Hot Crab Dip with Old Bay Seasoning Serves 10 Ingredients: 8 oz. whipped cream cheese, softened – $2.19 3 scallions (about ¼ cup), chopped fine – $0.99 ½ of a red bell pepper (2/3 cup) , chopped – $1.07 a heaping ½ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese – $1.09 ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese –[…]
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad Serves 12 as a side dish Note: This salad was intended as a straight-up side dish to enjoy pretty much any season. As I wasn’t entertaining a large group of guests, I found myself scarfing up just about all of the leftovers after our first round of photos and tastings. At[…]
Spinach-Mango Salad Pizzettes
Spinach-Mango Salad Pizzettes Makes 6 Pizzettes Ingredients: 1-package whole-wheat pita breads (6 per package) – $2.59 1/3 lb. Fontina cheese, shredded – $2.00 1 ripe mangoes, pitted and cut into ¼” dice – $1.00 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped – $0.99 1 Jalapeno pepper, minced – $0.14 ¼ cup Bermuda onion, finely diced – $0.79[…]
Oreo Cookie Layer Cake
Oreo Cookie Layer Cake Serves 8 as a Layered Cake 24 as Cupcakes Note: The cake portion of this recipe is actually our Devil’s Food Cake of yore. The only difference is the very-delicious addition of Oreos to the batter. As for the icing – this is a basic Confectioner’s sugar/butter/milk icing with once again,[…]
Empanadas Stuffed with Lamb, Sweet Potatoes, and Montrachet
Mary Anne here. These were created in the heat of July, when Mariel still had the glazed look of a zombie, and Lil Man was on a feeding frenzy 18 hours out of 24. In need of quick meals that could be delivered as fast as take-out, I conjured up these “emapanadas,” which more than[…]
Mushroom Quiche with Crisp Turkey Bacon and Sweet Onions
Mariel here…on behalf of Mary Anne. Since my mom has been over everyday helping me out with my little man and making sure I eat a proper dinner, I thought I’d do her a favor and write an intro to HER delicious quiche recipe, since she’d been fretting over finding the time. I wouldn’t want[…]
Tex-Mex Pizza with Chorizo and Black Beans
Mary Anne here. Yesterday Mariel and I shared our mutual sorrow at having so little time for our beloved blog. But before you feel tooo terribly sad over our negligence, it’s actually a time to celebrate! My gorgeous girl and her fabulous husband have moved to the ‘burbs…and just a mere mile from this madre.[…]
Four-Cheese Southwestern Breakfast Strata with Chorizo
Mary Anne here. Last week an old high school friend wrote to me on Facebook and waxed eloquent about her family reunions where apple-laced stratas were frequent features and she got me thinking about this versatile, old fashioned favorite. This rustic breakfast staple also used to be a staple in my catering repertoire when I[…]
Rich’s Light New York Cheesecake
Mary Anne here. Or should I say, Rich Doscher here! Rich is a registered dietician at the hospital where I work. Together with a physical therapist, the three of us give seminars at local senior centers and churches, instructing folks on keeping one’s joints healthy. For such a young “kid,” Rich has an amazing grasp[…]
Asparagus Galette with Gruyere Cheese
Mary Anne here. A galette is a term used to describe various types of flat, round or free-form breads and cakes. In this recipe, it’s used to describe more of a tart-like dish, while my Potato and Canadian Bacon Galette serves as a tart but actually bakes en casserole. Now that I’ve cleared that up…[…]
Chocolate-Dipped Butter Cookies with Toffee Crunch
Mary Anne here. A few weeks ago, I posted my devilishly decadent Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Heath Bar Toffee Frosting. They were a diet buster to be sure, but more annoying than that, they left me with a paltry amount of leftover toffee crunch. What to do? As you know by now, I am[…]
Asian Chicken Salad Tartlets
Asian Chicken Salad Tartlets Makes about 50 Tartlets Note: The chicken salad can be prepared the day before. Fill the tartlet shells with the salad just before serving. Ingredients: 1¾ lbs. cooked chicken (about 4 cups), cut into small cubes – $4.99 3 packages frozen Phyllo tartlet shells – $5.07 ½ cup peanut or canola[…]
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Heath Bar Frosting
Mary Anne here. Chocolate + peanut butter, topped with Heath Bar bits = my idea of heaven! Not much more to say about this combo, other than that I should’ve come up with this before Lent! The inspiration for these sinful cupcakes arose in the baking aisle of my local grocery store. It seems that[…]
Caribbean-Style Yuca Salad with Crispy Bacon, Sweet Onion and Celery
Mary Anne here. I first sampled Yuca – aka Cassava – while visiting St. Lucia this past December. Michael and I took a tour of the Pitons, visiting the magnificent and explosive botanical gardens…explosive thanks to the neighboring active volcano. Never have I seen flora and fauna as lush and vibrant as the native flowers[…]
Five-Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mary Anne here. This past Friday the hospital where I work “went red” for Women’s Health Day, a campaign initiated by the American Heart Association that’s designed to raise awareness for women’s cardiovascular wellness. Our radiology department, led by an MD well-versed in heart disease, shared valuable info on new, non-invasive tests that assess the[…]
Chile Con Queso aka Tex-Mex Style Nacho Cheese Dip
Mary Anne here. Super Bowl Sunday is upon us, and this year I may actually watch the game as my New York Giants tackle the New England Patriots! Usually it’s all about the grub…and the commercials. My cheering section of the Ellicott-Rittenhouse team plans to keep up our spirits no matter what happens on the[…]
Finska Kakor, aka Finnish Cakes with Sweet Butter and Almonds
Mary Anne here. Mariel’s BFF is getting married in May, and naturally we’ll be hosting her bridal shower. Mariel’s gal pal is like the second daughter I never had, and so of course I want the party to reflect how much we love her. One of the best ways to express our devotion is through[…]
Crispy Kale Chips
Mary Anne here. This fall, I spent a glorious eight hours up north in horse country with my favorite girl, Mariel. I just love those quiet, mom-daughter days. On this particular adventure, we stopped for coffee on the way and, while sipping from our paper cups, we perused the goodies at a local farm stand.[…]
Chocolate, Walnut & Coconut Pie Bars
Mary Anne here. Sadly, the Thanksgiving family feast is over and the holiday bustle is officially in full swing. Between Black Friday, which now apparently launches during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (gasp!), to Cyber Monday we are inundated with pressure to buy, buy, buy! Not so fast. I’m still glowing from our unequaled Turkey Day[…]
Spiced Cheddar Cheese Twists
Spiced Cheddar Cheese Twists Makes about 3 ½ dozen Note: You can see in the photo some of these are twists while others were fashioned as the straw variety. I was simply playing with length, width and shape and found that a 6 or 7-inch long straw works best as the longer ones tend to[…]