cook's profile


Squeezer
 
Home Town: Lynnfield, Massachusetts, USA
Living In: Bristow, Virginia, USA
Member Since: Dec. 2008
Cooking Level: Not Rated
Cooking Interests: Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Frying, Stir Frying, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Italian, Southern, Quick & Easy, Gourmet
Hobbies:
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Green Beans with Carmelized Shallots
Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding
Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding
Blue Chees Crusted Filet Mignon with Port Wine Sauce
Spinach Quiche
About this Cook
My husband and I live 40 miles outside of Washington, DC, and we work in the city. I grew up in Lynnfield, MA, but spent over 20 yrs in Beverly, MA (on the North Shore of Boston) and feel it's my adopted home town. My biggest passion is interior design. I subscribe to at least 10 shelter magazines and love decorating my home. I enjoy cooking and my friends would say I'm an excellent cook, but I am by no means an expert. I love recipes that make me look like a gourmet cook, which I am not! This website has inspired me to discover new, creative recipes and I love that it takes the chore out of everyday cooking when there's always a new recipe to try!
My favorite things to cook
This is a tough one! I love anything with a cream sauce (I know! Not exactly heart healthy!) especially with brandy, cream sherry or wine. Anything with lots of garlic is fine with me. I think my favorite food (besides garlic!) is shrimp. I love quick and easy recipes that come out like I slaved all day! Mexican and Italian are some of my favorites to cook. I also have fun trying to replicate restaurant dishes that I've loved. I make a mean bruschetta, and pretty darn good salsa and guacamole.
My favorite family cooking traditions
Nothing is better than Sunday football and the aromas of a yummy Sunday dinner wafting through the house. I grew up in a house where my dad was a die-hard NE Patriots fan, and nothing makes me feel more cozy than a cold Sunday, nestled at home, football game on and a stew or roast in the oven. That's heaven!
My cooking triumphs
Believe it or not, it has to do with meatloaf! When my husband and I first married we both boasted about our meatloaves. We decided to have a cook-off of sorts. I went first. He took one bite and cried uncle! He never even tried to make his!
My cooking tragedies
This isn't so much of a cooking tragedy as it is a food prep tragedy. I was visiting my sister in California one Thanksgiving and helped out by peeling the potatos. I disposed of the skins from 5 lbs of potatos down her garbage disposal. It ended up clogging her sink and backing up. Her poor husband was under the sink trying to fix it in the middle of trying to get Thanksgiving dinner prepared. We weren't able to use the sink the rest of the day, which also made clean up rather challenging. Needless to say, I felt terrible. To this day I have never put a potato skin down a disposal!
Recipe Reviews 18 reviews
Spicy Lime-Cilantro Marinated Flank Steak
I could drink this stuff it's soooo good! I use it on everything--all cuts of steak, pork and chicken. The aroma alone is intoxicating. It is hands down my favorite marinade.

4 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Dec. 29, 2010
Lemon Orange Cake
After an extensive search on my recipe sites for the perfect choclolate cake for my husband's birthday he announced he wanted a lemon cake. Yikes! Back to my computer I went. I came upon this recipe and it fit the bill. My husband declared it the best ever while he devoured it for dessert, with coffee in the morning, after lunch...any excuse for a piece would do. Then why only four stars you may wonder? Two things: first, for some reasong it only gave me enough batter for two layers. I followed the recipe exactly, using my brand new Kitchenaide Artisan stand mixer. I used two 9 inch cake pans and I didn't overfill them by any means; in fact I barely filled them half way. I didn't read this problem with any other reviewers, so I can't say what went wrong. This wasn't a big problem since it's just the two of us and we do not need to be pigging out on a humungous three tiered tower. Second problem: just as another reviewer noted, there was not enough frosting. I used every drop to frost the two layered cake, so I'm not sure how on earth this could frost a three layered monster! As for the cake itself, it was moist, refreshing and delectable. Yes, the lemon flavor in the cake is subtle, but it's perfect, especially since the citrus flavor in the frosting is packed with flavor. I used fresh squeezed lemon for the lemon juice. The combination of lemon and orange was mouth watering. Even though I made this in December it's a fabulous summertime option.

7 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Dec. 25, 2009
Special Deviled Eggs
These were not a hit in my house. Hubby & I both love deviled eggs, but these had several problems. First, the filling was way to runny. I followed the recipie exactly, and knew right away there was a problem. I went back to re-read the reviews, and sure enough others had the same problem. I had to add the yoke from six more eggs to make the filling the right consistency. It also helped to refrigerate the filling before stuffing the eggs. Problem solved. However, nothing could solve the problem of the relish. It overpowered everything! It overpowered the tang of the horseraddish, it overpowered the onion--it's all we could taste. No amount of tweaking could tame the relish. My husband, who usually devours deviled eggs, ate one and called it quits. Sorry, this one's just not for us.

2 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Dec. 25, 2009
 
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