While visiting my daughters in the Washington, D.C. area, I made a trip to the local seafood market.  Really fresh seafood is hard to come by in the mountains of North Carolina, where my husband and I spend our summers.  I was instantly intoxicated by the variety of fish and crustaceans exhibited, including the octopus.  […]

HOW TO FINELY MINCE GARLIC Many of my recipes call for finely minced garlic.  There are basically two popular methods for mincing garlic.  Most people use a chef or Santoku knife and chop the garlic on a cutting board.  Another method is to use a garlic press, which does not produce a fine mince.  There […]

Biscotti means cookie in Italian.  It is a generic term.  I often hear people saying that they made biscotti or they ate biscotti.  They leave me guessing as to what kind of cookie it is.  I have to ask what flavor is it – almond, chocolate, or vanilla?  One common characteristic of “biscotti” is that many of […]

Potato salads go well with just about any kind of grilled meat, which makes it an ideal side dish for summer picnics or family gatherings.  This simple vinegar (vinaigrette) based potato salad is a light refreshing change from the more common mayo-based potato salad.  Be sure to use new potatoes for this dish.  I love […]

What could be better than having fried chicken for a summer time picnic or get together?  Leftovers are also great the next day, if not better.  This southern Italian fried chicken is about as southern as it got in our family growing up.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one. This is my mother Maria’s fried […]