spaghetti carbonara

This is my vote for top comfort food in our house.  Just good spaghetti, onion, bacon, eggs and Parmesan.  I don't agree with recipes that call for any cream - it is just not needed.

caviar potatoes; shrimp creole

For a special appetizer, I like to oven bake potato slices to top with a dollop of sour cream and some caviar.  Dinner was shrimp creole over rice.

turkey quesadilla

When the refrigerator is full of little leftover bites is the right time to grab a flour tortilla to top with cheese, veggies, and meat of choice.

lamb, risotto, pear tart

Here is a look at roasted lamb chops (I cut double chops from a rack of lamb) served with mint risotto.  For dessert I made pear-almond tarts.

homemade spinach lasagna

We have an (at least) annual ritual of spending a day around lasagna crafting.  We make some spinach pasta, a bechamel sauce and a bolognese sauce to layer up with good Parmesan.  This multi-level treat hails from Northern Italy.  After creating the components, assembling, and baking we enjoyed it with a pear/blue cheese salad (and I see some leftover brussels sprouts on the side).

salad and sweets

This is a roasted pear atop watercress, with bacon and blue cheese for wonderful taste accents.  I made mini-desserts - a creme brulee and a chocolate filled puff pastry bite.

lobster tails

I split some lobster tails to roast, then served atop watercress with a garlic-chipotle aioli (think spicy garlic mayonnaise).  A special feast!

enjoying burgers

Just finished a great trip to Farmington, NM.  We had a terrific lunch by taking out green chile cheeseburgers from Hometown Burger and enjoying them at a picnic table along the Animas river.

fun twist on mexican food night

We made some basic guacamole to snack on, then sour cream turkey enchiladas (you don't see the homemade refried beans here) and wonderful grapefruit margaritas.

minted noisette of lamb

This is just the boned out portion of a lamb chop, seared, served with a pan sauce featuring mint.

decadent and divine fois gras

I admit that this is not for everyone but we really enjoy sauteeing some slices of fois gras to serve over a spinach/pear salad with candied pecans.  Toasted brioche is needed to absorb some of the richness.  The side dish is brussels sprouts with pine nuts.

great food in Charleston

I enjoyed a wonderful (solo) dinner at Husk.  Check out the local ingredients, artisanal bourbon, and the butter for the rolls was infused with honey and pork fat.  I enjoyed a first course of fried green tomatoes with pimento cheddar cheese and bacon jam.  To pig out even more I then had the heritage pork over creamy pit beans with smoky tomatoes and kale.  The location, the service and the food were an amazing delight.

pasta primavera, with blondies for dessert

This is a lovely bowl of pasta primavera that we recently enjoyed.  The big pan of macadamia-white chocolate blondies was enjoyed by many also.

shrimp caesar salad

This is one of my favorite lunches - I usually have most of the ingredients on hand.  Romaine, parmesan, a creamy caesar dressing, croutons, and then some protein to top (sometimes chicken, sometimes shrimp).