I don’t usually write about what I make for lunch, but I started thinking about lunch this morning while making spätzle batter. There was a salad recipe I’d been wanting to try, and today was the day.

We have been eating our main meal at lunchtime and having smaller, lighter dinners. We go to bed earlier now since Nelly joined the family and would rather digest heavier foods like meats for the rest of the day instead of an hour before shut-eye.

I saved a recipe for a beet salad that sounded delicious. I had all the ingredients for the salad except for the arugula, which was no big deal.

I’ve said it a million times not to shit-can a recipe if you don’t want to tackle something big or not have an insignificant ingredient.

These are the kind of beets I used that I found at a discount food store, but you can use fresh or canned as well. I used them straight from the package and didn’t roast them as the recipe suggests.

I cut the beets larger than the recipe calls for, then coated them with a balsamic vinaigrette. Next, I added chopped pecans, dried cranberries, and feta cheese. I cut the pecans too small; next time, I won’t.

Here is the link to the recipe I used to make the beet salad. This is a great place to start if you aren’t a beet person or don’t know what to do with them. It’s sweet, salty, sour, tangy, creamy, crunchy, and chewy from the cranberries.

Now for the burger that I chose as the protein to go with the salad. I thought about what I had on hand to put on the burger. The best part about burger toppings is there are endless possibilities. I came up with what I called a Frenchie Burger!

We had some mushrooms that needed to be used, and some leftover Swiss cheese. I sautéed the mushrooms and added some tarragon and cognac. I know that’s fancy for lunch, but why not? Honestly, it only took an extra minute.

Marty grilled the burgers, then we spread them with Dijon mustard and melted the Swiss cheese on top. Finally, we topped it with the tarragon cognac mushrooms. OMG! Yum!

The way I made the beet salad today is a perfect side dish, or you can make it like the recipe and have a delicious salad. Not a fan of arugula? Use different greens or lettuce of your choice.

It was an easy salad since I used ready-to-eat beets; I know I would not make it if I had to roast and peel them. Some recipes are worth the time and energy to follow, and some are not.

Have a good night and for fucks sake, cover up your plants and flowers tonight if you live around here; it’s going to freeze again tonight! Hopefully, this is the final FU from Mother Nature for gardeners and retail suppliers. 😜🖕

My own veggie bean burger topped with mushroom bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and In & Out Burger animal sauce.

Marty and I moved to Vermont back in 1989. We wanted to escape the rat race, traffic, too many people, and, most importantly, my mother. 

New Jersey was making me psychically sick. My gastroenterologist, Dr. Wolfman, told me I’d have a colostomy bag by age thirty if I stayed in such a hostile and stressful environment. 

We got this bacon from a pop-up vendor at the Troy Farmers Market. I was skeptical, but it tasted like bacon and had a great texture.

We moved to a place where transplants aren’t liked or accepted readily by Vermonters, especially in South Londonderry, where we first landed. We found that out fast. We lived there for four years, and the Vermonters still hated us. 

We began to work out like maniacs for something to do. Our landlords were lovely transplants but were in a different place than we were. They had a baby while we wanted to go out to a bar or dance. Yes, there was dancing in Manchester back in the day. 

Coconut-crusted tofu instead of coconut shrimp.

We quickly discovered that Vermont was a costly place to live. I made $5.05 an hour, a drastic, catastrophic pay decrease. Rent was the same price as Jersey, and so was car insurance, fuel to heat with, and food. It was crazy! 

We were broke and lived hand to mouth but in a beautiful, stress-free environment that agreed with my ulcerative colitis. I was homesick; I needed to keep reminding myself why we moved to Vermont in the first place.

Beans and rice.

Since we were workout nut jobs, we decided to eat healthier and become vegetarians. Not only would this be better for Marty’s hereditary high cholesterol, but also for our grocery shopping budget.

Going vegetarian was a great idea; the problem was neither of us knew how to be suitable vegetarians. I was new at cooking and had no clue what to make or buy. I worked when the local library was open, so taking out a vegetarian book was a no-go.

We wandered the grocery store aimlessly but came home with the same foods each week. I can’t remember what we had for our lunches at work for the life of me.

We lived on oatmeal, cereal, rice, and pasta. We burned off all those carbs in a snap by working out and having incredible metabolisms. 

Tofu Italian cutlets two ways. As a sandwich with roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella cheese topped with basil aioli, and tofu parm for lunch the next day. Both were outrageously good!

We ate very little fat or protein. We ate veggie burgers, peanut butter, and egg white omelets with cheese. We ate no legumes and little to no vegetables or fruit except bananas. 

I still find it amazing that so many vegetarians and vegans do the same thing as we did. It’s an oxymoron, for sure! 

We were in great shape, and our bodies were terrific, but we weren’t eating as healthy as we thought and didn’t drink any water except during our workouts.

Soft scrambled eggs with chives and avocado and a French omelet with a toasted bagel.

Eventually, we made friends and started making a little bit more money. We got on a fuel plan for heat and saved up each week to go out for drinks and bar snacks with friends. 

At some point, neither knew how badly each was craving meat. I would drool just thinking about it. I always thought about eating beef, pork, chicken, and shrimp.

Finally, I fessed up and told Marty, and he said, “Hallelujah!” We went to the Sirloin Saloon that night and ordered steak. It was the most delicious piece of meat we ever ate.

We were both sick after eating meat that first night. That was it for being vegetarians, and since we were both working many hours and had friends to hang out with, we stopped working out. 

Eating and working out became our unhealthy obsession, and we were relieved to stop. We gained a bit of weight back, but we were happier. 

For the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to introduce more meatless meals and vegetables into our diet. 

Learning how to cook with cauliflower made meatless meals easy and delicious. I wrote a blog piece all about cauliflower a couple of years ago. Here is the link if you are interested in checking it out. 

It’s different this time, eating vegetarian meals. We are eating vegetables and other sources of protein like beans and tofu. We love apple slices with peanut butter as a snack. I can’t wait for summer fruit to be in season!

Becoming a great cook has allowed me to be creative and explore the vegetarian world with fantastic results. I research recipes and read blog posts to educate myself.

Crostini topped with garlic-whipped ricotta and blistered tomatoes, garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper. Our favorite!

The vegetarian food I am experimenting with makes us not miss meat on those meatless nights one bit and look forward to them. Don’t let me fool you; Marty and I still indulge in our favorite meats, but only about 50% of the time. 

We find it much easier to eat lighter and healthier during warmer weather. I am very good about staying hydrated during the day, which I found is better for my skin, and I am not tired. 

We are eager to plant our raised vegetable garden beds in the next week since it’s still cold at night here in Vermont. 

Every year, I planted everything on Mother’s Day, and I ran around like a fucking idiot covering everything due to frost. I’ve finally learned that lesson.

I look forward to trying more vegetarian dishes this summer, plus there are a hundred to make during fall and winter. As soon as I nail down these recipes and write them, I’ll share them with you.

Have a great week, guys!

When you read the title, “Chocolate Cream Pie,” and see the photo, you may be thinking about a blog post l wrote less than two weeks ago.

I wrote that Marty and I had a goal to eat healthier. We want to introduce more vegetarian dishes, and salads for dinner. Like how I learned to use cauliflower to replace meat in some of our favorite dishes, I want to do the same with tofu.

Many of the recipes I am making and writing are vegetarian but can be easily adapted for vegans. If you are vegan, I am sure you already know what substitutes you can use.

It all started with a gluten-free graham cracker pie crust I bought and some silken tofu. All the recipes I looked at were vegan, so I adapted my version to fit our eating lifestyle.

Some of the recipes were lengthy, and some were simple. Some had to be baked; some were no-bake. Many recipes were for vegan cheesecake; I’ve written many times not to go out and buy special ingredients for one recipe; either adapt it or don’t make it. That’s how I roll.

I began looking at chocolate cream pie recipes using tofu. I took ideas from some recipes and made my own. Luckily, I wrote it down.

The no-bake chocolate cream pie was to die for; I’m not kidding. I am not a huge dessert eater, but I thought about this pie all week; it was that good.

I was skeptical while making the filling, but when I tasted it before pouring it into the pie crust, I knew I had a home run!

I was shocked at how delicious it was and how few ingredients I used. I topped my pie with whipped cream but coconut whipped cream can also be used.

I remade the pie again, making my gluten-free graham cracker crust. I wondered how good it would be to use gluten-free cookies of your choice, like chocolate chip or sugar cookies?Of course, you can use a ready-made crust too.

I made the pie for Cinco de Maya last Friday night. I add cinnamon to the crust for a more Mexican feel. I should have added a bit of cayenne pepper, but I didn’t. Oh well, it was still sensational!

We were having our friend chef Martin and his lady friend Alexandra over for dinner; I was eager for Martin to try it without telling him what I used. I never saw Martin eat much dessert, but the slice of pie was gone in three bites!

He kept saying how light and creamy it was. It was a textbook-perfect chocolate cream pie. I told him what the ingredients were and he was surprised and impressed. He never would have know it was made with tofu.

While I was researching for this blog post, I looked up the nutritional values of whipped cream vs coconut cream. The nutritional values are very similar. The only real difference is, one is vegan.

I also researched the nutritional values of a traditional chocolate cream pie vs the tofu version. I am not going to tell you the actual numbers, just the number differences.

Why? For the same reason why I hate going to Five Guys and seeing the calories for the fries I ordered starring me right smack in the face on the menu board.

I love french fries but gluten-free ones are hard to find. Five Guys are one of the only chain restaurants that have gluten-free fries, which is why we go when we are on the road, but seeing the calories makes me feel guilty, even if it is a treat.

Back to the pies, the difference between the two pies comes in as follows, with tofu scoring lower in all categories. Here are the most important numbers for me. The tofu pie for one slice has 95 fewer calories, 10 grams less fat, 10 grams less cholesterol, and 6 fewer total carbs.

What can make a healthier version of this pie would be to not top the whole pie with either whipped cream or coconut cream. You can just add a small dollop to each piece with a little shaved chocolate on top when serving.

I like the dollop idea and will make the pie that way the next time I make the tofu chocolate cream pie. I’ll never make a chocolate cream pie the traditional way again since this recipe is so much easier and healthier.

Ok, guys, here’s my recipe. I will include the whipped cream and coconut versions at the end of the recipe. I hope you guys try it; I already know you’ll love it. ♥️

No-bake tofu chocolate cream pie

Ingredients

For the cookie or graham cracker crust

2 cups of regular or gluten-free graham crackers or cookie crumbs
1/3 cup sugar if using graham crackers (sugar is not necessary if using cookies)
6 tbsp melted butter

For the chocolate filling

1 package of 15-16 oz package of silken tofu.
1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
A pinch of kosher salt

Directions

Crush the graham crackers or cookies in a food processor or using a rolling pin and a zip-lock-style bag. Measure 2 cups of the crumbs and add to a bowl. Add the sugar if using graham crackers, and mix with the crumbs. Leave out the sugar if you wish.

Melt the butter and add to the crumb mixture. Stir until all the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate, going up the sides as well. Place in the refrigerator while making the filling.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double-boiler or a bowl over a simmering pot of water. Add the tofu, melted chocolate, vanilla, and salt in a blender.

Blend until the tofu and chocolate resemble chocolate pudding, ensuring all the specs of tofu are gone.

Pour into the crust and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. It isn’t necessary to cover it with plastic like pudding; no skin will form.

Toppings

For the whipped cream

1 cup of cold heavy cream
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, confectioners sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until medium-stiff peaks form. Do not over-whip, or you’ll end up with butter.

Immediately spoon the whipped cream onto the chilled and firm chocolate filling. Shave or grate any chocolate of your choice if you wish.

For the coconut cream

1 can 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
1 tbsp of confectioners sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place the can of coconut milk into the refrigerator for 2 days. Chill the mixing bowl and beater or whisk for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Open the can of coconut milk and scoop out the hardened coconut cream into the chilled mixing bowl. Discard, drink, or do whatever you wish with the coconut water.

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the coconut cream on medium speed for one minute. Add the confectioners sugar, and vanilla. Whip for an additional minute until it’s smooth and creamy. Do not over-whip.

Immediately spoon the coconut cream onto the chilled and firm chocolate filling. Shave or grate any chocolate of your choice if you wish.

Makes 8 servings

I’ve been making traditional bolognese sauce for years, but last week I tried making a vegetarian version of my own recipe.

The vegetarian version had way less fat and was healthier with more veggies. The kicker was it tasted incredibly like my meat version. 

I use meatloaf mix to make my bolognese sauce, a blend of beef, pork, and veal. It’s full of fat but makes a great pot of bolognese. 

I followed my recipe exactly, just subbing out the meatloaf mix with one head of cauliflower and one 10oz package of mushrooms. 

The above photos show the ingredients for the veggie or the meat version.

The cooking process was exactly the same. I took photos of the steps of the veggie version and compared them to the meat version. They are almost identical. 

The top photos show the vegetarian version and the meat is on the bottom.

The experiment was an amazing success. I plan to make the veggie version for Marty and me instead of the meat version. It was that good!

Veggie version on the left and meat on the right.

If the boys are having dinner with us, I’ll make the traditional one and not try to fool them. I learned my lesson pulling that trick once with Sam. He was so mad; he didn’t eat dinner that night. 

Veggie Bolognese Sauce

I won’t lie to you; making a pot of bolognese sauce is a labor of love, whether you are making it with meat or veggies. It’s a dish that you have to pay attention to. I am sure it can be made in a crock pot or instant pot; however, I only make mine the traditional way.

Here is my newly updated bolognese sauce recipe adding the vegetarian option along with the traditional meat.  

Bolognese Sauce with meat and vegetarian versions

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive oil OR 1 Tbsp butter OR  1 Tbsp of bacon fat 
1 1/2 lbs 80/20 ground beef or Meatloaf mix for the vegetarian version, 1 head of cauliflower, and a 10 oz package of mushrooms chopped finely
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 large onion finely chopped 
2 carrots finely chopped
2 celery finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 cup of white wine or red works too
1 cup milk (do not use skim) 
28 oz can good quality (San Marzano) tomato puree, or you can use whole or crushed tomatoes just put them into a blender to make the puree
1 cup beef or vegetable broth
½ cup real grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Melt the butter or bacon fat in a large dutch oven or add olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Season with salt & pepper. Mix well and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes. 

Add the garlic and saute for another 2 or 3 minutes. You do not want to let the vegetables or the garlic burn. Adjust your stove temperature if necessary to prevent this from happening. 

Next, add the meat or chopped cauliflower and mushrooms to the vegetables breaking up the meat while it begins to cook. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often until the meat, cauliflower, and mushrooms are completely cooked. 

Add the wine to the pan scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Let the wine reduce for about 3 minutes. Add the milk and stir. Keep stirring until the meat mixture absorbs the milk, approximately 5-7 minutes. 

Add the tomato puree and beef stock mixing well. Bring to a simmer, then continue to simmer on very low, partially covered, 2 hours for vegetarian and 3 hours for the meat version.

Stir often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Skim off any fat that rises to the top.

Check and stir often, making sure the sauce isn’t getting too thick. If this happens while the sauce is cooking, add ¼ cup water, more or less when needed to loosen the sauce. Check to make sure the stove temp isn’t too high.

Add the cheese and stir to combine. Check for seasoning and adjust to your taste. In a large bowl, toss with the pasta of your choice, making sure the pasta is lightly coated with enough bolognese sauce.

Serve with the rest of the bolognese sauce on the side and more grated parmesan cheese.

Buon Appetito! 

Cannoli Pancakes

I love Sunday mornings. It’s the one day we truly take off and relax. We also love making Sunday breakfast. The best part of Sunday breakfast is eating it at 9 or 10 am instead of our early weekday gulp-and-grab breakfast before spätzle production.

I loved Sunday mornings when I was growing up. I remember getting breakfast supplies on Saturday afternoons or evenings when we lived in Elizabeth, NJ. We lived there until I was almost ten years old.

Great Grandma in her dining room. The table always had silverware and plates on it since there was always food in the kitchen for guests.

I loved visiting my great-grandma’s house on Saturday nights. My Mema and the rest of my father’s family gathered there. They played music and sat around her long dining room table, smoking and talking. Not my great grandma and Mema, but my parents and my father’s cousins, Aunts, and Uncles.

That’s me telling a story in Great Grandma’s dining room.

I was in my glory when they played Italian music, and my great-uncles would play the spoons. I would dance with my cousins, run around and let great grandma feed us hotdog buttons she had in her housecoat pocket. Don’t be grossed out; her hanky was in the other pocket. Lol.

In Great Grandma’s parlor, I guess on a rainy day.

We would leave when it was dark out. It always felt late, but I loved being out at night. Seeing all the lights in the windows looked cozy and magical. I would look out my backseat window at the street lights lining the streets.

We would drive to a bagel shop and pick up fresh-out-of-the-oven bagels in different flavors; my favorite was egg. My dad would hand me the bag to hold. It was warm in my lap and smelled delicious.

Next, we drove down one of Elizabeth’s main streets and stopped under a bridge at a red light. I would start getting nervous when I realized where we were going.

There was an old man who stood under the bridge. He sold the Sunday papers early. I remember he had one of those coin thingies on his belt.

My dad would roll down the driver’s side window and hand the man a dollar bill. He would give my dad the paper hot off the presses and his change.

I honestly thought this man was a troll. He was little and hunched over. He wore a black sailor’s knit cap and wore black gloves with no fingers. He had a voice like he drank nails, and while I was intrigued, I was afraid of him. I can still see him in my mind’s eye.

On Saturday afternoons, my mother and I would pick up my other grandmother, Nana. My Grandpop was buried at Mount Olive Cemetary in Newark, NJ. It was located next to the Anheuser Bush plant. The plant had a light-up eagle that flew in the sky, or so it appeared.

On our way to the cemetery, we would make two stops; the first was a florist shop to get flowers for Grandpop’s grave. He always had a flag on his grave since he served in World War l.

Me with Nana and Grandpop in Warinanco Park in Elizabeth.

The second stop was Zimmerman’s bakery. It was a wholesale bakery with a door where people could go in and buy freshly baked bread. I can still smell that heavenly scent that filled the air.

After we picked out a colossal rye bread, I loved watching a burly-looking woman dressed in all white with a hairnet put the oval loaf into the slicing machine.

Next, the lady put it in a white waxed paper bag, my mom paid for it, and I carried it out to the car like a baby in my arms. Like the bagels, it was warm and smelled mouth-wateringly delicious.

That big loaf of bread would be divided, giving Nana a few slices, and the rest would be for Sunday breakfast which my dad would make, slathered with lots of butter and dippy eggs.

Holy shit! Until I found this sign, I thought the name of the cemetery was St. Olive, as I wrote. I didn’t change it, I like it as I remember it in my head.

At the cemetery, I would take the metal vase out of the ground at Grandpop’s grave and fill it with water from a nearby water spigot giving the flowers we brought a drink. Nana would sob at his gravesite, and seeing her cry upset me. I would hold her hand and tell her it was ok.

After we left the cemetery, we would all eat slices of Zimmerman’s rye bread. I love the heel and would put it in front of my teeth and pretend they were false teeth like Nana’s. I was in the backseat, so my mother couldn’t see me and yell at me for playing with my food.

In front of Nana & Grandpop’s apartments on Easter in 1968.

On many of those Saturdays, I stayed at Nana’s house. My mother, who used to clean Nan’s apartment since she was blind, decided I was old enough to clean Nana’s apartment while I was there.

This was long before my role as Cinderella began when we moved from Elizabeth to Iselin. I didn’t mind; I would clean and talk to Nana the whole time. One week Nana told me she lost her mother’s ring in the apartment.

While scrubbing her toilet, at 6 or 7 years old, I found her ring on the rim of the toilet bowl when I lifted the seat. I yelled, “Nana! I found your ring!” Nana cried and hugged me.

Nana’s ring that I found. I took it out today, and I am wearing it. It spins around on my finger as it did on hers.

She gave me that ring when I was older, telling me I deserved to have it more than anyone. I never told my mother she gave it to me; she would have taken it away in a fit of rage one day. I keep it locked up in a safe. It is platinum and has tiny little diamond chips in it.

After cleaning, I would lead Nana into the elevator and go downstairs to take her to mass in her building. Afterward, I walked her carefully to the corner store around the block. I was very careful and walked slow. I would tell her when there was a step or crack in the sidewalk.

When I think about it now, that was a little crazy for us to do since Elizabeth was a dangerous place to live even back then. I was responsible for my age, and she trusted me more than anyone she told me.

The corner store had a yucky smell and wood shavings on the floor. I held my breath when we went in there but had to gasp for air and get a big whiff. I knew it was impolite to hold my nose, plus I had to walk Nana through the narrow aisles with her shopping cart she brought from home.

Even though I was only 6 or 7 years old, she would talk me through making dinner for us—simple things like Spam, grilled cheese, tuna, or egg salad sandwiches. I liked standing on a step stool and cooking on her electric stove. I set the table, she washed the dishes, and I would dry.

Anheuser Bush Plant and the eagle that lights up at night.

At bedtime, we would look out her 8th-floor apartment window, wave to the Anheuser eagle, and say, “Good night, Grandpop.” Nana would cry. She missed him so much. I slept on his side of the bed and told her it was ok. We would say the rosary in the dark; I would fall asleep after the first round of Hail Marys.

These are special memories for me and my time with my Nana. Writing about them made me cry since I miss her and our relationship. My mother was jealous of our relationship, so I never told her anything we did.

The same thing went for the games Mema played with me and that she rubbed my back when I was falling asleep. One night I asked my mother if she would rub my back like Mema. Mistake. She yelled at my dad to have a talk with his mother and stop doing that. What a bitch!

This is me with Mema, Pa, my father, and my mother. I wonder why Pa is the only one smiling?

Come to find out, Nana was merely a babysitter to my mother, just like Mema, on Saturday nights. The joke was on her since I loved spending the night at their homes. I kept them company; they treated me with respect, love and made me feel special.

Nana, Mema, and Great Grandma in their older, thinner years. Nana continued wearing her glasses until the end, even though she couldn’t see from them since 1970.

Our boys didn’t get the chance to have any special Saturday night memories like mine, but we always had Sunday breakfast together. We rarely went out for breakfast; I would make something special every Sunday.

I hope Noah and Sam remember some of that now that they are older. If luck is in my favor, I can do the same for my grandchildren someday and let them have a sleepover with us.

This morning I made Marty and me cannoli pancakes that were delicious. I started with chocolate chip pancakes. I used dark chocolate because I didn’t want them to be too sweet. Marty prefers semi-sweet chocolate, but tough shit, I told him. 😜

I made a whipped topping with whipping cream, ricotta cheese, and a touch of sugar. I topped the pancakes with warm maple syrup, ricotta whipped cream, and chopped pistachios.

I am always adding dishes to the menu in my made-up restaurant called, “Six and under.” This would make the menu, but Marty pointed out that people would prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips. You all know me well enough by now to imagine what I replied.

Thanks for going down my breakfast memories path with me. I hope you enjoyed the photos I dug out. Lol. Have a great rest of your Sunday and upcoming week.

We live in a world that is hard for many people to understand. They don’t get the whole they/them pronouns or know what non-binary even means. 

While it makes perfect sense to many, it’s harder for some people to understand. Now that I know people who identify as something different, I do my best to use the pronoun of their choice. It was hard to do at; first, I have to admit. It was harder for Marty, so he stopped using pronouns altogether.

Five years ago, I had no idea about any of things either. Marty and I get it now and know many people who identify as such, especially at the farmers market. This post wasn’t meant to be about people; it was supposed to be about bell peppers. 

The way I always described bell peppers to my culinary kids at school and adults in my cooking class is now incorrect. 

Bell peppers were once easily identified as male and female. Peppers with 2-3 bumps or lobes on the bottom were males, and peppers with four or more were females. Boom.

There is a difference between the two varieties of peppers. Male peppers are more bitter and are better for cooking, while female bell peppers have a sweeter taste and are better for eating raw.

Male and female bell peppers affect the taste and color of the bell peppers. Male or female green peppers are still more bitter than red or yellow varieties. This being said female green peppers are still sweeter than males. Confusing right? 

The confusing part for me is bell peppers are no longer identified as male and female. They are gender-neutral, a term we hear or read about every day. I needed to read a bunch of scientistic and farming articles to try to figure out what in fucks name it all meant. 

The information I read implies there is no such thing as male and female peppers. Basically, it comes down to seeds, flowers, pollination, and the fruit itself. I am probably not good at science because my right-handed brain just doesn’t understand it. This is perhaps why someone used laymen’s terminology for dumb or creative people like me.

As I mentioned, peppers are a fruit since the peppers contain seeds. That I already knew, by the way, tomatoes are also a fruit. This used to surprise my students. This hasn’t changed. Furthermore, “female” peppers have more seeds than “males” and grow baby peppers.

Fact-checkers are making sure people realize this terminology mistake and have claimed there is no difference in gender. It never used to be a big deal; no one gave two shits about it before. See how this is hard for me to understand?

In closing, what does this all mean? It means people can identify as whatever they want. They should try to be patient and not be offended by people still trying to wrap their heads around it all and try understand it.

Regarding bell peppers, if you want a good cooking pepper, choose ones with 2-3 bumps. If you want a bell pepper to put in salads, on a dip platter, or to snack on, pick ones with four or more bumps. As far as the color goes, that is left up to you and how sweet you like your peppers.

At the end of the day, the gender and color of the peppers doest matter; they are all bell peppers. Period. Just like people. Period. That I wish everyone could understand.

Ok, I didn’t expect this new information about bell peppers after I spoke about them with our friends David and Arthur last week when they came over on taco night.

It was interesting doing the research for this piece. Before I knew it, the writer in me couldn’t help making the connection between bell peppers and people in today’s world.

By the way, while editing this piece, the grammar program I use had a big issue with using the word layman and scolded me because I was insensitive. I guess the politically correct term is a layperson.

I didn’t change it, just like I don’t change the curse words I use on a regular basis. That’s why this blog is about how I live my life.

While I try to be sensitive to people, I am trying the best I can; however, I can’t worry 24/7 about offending people with every word I say or write.

I am already a nut job; doing so would make me even more fucked up. In some cases, I have to do me, and you do you. Thanks for your understanding and support. Support can be beautiful. 😜

I hope you find the information useful and the next time you are at a supermarket or farm stand, you think of me. If you ever need a bell pepper recipe, hit me up. Have a great day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️

This year, I made cottage pie instead of the usual roasted corned beef, cabbage & potatoes. I made corned beef several times during the year and wanted to try something else. The something else was delicious!

Cottage pie is the same as Shepherd’s Pie, except it uses ground beef instead of ground lamb. I made the cottage pie without a recipe but found one similar to how I made mine.

The difference is I used a cup of diced fresh carrots and added 1/2 can of creamed corn. I also made a pan gravy to serve with the cottage pie. I love gravy!!!

In addition to the recipe, I added an egg yoke, cheddar cheese, and chives to my mashed potatoes. I whipped mine with a beater until silky smooth, then applied a simple fork pattern on the top of the pie. I love how the design came out after it was baked.

Here is the Cottage Pie recipe link if you want to try making it. It was so perfect on a foggy & rainy night.

I mentioned in earlier blog posts I haven’t had any coffee or cocktails for the last five weeks. Since I am no longer on antibiotics, I made a decaf coffee with Baileys Irish Cream. It tastes so damn good!

One thing that can’t be taken away is that I am Irish and love a good drink. The other thing is I will always tell stories the Irish way, which drives Marty insane.

We give a dozen side stories to get to the point. The side stories are completely necessary; ask my buddy, Martin Sullivan.

How the Irish give directions will give you a St. Paddy’s Day chuckle.

Happy Friday!

Marty and I miss many of our favorite foods because of our gluten-free diet. One of those things is a soft pretzel, the kind you get from a pretzel vendor on the streets of NYC. I’ve never been a fan of the ones at the mall; they taste too fancy.

It’s been a long time since we have eaten soft pretzels. We found pretzel nuggets once at a GF bakery called Against the Grain. We dream about soft pretzels. When I worked at a hotdog pushcart in Manchester, VT, I had to make pretzels for customers, which was torture.

In the last couple of months, members of a gluten-free group on Facebook called Guten-free Albany have been posting photos of soft pretzels they are making with Trader Joe’s GF raw pizza dough. The pretzels look amazing. We knew we needed to make some. Stat.

On Thursday, when Marty was out making deliveries in NY, he stopped at Trader Joe’s, as I mentioned in a previous post. When I saw the pizza dough, I knew he would make pretzels! I was still too sick on Thursday to even help. Not too sick to eat them, though.

Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Pizza Dough Pretzel Bites

Ingredients

1 Trader Joe’s pre-made gf pizza dough
5 cups Water
1/3 cup baking soda
2 tbsp melted butter
Coarse salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; spray parchment with GF pan spray. Next, boil 5 cups of water and 1/3 cup of baking soda.

Marty’s way, as demonstrated in the photos, cut the pizza dough into equal pieces to form ping-pong size balls. Next, shape the balls into nugget shapes.

My way, divide the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece with your hands, forming a snake. Using a knife or bench scraper, cut into equal size nugget pieces. You can make them any size you wish.

Working in batches, drop a few nuggets into boiling water for 60 seconds. Gently swirl the water with a slotted spoon to prevent the pretzels from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Repeat until all the nuggets are boiled.

Drain the nuggets with a slotted spoon and put them on the prepared baking sheet pan. Next, brush the pretzel nuggets with melted butter, then sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake pretzel bites for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy!

This recipe can be made with regular (non-gluten-free) pizza dough available at supermarkets and pizzerias.

That’s it for now, guys. Have a great week. 🥨

I haven’t made pork and sauerkraut in years. The last time I made it, I still owned a crockpot. The last meal I made in that crockpot was pork and sauerkraut.

I was so disappointed with the way the dish came out I remembered it was strike three for the crockpot. To me, the texture of foods is off, and it’s impossible to build flavor.

Instant pots like Sam have remedied the flavor ability with a sauté function. He uses his all the time and produces some delicious food. His sauce in his instant pot is pretty damn close to mine.

I wrote previous posts about crockpots and how they aren’t my thing. I understand the purpose for busy people on the go or people who prefer to make “dump and go” meals.

Most people don’t enjoy food prep and cooking as much as I do, and I applaud anyone preparing any meal at home.

Let’s face it, figuring out what to make for dinner, shopping for ingredients, and cooking the meal takes effort. If a crockpot works for you, then, by all means, crock away.

Back to that pork and sauerkraut, we bought a case of pork ribs at Restaurant Depot during the summer, so I decided to braise a couple of racks instead of barbecuing or smoking them.

Eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day is an old German tradition that is supposed to bring good luck to the new year.

When I planned to make pork and sauerkraut, I wasn’t thinking about good luck or German traditions. I was thinking how my mouth was watering for pork and sauerkraut.

I am a more advanced cook than when I made this dish before. Back then, I followed a recipe from a German Cookbook and didn’t know how to build flavors.

I also didn’t know to remove the membrane from the ribs. I didn’t season the ribs and brown them before braising them in sauerkraut.

After the ribs were browned, I sautéed onions and apples until golden brown, then added sauerkraut and brown sugar. I added salt and pepper and let it cook for ten minutes while the oven was preheating.

I placed the browned ribs in a large roasting pan and topped them with the sauerkraut mixture and the pan’s juices. I added water until the liquid came up halfway on the ribs.

I covered the pan, popped it into a 300-degree oven, and let it braise for three hours. In the meantime, I made potato dumplings.

Whenever I made pork and sauerkraut, I topped it with Bisquick-type dumplings, put the lid back on the crockpot, and let them cook. The dish always looked better than it was.

Cooking the dumplings on top of the dish was easy but made it dry since they sucked up all the juice from the pork and sauerkraut. I was not happy and vowed never to do that shortcut again.

I made potato dumplings this time, which I’ve only made once or twice. As I mentioned earlier, I am a much better cook now and can take bland, ordinary dumplings and turn them into something special.

I let the dumpling dough chill for a few hours before forming them. I also boiled them in chicken stock instead of water for more flavor.

In a small sauté pan, I melted a tablespoon of butter, added gluten-free breadcrumbs, and toasted them. I added freshly chopped parsley for a bit of color and freshness.

Fresh Italian parsley has a purpose in many dishes that can make or break the dish. Dried parsley, on the other hand, is suitable for adding color to a dish; that’s about it. By the way, have you ever smelled dried parsley? It smells like horse food.

Today’s dish was easier to prepare than it was years ago when I followed a recipe and used a crockpot.

Cooking is second nature to me now, and so is building flavors. The extra steps aren’t additional anymore; it’s the way I cook. I only use recipes when baking because baking is a science.

I remember being impressed and in awe of people who could cook from their hearts and souls, not their brains. They could tell when things were ready by feeling them with a quick touch of their hands.

It was the same thing whenever I watched someone dance; they became the dance, the vessel based on how the music made them feel. They danced “in” the moment right then and there.

I can now cook and dance this way. It happened little by little over time. I learned to trust my instincts and use my senses. The more confident I became, the more I enjoyed cooking and dancing. I still hold my breath when I am baking because you never know.

Our dinner of pork and sauerkraut was the best I had ever made or eaten. It was flavorful and juicy with fall-off-the-bone tender pieces of pork. The sauerkraut still had some tooth to it. It wasn’t limp and textureless like it was in the crockpot.

The potato dumplings were light and fluffy, not dense like the ones I used to make. The crunchy, flavorful breadcrumbs on top gave the whole dish a nice crispy texture. The fresh parsley brightened it up.

Will our traditional German New Year’s dish bring us good luck in 2023? Who knows? What I do know is that it was a fantastic first dinner of the year.

As far as that old crockpot is concerned, I took the crock outside and smashed it after eating that last disappointing dish I made. Several times, I swung the base from the cord into the ground and tossed it into the trash can. That took care of that. 😜