Bolognese is a meat based pasta sauce that originates from Bologna, Italy.  In Italy, this sauce is often served with large flat noodles like tagliatelle, pappardelle, or fettuccine… or with tube shapes like rigatoni or penne.  Here in the U.S., “Bolognese” brings to mind a tomato sauce with crumbled ground beef, sometimes with mushrooms, served [...]

I love Fettuccine Alfredo – I almost always order this when at an Italian restaurant… it’s my favorite pasta dish!  Once, I tried to make it at home with Alfredo sauce from a jar… I even bought a good brand… and it was…. really really horrible.  You just can’t get “real” Alfredo sauce from a [...]

Lately, I’ve been trying my hand at making different cocktails and types of martinis.  While I was browsing the Grey Goose website for recipes, I saw an intriguing recipe for making peartinis.  It called for the addition of pear-flavored vodka, which I didn’t have… but I did have pears, and also plenty of plain vodka! [...]

Long ago, I struggled with making bread – no matter what, the dough wouldn’t rise or something would go wrong – and I would end up with a gummy or yeasty heavy loaf that didn’t turn out.  (Or my hands would get tired kneading and I’d give up too soon.)  I’ve made a lot of [...]