Two Great Cookbooks and One Fabulous Austin-Style, Tex-Mex Feast….

As I have said before I love cookbooks.  So when I had a small group of friends over last Thursday I wanted to try something a little different. I was craving Mexican food, I know that’s a real shocker, but I wanted something lighter than the typical rich and heavy Tex-Mex meal. Then I remembered […]

Read More

An Italian-American Classic: Spaghetti & Meatballs

My husband loves Spaghetti & Meatballs and once told me that it was his favorite meal that his mother made when he was a kid. So when we were in Italy a couple of weeks ago he asked me one night at dinner why none of the restaurants served this favorite “Italian” dish of his. […]

Read More

When French du Puy Lentils Find Themselves In A Texas Kitchen…..

The past few days here in Texas it has been chilly, rainy and absolutely wonderful. In fact it was so cold yesterday that we set a record low, high temperature and there is a good chance we will do the same again today. I even heard the weatherman use the word Polar Vortex today!?!? Is […]

Read More

Mel’s Chicken Fried Rice…

Grilled Chicken, Rotisserie Chicken, Roasted Chicken, Poached Chicken… I almost always have some form of left over chicken in my refrigerator and one of my favorite quick meals to make with leftover chicken is my chicken fried rice. When I made this fried rice the other night I used leftover grilled chicken tenders and brown rice […]

Read More

It’s all Greek to me…. Opa!!!

After spending almost 24 hours traveling on Friday I finally made it back to the great state of Texas on Saturday. I took me a day to recover from the crazy jet lag but now I’m back to myself and back in the kitchen. I had a wonderful time in Italy. Rome was a lot […]

Read More

A Tex-Mex Blue Plate Special and Use #3 for Mel’s Spicy Pulled Pork…

If I had to pick one meal that I thought defined Texas this would be it. Enchiladas filled with either beef, cheese or in this case my spicy pulled pork, smothered in Chili Con Carne and covered with cheese. Served on a plate in between Refried Pinto Beans and Mexican Rice. This is the meal […]

Read More

Mel’s Easy 8-Minute Broiled Salmon…

Those hot summer days are fast approaching here in North Texas. Usually they are already here by now but so far we have been lucky this summer and it hasn’t been too unbareable. Knock on Wood…. I know on those hot summer days when it’s 100+ degrees outside the last thing that we want to […]

Read More

Dreaming of France and a Cottage Pie…

Ever since I was a young girl I have always loved France and it was 4 years ago almost exactly that made my first trip across the pond. I spent sometime in England, and then it was on to Nice where I truly fell in love, along the Cote d’Azur. Don’t get me wrong Paris […]

Read More