The Kitchen Whisperer

Archive for the ‘Weekly Menu’ Category

Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Grandma’s Pittsburgh Fried Bologna Sandwich and the Italian Zucchini Rustica – Pasta Pie!

Happy Sunday from a no-longer-snowing Pittsburgh TKW Family!  Dear Lord I didn’t think it was ever going to stop snowing here! I was ready to write a blog post to Old Man Winter telling him to “Go home! You’re drunk!” Seriously this weather here has been crazy! I think that fat rat/groundhog Phil thing was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off when he said 6 more weeks of winter. I’m thinking he meant like 16 weeks. Geesh! And of course because the weather has been so crappy everyone and their mother is sick including Mr. Fantabulous. How in the world the man gets a cold is beyond me. We both work from home. We rarely go out and yet he gets sick.

But in a way it’s almost a slight blessing if you will as, even though he was sick, he took almost the whole week off from working on the house. He slept a lot which he needed. I worry about him and the toll all this work is taking on him…on me. But I have to believe everything is for a reason, everything has a purpose. We did manage one night to go out and buy drapes/curtains. Is there a difference? Seriously we both have ZERO skills when it comes to interior design, color swatches, patterns and honestly what goes with what. We really don’t have a style. I’d say the only thing he’s not is country/farmhouse style at all where as I kind of like a little bit from each style. Can I just be the Melting Pot Style? Meaning throw a little bit of each style into the bucket and go with that?

So drapes/curtains – whatever they are called we decided to buy 2 of each that we liked as we need to do 6 windows in the master bedroom. Yeah.. we liked all but one of them. Great, right? WRONG!  Kohl’s discontinued the length we needed so we were back to square one. We then finally found a new pattern we liked but now can’t decide on the color. I currently have 18 sets of drapes in my master bedroom that need a decision made as to a color. He wants something to pop and stand out where I want something more subdued and calming. We shall see who wins this battle.

We did manage to find a bunch of really cool wall wart at AtHome that we need to hang. If he’s feeling better today we’ll hang those. But I’m in no rush as I have to pack yet still. I’m heading to Cleveland for a work conference for a couple of days and I just feel like being lazy today. It’s funny how he can be so sick and we didn’t really do much around the house yet I was actually busier than normal.

Let’s kick this week of deliciously!

Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Italian Veggie Stuffed Zucchini Boats and the White Fish Sliders with Spicy Jalapeno Slaw!

Happy Sunday TKW Family!  So I * think* Spring is finally here in the ‘burgh as the snow has finally stopped and it actually was 80F. Oh sure this all happened within a 24 hour period – going from 30F weather to 80F but hey it’s Pittsburgh; this is the norm. I don’t know about you but this girl is ready for sun and warmth. I’ve definitely become one of those folks I used to say I’d never grow up to be – someone who complains about the cold and that wears a sweater when it’s below 70. But I will NOT be a snow bird and move to Florida. Sorry, you’re an awesome state but you are just way too humid for this curly-haired girl. No, I’m heading out west eventually. Give me Scottsdale, Arizona or maybe Gilbert. I’m ok with the high heat (yes I’ve been there when it’s a 120F and yes it’s hot) but when there’s little humidity I’m in love.

So how was your week? Work was okay. We’re in the 2nd stage of testing out a huge release we have coming up; so far so good. I’ve been working with my developers on the redesign of my website, all new email subscriber system and a whole bunch of new stuff. I have A LOT of updates I have to do on the backend but hopefully soon it’ll be launched. I think you guys are going to love it; I know I already do!

As for the home front we’ve been busy with yet more painting. I swear it never ends! Yesterday we painted the main hallways and the foyer edging, plus ceiling. Today he wants to do the walls. This is what he’ll do thankfully as I’m way worse with a roller than a paint brush. My job is just to do edging and well let’s just say I did the edging beautifully but also managed to have paint cake under my nails, all over my shirt AND “frost” the tips of my hair in multiple places. I swear I need a Hazmat suit when I paint!

What are you up to today?

Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Cheesy Ham Peas Baked Penne Casserole and the Hot Damn Sriracha Honey Butter Roasted Chicken!

Happy Sunday TKW Family! I’m coming to you from a house that has all bedrooms freshly painted! Trust me, this was a HUGE ordeal for us. You see one of things we failed to do when we moved in 11 years ago was paint the bedrooms. Now I mean no disrespect to anyone that loves the color blue (specifically ocean/robin egg blue) BUT bedrooms and kitchens should NOT be painted these colors! Okay fine, maybe, if you live near the ocean or what not but in the middle of the country in Pittsburgh most definitely not. These people were blue CRAZY! I mean they even tinted the plaster blue! Yes, seriously!

Each room took at least 2 coats of paint to cover it up and even after that some spots still needed touched up. And yes, we bought the really expensive paint that is supposed to cover in one coat. Um no.. it doesn’t. At least not in this house. We have 1 more day of painting (hallways and stairwells) and I am DONE DONE DONE painting for the rest of my life. Bold statement I know but seriously I should never be allowed to paint..ever! Now comes to fun/hard part – purging 11 years of accumulated stuff and then decorating. I’m OK with purging stuff though it’s Mr. Fantabulous that has a slight issue. The man is like MacGuyver which means every nut, every burnt out fan motor can be fixed or re-purposed. I still am going through my stuff. Like last night I went through my dressers and wardrobe and have 2 HUGE (I mean HUGE) boxes of clothes to donate. I still haven’t tackled the closet – that’s later today.

…and then there is the pig stuff. I have a lot of it and while I love pigs, I do need to reduce some of the items to my most favorite/sentimental pieces. The object here is when we do go to move, to move as little as possible. I mean we’ll keep our bedroom sets (I LOVE them, hand-made for us and super expensive – seriously LOVE Amish made furniture), and things like that but most everything else will go. We’ll actually have a private estate sale when the times comes as there is A LOT of stuff and moving will not be cheap so every little bit helps, right?

So I had such a super fun day yesterday! Mr. Fantabulous had some stuff he wanted to work on so I called up one of my dear friends (who is also a super foodie) to head to downtown Pittsburgh on a foodie-excursion. For those of you that have never been, Pittsburgh’s Strip District is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’m sure other cities have them but Pittsburgh is special. It’s not a super huge city so you’re bound to run into someone you know. But the local shops, the foods and just the experience itself is incredible. From all-Italian store, polish specialty shops to street vendors selling crafts. If you ever get the chance, definitely visit as it’s absolutely incredible!

Have you visited Pittsburgh before?

Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto Pizza with Balsamic Drizzle and the Sheet Pan Applewood Bacon Top Pork Tenderloin with Herbed Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts!

Happy Sunday and more importantly, Happy Easter TKW Family! Hopefully Peter Cottontail visited your house and left you baskets of goodies and the kids found all of the Easter eggs in the yard. I think for me, that was probably my most favorite part of Easter. It wasn’t so much the basket of candy or the delicious Easter ham, it was hunting for eggs. You see since my siblings are all way older than I, by the time I was old enough to hunt for eggs, they were already in high school and hunting for eggs was childish. Mom would (I mean the Easter bunny) would stuff them full of jelly beans (which I hated), M&Ms and one special egg had a dollar in it. However she got smart as it never was the ‘golden egg’. It was always some random egg. I can remember one year, gosh I must have been 5, maybe 6 and we had 8″ of snow. There I was this curly-haired, blue-eyed little girl wrapped from head to toe in my snow suit where all you could see were my eyes. While I was warm, this outfit was not conducive to picking up plastic eggs. My mittens were the size of oven mitts and super thick which meant you couldn’t just pick it up with your hand.

So I’d set my basket down and try to pick up my eggs. Well the one time I went to pick one up I slipped and me, the eggs and the basket went rolling down the hill. If I close my eyes I can still hear my parents belly laughing and then seeing Mom come running out in the snow only wearing her house coat and slippers to help me up.

Today, today we’re taking it easy. Oh sure I’ll make my ham and potatoes but I’m keeping it low-key. This past week has left us both physically drained. We were on super-high speed with house stuff. We got the 3rd bedroom done and have moved on to the master bedroom. All that’s left in there is to paint and put the carpeting in. For us, though we’re just painting. We have a friend that does carpeting for a living so we’re hiring him to do it. I actually can’t be here when he does it as I’m allergic to the glue so um, can I stay with one of you for a few days while it dries and the house airs out? I’ll bring brownies!

On top of the house work it was also Mr. Fantabulous’ birthday. Since his actual birthday was on Thursday we spent the day together doing whatever he wanted which, surprisingly all he wanted to do was hangout in bed and watch tv. Honestly that sounded perfect to me as I needed a break too. However while he would drift off to sleep I would be on my phone texting everyone about his surprise party that was coming up. We kept the party small only because the house isn’t done and I really don’t want a lot of people in this house the way it looks now. I wish it were done as I would have love to throw him a huge bash and have his band play.

How are you spending your Sunday?

Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Slow Baked Boneless Beef Short Ribs and the Fudge Ripple Turtle Brownies!

Happy Sunday TKW Family! How was your past week? Are you ready for Easter? I *kind of* am but not really. I mean I have my ham, the stuff that I put on it when I cook it and my potatoes. I HAVE to make cheesy scalloped potatoes. It’s a must for m. I’ll also make an Easter bread plus something else. I’d love to make my ham in the pressure cooker but I haven’t had a chance to test it out yet so I’m not sure about the results. I mean I know it’ll work but I just honestly haven’t had the time to play around with it. Plus, honestly, there is something that just need oven baked. Don’t get me wrong as I LOVE my Instant Pot but there’s just something about a slow roasted ham with that sticky glaze.

Do you have any Easter must-have foods? Growing up it was always ham but in Mom’s “secret” glaze which honestly wasn’t a secret as everyone’s Mom made it the same way – with ginger ale, orange juice and brown sugar. Yeah, I don’t do that. I like mine with a hint of bourbon, brown sugar, maple and a hint of pineapple and orange. Oh yeah… and 8 million pineapple rings and cherries. Dear God Mr. Fantabulous would have a coronary if I forgot to put those on. I like the pineapple but you know me and demon seeds. *gag*. Mom also served baked beans, potato and macaroni salad, buns for ham sandwiches and assorted desserts. I actually still have her lamb and bunny cake molds. Do you remember the ones that were 2 sided that you joined once cooled. You then piped on frosting, put it on a platter of green-dyed coconut and a million jellybeans.

But man I can’t believe Easter is so early this year. Normally I have a week’s rest between Mr. Fantabulous’ birthday and Easter but this year I have only a few days. Well not even a single day as we’re having a few friends over Saturday night to celebrate his big birthday. I wanted to throw him a huge party but he didn’t want anything. He said it would be different if the house were done but it’s not. So hopefully next year I can have a “make up” party for him. Instead this week I’ll be making most of his favorites. Well let’s be real here, I’ve been doing that all month. Include crepes MULTIPLE times. I’ll make them again this week on his actual birthday.

It’s Mr. Fantabulous’ Birthday week!