It’s funny where you might stumble upon a recipe. Sure, there are sites that are dedicated to recipes, such as Epicurious and blogs like this one. There’s the back of a package – like the Nestle Toll House chocolate chips and their famous cookie. One place I hadn’t anticipated, though, was when I went to Cypress Grove’s website to read up on their newest addition to their cheese line up, Truffle Tremor.

When I was putting together a cheese course of local cheeses, and I picked up Truffle Tremor in part because I love Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog, so I thought I’d try the newest cheese on the block. The Tremor was so good, so creamy, that I decided to pop over to the website to find out more about it. That’s where I stumbled upon recipes. (more…)

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Comfort food, Gourmet, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian by Courtney

Today I awoke to gray skies. While the temperature wasn’t too cold, there’s something about a gray day that makes you want to snuggle back under the covers and hibernate, watching old movies and keeping warm. So that’s basically what I did, only the covers were on the couch, so I could enjoy all of the Christmas decorations around the house.

I decided it would be the perfect day to feed the craving I’d been having for a vegetable soup in Lidia Bastianich’s book, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy. I had made the recipe last year, and it was so full of flavor and so easy that it has stuck out in my mind as a “must make as soon as the weather turns cold” meal. (more…)

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Comfort food, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Italian, Lunch, Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

Remember the days of Food Network actually having shows with cooking? Ahhh, barely. Thinking of that is almost as nostalgic as the show this recipe came from. Tyler Florence had decided to create an ultimate rainy day menu, which consisted of chicken soup, grilled cheese, and brownies. All with a gourmet twist of course.

With our rainy weekend and cooler days, I decided to make a grilled cheese panino, layering fresh mozzarella, pesto, and tomatoes on Acme’s Herb Slab, then weighting it down to grill until the cheese was nice and oozy. (more…)

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Comfort food, Italian, Lunch, Vegetarian by Courtney

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe that uses the vegetable stock that is so easy to make. This is one of those recipes that I throw together when I’m really not in the mood to do anything, and it’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables you have in the refrigerator. The basics are vegetable stock, soy sauce, and frozen Chinese dumplings, and you can build on the soup from there.

Start with enough vegetable stock for your soup. For me and my husband, I used a 4 cup frozen cube, which I melted while pulling out everything else I wanted to throw in. (more…)

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Dinner, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Soups by Courtney

But I’ve been in the land of barbecue, eating a pulled pork sandwich a day. Vinegar-based barbecue sauce, sweet sauce, vinegared slaw. Yep, that would be Northeast Tennessee.

Beyond the usual, I also tried the German place I’ve been wanting to try for a while, Freiberg’s. It was delicious, and I’m sure to go back and have the Boulette Andreas next time I’m home. And another newbie, we tried Mona Lisa’s Gelato before I caught the bird that brought me back home. Of course there was the usual – country ham and Greg’s meatball sandwich. No Krystal this time, but I am sure I gained enough weight while there.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll share another Southern favorite that I had while there, Mom’s stickies. Stay tuned for a return to regular programming!

Filed under:
Lunch, miscellany, World traveller by Courtney