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...

There's a funny story that I think of every time I have country-fried steak.  It was actually the very first meal that I ever cooked my husband, on one of our first dates.  I wanted to pull out all the stops and make him a home-cooked meal.  For some reason, country-fried steak was my meal of choice.  Can you blame me?  It's comforting, delicious and easy to make.  I figured I couldn't go wrong.  I was only about 19 years old at the time...boy, how my cooking style has changed since then! About half-way through the meal, my clumsy self managed to spill a full glass of sweet tea all over Brad.  Boy, was I embarrassed!  He must not have minded too terribly much, because he's still hanging around.  A little spilled tea apparently wasn't enough to scare him off (thank goodness!).  :) These days, I don't really deep-fry much anymore.  I'm always on the look-out for lighter versions of my favorite dishes, so this lightened up...

Who's ready for the Super Bowl tomorrow??  If truth be told, I'm probably more excited about the commercials (and food, of course!) than the actual football game, but hey, the commercials are usually awesome.  And they better be, especially when the average cost of a mere 30-second ad spot during the game is $4 million ! That's right...$4 Million....WOW. Awesome party food is an absolute MUST for any Super Bowl party, and my new friend Martie Duncan, from The Next Food Network Star , knows her stuff when it comes to party food.  Martie kicked some serious butt on Season 8 of the show as a finalist, and I recently had the opportunity to help her prepare for her latest cooking segment on our local Fox 6 station here in Birmingham.  On the segment, she demonstrated how to make her A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Arancini (AKA Italian Rice Balls). Folks, these are simply irresistible... When you bite into that first perfectly-fried little sphere, your tastebuds are greeted...

Not sure how to wrap an egg roll?  Don't worry...It's easy and fun. Delno - This video is for you!  :) Today, I'm excited to share with you what has always been a family favorite of ours...Homemade Egg Rolls.  My family has been making these for as long as I can remember, and we've tweaked the recipe here and there to make it just right.   The wonderful thing is that these rolls are so much fun to make, and this recipe is enough to feed a small army of your hungriest, most favorite people.  Which, makes them perfect for a party or family gathering. My awesome sisters were in town recently to visit, and we couldn't resist the urge to whip up a batch of these yummy egg rolls.  We tried something new this time around, by putting a few in the oven to see how they would taste baked.  Our thought was...Maybe, just maybe, they'd be just as delicious baked, which would save on calories.  But alas, the baked rolls paled in comparis...

the help of recipes like this one, leftovers can indeed be exciting!  Versatility is always great in the kitchen, and this dish from Nigella Lawson is a very versatile recipe that could be different every single time that you make it.  Often, I have left-over beef or chicken from the previous night, and this is the perfect way to incorporate those leftovers and give them new life. You can add any sort of meat that you have on-hand to this dish...sliced steak, chopped chicken, shredded beef, lamb, shrimp...so many possibilities! The flavors of this dish are interesting and wonderful with the addition of pomegranate seeds.  I haven't really added them to dishes very much in the past, but I'm excited to find new ways to use them now.  The simplicity of this meal also makes it a flash to put together on a busy weeknight when the last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen. A distinct nuttiness is added by the toasted almonds, which helps to ...

So, my sisters came to visit again a few weeks ago, and as usual we just HAD to spend some quality time in the kitchen trying new recipes together.  That's one of our favorite things to do.  Thankfully, I'm not the only foodie in the family! They brought along this recipe for Brunswick Stew that they had found in their Southern Living magazine.  We couldn't think of anything that would be better for dinner than a comforting, hot bowl of meaty stew that night. And I mean meaty ! The original recipe calls for 2 lbs. of chicken and 1 lb. of beef brisket.  We decided to kick things up a notch and add 2 lbs. of beef brisket instead.   Yes, because we're daring like that!   After all, an extra pound of beef brisket can only make it extra delicious, right?  Yes...I think so! The recipe called for chopped barbequed beef brisket.  Instead of taking the easy way out and stopping by the nearest BBQ joint for our...

***I am loving Rachael Ray's new cookbook, Look + Cook !  Of course, the fact that she autographed my copy just adds to my excitement.  ;-) I've officially broken in this book by trying my first recipe - Marsala Burgers. Your family will love this dish, because it's a deliciously different take on the traditional American cheeseburger. These burgers were pretty awesome...The ground beef (I used only beef instead of Rachael's combination of sirloin and veal) is mixed with garlic, fresh parsley, nutmeg, and salt/pepper.  This makes the meat very, very flavorful.  The portabella mushrooms are sauted until golden brown and then doused with a healthy splash of sweet marsala wine....YUM! I found some freshly baked onion rolls at the grocery store, which made the perfect accompaniment to these burgers.  Mozzarella cheese makes a great substitution here, instead of the more expensive Parmigiano-Reggiano.  That's what I had on-hand, and I simply melted a few slic...

***Have you ever had one of those days where you knew exactly what you were going to make for dinner that night, and you couldn't wait to get into the kitchen?  Well, that was me today.  This lasagna has been in my head all day long.  One of my little sisters, Maranne, asked me for a good lasagna recipe recently.  I thought about THIS RECIPE for "Lasagna of Emilia-Romagna" that I posted back in March of last year.  It was a Daring Bakers recipe, which called for made-from-scratch pasta!  Needless to say, it's not the easiest lasagna recipe out there, although it was amazing. After a little searching, I came across this recipe by Giada de Laurentiis.  It sounded delicious, and I adore homemade bechamel sauce.  My little sister has been on a baking/cooking phase lately, and I'm loving it!  She's constantly texting me photos of her latest successes in the kitchen.  I'm so proud of her....She's making some major progress in the kitchen, and...

*** This recipe from the Bon Appetit magazine test kitchens is packed with delicious flavors.  And the best part?  It's actually a quick and easy meal that's perfect for busy weeknights.  That might come as a surprise, but trust me...It comes together in a flash! I was so happy when I came across this recipe...I was in search of a yummy dinner that was decidedly different.  It seemed like the perfect thing to liven up my usual dinner go-to meals.  Sirloin steak, fresh ginger, snow peas, green onions and cilantro are the stars of this dish.  They work together to create a scrumptious meal that is satisfying and fresh-tasting at the same time. I paired the stir-fry with one of my favorites - Coconut Rice.  I've included a simple recipe for it by Sandra Lee below.  It was the perfect companion to the stir-fry.  I think you'll really enjoy this recipe! Bon appetit!*** Beef, Shiitake, and Snow Pea Stir-Fry 4 servings PREP: 30 minu...

***I was watching Sandra's Money Saving Meals on The Food Network earlier this morning, and Sandra Lee made these delicious Meatball Subs. The dish looked simple and yummy...and VERY cost effective. Not to mention, Brad loves Meatball Subs...it's one of his favorites. So, it easily made it onto my "Dishes I Want to Make Soon" list. The only ingredient that I didn't already have on-hand was the ground beef. After a quick stop at The Fresh Market while we were out shopping today, that problem was remedied. I found this dish to be very simple, and Brad loved it, too! Plus, it's always great to find a cheap meal that will save you money these days!! This is definitely a winner and a dish that I will be making again and again!!!*** Ingredients: For Meatballs: 1/2 pound ground beef 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs or panko bread crumbs 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan 1 egg Salt and f...

Alrighty friends...this dish was inspired by my lunch at "I Ghibellini" in Florence, Italy on Day 10 of our European trip. I wrote about it in the post below this one. I came across Barilla's Spinach & Ricotta Tortelloni in the grocery store the other day. It reminded me of my wonderful lunch in Italy, so I bought what I needed to re-create the dish. Although it was tortelloni instead of ravioli, it was still stuffed with ricotta and spinach...just like my yummy dish in Italy. This one was incredibly easy to cook...it was finished in a flash! The taste was wonderful. The main criteria was a meaty sauce that wasn't too thick. I think I achieved that with this dish. If you need a quick , satisfying weekday meal...try this one! You'll love it!!! Ingredients: 1/2 lb. ground beef 1 small onion 1 tbsp. parsley, minced 1 package Barilla Spinach & Ricotta Tortelloni 1 can Hunt's Tomato Sauce Garlic Powder, to taste Directions: Brown ground beef in a skillet o...

***The March 2009 Daring Bakers challenge is here!!! This month's challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar , Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande . They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge. Every once in a while, a recipe comes along that just knocks your socks off. This is such a recipe! If you've ever made lasagne from scratch, you know it's a labor of love...however, this is SO worth the effort. Plus, you'll get a major arm work-out from all the kneading and rolling...haha. I was so excited when I logged on this month and read the upcoming challenge. I was sitting in our hotel room in Italy, and the challenge was none other than an authentic Italian recipe...I was thrilled. Plus, I had never before made my own pasta. I have to say, that the whole experience of making pasta was pretty rewarding. It takes a lot of muscle (without a pasta machine!), but the results were fabulous....