
Foodies... Where Friends Meet To Cook Resolutions? Specifically culinary resolutions? Do you make them? Do you keep them? Me... not so much. But I am going to attempt to cook more often with new ingredients or those that I don't like so much. I do draw the line at some things... liver for example. But I am going to try to expand my palette this year. What about you?

Hip Hip Hooray (accompanied by fanfare) …. It’s National Oatmeal Month! Yes, I know it might be a bit hard to get excited about oatmeal having its very own month. It’s not as great as say, double chocolate chip cookie month but it beats the heck out of dandelion green month.I...
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Since the demise of Gourmet magazine (boo sob hiss) , its myriad supporters have come up with inventive ways to keep, if nothing else, the magazine’s recipes alive. One of those is Gourmet Unbound, a monthly food blog challenge where participants create recipes from previous issues of Gou...
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Foodies... Where Friends Meet To Cook Finally the Countdown to Auld Lang Syne has come to an end.... hope you enjoyed the appetizer selections and try a few at your next gathering. Stay tuned for what I hope will be great posts in the coming year.... My Favorite Things, Improv Cooking, tips and tricks and lots more in the pot (pun intended!)

I truly should have named these easy and easier. They are a cinch to make and while I do like to put a sweet or two on my buffets, I find that if anything is left at the end of the evening, it is usually the sweets. Don’t know if people just grab appetizer after appetizer and fill up or i...
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Can you believe it?!?!? All of the food is ready for the big night. I am aware that we have to do dessert tomorrow but they are so simple and will require no work on the prep sheet. And I am also aware that panic mounts each and every time you open your refrigerator or freezer and you see ever...
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I like the versatility of baked salmon as it can be served cold, hot or room temperature and is equally delicious whichever way you choose. This preparation is really simple and infuses the herbs and lime juice into the fish while it is cooking. Our sauce is, again, just a throw together in a bo...
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I do always like to serve a couple of ”meatier” appetizers along with our one bite wonders. Men especially appreciate my thoughtfulness so they don’t have to eat a lot of “frou frou” foods. It also provides an option for those with dietary restrictions who can...
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We served this as an appetizer on Christmas Eve and it was a hit by all in attendance from our youngest at the tender age of 4 and our oldest at the amazing age of 91!!! It definitely falls into the doable and delicious category. No plates or utensils required. Just a quick dip into the mayo...
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I love love love making savory cheesecakes. They are rich and hearty, a bit unexpected and a snap to put together. They are also the proverbial emptying-the-refrigerator kind of dish. Today’s foray is based on nachos. Nachos broken down to their most elementary means cheese, chips and ...
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She’s gone stark raving mad…. this recipe is NOT on the menu! Christmas got in the way of cooking so we are substituting these morsels for one of the refrigerated items. These kicked up appetizers are bite sized eye openers. Horseradish is the culprit reason! If you have an old hi...
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So let’s take a breather today from cooking and talk a bit about party preparation. This seems to be the most daunting task of entertaining for most of our students. They have no idea how to create a timeline for entertaining. I always start with my menu and my food. In this particular ...
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For those of you with a stand mixer, this is THE must have gadget of the year. I first saw it at a trade show in March and it rocks! Buy one of these bad boys and you can throw your spatulas away! The beater blade is flexible and actually hugs the interior of the mixing bowl as opposed to the...
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Foodies... Where Friends Meet To Cook Florida Friends: BAMA Seafood is having a Wild Shrimp Sale, December 18 and 19 from 10am until 6pm. U10's are $4.99, 16/20's are $3.99 and 31/35's are $2.99. They also have littlenecks for $3.60 and middlenecks for $3.75 a dozen. 756 28th Street South, St. Petersburg, 33712.

The remodel is well on its way and it is amazing what Todd has done to minimize the pain associated with it. He moved the gas line in one day so I wasn’t without a stove/oven. He repositioned the built in microwave to the countertop so we could still use it. The refrigerator was unplugge...
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I am not being a diva although I did just finish the Bay News 9 shoot…. so maybe just a tiny bit like a diva. : ) The reality is that when I was sketching out the Countdown to Auld Lang Syne timeline, I didn’t account for Christmas and festivities which might get in the way of coo...
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Polenta immediately brings my grandmother to mind. I called her Ammie (and my grandfather Ampie) for the longest of time and then my sister came along and she became Mimi. My grandfather became Joe (at least to my sister) and, although that was his given name, it remains a mystery to all of us...
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…. NOT! I am going to be on TV ma!! Did you hear that!! Teee Veee. Bay News 9 is doing a segment on one of our upcoming classes “My Grandmother’s Cookies”. If I am not kicking myself in the rear for not paying more attention to the things my grandmother could have taug...
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Jack M. Penkivech Joann Graffious suggested I join. Thanks Joann. Ithink this will be a helpful and fun place to learn.

Almost every buffet I create has a warm brie. A wheel of brie quickly makes it to the front of the pack in terms of adaptability to any topping both sweet and savory. We keep three in the store and all are customer favorites for last minute grab ‘n go appetizers: Kahlua Pecan, Cranberry ...
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Joann Where would you find pomegranate seeds? grocery store? gormet store? health food store?

Today’s recipe is a bit more challenging, but when I plan a party menu, I like to include recipes that tickle the tastebuds and represent different ethnicities. While I love to use up that warring cheese in my refrigerator, you can only include it so many times on a buffet table. Once you...
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Foodies... Where Friends Meet To Cook Did anyone watch Top Chef? I wasn't happy with the outcome but I think my displeasure wasn't about the food.... what did you think of the finale?

First up on our make ahead party food… Cheddar and Chive Puffs.This is an amazingly, almost embarrasingly simple appetizer recipe which should most definitely go into your favorites file. I am doing mine with cheddar cheese and chives because I had them on hand when I created the menu for ...
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1 tbsp butter 1 medium onion, thinly sliced ½ pound mixed squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick 12 eggs 1/4 cup heavy cream ...

Michelle Offutt LOVED the eggs series! However, I'm a bit bummed out because I just realized that I didn't write anything down for how to do the frittata with the squash and goat cheese! I need a quick memory refresher, including oven temp...

I don’t know about you, but I hate going out on New Year’s Eve. I have a been there, done that kind of attitude at this point in my life. Throngs of partygoers, frazzled waitresses, a few crazy drunks and paying for a table I could get for free on the day before or after December 3...
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Charlie Conard Help! I need a carrot cake recipe, stat. :)

We had an Asian cuisine class the other night and we cut about six ounces off of a pork tenderloin for one of the dishes which left me with about 10 ounces of pork tenderloin to utilize in some way. As it was nearing dinnertime, I decided to make weiner schnitzel and spaetzle. Two incredibly si...
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Oh the joys of a kitchen torch. Often relegated to a forgotten shelf or crammed behind your silverware caddy, the kitchen torch isn’t just for melting the sugar on a creme brulee, although I might be apt to argue that this alone is plenty enough reason to own one. A spoon hitting that ha...
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