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If you’re ever looking for my Achilles heal, you really don’t have to look to far. I am totally enamored with the wonder of cheese. All you have to do is make me something that involves the gooey melty amazing quality of cheese and you have won a friend for life! It’s no wonder when the [...]The post Tomato and Spinach Lasagna appeared first on A Culinary Journey With Chef
I’ve been in a cheesecake kind of mood the last few months and I’ve been experimenting with different pans as well as flavors. It’s been fun and the results have been delicious. But when you bake an extra creamy cheesecake using cream cheese and mascarpone, you can’t expect anything short of perfection. I decided on [...]
For everything there is a beginning and for everything there is an end. Today marks the last post in my Guest Post Friday series. It was great while it lasted and during that time I shared many of my friends with you. You made new friends and discovered new blogs to enjoy, and you [...]
I’ve never been to Alaska, but it is on my to do list of places to visit after I retire. Of course I won’t be visiting in the winter, but the summer in Alaska sounds amazing! If you’re wondering why I brought up Alaska, well last week I came across a new new variety of [...]
With this years supply of Blood Orange’s coming to a end, I’ve been getting my fill of those juicy delectable oranges. My first contact with those ruby red fleshed beauties came on my first trip to Rome when the hotel we stayed at served a red orange juice that I mistakenly took for grapefruit [...]
As I set up my mis en place for dinner, I began to envision the dish I was about to make and how I would assemble it. I knew I wanted potatoes and I wanted them sliced and crisp, sautéed with garlic. I had baby spinach in abundance so that had to be worked [...]
Lisa and I do try to eat fish when ever we can (although neither of us are big fish eaters) because we know its better for us. We have our favorites with fluke and flounder topping the list, but when ever I see something new at the market I like to give it a try. [...]
Cheesecake is just one of those desserts you can’t go wrong with. It seems that no matter what toppings you mix in to it or what shape you bake it in, that creamy richness always shines through. I’ve been neglecting my friends at the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association over the last few months ( I guess [...]
I’m looking at the calendar wondering where this year went. We have 7 weeks left of lunches at the Mount this year, then its a few weeks of closing up the place and I’m off for the summer. While I am happy that the end is sight, its also a little unnerving at how [...]
A few weeks ago you got to hear my rant about those people who complain that Google+ isn’t working for them, and I listed my top 12 reasons for failure on G+. Well today I feel just as frustrated over the fact that there are still so many of my fellow food bloggers wasting [...]
When you think of comfort food there are a few obvious choices. To me one of them will always be a grilled cheese sandwich. When it comes to grilled cheese the sky’s the limit these days, as we’ve seen everything and anything you can imagine wedged between slices of American cheese and bread. Of [...]
Today I had the pleasure of competing against Epicurious Editor Lauren Salkeld on the Epicurious Google+ page in their Elite Eat competition. My bracket was making Sundae’s, and I have to tell you when I heard I had Sundae’s I wasn’t real happy. I don’t think in my 3+ years of food blogging I’ve [...]
Years ago I spent a few months working in an old Italian restaurant as I waited for the plans to be approved for a new restaurant I would be opening. I needed to keep working and this job just happened to be available. It didn’t pay very well, but as far as anyone knew [...]
I really do love this time of year, shaking off the cold dreary days of winter as spring finally begins to unfold. Flowers are blooming everywhere and though that also signals the onset of my allergies, I still love seeing all the beautiful spring flowers. While I certainly won’t miss winter when we do move [...]
When King Arthur Flour contacted me to work on their Cake Decorating Promo, I asked them if they were sure they had the blogger. But as it turned out they were serious, and I got a great little care package complete with their Cake Essentials DVD that covers everything from ingredients to decorating techniques. Not only did [...]
All too often I hear the same lament from fellow food bloggers, “Google Plus just doesn’t work for me”. When I hear this I do my best not to cringe, shout out expletives and tell them exactly why it doesn’t work for them…….sigh Instead I take a deep breath, and repeat I’m one with the [...]
I remember the first time I had mascarpone, Mama Jeanette had made a cheesecake for dessert, it was a blend of ricotta and mascarpone, a different type of cheesecake than I had been use to and my introduction to that wonderful cheese. I kept calling it mars-capone, and Mama Jeanette would laugh and say “Sonny [...]
The much awaited beginning of Spring has finally arrived but somehow Mother Nature got the order of events confused. March is supposed to come in like a Lion and go out like a Lamb! We’ll evidently the Lion ate the Lamb, and decided to stick around a bit longer. The calendar may say Spring, but the [...]
Sometimes I wonder if being a blogger isn’t more difficult than being a restaurant chef. I know for a fact feeding a family is certainly a more daunting task, because it not only requires the skills of a chef, but those also of a menu designer and purchasing agent, and you rarely have a staff [...]
When I shop I find myself invariably looking for new items, something to peak my interest, and to break the monotony. I think it may just be a case of cabin fever this time of year, the grey winter skies will do that to you……sigh While shopping recently, I kept passing these beautiful Ruby Red [...]
After a bit of a rough start to March, it seems the days are finally feeling more spring like in the Philadelphia area. We managed to escape every snow storm this year and making it into the second week of March almost guarantees were home free….sigh And although my body isn’t going to want [...]
Some days you just don’t feel like eating anything too heavy. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want to feel full when your done with your meal. Lisa and I do eat a fair amount of pasta dinner and while she enjoys sausage with hers, mine is always meatless. I will let you [...]
Some weeks I just don’t know where the times goes…sigh I guess in a way it’s a good thing, because that means were a week closer to better weather and summer break is only 3 short months away! But it is the end of the week and that means its Guest Post Friday! Today [...]
A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Brooks Walker through Foodbuzz, and from the moment I saw his first creation I knew this man was destined for great things. His blog name spoke to me…… “Cakewalker” which immediately elevated him to the level of Jedi Master of Cake Bakers….. With my hectic [...]
I just love Meyer Lemons, they come in second only to Lemons from the Amalfi Coast….sigh, How I miss Italy! But when life gives you Meyer Lemons, you don’t complain you bake! I hate to admit that I’ve never been a big fan of Pound Cake, the ones I’ve had were usually to dense, or [...]
For those of you that haven’t experienced Google plus, you don’t know what you’re missing! It’s a great place to make new friends and find an endless supply of inspiration for the kitchen. G+ is a photo driven community, built specifically to showcase beautiful images. Now granted, all the images you’ll find on G+ may [...]
This time of year nothing says Comfort Food more than a hearty delicious stew. While I did cut down drastically the amount of gravy that normally would come with a stew, being a southern boy I decided to bread and pan fry my chicken for the added flavor. But if you’d like to make this [...]
I guess what I should be saying is, it’s a New Day for Brands! You gotta love Google+, it’s not your Mother’s Social Media. It’s a living breathing entity that grows as it’s community of users grow, it changes and adapts to the wants and the needs of it users. What other social media does [...]
One of the fondest memories I have of my father is sitting around the dinner table listening to Bill Cosby. My father had always been a very caring man, and while he may not have always told you how he felt, you could always tell from his expressions just how much he loved you. [...]
One of the best things about Google+ was being able to reconnect with all my friends from Foodbuzz (RIP), and making many more new friends along the way! For those of you that don’t know, I started a Food Bloggers Community on Google+ back in December when communities were first made available to their [...]
One of the great joys in life is baking cookies. Most cookies don’t take long to prepare and take little time to bake. If you count eating the batter as you go, cookies are about as close to instant gratification as you can get! For that reason I don’t bake cookies too often, there just [...]
Another week in Paradise…sigh. Went from single digit temps to 68 degrees yesterday, gotta love January! But the winter’s just flying by, one more hard month and then we hit March, and none too soon! But today is Guest Post Friday, and a day to be happy, and today my friends were traveling across [...]
With the Superbowl almost coming up this weekend, it’s time to kick it into high gear with some delicious easy to make Superbowl Snacks! If you’re on Google+, our Food Bloggers Community is doing a series of Live Cooking demo’s with some of their favorite Superbowl treats, you can find them by searching the hashtag [...]
One thing for certain is when Mother Nature decides that it’s time for winter, she leaves no doubt in any ones mind. This week we’ve seen single digit temperatures and a our high was a balmy 22 degrees. I know that’s considered seasonable for our friends up north, but when your normal temp for [...]
Although I readily admit that fish is not one of my favorite dishes, I do try to get it on my home menu a few times a month depending upon what looks good in the market. I consider myself very lucky to have good reliable sources for fresh seafood, which does make choosing the right [...]
One of my favorite desserts will always be Tiramisu, It seems so long ago that Mama Jeanette taught me how to make this classical dessert from her home town of Sienna just as her mother had taught her, and her mothers mother before her. Mama Jeanette’s version of Tiramisu is one of the most [...]
To me blogging is very personal, I give a little bit of myself with every post, some posts more than others. Some days I share a story from my life, some days just a recipe. But even on those quieter days, I’m still bringing you into my kitchen and sharing my cooking methods [...]
What do you do when Chobani sends you 12 lbs of that delicious Greek Yogurt they make? Well first you sit down and enjoy a bowl full with fresh berries and granola……sigh And then you bake! At least that’s what I did, and it seemed like a good place to get started. It really [...]
Today my friends begins a new series of Guest Post Friday. I know many of you thought it was gone forever, but because of our new community of Food Bloggers on Google+ it’s been resurrected. If you were here you’d see my happy dance, granted it’s not much of a dance but the [...]
One of the great joys of life for me is cooking. I love to mix up flavors, textures and add the unexpected to dishes when ever I can. That doesn’t I still don’t enjoy the classics, but every now and then I like to change it up a bit. The one thing I miss about [...]
One thing I can say with certainty is that we definitely eat better than we did before I started blogging. Now I’m not saying that being a chef and the one doing all of the cooking at home that we didn’t eat well, but lets just say we didn’t eat quite as adventurously. That being [...]
In the restaurants I’ve worked in and many that I’ve dined in, Lobster seems to always be King of the Menu, and when you stuff that lobster with lump crab meat you’ve just added to it’s crowning glory! Thanks to places like Costco and Sam’s Club, Lisa and I enjoy lobster on a regular basis. And [...]
It never fails that every time I roast a turkey, I always have more turkey than we can eat before we get tired of it. I re-use the leftovers just about every way you can think of, but a good portion always ends up in the freezer and never gets used. And that’s why I [...]
For those of you on Google+, you’ve seen the addition of Communities on G+. For me it was a dream come true. I have been working on building a community for food bloggers on G+ since Federated Media sold us out and dismantled our community. We had become a wondering band of food bloggers with [...]
One of my great childhood memories will always be chocolate cake for breakfast…sigh. It was a wonderful thing! But that was in the days of Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker, when mixes somehow began taking the place of homemade cakes. Now I’m not knocking the mixes, everything has its time and place, and they [...]
This time of year the Blogosphere is full of deliciously amazing creations. I don’t know if it’s because of the holidays, or the snowy cold Winter Season, but what ever the reason, you know you can always find more than enough tasty treats to drive you right into a sugar coma just by looking at [...]
It’s December at the Mount and that means it’s time for my companies annual Gingerbread house competition! My girls have been hard at work designing and building this years version of everyone’s favorite childhood game Candy Land. Just to set the record straight, the category my girls are entered in is the Chef Assisted. Now to many people [...]
These last two weeks have exhausting, I’m still recovering from a respiratory infection I got before Thanksgiving, and I’m on my second round of antibiotics. In spite of all that I faced one of the most important catered events of the year at the Mount, a reception for 200 to kick off the beginning of [...]
As we wind down from Thanksgiving one thing is certain, we need to add a few salads into the mix this week to compensate for all the good we consumed over the holiday! If you still have turkey and aren’t quite sure what to do with it, here are a few ideas for you! [...]
I hope that everyone enjoyed a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving, and that you were able to spend time with your family and friends. We did have a good Thanksgiving, unfortunately I picked up some kind of bug and it hit me pretty hard Wednesday. I did manage to make everything for dinner, but now [...]
