Pastel de Picadillo Cubano (Cuban Meat Pie)

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Pastel de Picadillo CubanoIt’s the time of year when the buffet table is front and center for many celebrations. At least at The Goddess’s house, it is.  And The Latin Lover has been eating all sorts of good Cuban food in Miami and he’s returning for the holidays…his gift to me, whether he knows it or not!  This Pastel de Picadillo Cubano is perfect for him. Continue reading

Stuffed Pork Loin with Espresso-Cider Gravy

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Stuffed Pork Loin with Espresso-Cider GravyBoth of my parents long ago left this world for the big farm in the sky.  They had a good life, a long life and they were pretty happy people.  It doesn’t get too much better than that.  Anyway, yesterday would have been my father’s birthday and today would have been my mother’s birthday.  So my thoughts turned to pork.  In my family, food was much bigger than any gift.  It was the gift.  And pork was always there.  Continue reading

Roasted Butternut, Brie and Caramelized Onions en Croute

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Roasted Butternut, Brie and Caramelized Onions en CrouteThis came about because there’s a great sandwich at The Kitchen, which is in the lobby of the Hartford Public Library.  It’s part of Billings Forge Community Works and indeed, they do good great things with the community.  Please check out their website.  But, The Kitchen is a bright and lovely place to grab a bite for lunch.  They have some great offerings, but, “The-Butter-Me-Up” grilled sandwich is what inspired this “croute”.  Continue reading

Everyday Vinaigrette Mix

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Everyday Salad Dressing MixNeed a last minute gift from your kitchen for someone special?  You’ll have most of these ingredients in your cupboard to make this great mix to make a nice flexible vinaigrette.  You might want to include a pretty bottle, with a tight-fitting lid, that’s reusable.  It’s a tasty little stocking-stuffer. Continue reading

Heavenly Soaps for the Laundry & Gardener’s Hands

All Natural, Clothesline Fresh Laundry SoapThe Goddess has been holding out on you.  Does it help that her intentions were good?  No, huh.  Okay, fine….We have the good fortune to live next door to a real Renaissance woman of mystical proportion.  She makes the most amazing laundry soap and scrubs.  She’s a wonder.  Continue reading

Spiced Caramel-Apple Pie

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Apple pie, with all the warm spices, is a slice of heaven for dessert or breakfast.  And why not for breakfast?  You have apple Danish, don’t you?  Think about a nice slice of apple pie for breakfast…it makes Monday worth getting out of bed for!  Continue reading

Brazilian Bakery Sunday Chicken with Potatoes

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Almost every Sunday, when we lived in São Paulo, we would walk over to the bakery just down the hill from our apartment, and buy 2 chickens.  Even today, I can almost smell the aroma wafting up from the bakery, more than 15 years later.  They were a memory that was worth trying to recreate.  Continue reading

Sweet & Spicy Pickled Pineapple

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Sweet & Spicy Pickled Pineapple ‘Tis the time of year!  This is a great gift from the kitchen, though admittedly The Goddess has been know to plan to give this away, and it never quite makes it out of the kitchen.  So she’s sharing the recipe with you, just in case you don’t receive a jar, now you can make it yourself.  Continue reading

Pie Crust Perfection!

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Apple Pie with Maple-Bourbon Ice CreamThere’s something about pies and men…well women, too.  From time to time we have folks over for dinner and when The Goddess decides it will be pie for dessert, she’s always bemused by the reaction people (read “men” here!) have.  They get sort of glassy-eyed, perhaps a tear forms and then they get this satisfied grin, “There’s going to be pie for dessert….” Continue reading

Dumplings are Great!

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Beef Stew with DumplingsWith autumn deeply upon us, cozy, comfort food is so welcome.  For the Goddess, dumplings are a homey-comforting-cold-weather sort of meal.  These are not the meat-filled Asian variety, nor the biscuit-type Southern variety, nor the firm German potato dumpling.  No, these are the light, fluffy-type of dumplings.  A cloud of goodness sitting atop a mound of, in this case, beef stew.   Continue reading