"Mommy" Pizza

Once a week, my wife makes home made pizza for the kids, so she can solve the problem of entertaining them while she cooks dinner on days when I'm away at work. Her recipe relies on common store-bought ingredients, but somehow manages to get just about the best results you can get without buying a much more expensive specialty oven. This is "Mommy's" Pizza. She won't let me take over and make it often, so this time, I had to make sure to document it!

Home Made Whipped Cream

Once you realize how good fresh whipped cream is, and just how easy it is to make, you'll never go back to the stuff that comes in those aerosol cans (unless you're one of those people who likes to inhale the propellant...). If you have an electric mixer (a stand mixer is the easiest), just pour in a half pint of heavy cream, add a tablespoon or two of confectioners sugar, and maybe a few drops of vanilla extract, turn it on, and stand back. In a few short minutes, you'll have a fluffy whipped cream. It helps if you start with a cold bowl, so you may want to put your mixing bowl in the freezer for a bit before you add your cream. When you whip it yourself, and limit the amount of sugar you add, you get an incredibly fresh tasting end product, suitable for topping off all manner of desserts from pies, to ice cream, or even to dress up a cup of coffee.

As American as Apple Pie

Apple Pie is considered to be the quintessential American dessert. Flaky pastry crust, soft apples with a little cinnamon... great warm or cool, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a little whipped cream. This pie is very simple, and honestly, the less you try to dress it up, the better it usually is- provided you start with a good batch of apples...

Standing Rib Roast - A Holiday Meal

You have to spoil yourself once in a while. This year, we went with a standing rib roast for the Christmas holiday, served up with some carrots, sweet potato, collard greens, and a little prepared horseradish on the side. I've done rib roasts in the past for the holidays, so I almost did something like a fresh ham or a leg of lamb instead, but I don't regret cooking this great cut of beef again.

Chicken Enchiladas Mole - from the Blue Tortilla, New Hope, PA

The implications of dining out in the information age hit home this week. We had a day out to take our kids, and  our niece and nephew out to wander around New Hope, PA, see a few sights, and take the kids on a holiday-themed train ride on the town's old-style historic railroad. Afterwards, we were hungry, and looking for something a little more interesting than pizza and fish sticks to eat. We found our way to a cozy little Mexican restaurant named "the Blue Tortilla" that seemed to have promise...