I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
Right now, things are pretty quiet. I am not seeing much on my walks. The trees are filled with birds. I can hear them and I look for them when I hear them, but they are busy building their nests, so I don’t see them too much. The same is true for all my ducks and geese. But I am seeing a lot of prairie dogs. They are always out chirping about.
Sometimes they are out by themselves.
And sometimes they gather in groups.
Either way, they are always fun to see. These cute little critters always seem so happy and curious about everything, and they love to be out and about.
I bet you think I am talking about wine, right? NOPE. Not this time. This time, I am talking about the big, bold red sauce I made for my sausage and peppers.
Sausage and peppers are a favorite here at our house. I make it different ways all the time. Sometimes I sauce it up, and sometimes I don’t. This time I sauced it up with a big, bold red sauce made from lots of different tomatoes.
Big, Bold Red Sauce
I love tomatoes of all kinds, and I use tomatoes all the time. I mix and match them all the time too, like I did for this sauce. I used big, colorful heirloom tomatoes, vine ripened tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes for this sauce.
4-5 lbs tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2/3 cup onion, diced
1 TBSP garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/3-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
6 TBSP olive oil
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt & pepper, garlic and dried herbs into a food processor and process until it is all chopped and blended together.
Get a large skillet very hot, add the olive oil and the onions and cook for about 2 minutes, or until the onions soften.
Once the onions are softened, add the tomato mixture and mix in well. Add the balsamic vinegar and the red wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 45-60 minutes, stirring frequently. You want the sauce to thicken quite a bit.
While the sauce is cooking, prepare the bell peppers, mushrooms and sausage. I used hot Italian links and cooked them in a separate pan, then sliced them. I used red, orange, yellow peppers and sliced mushrooms.
When the sauce is thick enough, add the sliced sausages and mix together well. Spoon the sausage and sauce over cooked linguini, then added the peppers and mushrooms on top. Larry added Mozzarella cheese to his, and I topped it all with fresh chopped parsley. I served it with garlic and herb cheese bread and, of course a big, bold red sauce needs a big, bold red wine to go with it.
!Mangia! Enjoy! This is a hearty, tasty meal you’re going to love. You can substitute chicken as well.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it, so make it fantastic. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
There are so many different ways to enjoy potatoes. You can prepare them in an endless array of recipes. I LOVE potatoes and can eat them any which way they come, and I do too. 🙂
When I was looking for Asian side dishes, one of the recipes I chose to make was roasted curried potatoes. They paired perfectly with the Asian steak Asian Steak and the broccoli with the ginger wine sauce. Broccoli In A Ginger Wine Sauce
Potatoes, originally domesticated in South America, were introduced to Asia by European traders, primarily the Dutch, during the late 16th and 17th centuries. Initially viewed as curiosities or ornamental plants, they were adopted as famine food and eventually became staple crops in regions like Japan and China due to their ability to grow in poor soil. When potatoes were initially introduced to the East, they were known as “foreign devils’, as well as yangyu because they were foreign and came from across the oceans and helan shu (Dutch yam). Despite not being a native staple, potatoes became embedded in local cuisines, such as Japanese jaga-imo dishes, Chinese shredded potato stir-fry (tu dou si), and Korean gamja-tang (potato stew). Today, potatoes are used in a wide variety of Asian dishes and are widely popular all throughout the Asian countries.
Roasted Curried Potatoes
“Potatoes are to a cook what a blank canvas is to a painter (as Brillat-Savarin once said about chicken) – raw material for inspiration”. (p. 299 -Terrific Pacific Cookbook, Von Bremzen and Welchman) This is so true. You can do anything with potatoes.
1/4 cup oil, I like to use olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp curry powder
1 TBSP paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 TBSP garlic
salt to taste
1-2 lbs potatoes – I used mixed small potatoes, cut into quarters.
Preheat the oven to 400*F or 205*C.
Heat the oil in a hot skillet and add the spices and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add the potatoes and salt and toss.
Spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for about 35-45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Toss the potatoes a couple of times during the roasting process.
Preheat the broiler and place the potatoes under the broiler for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the potatoes are nice and crisp. Serve hot and enjoy.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Live is what you make it, so make it fantastic. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
When I cook different ethnic foods, I like to follow a theme for the whole meal or event. I made Asian steak Asian Steak so I wanted the rest of the meal to go with it, Asian style of course. So I started looking through my various Asian cookbooks to see what I could come up with. One of the dishes I decided upon was to make some Chinese broccoli in a ginger wine sauce, though I used regular broccoli and it worked just fine.
Chinese broccoli in a ginger wine sauce, also known as gai lan, a classic Cantonese dish rooted in Southern Chinese home cooking and restaurant cuisine. It balances the “cooling” nature of the vegetable with the “warmth” of ginger and Shaoxing wine, often served for its vibrant green color, crisp texture, and subtle, bitter flavor. Ginger is consistently paired with broccoli to balance its natural yin properties, with ginger juice sometimes used to intensify the flavor. The dish relies on ginger, garlic, and Chinese rice wine (such as Shaoxing) to create a savory, aromatic sauce.
The differences between Chinese broccoli and regular broccoli are more in appearance than anything else, though they do have slightly different tastes too. Chinese broccoli has longer stems and with broad, flat leaves and small flower buds. Standard broccoli has a thick, single stalk with a large, dense “tree-like” head. Chinese broccoli has a slightly bitter, earthy, and sometimes slightly pungent taste. Regular broccoli is milder and grassy. There is also broccolini, which is a hybrid between the two. It is believed that early Portuguese explorers brought cabbage to Asia and through generations of selections it has developed into Chinese broccoli.
Broccoli in A Ginger Wine Sauce
You can use either Chinese broccoli, regular broccoli or broccolini for this recipe. They are all similar enough to each other that they would all work.
3 TBSP oil
2 tsp minced ginger
3-4 garlic cloves, sliced very thin
1 lb broccoli, cut into small florets
2 TBSP brown sugar
3 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 TBSP water
Steam the broccoli first, then drain. Short cooking vegetables preserves the natural sweetness, crispness and vitamins of the vegetables.
Mix the brown sugar, soy sauce and sherry together.
In a very hot skillet or wok, add the oil, garlic and ginger. Add the brown sugar soy sauce mix and cook until the garlic is browned and the sauce has mixed together.
Add the steamed broccoli and mix together well. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute.
Add the cornstarch and mix in thoroughly, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook until the sauce thickens a bit. Serve immediately while hot. Top with sesame seeds right before serving.
The brown sugar and ginger really enhance the flavors of the broccoli and dress it up perfectly. It will go well with anything you want to serve it with as well.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it so make it great. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
I always tell Larry to pull out whatever he wants to eat from the freezer for the week. I will cook whatever he brings out. He pulled out another steak. OK. No problem. We both love steak. This time I cooked it Asian style, for something a little different.
Asian Steak
Thanks to the famous spice trail, there are many similarities between many different types and styles of food. I was able to use my leftover paprika vinaigrette Steak with Paprika Vinaigrette as part of my marinade for my Asian steak. I just added to it. I love it when I can recreate from my leftovers. 🙂
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP chili powder
2 tsp paprika
1 1 /2 tsp cumin
1 TBSP garlic
1 TBSP onion
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup orange juice
2 TBSP fresh ginger
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 1/2-2 lbs ribeye steak
Mix all the ingredients together well and marinade the steak for about 4-5 hours before searing to perfection.
When ready to cook, you can either place the steak on a hot grill or you can sear it on top of the stove to make a nice crust all around. I seared mine. It was crusted over on the outside and a perfect medium rare on the inside. When I sear my meats, I get the skillet VERY hot, then add both olive oil and butter. Depending on the thickness of the meat, cook for about 3-4 minutes per side.
After the meat is cooked, let it rest under a “tent” for a few minutes before cutting or slicing. I sliced this steak into thin strips and topped it with some of the marinade and sliced green onions.
Keeping an Asian theme, I served the steak with some Chinese style broccoli and some curried roasted potatoes, spring rolls and a smooth red blend on the side to complete the meal. Delicious!
You may eat the same meats a lot, but there is no reason they have to be prepared the same way time and time again. I have always said the sauce makes the meal. So sauce it up and change the sauces. Like I always say, play with your food. Have fun with it. 🙂
Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it, so make it fantastic. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
Priscilla and Jonathan had us over for a belated birthday celebration, and as always, Priscilla made it such a beautiful, elegant affair. She has a real flair for turning simple events into very classy and elegant events. She sets the table with fine china and tableware. There are always simple, elegant floral displays, and the food, well that just goes without saying. Priscilla is a fabulous cook, and everything always tastes spectacular.
Priscilla made a delicious seafood gumbo and I brought my roasted red pepper bread Roasted Red Pepper Bread. They paired together perfectly. Priscilla said she had never made gumbo before, but you would never know it. It was absolutely perfect.
For dessert, she made a sticky cake with a caramel sauce and served it with ice cream. As always we had a deliciously fun evening with our life long friends. After dinner, we played some games and just enjoyed the evening and our times together.
And there was even a beautiful gift on the table for me as well. Everything Priscilla does is graced by her simple elegance; even the gift wrapping.
A couple of years ago, Priscilla had given me these gorgeous hand made wine glasses from Spain. I just love them. My present this year was a votive holder/flower vase that matched the wine glasses.
Priscilla knows me so well. She knows I love everything Spanish and anything from Spain. But then after knowing each other for literally 50+ years, we should know each other well. 🙂 Thank you Priscilla and Jonathan for an extra special birthday celebration, but most importantly for the gift of your friendship.
I am very blessed in many ways, but my most precious gifts are the gifts of friendship I have been blessed with. I have so many wonderful friends, and of course my loving husband, Larry. Life is very good indeed. Thank you, to all of you who always make me feel so special and so very loved. I am forever grareful.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Be grateful for all the many little things that happen in your life. They are far more important than think. The little things make all the difference and turn ordinary days into a special days. ‘Til next time.
When I made my gypsy steak Gypsy Steak we had enough leftovers to make another meal. You all know how I love to play with my leftovers. This time the Queen came dressed as a gypsy. It was a warm day, so I turned my steak leftovers into a delicious gypsy style salad.
Gypsy Steak Salad
I used a lot of the same ingredients I did for my gypsy steak, and made more of the paprika vinaigrette, then added a few more ingredients to make this salad very warm and welcoming.
Arrange everything on top of a bed of mixed salad greens, ending with the steak slices and topping with just the right amount of the paprika vinaigrette.
I served my roasted red pepper bread and a glass or two of a big, bold red wine on the side. DELICIOUS! It was a great, hearty salad filled with all kinds of goodness.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it, so make it fantastic. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
You all know about my love of bread. I could easily live on bread, and butter, alone for the rest of my days, and I would indeed be a very happy camper. It doesn’t matter what kind of bread either. I love all kinds of breads. As our friend and dog sitter Zoe said, “I’ve never met a bread I didn’t like”. This is so true for me as well, though I certainly have my preferences, and there are definitely types I like better than others, but overall, that is a very true statement.
I love making and baking bread too. My latest bread making adventure was to make a couple of loaves of a roasted red pepper bread. It so moist and full of flavor and just melts in your mouth. Coupled with a smearing of soft butter, or better yet, a specialty butter from Bella La Crema, Bella La Crema, ahhhh, it was a little mouthful of Heaven on earth. 🙂
Because I made two loaves, I shared some of this deliciousness with others, Zoe being one of the lucky recipients. 🙂
Roasted Red Pepper Bread
This is an easy-peasy, delicious bread that will go with anything.
1 1/2 cups or about 2 large bell peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded – or red and orange
2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
2 TBSP warm water
1 1/4 cups shredded dry cheese, like either Manchego or Parmigiano, divided
1/2 cup warm milk
2 TBSP softened butter
1 1/4 tsp salt
3-3 3/4 cup flour
1 egg for the eggwash
fresh ground black pepper
Once the peppers are roasted, sweat them in a plastic bag for about 1/2 an hour. Then remove the skins and the seeds and rinse.
Mix the yeast with the water and let set for about 10 minutes or until it becomes frothy.
Place the peppers, 1 cup of the cheese, yeast mixture, milk, butter, salt and 1 1/2 cups of flour into a food processor and blend. I thought I had more Parmigiano cheese, but I ended up not having enough, so I mixed both Parmigiano and Manchego cheese. Once the mixture is blended together, place it all on a floured surface, with the rest of the flour, kneading in as much flour as the dough will take. Do not over knead or use too much flour. Both over kneading and too much flour will make the dough tough. You want a nice soft dough.
Once the dough is all mixed together, shape it into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil. Lightly coat the doughball with olive oil too. Cover and let rest in a warm area for about 1-1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and cut into 6 equal portions. Roll each dough portion into a ball, then roll into a long rope, about 18″ long.
This dough makes 2 loaves. Use 3 ropes for each loaf. Braid them together and pinch the ends together firmly. Place 1 loaf on a baking sheet pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray and repeat. Cover and let rest and rise again, for about an additional hour to hour and a half, or until it doubles in size once again.
Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180*C.
Make the egg wash and coat the tops of each loaf. Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese on top and then add the fresh ground black pepper. Bake for about 25-40 minutes, or until the loaves are lightly browned and the bottoms are hollow when tapped.
Allow the bread to cool slightly before serving and enjoying. And enjoy it you will too. 🙂 Both Zoe and her mom and good friend Wendy raved about the bread.
Life is short. Enjoy the simple things in life, like homemade breads. To me, there is nothing better than homemade bread and butter. 🙂
Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it, so make it fantastic. May 2026 be filled with happiness, lots of good homemade bread, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
After weeks of working hard on my pendant, it is finally finished. WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! I am very pleased with how it turned out. I think it came out very nice, even if I say so myself. I can honestly say I am a budding silver smith now. 🙂
Here is the process once again. And believe me, it was a process, and definitely a labor of love. Everything was hand crafted by me. I did not use any molds or casting. I cut and soldered every piece of silver. The saw is proving to be quite a challenge, particularly for my bracelet, but more on that in a bit. The tools, the silver, and the stones.
I chose the stone on the right for this first project because it was easier to work with for a newbie like myself. It is some kind of a jasper, with copper veins running through it. The stones are sitting on the silver that will be the back of the bezel.
The rope and bezel.
After everything was completed, before setting the stone, it was polish, polish, polish, and polish again until it was all bright and shiny. Then I got to set the stone and another quick polish on the polishing machine. A quick clean up, and it was finally done. 🙂
I am proof that you CAN actually teach an old dog new tricks. Now if I could just get the hang of using the saw for all my zigzags on my bracelet, I would be a very happy camper, or in this case, silver smith, indeed. 🙂 I am going in for another workshop today to work on my bracelet. I have a lot to do on it still.
It’s never too late to learn new things. Learning new things keeps us young, or at the very least, young at heart. Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it, and sometimes, you make bright, shiny bling. 🙂 May 2026 be filled with happiness, new adventures, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.
My I have a lot of photos of animals being gregarious. Both our dogs, Dorrie and Juneau are ALWAYS together, whether they are getting into trouble together or just hanging out, looking for love.
Our two cats, Otis and Nicodemus (Nicky) are the same.
But I also see others being gregarious all the time too.
Maybe we can all learn more about being gregarious from the animal kingdom and our beloved fur babies. 🙂
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 