Stuffed Peppers – A History One of the best things about peppers is that they are inherently hollow, and just begging to be stuffed with stuff. Growing up with an Italian mom, we had stuffed…
Well the garden has about six more weeks before the frost comes, so now are the golden days. Beautiful vine ripe tomatoes that you can pick, cut thick slices for salami-tomato sandwiches, and throw the…
As you know, I’m an avid vegetable gardener. I grow what I like, and anything my wife, the lovely Denise, tells me to. One of the things we argue about every year is tiny tomatoes. …
Somebody told me once that making good chili really separates the men from the boys. And that any chili worth its salt uses ancho chili powder. This year, I grew enough peppers to dry and…
In the rush of peppers at the end of the season, I ended up with a ton of shishito peppers, most of them from one prolific plant. These were a bit bigger than the finger-size…
First, let me make something clear. My wife, Denise, is the cook in the family. Before I met her, if I wanted to eat, I cooked it myself. Since we’ve been together, I realize that…
Every big Italian family has an Aunt Marge, the matriarch who holds everything together. My mom is the ninth of ten kids. Aunt Marge was up around number 2 or 3. She was always old…
Enjoy the taste of fresh tomatoes all year round with my best canned salsa recipe. With tomatoes, it’s feast or famine. In the winter, they can only be grown indoors, or in places where it…
Easy Chili Rellenos, a Mexican favorite you can easily make at home. My mom’s Italian. They stuff things. They stuff cheese into manicotti, they stuff ground beef and spinach into ravioli. And they love to…