As spring nears walk-a-thons and races will begin taking place around the country. Americans will get moving to raise money for their favorite causes. A few years ago a friend asked if I would participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Naturally, I said yes as I knew how important it was to her and many others. I had no idea, though, what I was getting into when I agreed. Many walks and races require a minimum donation in order to officially participate. In order to be an official participant in the Avon Walk a minimum donation of $1800 was required. Two more friends agreed to participate and so we became a team of four that needed to raise a total of $7200. Individually we had a difficult time raising the funds so we decided to work as a team. We set up bake sales at craft fairs, but... Read the Rest →
As spring nears walk-a-thons and races will begin taking place around the country. Americans will get moving to raise money for their favorite causes. A few years ago a friend asked if I would participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Naturally, I said yes as I knew how important it was to her and many others. I had no idea, though, what I was getting into when I agreed. Many walks and races require a minimum donation in order to officially participate. In order to be an official participant in the Avon Walk a minimum donation of $1800 was required. Two more friends agreed to participate and so we became a team of four that needed to raise a total of $7200. Individually we had a difficult time raising the funds so we decided to work as a team. We set up bake sales at craft fairs, but... Read the Rest →
Women have always worked. In the past the majority of women worked as home makers. Some women, while working as home makers, also ran a cottage industry business. When women did work outside the home their options were limited; working as teachers, housekeepers, manual laborers. It wasn’t until recent history that women began seeking higher education and a wide variety of careers. Women entered the business man’s world as their secretaries and have been arduously climbing the corporate ladder since. In days gone by women typically stopped working outside the home when they married. So, a majority of the women in the work force were single with no children. Like women today, they didn’t have a great deal of time to prepare meals. In a 1949 edition of “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook” a very, very small section called “Meals for the Business Girl” offers nine menus for the busy working... Read the Rest →
Women have always worked. In the past the majority of women worked as home makers. Some women, while working as home makers, also ran a cottage industry business. When women did work outside the home their options were limited; working as teachers, housekeepers, manual laborers. It wasn’t until recent history that women began seeking higher education and a wide variety of careers. Women entered the business man’s world as their secretaries and have been arduously climbing the corporate ladder since. In days gone by women typically stopped working outside the home when they married. So, a majority of the women in the work force were single with no children. Like women today, they didn’t have a great deal of time to prepare meals. In a 1949 edition of “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook” a very, very small section called “Meals for the Business Girl” offers nine menus for the busy working... Read the Rest →
Lasagna is cheesy, heavenly goodness baked into one dish. It can be dressed up or down. You can add whatever you’d like in its layers. But, we love it plain and simple… cheese, lasagna noodles and sauce. Baked in individual baking dishes, lasagna makes a wonderful presentation at a dinner party. Who wouldn’t want to sit down to their very own baked lasagna? Basic Marinara Sauce Ingredients 4-6 tbs olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 4-5 cloves garlic, diced 6-8 leaves fresh basil, chopped 2 tbs chopped, fresh parsley 2 tsp salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 large cans tomato puree ½ cup dry red wine Directions 1. In a large pot (make sure it is large enough to hold meatballs if adding), over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Heat, stirring continuously, until leaves... Read the Rest →
Lasagna is cheesy, heavenly goodness baked into one dish. It can be dressed up or down. You can add whatever you’d like in its layers. But, we love it plain and simple… cheese, lasagna noodles and sauce. Baked in individual baking dishes, lasagna makes a wonderful presentation at a dinner party. Who wouldn’t want to sit down to their very own baked lasagna? Basic Marinara Sauce Ingredients 4-6 tbs olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 4-5 cloves garlic, diced 6-8 leaves fresh basil, chopped 2 tbs chopped, fresh parsley 2 tsp salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 large cans tomato puree ½ cup dry red wine Directions 1. In a large pot (make sure it is large enough to hold meatballs if adding), over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Heat, stirring continuously, until leaves... Read the Rest →
On a cold winter night, when you have guests visiting, this is the perfect meal to linger around the table eating. With your family and guests seated at the table, red wine poured in their glasses, hardy Italian bread sliced and at the waiting your diners will ooh and ahh as you approach the table with a steaming hot platter of spicy, seafood fra diavolo. Incidentally, Fra diavolo (literally “brother devil”) was the nickname given to Michele Pezza (April 7, 1771–November 11, 1806), a famous Neapolitan guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples. Pezza’s nickname was given to him when he was a child. According to local custom, when youngsters recovered from an illness they were dressed as monks for a procession in honor of St. Francis of Paola, patron saint of sick children. On one such occasion young Pezza, who was not well behaved, was called “fra... Read the Rest →
On a cold winter night, when you have guests visiting, this is the perfect meal to linger around the table eating. With your family and guests seated at the table, red wine poured in their glasses, hardy Italian bread sliced and at the waiting your diners will ooh and ahh as you approach the table with a steaming hot platter of spicy, seafood fra diavolo. Incidentally, Fra diavolo (literally “brother devil”) was the nickname given to Michele Pezza (April 7, 1771–November 11, 1806), a famous Neapolitan guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples. Pezza’s nickname was given to him when he was a child. According to local custom, when youngsters recovered from an illness they were dressed as monks for a procession in honor of St. Francis of Paola, patron saint of sick children. On one such occasion young Pezza, who was not well behaved, was called “fra... Read the Rest →
Japanese cuisine can sometimes be thought of as bland, to the point of being boring. The whole point of Japanese food is to focus on the sheer freshness of the ingredients that are complemented by the simplicity of what is mixed with them. Take the variations of sashimi. It’s slices of the freshest fish, from tuna to salmon, served raw! To accentuate just how fresh the fish is, you can squeeze a bit of lemon on it and lightly dip it in soy sauce mixed with wasabi. That’s it! This makes me wonder, what if components from Japanese cooking were mixed with traditional Western cuisine such as Italian, much like Soy Sauce and Butter Spaghetti. Sounds catastrophic? Well, guess again. It is simply divine! It is no wonder that the increase in popularity in preparing Japanese and Italian food is because they are pretty much straight forward. You can practically... Read the Rest →
Japanese cuisine can sometimes be thought of as bland, to the point of being boring. The whole point of Japanese food is to focus on the sheer freshness of the ingredients that are complemented by the simplicity of what is mixed with them. Take the variations of sashimi. It’s slices of the freshest fish, from tuna to salmon, served raw! To accentuate just how fresh the fish is, you can squeeze a bit of lemon on it and lightly dip it in soy sauce mixed with wasabi. That’s it! This makes me wonder, what if components from Japanese cooking were mixed with traditional Western cuisine such as Italian, much like Soy Sauce and Butter Spaghetti. Sounds catastrophic? Well, guess again. It is simply divine! It is no wonder that the increase in popularity in preparing Japanese and Italian food is because they are pretty much straight forward. You can practically... Read the Rest →
