luvinlif2k

about me

I grew up in PA Dutch country and now live in the suburbs of D.C. I am a homemaker and love to play with my kids who are now 6 and 3. My favorite room in the house is the kitchen. My newest chapter on food exploration is replacing DD's daily PB&J with more interesting and tasty (to her) brown bag meals for school. I enjoy experimenting with different culinary traditions. When I find the time to play in the kitchen uninterrupted, dinner can be quite an adventure at our house.

My ultimate month off would be to spend a month travelling around the world as a food critic. - send me back to St-Jean-De-Luz in SW France for Chipirones (a fabulous squid dish)along the bay!

My favorite cookbooks are:
Extending the Table by Joetta Handrich Schlabach
The Williamsburg Cookbook
The Burger Meisters by Marcel Desaulniers
The Common Grill Cookbook by Chef Craig Common
and most recently, America's Best Bread Machine Baking Recipes by Donna Washburn & Heather Butt
(Update on 8/23/07- hm! Still the same!)

Favorite Foods:

Aside from mac and cheese, our favorite dishes include Chicken and Broccoli Thai Curry (red or green), Peanut Soup, roasted asparagus, Trini Burgers topped with marinated & grilled portabello mushroom caps and Ultimate Peanut Butter Pie.

Ultimate Peanut Butter pie became renowned at the bake sales that our local Mom's group did for the musicals at church.

My Heros are: Emeril for giving me the inspiration to "kick it up a notch" in my own kitchen and Chef Craig Common of The Common Grill in Ann Arbor, MI. Every recipe I have made from his cookbook has become a legend among my friends and family.

My favorite restaurant at this point is probably Ze Mean Bean in Baltimore, MD. Their borscht is heavenly as are Ma's desserts. I also love Moroccan food so Marrakesh ranks right up there as well. I also love the escape into what is definitely a dining experience... great music ... relaxing ambience ... yes, definitely an escape.

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