The Christmas countdown has commenced and, for most folks, that means rushing out to malls and department stores, crossing items off their loved ones’ wish lists. For me, holiday anxiety comes from countless hours scouring my cookbooks, handwritten recipe collections, magazines and the internet, in search of the perfect cookie and candy recipes to wow family, friends and neighbors.

I have my staples: traditional chocolate chip, the always-a-hit Snickerdoodles, and my mom’s Chocolate Crinkles (which, just like her meatloaf recipe, I will never divulge).The old standbys never disappoint, but I do enjoy throwing in one or two new surprises to keep my recipients on their toes and always looking forward to the holidays.

This year, the internet has provided me with my latest addition to my rotation of seasonal sweets. It’s an unexpected twist using a classic cookie as the main ingredient and is both easy and inexpensive to make. The result is an overwhelmingly delicious hybrid of a cookie and candy – Oreo truffles. Read More…

I may not be a James Beard Foundation award-winning chef, but I’m pretty confident I have conquered a good number of moderately challenging recipes. My risotto is on point, I can butterfly and truss pork tenderloin, and my holiday turkey recipe is out of this world. What’s exciting, though, is that there are many, many things I have yet to master.

Growing up, I was always willing to help in the kitchen but the one area I knew better than to mess with was burgers. It’s pretty common to come across a man of the house who considers himself “burger king”, is quick with a spatula, and can be found at the grill more than the stove. My dad is no different; he knows his grill as if it was his trade and his outdoor cooking area seems like a culinary sanctuary. Located on my parents’ deck, it’s nestled in a special corner with a few chairs overlooking their nicely landscaped garden. Surrounded by tiki torches to ward off any pesky insect intruders, my dad’s shiny, stainless steel grill is conveniently away from the back door and kitchen windows, making his cooking area more of a peaceful place than our busy family kitchen.

The serenity of my dad’s cooking space may have something to do with how great his grilled food is. Steaks and chicken are always delicious but his burgers are the best. Perfectly cooked, the meat is juicy and seasoned just enough. There’s nothing fancy about them, but that’s part of their appeal; they don’t need special sauces or secret spices to grant him the well-deserved “burger king” title in our household. I’m in no position to attempt to steal the crown, but I felt it was time to add burgers to my list of accomplishments. This recipe for breakfast burgers may be no match for my dad’s, but I can bet he would be proud. Read More…

Due to learning to plan ahead, “Can Can” sales at Shop Rite, and maybe a dash of impulse, the canned and dry-good section of my kitchen cabinets is stocked. I justify most of them as emergency items, but I can’t really foresee a crisis occurring that can only be saved with the power of canned sauerkraut or evaporated milk. Until I’m actually forced to utilize my “fallout shelter” of products, I enjoy finding alternate uses for them in recipes.

One of the items we constantly buy, and actually eat as opposed to allowing to pile up, are Ramen noodles. Not only are they irresistibly cheap, they are extremely useful. In their intended form (that is, boiled noodes with a powdered flavor packet), they are a quick, small meal. The fact that this version almost tips the sodium scale has led me to utilize only the noodles (without the flavor packet) in various Asian dishes, adding vegetables and a protein to get more miles out of the recipe. Never did I think, though, that they would work perfectly as a salad topping.

Several years ago, I was drawn to an Asian cabbage slaw recipe from the archive on the Kraft Food’s website. Everything about it seemed right up the alley for what I was looking to bring to one of my best friend’s wedding shower: a cool, light salad with fresh ingredients and a ton of flavor. The Ramen noodle topping, though, was what prompted me to commit – strange, but intriguing, I wondered if the slaw was going to be a hit or a bust.  Read More…

We encounter a variety of fads every day, from the clothes we wear to work, the music we hear on our headphones, or the diet we stick to (Monday to Friday, of course). Like most trends, all of them have no strict permanence, but may be something we turn back to every now and then. This is my logic for holding onto so many things in my now overflowing closet.

Food fad categories are just like fashion. For instance, cupcakes (for some people) are considered “hot” but for others they are just like polyester and platforms: another trendy item that won’t be stylish for long. That group now identifies Macarons or Whoopee Pies as the dessert all the cool people will be eating. My opinion will always be rooted in my senses; how can something be a temporary fad if it tastes good all the time?

The most mind-boggling food fad is, by far, bacon. When was it an epiphany to a group of trendsetters that bacon was one of the most unbelievable meats available? Not only does it get an A+ for breakfast, but joined with lettuce and tomato you have a great lunch sandwich. For dinner, wrap it around asparagus or a pork loin and you’ve just created a fancy dish that will now taste one-hundred times better just because bacon is now in the picture. Analysts, chefs and culinary artists may tell you bacon is “so over”, but use your better judgment and your tastebuds on this one. To pay homage to my favorite pork product I spent a few hours cooking it down with other ingredients to make Bacon Jam. Believe me, I was as skeptical as you are but keep reading; I promise you, this is another recipe that highlights the staying power of bacon. Read More…

petizers and hors d’oeuvres are my weakness. Trays full of delicious, petite sized snacks are enticing and I’m usually the girl at the party standing by the displays with a plate full of shrimp tails and used toothpicks. Though I have my favorites, I don’t discriminate: everything from dips to cheese platters to nuggets is fair game.

Last week, I catered an Open House at a beautiful three bedroom home at 2310 Susquehanna Avenue. Thankfully, I have a wonderful place to live and am not looking to pack my belongings to move around the corner, but the capabilities this house had for entertaining caught my eye and were straight out of a home cook’s daydream.

The spacious living room and classy kitchen were a selling point alone, but the rear room of the house, which lead to the large backyard, featured cabinets and countertops with separate beer and wine fridges, a dual stainless-steel sink, and a cable hookup for a flat screen television. Like I said, I’m not in the market for a new home but I couldn’t help but picture myself showing Phillies games on the flat screen while I served family and friends cold ones from the fridge and burgers and dogs from the grill out back.

To highlight the back room I decided to make some Clean Plate favorites and add a few chic additions. For the new recipes, I turned to my Barefoot Contest cookbook. Ina Garden has become a respectable culinary figure due to her show on the Food Network, and thank God she’s allowed the rest of the world in on her tips and tricks for hosting anything from an elaborate dinner party to stylish cocktail party. These blue cheese and walnut crackers added simple elegance to the Open House spread. Read More…

Planning ahead for Saint Patrick’s Day I did zero research for a recipe, banking on someone in my mom’s family sharing an ancient family dish with me. After all, her maiden name is Brady, so someone had to have a stained, faded, chicken-scratch written Irish recipe hidden in their vault, right? Good food is inevitable at any Brady celebration, and Saint Patrick’s Day is no exception.

My major specifications were: I didn’t want to make a potato dish (because if it serve 6, I’ll eat 3 servings); corned beef and cabbage was out (I have my fair share of each throughout the year); and I wanted to bake. I contacted my Aunt Colleen, thinking if anyone had an original Irish Soda Bread recipe, it would be her. No such luck- though she has many specialties in the kitchen, it seems a Brady family soda bread recipe simply does not exist.

My next inquiry consisted of only Google and persistence; requesting recipes from the popular search engine requires endurance and an open mind. Google’s new “recipe” search function helps a bit, but still, with a return of over 70,000 Irish Soda Bread recipes I didn’t even know where to begin. Before I could develop a list of groceries, or head into the kitchen, I figured I needed to learn the history and tradition of soda bread and why it is important in Irish culinary culture.

According to The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread, the product we see packaged in grocery stores and markets around this time of the year is, most likely, not even bread. Traditional soda bread consists of solely flour, buttermilk, salt and baking soda. Some conventional versions will go as far outside the box as adding butter, but anything with dried fruit, sugar or honey, eggs, or even whiskey sounds more like ingredients for cake. The appeal of soda bread, when it was first created, was that it was inexpensive, practical, and required very little time to make. Additionally, the loaves were baked in bastible pots, or dutch ovens, over a fire. This authentic recipe can be whipped up in less than an hour, including baking time.  Read More…

Just a quick ride on the el or a short drive to University City, lies the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. The Penn Museum is home to about 1 -million artifacts covering existence anywhere from Ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire, Native American tribes and everywhere in between. Though the most intriguing items are viewable to the public behind glass cases, Museum researchers and scholars are involved with research projects all over the globe that could, literally, dig up something new for the Penn Museum visitors.

In addition to the intriguing permanent collections, the museum regularly features special exhibits. Until March 28^th, the exclusive, and highly anticipated, Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit is open to the public. Through artifacts, relics, and even well-preserved mummies, the exhibit tells the story of life in the Tarim Basin desert, located in Central Asia. Spanning from Europe to Eastern China, the Silk Road is a network of trade routes connected through this region, responsible for modern trade, cross cultural exchanges and the growth of many items we still use today.

The Penn Museum has designed interactive components for visitors of all ages, further exploring the language and textiles of those who lived in the Tarim Basin region. Additionally, visitors can experience the Silk Road from the perspective of a princess, merchant, entertainer, or horseman of that time period by participating in an activity provided at the beginning of the exhibit; with a paper map in hand, participants discover more about their chosen character by unlocking answers with a decoder throughout the exhibit.

The interactive nature of the exhibit continues with lunch at The Pepper Mill Café, inside the museum. Until June, menus focus on a specific country along the Silk Road, rotating weekly. From China to Vietnam, to India and Greece, the catering staff spent two months researching and developing traditional foods of the region. The exhibit itself shows visitors what the people in the Tarim Basin ate; displays include an ancient, excavated wonton, spring roll and fried dough. Free recipes available inside the exhibit allow visitors to experience the Secrets of the Silk Road at home.  This recipe, for wontons filled with pork, probably tastes a little bit better than its thousands-of-years-old version in the exhibit. Read More…

Whether it’s a very plain but perfectly cooked piece of steak or a seasoned and sauced piece of barbecued chicken, sometimes there’s nothing better than a big hunk of juicy meat. Animal rights activists would cringe if they read this, but I enjoy life as a carnivore.

Several methods exist to insure the meat you’re cooking and eating will be moist and flavorful, but my all-time favorite is brining. This scientific process involves soaking the meat in a salt and liquid mixture for an extended period of time and allowing science to play a part in your meal. The soaking salts travel into the meat and trap moisture inside the meat, which remains there throughout the cooking process so your dish is tender and juicy. This recipe utilizes the brining method to produce a succulent, sweet and savory pork tenderloin. Read More…

Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood is speckled with sights, sounds and scents appealing to both tourists and locals. Between the hidden, underground grocery store on 13^th Street; Joseph “mayor of Chinatown” Poon’s informative walking tours, culinary skill, and friendly conversation; and the colorful, intricate architecture and artwork that adorns the window fronts of stores and the buildings themselves, this cultural area of our city is well worth exploring for a few hours. With Chinese New Year right around the corner, it’s an even more exciting time to visit.

Touring the streets on foot will create quite a hunger, but with restaurants that line the blocks it’s sometimes difficult to decide where to stop for a meal. Typically, I’m up for trying new things, but every now and then I “trust my gut” and go for what I know is good. The old stand-by, yet very Americanized Chinese dish of sesame chicken never fails, and most Chinatown restaurants offer some variation of it on their menu. Read More…