Tag Archives: Recipes

May19

A flight of New England Fancy – Easter in New York

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It’s been a while since I’ve been back to Massachusetts… I think it was for Dillon and Liz’s wedding, wasn’t it? That’s sounding right… though I frankly can’t believe that was only six months ago. These last few months have felt like forever, and it was high time that I got back East. The rock was calling, family and friends beckoned, and I hadn’t seen my Grandma in far, far too long…

Saturday to Monday, 16-Apr-2022 through 18-Apr-2022

Man… how long has it been since I’ve been in New York to visit my Grandma?

I’d been to Upstate New York back in October of 2021, for Dillon’s bachelor party… but before then? I think it must have been 2017, maybe? Five years… that can’t be right…

It’s been along time, we’ll leave it at that.

I met my Dad and Stepmom there – they’d actually driven out from Arizona (!!!) to visit for a week or two, so just like the Seder earlier in the day, we were getting the whole family together for a long-overdue visit. It’d been ages, and I was absolutely looking forward to a good bit of time catching up with everyone!

And… we spent a good bit of time catching up!

There’s not really too much to go over, as a blog post, for this one. We spent time together, we talked, we told stories, and we took the time that we had as a very appreciated gift. We didn’t rush, we cooked great meals, and I wrote down as many stories as I could get from everyone. We helped out around the house a bit, took walks, played with the cats, and enjoyed the calm and quiet.

It was an excellent few days, and even the unexpected snowstorm on the drive home somehow felt… right.



And, as a quick addition… did I mention that we cooked a lot? I think I poached more eggs that weekend than I have in the last year – having a few experts on hand definitely helped me out, and I’m pretty sure I leveled up my Hollandaise sauce skillz at least a few points…

And, along with the excellent cooking… New recipes to try out!

Feb23

A recipe for success – Smoked Cheddar BBQ Brisket Mac and Cheese

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Sunday, 09-Feb-2014

So back at St. Paddies day last year,I had an amazing dinner out with my coworkers; Mac and Cheese with pulled BBQ brisket on top.

Since then, I’ve tried a few times to recreate this recipe, and I’ve met with success in most of my attempts… the best of them though, was following a variation of the recipe below. It’s VERY rich and thick, so not really viable for someone who wants to limit the amount of cheese that they’re taking in… but if you can survive a cheat day or two, it’s 100% worth it.

Smoked Cheddar and Blue Cheese Brisket Macaroni and Cheese

Now, modifications to the recipe that I took:

First off, I prepped the brisket in a crockpot over a day or so, cooked over a bed of onions.  Then I pulled it apart and mixed it with bbq sauce to taste – enough to give it a kick, but not so much that the original flavor gets masked over.  The drain the whole mess, and let it sit ’till the recipe calls for it.

I use shells, instead of Macaroni, just because… why not?  They’re cooler.

I also use only about half the recommended amount of blue cheese… seriously, that is already a lot of cheese.  Instead of 8oz of cheddar is usually put in 6-7 oz, and then maybe 2oz of blue.  I mean dang people.  Too cheesey is a thing.

Aside though – give it a shot!