I was checking out a new market here in Western MA, when I was shocked to see conch in with the rest of the fresh fish. My mom mentioned that my grandmother used to make a salad out of conch, so I decided to grab it and try and make it myself. The issue was that my grandmother hasn’t made it in years. She couldn’t remember or even find the recipe! She told me a few ingredients, and I looked online a bit, to create something that my mom claimed to be “absolutely nothing like my grandmothers version.” This didn’t matter, because it was delicious. I love when 3 out of 4 people have never even tried the main ingredient, but everyone likes the final product.

Bacon, pineapple and jalapeno. This flavor combo was introduced to me by Rich and Kim as a pizza topping, and quickly became one of my favorite tastes. I have since made countless pizzas, and even ravioli and wontons with it. When Steph had the idea to make a drink out of it, I was excited, but still had to figure out how to put bacon in a drink. Should we just drop a piece of bacon on top? Muddle bacon with limes? The answer was bacon salt.

Growing up, my sister was always a huge fan of cannoli. I remember my grandfather buying a dozen for special occasions, but only allowing people to eat 6, reserving 6 for Allie. I have been excited to try my hand in ice cream making again. In Bermuda, the conditions weren’t right and my kitchen aid mixer ice cream maker attachment failed more often than it succeeded. I recently acquired a cheap ice cream maker that uses ice instead of sticking the whole bowl in the freezer, which I personally prefer and I think does a much better job. Ricotta ice cream has been on my list for awhile and a cannoli sundae was the perfect excuse to make it.

It’s official. Mac and cheese has taken over. It is my favorite food. Growing up it was Manicotti, then Lasagna for awhile, and of course Pizza has always been there for me, but nothing has made me say damnnnnnnnnnnnn the way macaroni and cheese has so many times the past few years. This one surprised me. I am not always one for the fish/cheese combo, I try to shy away from it most of the time. This dish was a special request from John, so I said why not, I have seen it at restaurants lately so it must be ok. There isn’t much I can say to describe the amazing that this meal was. We were all speechless eating it!

My Mom loves to buy asparagus anytime it looks thin, crisp and fresh. Normally I buy food based on what I want to cook at that time. This is not the most economical way to shop, but when I have a spark of inspiration, I have to cook that idea that night. So like I said, my mom bought asparagus on Monday. All week I tried to think of a meal to cook with the asparagus. All week. The asparagus was a ticking time bomb! I think I saw Ina Garten make a tart a couple weeks ago because tarts were spinning around my brain. An asparagus tart formulated in my head just in time at about noon yesterday.

My good friend Rich had a snowboarding “incident” about a week ago. His Dr. told him to stay on the couch for awhile. I headed over during the week to hang out, play video games, and watch episodes of The Wire with him. I also cooked a meal for him with his favorite protien; duck! This simple duck ragu was somehow light and rich at the same time. Complex flavors with not that many ingredients, just quality food with attention paid to it. The kind of comfort food that will make you forget about your back pain!

What makes this “Stuffed Pizza” and not a calzone? I am not really sure, but my Great Aunt and Grandmother sure had a very specific definition. Let me start at the beginning. I was out to lunch with my Great Aunt Nancy, and I was having pizza. She asked if I ever had stuffed pizza. “Like a calzone?” I asked. “No, it’s thin and flat like a pizza, and has caramelized onions, your great grandmother used to make them for me and your grandmother when we were younger.” I told her I liked to mix caramelized onions with ricotta and pepperoni. “But then that would be a calzone.” she replied. I was confused, so I invited her and my grandmother over to make some stuffed pizzas to hopefully clear things up.

A few weeks ago, I was approached by a marketer for US Wellness Meats. She said they would send me a bunch of meat, and all I had to do was talk about it on my website! Where do I sign up? A few days later, a cooler came in the mail with 15 lbs of meat, all individually sealed and frozen. I was skeptical about how frozen/mailed meat would taste, but after cooking with it for the first time last night, I was super impressed. These were some of the best short ribs I have ever cooked with! And I have made short ribs a lot. But knowing my site, did you guys think that I would just make some generic recipes for this awesome meat? Nahhh, I had to do it justice. Ever since I cooked pasta in coffee, I have been wanting to braise something in coffee, and these ribs were just the thing. Even though I like my coffee black, most others don’t, so I threw in a side of super creamy potatoes.

Normally I am not the type of blogger who does things ahead of time. I tend to cook as things happen and post them after the fact. Most of my blogger friends cook Thanksgiving dinner a few weeks before Thanksgiving so they can post the recipes. My style is more, “This is what I made, make it next year or something, deal with it”. Well guess what? I was a good blogger this week and made some Valentine stuff just in time to show you guys early! I have been wanting to make fortune cookies for awhile, and I thought Valentine’s Day would be a perfect time. Without a job or a “special someone” myself, I didn’t really have any reason to make them! I recruited my sister and mom to take some to school and work. I also made a few for a get together this Friday night.

In Bermuda I used to always get a macadamia crusted fish at a restaurant called Blu. I have been wanting to do a nut crusted fish, but hadn’t really gotten around to it, wondering what to serve it with. The idea came to me to do a peanut crusted fish watching Iron Chef one night. I thought it would be good paired with a tamarind pasta sort of giving the whole thing a pad Thai effect. I overcooked the fish, but the meal was still amazing and something I would recreate for a classy dinner.