Sugar & Spice by Celeste

Looking for something delicious to make over the weekend?   This sort of dish is perfect to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon, with some Italian music gently playing in the background.  It's worth the extra work...I promise! In searching for Lasagna recipes online, I came across this gem, and with a name like "World's Best Lasagna" I knew it better deliver.  And it does! This recipe has TWO kinds of meat in the sauce.  Sweet Italian sausage and ground turkey (or beef) are both added, and the sauce simmers for a good 1.5 hours to really make the flavors sing.  I chose turkey, just so it would be a little leaner and healthier. Pull the kiddos in to help assemble the lasagna.  They will love helping with the pasta layers! Enjoy! World's Best Homemade Lasagna Adapted from: allrecipes.com Ingredients: 1 pound sweet Italian sausage ¾ pound ground turkey OR beef ½ cup minced onion 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 2 (6 ounce) ca...

On a recent bone-chillingly cold day here in Birmingham, I saw this recipe on the cover of the January/February issue of Food Network Magazine , and I couldn't get the ingredients fast enough!  I love soups that are chunky, with plenty of yummy ingredients.  No wimpy soups around here.  This one is jam-packed with deliciousness like meaty meatballs, cheesy tortellini, and hearty baby spinach.  It was the perfect solution to winter's chill. The meatballs are easy and flavorful.  They're formed into one-inch balls and browned until golden in a dutch oven.  Next, all the soup ingredients are combined through a few additional steps, and then the meatballs take a second trip into the pot and finish cooking while the soup simmers for a few minutes.  The tortellini is added at the very end, and voila! The great thing about this soup is that it's on the healthy side.  The magazine states that there's 474 calories per serving.  You could make i...

I don't know what it is, but I've seen recipes for "burst" tomatoes in pasta several times lately.  It's like the culinary fairies were trying to send me some sort of subliminal message.  When I came across this fabulous looking recipe in the August issue of Southern Living magazine, I thought, "That's it!  I have to try this!"   Burst tomatoes sound fancy and elaborate.  The truth is, they are simply mixed with olive oil and freshly minced garlic and placed underneath the broiler until they "burst" and become beautifully charred.  The process only takes 5-10 minutes. Other than that, all you have to do to enjoy this delicious dish is cook the pasta and mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.  Easy peasy. I used a gorgeous yellow heirloom tomato for the additional tomato the recipe calls for.  It added a beautiful contrast of colors that made Brad and I want to dive right in.  I adore heirloom tomatoes this time of yea...

Let's face it...While leftovers make for a fast and easy dinner, they can be very boring.  So, I love dishes that allow you to take the leftovers and create a delicious yet different dinner on the 2nd night.  This recipe is a fantastic example. I took the remaining orecchiette pasta and spinach pesto from this Chicken with Spinach Pesto and whipped up this easy weeknight dinner for two.  It makes for an easy-peasy dinner that's filled with flavor (not to mention - Popeye would be so proud of all that spinach!). You simply cook some orecchiette pasta and stir in spinach pesto, baked chicken, and diced tomatoes.  It pairs perfectly with a loaf of crusty French bread and a glass of pinot noir. Easy meals like this are the theme around our house lately.  We are in the process of doing some minor renovations to our home, which has turned out to be a lot of fun, yet a time-consuming process.  So far, we've installed a beautiful cream-colored subway tile...

Why haven't I ever thought of making pesto with something other than basil before?  Sure, basil pesto is nothing short of vibrantly green deliciousness, but lots of fresh basil can be somewhat elusive if not in season (at least around here). I found this recipe for Chicken with Arugula Pesto in the September 2012 issue of Food Network Magazine in the weeknight cooking section.  It caught my eye with its fresh ingredients, so I added it to my next shopping list.   Once at my local grocery store, arugula was nowhere to be found, and I didn't really feel like searching all over town for it.  So, I got to thinking...Why not use baby spinach instead?  Baby spinach is readily available all year long, easy to find and cheaper than basil.  It sounded like a winner to me. And a winner it was, indeed.  The pesto tasted great, especially with the addition of the toasted almonds.  They added a great depth of flavor...Don't skip the toa...

  Is a big plate of hearty, delicious pasta ever a bad thing?   I think not!  While shopping the aisles the other day at the grocery store, Brad said, "Baked Ziti sure would be good for dinner soon."  Baked Ziti?  That DID sound yummy.  And wouldn't you know it...We made our way to the pasta aisle and the boxes of Ziti Rigati were buy one get one free.  It was pasta-fate...If there is such a thing. To make the dish a little healthier, we decided ground turkey would be a good substitute for ground beef.  I love cooking with ground turkey lately.  It tastes great and is indeed a much healthier option.  That's a no-brainer, if you ask me. This dish comes together in no time.  I added bell pepper, onion and mushrooms to the turkey as it cooked.  These veggies added a nice, fresh flavor.  As for the marinara sauce, just use your favorite brand.  I happened to buy Barilla.  Or, if you're f...

  I'm so excited that the new Sugar & Spice by Celeste Facebook fan page hit 500 fans yesterday!  Thank you all for the support...You guys are awesome! To celebrate, how about a giveaway ?!  The awesome folks at Amazing Taste recently sent me some goodies to give to one lucky blog reader.  I use this brand of spices all the time and am very happy to be able to give a great selection to the winner.   The thing I love about these spices is that they make my life a lot easier on busy weeknights.  They're an easy way to add tons of flavor without spending long in the kitchen.  Plus, they are all natural and contain no MSG.       I recently used the Chicken Seasoning in a pasta dish, which turned out to be a new favorite.  I just adore cooking pasta dishes.  It's fun to experiment with different veggies and ingredients, to come up with something delicious...yet uncomplicated!  The following recipe was...

It's beginning to feel more and more like the holidays around here with each passing day.  A few homes in our neighborhood even have Christmas lights up...I can't believe it's November already!  Christmas music is playing in most stores and on the radio, the department store aisles are decorated, and I'm getting in the mood for the yummy, comfort food that this time of year brings. I can't quite decide how I feel about the rush to put up the Christmas decor.  On one hand, I'm super excited, and on the other I keep thinking about that saying - "Respect the turkey!"  Now, don't get me wrong - I still get excited about Christmas just like when I was a little girl.  My tree goes up every year promptly the day after Thanksgiving.  Hopefully everyone will still take a moment to remember all the things they are thankful for during the coming weeks. With that, let's celebrate the approaching holiday season with some yumminess - How about a quick, ...

***My friends, this is not a pasta dish for lightweights!  This is the ultimate pasta - toasted almonds, baked chicken, sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic, and fresh parsley, all coated in a creamy and decadent Mascarpone cheese sauce...O.M.G.!  It's the perfect ending to a long, hard day at work, or maybe even the perfect dish for a delicious celebration.  Serve it alongside a crusty loaf of French bread, and you'll be in business! The sauce is lusciously thick and cheesy, and the sauteed mushrooms are perfectly sauteed   to a golden brown. The toasted almonds add just the right little crunch and the parsley adds a bit of pretty color.   Be careful...This is one of those dishes that might just cause you to lick your plate... Just don't get caught!  :) Bon Appetit!*** Pasta with Chicken, Almonds and Creamy Mascarpone Sauce Source:  Me!  :) Ingredients: 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp unsal...

***Once again - Thank you ALL for sharing the past year with me.  I've gotten some of the most awesome e-mails from some of you lately, and your comments always make me smile.  I hope you all are blessed with a very prosperous New Year!  I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store! While thumbing through Rachael Ray's new Look + Cook cookbook, I came across this recipe and realized something - I've never made a pasta dish with pork!  Can you believe that?  It's always the same ole' chicken or beef.  I've never really thought about it, but this dish struck me as something that would be delicious.  I gave it a whirl, and it was indeed scrumptious!   We had leftovers the next night, and it tasted even better after all the flavors had time to sit there in the fridge and get all cozy together.  ;-) Rachael's method of pounding out pork medallions from the pork loins is genius.  Because I was making dinner for just the two of us, I w...

***Back in the spring, I planted my first little herb garden which consisted of basil, chives and parsley.  I was super excited to watch the seeds grow into healthy plants, which I could use in my cooking.  After a little tender loving care, it didn't take long at all for the seeds to sprout. One of the first things that I thought about when I planted the basil was PESTO!  Well, the day to harvest 2 whole cups of basil leaves off my little basil plant came last week.  And trust me, it takes a lot of basil leaves to make 2 cups! The results were totally worth it.  The roasted pine nuts in this recipe made all the difference in the world.  They add such a great depth of flavor...nutty and delicious!  The great thing about pesto is that you can use it in SO many dishes.  You can add it to pizza, pasta, chicken, fish, pretty much anything!  I chose to mix mine with some fresh penne pasta and baked chicken.  It was fabulous!...

***This pasta is fabulous for several different reasons: 1.  It's light.  2.  It's Easy. 3.  It's SO delicious! Almost everyone loves a good B-L-T sandwich, stacked high with savory bacon, crisp lettuce and fresh tomatoes.  This pasta dish is a different adaptation of an old favorite, that you are sure to adore!  The first bite that I took of this dish had the most amazing flavor...the bacon permeates every bite, making it perfectly savory.  The tomatoes and spinach add just the right amount of freshness.  I can't think of many better ways to use up all of those vine-ripened tomatoes that are sure to be around in the coming months! Bon Appetit!*** BLT Pasta Source:  Cuisine at Home magazine Ingredients: Pasta: 2 strips thick-sliced bacon, diced 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 cup leeks, thinly sliced 1/4 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup chicken broth 1 tsp red wine vinegar 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 4 oz dry bucat...