pasta with roasted tomatoes & garlic

roasted tomatoes

This is one of my favourite, easy-to-make pasta dishes.  Roasted tomatoes are the bee’s knees!  The heat releases the tomatoes natural sugars resulting in an intense flavor.  Throw in a head of garlic and you have the most delicious roasted tomatoes you will ever devour!

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new york sour cocktail

new york sour cocktail

When the pandemic first hit, no one could ever have predicted it would have gone on this long.  During the first few months, many were being laid off.  Our daughter, Laura, was one of them.  I had just posted my first ever video on how to make a breakfast smoothie and she challenged me to…

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pappardelle with potato & brown butter sauce

pappardelle with brown butter sauce

I recently purchased Pasta Grannies; it’s been a long time since I bought a cookbook.  I know, gasp!  But to be honest, I have a lovely curated collection of cookbooks.  Each has a special meaning for me.  So when I saw this book, it spoke to me and to the Italian grandmothers (nonne) who divulged…

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chocolate bark sour gummies

sour gummies

As a kid and even to this day, I have never really had a sweet tooth.  Many a Halloween I would pick through the goodies and then begin bartering with my siblings.  If there were too many marshmallow treats, milk chocolate candies, etc. those were the first to go.  Anything sour, however, was the last…

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chestnut dip

chestnut dip

To be honest, I cannot say I was ever a real fan of the chestnut.  Perhaps it was the smell of something burning which permeated the air when we lived in Hong Kong. Roasted chestnuts are a beloved winter tradition in Hong Kong. Mobile hawker stalls spring up on sidewalks around the city and outside…

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chicken noodle soup

chicken noodle soup

When it’s cold out, I LOVE making soup.  Soup has been around for thousands of years; the earliest dates back to 20,000 BC in Xianrendong Cave China.  One does not need a recipe to make soup but for those who like a bit of guidance, my chicken noodle soup is the easiest to make!

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easy to make dhal

dhal

Hello, 2022!  We are in a deep freeze at the moment and I am craving stick-to-the-ribs comfort food.  In place of a soup or stew, I turned my cravings to the Indian subcontinent.  Our introduction to dhal was when we first lived in Hong Kong in 1998.  Mr. S’ boss invited us to an Indian…

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diy bath bombs

bath bombs

Gift-giving from the heart is always welcomed, IMHO.  Back in August, I hosted a baby shower for my daughter, Laura, and one of her requests was for me to make bath bombs as baby shower favors for our guests.  I have to admit I was a little apprehensive but as I queried the web, it…

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pumpkin & cream cheese gingersnap tart

cream cheese gingersnap tart

Our Thanksgiving has come and gone but this cream cheese gingersnap tart can easily be enjoyed for the upcoming holiday season.  While pumpkin pie is not everyone’s favourite, I would hazard a guess that most enjoy cheesecake. This dessert is the perfect marriage between the two.

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pumpkin trick or treat

Pumpkin carvings as long as I can recall have always been associated with Halloween.  As a kid, every house in the neighbourhood had at least one.  But imagine my surprise when we lived in Asia and our Australian and New Zealand friends thought the tradition was weird or off-putting! According to Britannica,  Halloween is based…

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