This is a basic Bechamel recipe. It uses both milk and broth for a slightly lighter sauce. Many variations are possible. A pan sauce would start with sauted shallots or onions. Some sauces will replace the flour roux with a slurry of 1TBSP corn starch and 2TBSP broth, added after the other liquids are simmering. … Read more
I love the flavor of lamb. Gene hates it. This creates problems when it comes time to plan menus. I found a recipe for something called Mongolian Lamb on RecipeTinEats and it looked promising since we both like Mongolian beef. It turns out that this is basically a dish that’s popular in Australia and has … Read more
I usually make chocolate chip cookies based on oatmeal cookies. But I like sugar cookies, and I like shortbread, and stumbled across this recipe that combines those two and adds chocolate chips. They’re awesome! I found this recipe on Let’s Dish , but modified it a bit to use Mini M&Ms and added almond extract. … Read more
I don’t know about you, but I need to start my day with caffeine kicking in before reality does. When I retired, I lost access to super-good coffee at work. That left me experimenting to find an alternative, and to musing about coffee in general. I know what you’re thinking. Coffee is bad for you, … Read more
I guess everyone has their favorite version of this classic. I looked at about a dozen different versions, and then decided to use what I thought were the best features when I made these today. I’m here to report on my results. Obviously, peppers are a key part of this dish. I remember the first … Read more
Here’s another cookie recipe. These take a bit longer since you have to chill the dough. This is another recipe that blends together some online sources. The first time I tried this, the dough was more like batter, even after chilling in the refrigerator for three hours. Based on recent experience with other cookies, I … Read more
There are dozens of recipes for oatmeal cookies. I have one that’s my stand-by for making chocolate chip cookies that I wrote about earlier when I used Reese’s Pieces instead of chocolate chips. However, this recipe is the one I use when I just want a plain cookie. I imagine these would work for chocolate … Read more
When I was growing up, these were my favorite cookies. Under self-imposed lockdown for COVID, I’ve recently started baking cookies again, so I dug up my mother’s recipe for these. My first try worked okay, but I wondered what other recipes might be available, so I did an online search. I found several interesting things, … Read more
Ages ago, I started a new job as an Assistant Dean. I learned that there was a tradition that the deans bought presents for the staff at the Holidays. That worked out well until I got divorced and was on an excruciatingly tight budget. So, to save money that year, I baked cookies and individually … Read more
You know how, when Mexican restaurants serve corn chips, they give you little bowls of guacamole and salsa for dipping? I always ignore the salsa and head straight for the green stuff. It’s not that I especially like guacamole–although I do!–but instead that the red salsa never much appeals to me. I guess it’s the … Read more