Novelista

I may have mentioned it once or twice that fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the colors, the cooler temperatures, and the food. Pumpkin waffles are a great variation of all things pumpkin this time of year.  They are easy to make.  Yummy for any meal of the day.  I eat mine dipped in local Pennsylvania maple syrup. Pumpkin Waffles Makes: 4.5 batches in a 4 waffle section waffle machine 1 ¼ cups flour 2 tbsp sugar 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp ginger ½ tsp nutmeg pinch cloves pinch allspice ½ tsp salt 1 cup milk 6 tbsp pumpkin puree 2 tbsp oil 2 eggs separated smidge vanilla     1.  Sift dry ingredients and sugar into a large bowl. 2.  Whisk milk, pumpkin, oil, vanilla, and egg yolks in a medium bowl. 3.  Whip egg whites to stiff peaks. 4.  Prepare waffle iron per manufacture’s directions. 5.  Mix wet into dry. Fold in whipped egg whites. 6.  Use...

I am a lover of all things yummy in my tummy.  Savory and sweet.  The kitchen makeover took longer than expected.  Finally getting fully back into the kitchen, I have been feeding my passion for cooking by trying new foods and recipes.  With this recent heat wave, the air conditioning is on.  That means warming up both me and my kitchen with baking. Sour Cream Bunt Jewish Coffee Cake Lately, I have tried two new cake recipes—a sour cream bunt cake and a Jewish coffee cake.  Instead of using sour cream for both cakes, I used yogurt.  Both turned out scrumptious.  Also, tried a lemon meltaway cookie recipe of which I was not too fond.  Back to the cookie drawing board for something else. In addition to new finds, I enjoy baking old standards.  One cake that my mom and I have been making since I was very little is Chocolate Pudding Cake.  And, my grandmother used to make this when my mom was a little girl.  ...

The First Thanksgiving has become an American legend, a fairytale of sorts. Pilgrims and Tribesmen gathered around a large table celebrating the fruits of the first harvest. Each brought different foods to share. Yes, it really happened, but the true details have been lost to the ages. Thanksgiving dinner with the Castellano family has all the makings of being legendary. We get a huge turkey from a local farm. Stuffing is made from saved leftover bread. Our cranberry mold has a lightness that dances on your palette. The pumpkin pie harks back to the days before dense, sugary pre-made crust. Of course, there is a pasta course like we have at every big meal. This year, we will blend our pasta with clams and mussels from our New England roots. A colonial style oyster stew will be served in cute covered pumpkin bowls. Brussel sprouts from the garden are sautéed with roasted Italian chestnuts. Our meal will start with a classic Italian-American antipasto salad. We blend our her...

The conventions are over. All the confetti has been swept off the convention floor. Politicians are racing to the booths. Each wants your vote, but for whom do you electronically tick the box? Will it be for the donkey, the elephant, or someone else entirely? As a country, we are at a crossroads. We have the choice to continue down our path of inevitable self-destruction or charge ahead differently than the status quo. Manufacturing has moved beyond our borders. Our institutions are in shambles. Our government spends much more than it could ever take to cover its debts. The national debt has surpassed 16 trillion dollars. More and more Americans have fallen into the arms of an ever expanding government dole. Friday morning, the Labor Department released the new jobs numbers for the month of August. 8.1 percent unemployment means that for 43 consecutive months the unemployment rate has been over 8 percent. Full employment is typically 3 to 4 percent. Almost 400,000 pe...

The very idea of eating a delectable beige bean spread on a warm soft flatbread conjures pictures of mounds of spices, shapely pierced metal lanterns, colorfully woven rugs, and bright material hanging as room dividers. Five simple ingredients blend into a creamy delicious dip. Many people buy it already made in a container. Although convenient, I have found that store bought hummus tends to add more ingredients than necessary. Plus, those tubs can be expensive for such a simple nutritious meal or snack. Can you make this exotic dish at home? Yes. Is it easy? Very. Are the ingredients hard to find? Shouldn’t be. I live in a small town and am able to find everything I need in my local grocery stores. Chickpeas (also known as Garbanzos or Ce-ci) can be easily found in the canned bean aisle of your grocery store. They may also be in the latin or ethnic section. Their dried counterpart is harder to find. I buy dried chickpeas in my local Metropolitania’s Indian st...

A week or two ago I was in the middle of spring cleaning which really means spring re-organization. Just about every surface was covered with something. My stomach was rumbling and I wondered what was for dinner. Takeout does not satisfy the way a home cooked meal does. Why not pull from the pantry? I was spring cleaning after all. Digging in the pantry I gathered, two cans of tuna, a can of anchovies, a can of string beans, a can of condensed mushroom soup, and two 13.25 oz boxes of whole wheat spaghetti. First, I filled my pasta pot (with insert) with water and turned on the flame. While that heated, I got out my trusty 7 quart dutch oven. Into the pan, I dumped the entire small can of anchovies plus the packing oil. The tuna was drained before it made it to the pan. I added a touch more olive oil to help sauté the fish. The very thought of canned anchovies may repulse some of you. For you food snobs out there, the canned product I buy is very nice with wide, firm fillets. ...

Think of an orange. The bright, pebbly skin. The sweet, juicy insides. Oranges pair well with foods like chocolate, toast and vodka. But, how about with mozzarella? Or tomato? Olive oil and capers? Garlic and red onion? Absolutely. Do not be fooled by its breakfast and sweet persona. Oranges play well with more savory items also. In Sicily, from where a portion of my ancestors hail, oranges are used in salads with lettuce and shaved fennel. Since that salad is delicious, we decided to change it a bit. My mom has the best food ideas. There are many times where we sit around and talk about different recipes. This recipe is one of them. Take a Caperese Salad. All it is is sliced fresh mozzarella, tomato slices, fresh basil, and a drizzle of olive oil. Now let’s look at our more Sicilian version: Sure we have slices of fresh mozzarella and tomato. But we also have sliced red onion, black and green olives, sliced garlic, and slices of supremed cara cara oranges. ...