promise to share once I'm sure of the recipes. In the meantime, Presto Pasta Night Roundup is just a couple of days away. This week, Chaya of Sweet and Savory Says It All is hosting and I don't want to miss it.

Lucky for me, I just received a copy of The Southern Italian Table: Authentic Tastes from Traditional Kitchensby Arthur Schwartz. I just wrote all about how wonderful it is, filled with lots of my favorite Italian dishes. Antipasti like Stuzzico, an eggplant, red pepper and onion spread, pizzas to make your head spin, salads, soups, sauces, fish, meat, chicken, desserts...and naturally pasta. Last week I submitted Pasta & Lentils (who could resist) and this week it's Pasta e Ricotta...which takes mac 'n cheese to a whole new level of sophistication and simplicity. Isn't it wonderful when you can have a meal ready in as long as it takes to cook the noodles?!

So what are you cooking up for Presto Pasta Nights? And don't forget to send your entry to chayathecomfycook (at) yahoo (dot) com and cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com. And if you're interested in hosting a PPN yourself, just drop me a line and I'll add you to the roster.

See you at the Roundup on Friday.

Homemade Montreal Style Bagels

I suppose that unless you're from Montreal, this may not be as unbelievably fantastic a find for you, but you'd be wrong not to read on. I was raised on Montreal St Viateur or Fairmount bagels and, probably the most difficult part of the move to Toronto was the lack of them. Toronto bagels are...well...they're soft, puffy rolls with a tiny hole. And I've written about them many times, even about finding them at the Montreal Pierre Trudeau International Airport, and the bagel wars between those who grew up in Toronto and those of us who moved there from Montreal.

Admittedly St Viateur Bagel has a couple of Toronto outlets. You can find them at the St Lawrence Market and on Eglinton near Bathurst. And Pete's Frootique, here in Halifax does import them from Montreal, but naturally that's not the same as walking into the actual bakery and being assaulted with that awesome aroma of wood burning oven, fragrant hot yeasty dough, toasty sesame seeds...I'm drooling now.

Normally, when I write a book review, I write about it here, but Marcy Goldman's latest cookbook The New best of BetterBaking.com deserves to be talked about at AskRuth for some of her trade baking secrets and here as well. I mean, really, I feel an obligation to all those fans of Montreal bagels everywhere. Now you too can make them...start to finish (including all the resting time) 90 minutes.

I was so excited, that I forgot to buy my favorite topping...cream cheese and smoked salmon. Good thing there are still some left so I can rectify that. I actually have three favorite ways to eat a Montreal bagel...three courses, if you will...
fresh from the oven, just ripped apart and slathered with salted butter - often eaten in the car on the way home from the bakery all by themselves...
normally followed by cream cheese with smoked salmon, sliced onion, perhaps a sliced tomato and some capers, but not necessarily - today I had some with Ran-Cher cayenne & garlic goat cheese - a nice alternative until I actually get the smoked salmon...
and for "dessert", slathered with cream cheese and ginger marmalade.

So if you're a bagel fiend, what's your favorite style and topping?

Presto Pasta Night Roundup #138

It is Friday and time for Presto Pasta Night Roundup #138. Although there aren't very many entries this week, each one is wonderful. So thanks all of you for sharing your pastas with the rest of us.
And since Winter has arrived early here in Halifax...this is our first snowstorm of the season at 6:45 A.M....check out how dark it is...SIGH.

Oh well, on to better things...like our pastas for the week...

Abby of Eat The Right Stuff, sure knows the way to my heart. Her Spaghetti with Cavolo Nero & Pancetta have already graced my table (one great thing about hosting is that you get to try out the entries early!)and was delicious.
Christine, the Adventurous Picky Eater, and first time blogger sent in a wonderful Mac 'n Cheese that will be a perfect lunch today...Boaz is coming over and we'll be spending the morning out in the first snow of the year.
Tigerfish of Teczcape made this glorious looking Vegetarian Rice Vermicelli dish that will brighten up even the gloomiest day.
Sherra of Our Tasat of Life brings this economical and delightful Beef Linguine that is as quick to make as it will be for the family to gobble it all up.
Katie of Thyme For Cooking has another cool blog, Easy Gourmet Dinners, where she shares "Diabetic friendly" dishes for her husband and the rest of us. Check out this tasty Pork Lo Mein with Peanut Sauce. I'm drooling!
Deb of Kahakai Kitchen shares a Mark Bittman dish of Zucchini & Garlic Fusilli with Pistachios. I love everything he makes, so I know I'll going to enjoy this one. Just the thought of it brightens my mood.
Ching of Little Corner of Mine made another dish I "tested" earlier in the week...Penne Tuna Pasta. One of those satisfying dishes you whip up in a minute and enjoy for much longer.
And last, but...trust me...definitely not least for cold and dreary weather...my entry...Sicilian Pasta & Lentils. I even have some left overs in case I have no energy to whip up the mac 'n cheese after playing in the snow.
Thanks everyone, for perfect pastas! Next week, Chaya of Sweet & Savory Says It All will be hosting, lucky us! Email your entries to her - chayathecomfycook (at) yahoo (dot) com and cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

If you're interested in hosting Presto Pasta Nights yourself, please send me an email. I'm still looking for hosts in December and...dare I say it...next year!

Pasta or Lentils...How About Both

One of the new cookbooks sitting on my table is called The Southern Italian Table and I'll be telling you all about it soon. It looks fantastic - a real peek into the kitchens of real cooks in Southern Italy.

That said, I couldn't resist making this Sicilian Pasta and Lentils right away. Two of my favorite Fall to Winter comfort foods in ONE dish! What could possibly be better? Perhaps sharing it with the rest of my fellow Presto Pasta Night Roundup regulars.

I'm hosting this week, and you still have time (midnight tonight, where ever you live) to send in your creation. Just email me ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com and check back for the roundup here tomorrow.

And I'm still looking for a guest host for November 27th's roundup. I'd love to add you to the list. In the meantime...happy pasta eating!

Comfort Won Out

I was looking forward to going to Pete's Frootique Five Year Celebration today...but then again, my Honey just got back from Toronto and I did pick up some fresh Indian Point Mussels at the market yesterday that would be perfect for a late lunch.

Not to mention that it's a perfect day for just lounging about in pjs and never getting dressed. So the mussels won. It was a group effort...okay, it was just me in the kitchen, but I did have inspirational help:
Chef Gui Gedda, author of The Provencal Cookbook I just wrote about - a great traditional Moules Provencal made with white wine, dried fennel stalks (which naturally I didn't have) garlic, white wine and cream and some other things that all sounded delish. It's just that it was a two-step process and I was too impatient - I'll save it for another day.

Chef Calvin Burt of The Shipwright's Cafe in Prince Edward Island. He whipped up steamed mussels with white wine, tons of garlic and fresh tomatoes from his garden when I was there for PEI's Fall Flavours Event back in September...and I'm still drooling.

Chef Michael Smith, who always inspires me, has a great "non-recipe" for mussels in The Best of Chef at Home.

So with a little of this, and a little of that....Steamed Mussels with White Wine & Fennel made its way to our table for lunch with a glass or two of Moselland ArsVitis Riesling (simply delightful) for me and some Stella Artois for my Honey, not to mention the crusty bread for sopping up all that delicious sauce.
And perhaps Marye Audet and her Everything Cookies & Brownies Cookbook will inspire some tasty treat for the rest of the afternoon. Update: the Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies were perfect!