This may be my hands-down favorite quick-an-easy meal. It’s so good, in fact, that I often order it if it’s an option on a restaurant menu! There’s just something about the thin pieces of angel hair coated with garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes that gets me every time.

Recreating it at home is pretty easy, and can be done in a myriad of ways depending on what you have on hand. A must is having olive oil, angel hair (though it might be argued that you could use a thicker noodle), and garlic. To start, get your water going so it will be boiling when you need it (add a tablespoon of kosher salt once it begins boiling). Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to a skillet over medium-low heat. Saute chopped garlic in the oil until it has released its flavors (I usually do two cloves for myself, but I love garlic). (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Italian, Quick and Easy, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

Even though almost every Japanese restaurant I’ve been to has sukiyaki, I’ve never tried it. It always seemed odd to me that two people had to order the meal, and given that I had no idea what it was, I always decided to pass, getting sushi or soba. While we were in Kyoto, one of our options for dinner at the ryokan was sukiyaki. Given that we always ate the same thing at the ryokan, I decided we should try it. Man have I been missing out all this time!

The Japanese seem fond of cooking their meals at the table. In this instance, a gas burner was lit, with a cast iron pot atop. Our hostess brought out two huge plates, one piled high with beef, another with a variety of vegetables. Two eggs were sitting at our place settings, still in their shells. After the pot was heated up, bits of this and that were added to it, and a broth poured over it all – just enough to get everything wet. (more…)

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Dinner, Japanese, World traveller by Courtney

I’ve waxed poetic about Limerick Lane’s wines many a time on this blog already, but they really just put out such wonderful wines. This bottle of furmint is no exception, though I was a little puzzled as to what I should do with it once I received it. Such an odd sounding wine — “fur… mint” I kept saying to myself. It came in a small bottle, so it must be sweet, I thought. So I decided to do a little investigation before opening.

I consulted my What to Drink book first, which has a handy reverse lookup (basically, what to eat). (more…)

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Appetizers, Dessert, Drink Time, Wine pairings by Courtney

Over a week ago I got back from Tennessee and promised you a Southern breakfast favorite, at least in my house, stickies. The old hard drive bit the dust, I went into a period of mourning, but I’ve finally snapped out of it and decided to get back on the horse, so to speak.

When I was a kid, I would get so excited by these. They’re not all that extravagant — just a way to use up all of your scrap biscuit dough, so they’re rather frugal. (more…)

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Breakfast, Comfort food by Courtney

Unfortunately, my computer decided to die on me Saturday morning. So instead of providing you with yummy recipes of stickies, I sat and stared, wondering what to do, how to make it better. I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t, so I’m now trying to get the data off the hard drive. Ironic that it died in the middle of my decision to back up the data.

So, apologies for the prolonged absence. We’ll hopefully be back to regular programming soon. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the Daily Nosh or the List for fresh content.

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miscellany by Courtney