All posts tagged: easy

quick pasta with fresh tomato sauce

Published by fairfaxhill

Hello there! Ina Garten’s recipe for Summer Garden Pasta was trending on my feed for several days and I wanted to try it, but after reading you had to let the tomatoes rest for four hours, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. If you know me, you know that my favorite recipes are quick and easy to prepare. Waiting four hours? Not for me! But later I found a similar recipe – also by Ina – that could be prepared in just a few minutes. Much better! I’ve made this two times already in the past two weeks, and can see this joining our weekly staples, like Mustard Seed Chicken, Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki, and other favorites. Ultra sweet, summer tomatoes, the kind you can only find at the market during this time of the year, are the best for this recipe. And don’t skimp on the Parmesan cheese, or my own little secret that I learned from my grandmother: adding one (or two) pats of salted butter right before serving! It makes a …

Zucchini dish

carpaccio di zucchini inspired by our family dinner at cucina

Published by fairfaxhill

Cucina is one of our favorite restaurants. Slowly, it has turned into our go-to place for birthday dinners, especially when they fall in the middle of the week and we don’t have enough time to cook something special. Our order typically includes pizza and pasta. Bombolotti al Sugo is a favorite, and we all like to share the Frito Misto as our starter. We rarely order dessert, since the cake and presents are typically waiting for us back at the house. A few weekends ago we were there again to celebrate Patrick’s parents’ wedding anniversary and got to try some new dishes, including Funghi Ripieni, Carpaccio di Zucchini, Insalata con Bettole, and Donna’s Amazing Almond Cake.  I liked the Carpaccio di Zucchini so much, I had to try to recreate it at home. And guess what? It turned out pretty good. So, I’m sharing my recipe with you. But before I do that, I need to highlight that the key to getting this dish right is to move quickly. And, to make the salad look as pretty as the one …

a baking dish with bread pudding

simple bread pudding with apples and cinnamon

Published by fairfaxhill

Happy Earth Day! I’m baking again. Well, we’ve been baking since March 24. It’s hard to believe that our new stove was delivered almost a month ago, right in time for Patrick’s birthday, which was great. I was even able to bake a birthday cake, with the only problem that the delivery and installation pushed all our cooking plans late into the evening, so there were no good photos of the cake. Okay, the other problem was that my frosting didn’t turn out very pretty. So I didn’t think my first cake in our new oven was blog-worthy. It was tasty, though! Patrick had asked for a lemony dessert, so I made a four-tier mini cake filled with lots of lemon cream.  Since then, we’ve been trying to stay away from eating too many sweets in an effort to get in better shape, so it’s been a bit quiet in the baking department. We are also trying to resume our family hikes on Sundays. We started the tradition some time ago, but haven’t been very consistent. Last …

french toast

French Toast « New Orleans Style »

Published by fairfaxhill

I went on a hike up the hill this morning. Two kilometers, 3,000+ steps, 28 floors. Not bad. All I could think of on my way down the hill was the almost complete loaf of challah bread laying on our kitchen counter. It has been there for a few days, and by now, nobody wants to eat it. So… what to do with challah bread? Of course, you know the answer to that! At our house, only Patrick and I like French toast. The kids have never really wanted to try it. (I know! I don’t get it either.🤷🏼‍♀️ ) So, I’ve learned to make just enough for two. It’s super easy to make. But ever since I visited New Orleans when I was a teenager, I’ve liked to serve mine « New Orleans style. » I don’t know if there’s such a thing. I just remember that when I ordered French toast for breakfast at the inn my mom and I were staying at, what they brought to our table was the definition of …