Having been raised outside of St. Louis, I had never heard of, much less tasted, Mostaccioli. Having first experienced Mostaccioli in St. Louis, I thought it was something someone made up because it was quick and cheap and assumed it was totally unrelated to any real Italian recipe or product. Since then, Al Gore invented the internet and Wikipedia can now educate me that Mostaccioli is simply penne pasta. However, in St. Louis, Mostaccioli is anything but that.
Posts Tagged ‘cooking’
Baked Mostaccioli – Not St. Louis Style
05/29/2010Lasagna with – Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce
05/29/2010This was something of an experiment and another chance to pop open a bottle of wine. While walking the Trader Joe’s isles, I noticed a section of spaghetti sauces. Since the price was only a little more than the cost of ingredients for my home-made marinara sauce, I decided to put Trader Joe’s to the test. In a nutshell, it worked pretty well, but is probably better used for a quick pasta sauce than for using in lasagna.
Spaghetti with Meatballs – Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs
02/05/2010This is an easy one and one you probably don’t need to read. However it does point back to the marinara sauce recipe which is what’s really important. With a little crusty Italian bread to soak up any excess sauce on the plate, a glass of red wine, and Billy Joel playing on the stereo, it doesn’t get much better.
Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce
02/05/2010This is an easy one and one you probably don’t need to read. However it does point back to the marinara sauce recipe which is what’s really important. With a little crusty Italian bread to soak up any excess sauce on the plate, a glass of red wine, and Billy Joel playing on the stereo, it doesn’t get much better.
WordPress – .com vs. .org – monetizing
01/17/2010Monetizing Your Blog
com is restrictive and sort of fuzzy org is wide open
Monetizing your blog simply means making money from your blog. While many of you writing blogs, write for personal reasons, it would be an incentive if you could earn a few dollars a year to treat yourself to a dinner or kitchen gadget you’ve always wanted from all the hard work you’ve done to create and maintain your blog’s content. Making money on the web generally involves running; banner ads, ad services and or links to sites where you might make a small commission for referrals and any sales coming from you. WordPress.com is very restrictive in what you can do to monetize your blog. WordPress.org is your baby to do with as you want.
Canned Soup – not the obvious
01/05/2010You might have read other recipes on this blog and noticed there’s no sin here in taking a can off the shelf, opening it and using it to make something good. There’s also no sin in using dried herbs and spices. If they’re not as flavorful as fresh herbs and spices, just use a little more. There are times when cooking may be a hobby to us, and times when cooking is a way to get food into the stomach. Most of the recipes here are of the food in the stomach variety. But food in the stomach that tastes a little better than straight out of the can or freezer and doesn’t take a weekend to gather ingredients and prepare.
Lasagna – what to do with the tomato sauce?
01/01/2010Now that we’ve mastered the art of the can opener by making the tomato sauce, the next basic skill a master chef must acquire is opening the box. Then the answer to the question, “What to do with the tomato sauce?” is, lasagna.
Tofu U – Part 1 – Italian Style
12/29/2009Margaritas tonight.
Every 2 years, another failure. That’s how often I give tofu a try, and how successful I’ve been in the past. I’m sure somewhere there’s a way to cook tofu that turns out to be actually good. Ain’t found it yet, but haven’t given up. The pictures of tofu with grill marks straight off the barbeque look great. Haven’t tried it that way, but I suspect in the end, another failure. At least by my tastes. In fact the only tofu I remember being half-way good was in a Chinese restaurant surrounded by meat and vegetables with a lot of good tasting sauce on everything. Maybe that’s the way to cook it? Go to your local Chinese restaurant and order it there. Here’s this year’s biennial challenge.
Tofurky® Roast
12/27/2009The son’s a vegetarian. Really, he just doesn’t eat meat. To call him a vegetarian would imply some sort of conviction which usually eludes him. The actual rule is, don’t eat anything with eyes. I guess potatoes would be an exception. I wonder where artichoke hearts fit in the vegetarian diet?
Basic Salsa – recipe
12/26/2009
There are tons of salsa recipes available. If you have a favorite, you’re probably not reading this. If you don’t have a favorite, then the most likely best thing to do if you know of a salsa you like is ask the person or restaurant who made it for the recipe. The worst that could happen is they won’t give you the recipe. Aside from that, here’s a simple one. I make it to find a use for my small food processor and because it’s good. (Oster 3320 150-Watt 3-Cup Food Chopper with Whisk Attachment
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