Giuseppepaolo

Oatmeal.... What do you think of when you hear that simple, nourishing, comforting food word? Breakfast? Cookies? Childhood memories? All of the above and more is what I say. I've been eating instant oatmeal for years. It's great for those busy mornings. It's great for those cold mornings. It's even great for a quick dinner on a hectic night. I recently received some samples of Better Oats instant oatmeal to play with. And what a treat it has been! The varieties they sent...I had such a hard time narrowing it down to which one I wanted to try first. I always thought you had to use old fashioned rolled oats or steel cut oats for granola bars. That's what the recipes that I saw said. But I thought I'd give Better Oats a try. I'm not saying that every brand of instant oatmeal out there would work but I had a feeling that Better Oats would based on the quality of the oats.  The whole grain gave a promise of texture rather than mush. Well heck..lemme just show yo...

Ya think it's too late to make fruitcake? HA!! Think again my friend. This one can be eaten right away, or it can be made in advance and sit in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. Your choice. I'm not a fruitcake person. At all. But an old friend from high school by the name of Beth was raving about this recipe so I had to give it a try. My twist...(cuz there always is one...mostly) is the fruit that I used. And the kind of rum. One of the things that I turn my nose up on with fruitcake is the candied cherries. So I decided to use tropical fruit. And the alcohol? Coconut rum. And yes, I know there are cherries on the top of this this one. I put them there cuz they look pretty. But...there isn't a single candied cherry in that cake. Tropical Fruitcake Printable Version Dried Fruit : 1 lb raisins 1/2 lb golden raisins 1/2 lb craisins 1 lb dried tropical fruit mix 1 lb mixed nuts 1 - 2 750ml bottles of coconut rum Batter : 1/8 cup molasses 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 lb butter 1 1/8 cup...

One of my daughters has decided to go gluten-free. It's not a medical necessity. Just a choice. In respect of her choice, I am trying to find recipes for her that she will enjoy (and because gluten free breads and desserts are so expensive at the stores) Pinterest can be an amazing thing. Easy to categorize and share and search. Anyways....I saw a recipe for Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars and that's what inspired my version. Btw, if you dont have a banana and a persimmon on hand....use all pumpkin as the original recipes uses. I did it the first time I made these bars and it is amazingly good. These bars are moist and flavorful. If someone gave me one of these bars and didn't tell me, I'd have no idea that it's gluten free. Gluten Free Pumpkin, Persimmon, Banana Bars Printable Version 4 eggs, room temperature 1 1/2 cups sugar 3/4 cup vegetable oil (or a flavorless oil of your choice) 15 oz mashed very ripe banana, pureed persimmon and canned pumpkin combined (I found tha...

I don't think Green Bean Casserole can ever really be considered "healthy". If you're gonna do it right, that is. Even if you use non-fat milk or some other milk alternative...it just won't be the same without those crispy French's French Fried Onions. I think I saw a low-carb or low-fat version at the market, but didn't pick them up. It seems that a lot of those altered products make up for the "low-this" and "non-that" by adding more sugar or sodium to boost the flavor. I once tried making the fried onions myself...in the oven. It didn't cut it. At all (sorry Alton). Alton Brown has his Best Ever Green Bean Casserole recipe that is very very good. What I like about it most is that it doesn't use canned soup. You have fresh mushrooms, half and half, broth and other wonderful ingredients....without the MSG. Ya I know...those fried onions are loaded with MSG...but I just can't make this dish without them...so once in a while...

The Los Angeles Times use to have a great food section. It was a section all on its own that came out every Thursday. It contained several recipes, reviews of dining locations, great articles. It was all about food...from gardening, food trends to food history. Over the years I've made several wonderful dishes from that section of the paper. I miss it. Now? It's 3 little pages called Food & Dining that comes out in the Saturday Section which includes other articles within its 12 pages (Mind & Body and Home & Design). I was really disappointed when the newspaper made this change. I still am. I'm hoping that when the economy recovers, the Los Angeles Times will once again dedicate a complete section to Food! Thank God I have recipes clippings that I've been wanting to try out, saved in my drawer. Black Russian Rye Bread being one of them. It's from the Los Angeles Times Food Section, dated almost 2 years ago....January 13, 2011. Yes, it took me that long t...