Author: Lisa Leahy

Surviving the chaos of life with good food and great friends ... and maybe the occasional glass of wine.

The Easiest Homemade Barbecue Sauce

This barbecue sauce has been a staple in our house for years. It is so easy to make and easily adaptable. Everyone loves it and it freezes wonderfully. It is great on chicken, spareribs, hamburgers, shrimp and even cauliflower!

Almost Everybody’s Happy to Be a Fool for Barbecue

-Jack Nicholson-

The Easiest Homemade Barbecue Sauce

This basic barbecue sauce is easily adaptable and great on chicken, ribs, burgers and cauliflower!
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course: Appetizer, dinner, lunch, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp. Avocado oil vegetable or canola will work too
  • 1 Shallot finely chopped, (onion will work too)
  • 3-4 cloves Garlic finely minced
  • 2 cups Ketchup
  • 3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (I have used red wine vinegar in a pinch and it was great)
  • 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar White sugar will work also.
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Chili Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper I have used Tabasco Sauce instead on many occassions.
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes optional
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
 

  1. Heat the oil over medium heat and saute the shallots for about three minutes
  2. Add the garlic and sauté for another few minutes until translucent.
  3. Add the Ketchup, Vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, sugar, chili powder, cayenne and cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. (Don't put the vinegar first, the smell will burn your eyes. Like cutting onions x 100)
  4. Mix and bring to a soft boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for at least 20 minutes. It will thicken up.
  5. Makes about 3 cups.

Notes

This recipe is easily adaptable and freezes great. I hope you enjoy it!

Keeping it bubbly! – Trick to keeping Champagne and Prosecco bubbly

Smile…. There’s bubbly

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The easiest trick to save that leftover bubbly. Whether it be Champagne, Prosecco, Cava or even sparkling cider.


We like to celebrate things in our house. So it is not unusual for us to have a bottle of Champagne or Prosecco in the fridge. You never know when you will need to make a quick toast or have a Mimosa or an Aperol Spritz. But, we are not big drinkers so we tend to have some leftover and there is nothing worse than flat champagne. Well of course there are worse things, but you get the picture.

I used to work at a French company back in the day and after work on Friday’s we would buy bottles of champagne (good champagne) and celebrate the end of a good week.  That was a great job! There were a lot of tipsy train rides home but we were young and not driving, so who cared. My boss, who was French and grew up in champagne country taught us a trick to preserve the bubbles so you could finish the bottle the next day.

It’s very simple…… Put a spoon in the bottle and put it in the fridge…..That’s it!!!  It is so simple and it works. Thanks Thierry! This holiday season, I was telling someone and they did not believe me so we tested it…. and I was right. Everyone was extremely impressed.  My daughter even tried it with Sparkling Cider and it worked. It is a great tip, that you will probably never have to use…..because who has leftover Champagne or Prosecco or Cava!

I make Prosecco disappear, what’s your superpower?

-Unknown

Spaghetti & Meatballs with Sausages

I do not claim to be Italian but this Irish/Scottish Mom makes a pretty good Sunday Gravy or Sauce, however you would like to call it. It will never be as good as my childhood neighbor, Mrs. DiScipio’s Gravy. Anything she made was amazing. Once a year she would make a homemade tomato sauce from tomatoes from her garden. On Friday nights she would make pizza with that sauce. I dream about that pizza. But the whole point of this blog is to share our family recipes with my children. Because food is love.

It has taken many years but I have finally figured out the meatballs. Adding the pork mixture from the sausages to the ground beef mixture was a game changer. Whenever I made the meatballs before, you never knew how they would come out.

My kids love this recipe and it is a good staple recipe for a great Sunday Dinner.

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.

-Julia Child

Spaghetti & Meatlballs with Sausages

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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 4 hours
Course: dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 lbs. 80/20 Ground Beef Can add pork or veal too
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup Bread crumbs homemade, italian style or even Gluten Free
  • 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese or romano Or any combination of the two
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp. Chopped parsley
  • 1 15 oz Can of Tomato Paste
  • 3 Cans of warm water
  • 2-3 32 oz Ground Peeled Tomatoes I use Pastene
  • 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup Wine I use white, but red is great too
  • 1 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
  • 1 tbsp dried basil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1.2 tbsp dried parsley
  • Salt & Pepper to Taste
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Method
 

Meatballs
  1. In a large bowl, break up the ground beef.
  2. Take one or two of the sausages that you are planning to put in to the sauce and slice the casing off. Break apart the sausage meat and add it to the ground beef mixture.
  3. Add the eggs, bread crumbs, cheese and parsley. Gently mix. DO NOT OVERMIX.
  4. I use a cookie scoop so all the meatballs are the same size, but you don't have to.
  5. Get a bowl of warm water to keep your hands and the scoop wet. Gently form the balls and put on a greased cookie sheet with a rack.
  6. Poke holes in the remaining sausage and add them to the rack also. Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, flipping after 20 minutes.
  7. ALTERNATIVE: My mother just put the meatballs and sausage directly into the sauce to cook there completely. They were always very good. It will just take longer too cook. I have also cooked the meatballs and sausages in a cast iron skillet, this works well too.
Tomato Sauce
  1. In a large, heavy pot, over medium heat, saute' the garlic in the olive oil.
  2. When the garlic becomes translucent add the wine and red pepper flakes. Cook for a few minutes.
  3. Add the tomato paste and three cans of warm water. I like to use a whisk here as it helps to mix the paste. When the mixture is smooth, bring to a boil, add the bay leaf and the cans of Ground Peeled Tomatoes. Add the rest of the spices and sugar. Bring to a boil and then reduce mixture to a simmer.
  4. When the meatballs and sausages are done, add them to the sauce and simmer for at least two hours.
  5. This is always better the next day.
  6. Serve with your favorite crusty bread and a salad.

Notes

Allergy Information:  Nut Free, Tree Nut Free. This recipe is easily adaptable to suit your allergy needs. I use Gluten Free breadcrumbs. You could leave the cheese out of the meatball mixture. 

LETTER TRACING FOR KIDS: PRE-K WRITING PRACTICE

Pandemic hits and you are bored, so what do you do? Put all those graphic designs skills to use and create some workbooks and journals. Would love if you checked out my first workbook Letter Tracing for Kids: Pre-K Writing Practice.

Give your preschool aged child a headstart with fun and engaging letter writing practice sheets. This beginner handwriting book contains over 70 pages of brightly colored, creative tracing activities. A fun way to build confidence and improve penmanship all while teaching them letters and beginning spelling.

Breast Cancer and The Black Apron

If you know, you know…if you don’t, follow along.

This is not my usual food blog post, so if it does not apply to you, feel free to skip this. But unfortunately, if Breast Cancer does not affect you personally, more than likely it will affect someone you know at some point and this is a good tip to pass along.

As many of you may know, 4 years ago I was diagnosed with Triple Positive Breast Cancer and had a double mastectomy with reconstruction followed by 14 months of chemo/infusions. There are certain things that you learn along the way, that you feel compelled to share with people and “The Black Apron” was a biggie for me.

When you get a mastectomy there are drains that need to be dealt with. These drains have weight to them and with them hanging, there is pulling and they get in the way and it is very unpleasant/painful. The doctor will give you a special sports bra looking contraption with hooks to hang the drains from and it will do the job. Lots of people suggested sweatshirts with pockets, specifically zip up hoodies, because you can’t lift your arms over your head. These zip up hoodies have almost inner pockets that are a result of how they are put together and these kind of worked.

One day I was looking for something and found an old black waitress apron from my bartender/waitress days and it had two pockets. I thought maybe if I wore that and put the drains in the pockets of the apron it might be more comfortable. It was life-changing. It was very inconspicuous and slimming and laid perfectly for the drains to reach. If I wore a long shirt over it you couldn’t even tell I had drains at all. In addition, I didn’t look huge from them swinging in front. But the most important thing, is the pain and unpleasantness was diminished so much. Not gone of course, but so much better.

The day I walked into the plastic surgeons office for a check up, he was instantly confused. Why did I look like my drains were gone? He loved the idea of the apron and said that he would recommend it to all of his patients. I am not the first person to come up with this, I have heard other people talk of it since, but it is my go-to gift when I hear someone has to have a mastectomy. I found this one Amazon from Boharers and it is very inexpensive.

If there is one thing I have learned is, it is that we are all in this together and we need to share our knowledge.

If your path demands you to walk through Hell, walk as if you own the place.

-Unknown

Gluten Free Indian Flat Bread

I always love to share great new Gluten Free products when I find them. Recently, I decided to explore this local Indian Marketplace that I have heard great things about. Patel Brothers in North Attleboro Massachusetts. We love Indian food in our house so this was going to be fun.

My family is a big fan of butter chicken and Tikka Masala, but after seeing this place, I need to get more adventurous. Maybe they offer cooking classes.

When I hit the frozen food section, I came across this interesting item. Haldiram’s Gluten Free Chapati (Indian flatbread). I just had to buy it. My family always eats flatbread when I attempt Indian cuisine, but due to my gluten intolerance, I am always left out. Brought it home and made it straight away. I heated the Chapati up in a cast iron skillet and it only took a few minutes.

They are fantastic. I have been eating them with eggs in the morning, as a sandwich wrap and my daughter stole one and made a quesadilla with it. I think I need to buy a case.

Food is our common ground, a universal experience

-James Beard

Stuffed peppers

This recipe is one that I tried to re-create from a wonderful meal we had dining al fresco at Gillette Stadium, where they have a wonderful plaza of restaurants and shops. We decided to try Tavolino’s Pizzeria and it was great.  I had the Chicken Caesar Salad Gluten Free Pizza and I would highly recommend it. My husband ordered the stuffed pepper appetizer and they were amazing.  I just had to figure out how to cook them. To be clear, I currently have a stuffed pepper recipe that I love, but since I went gluten free it is on the “NO” list. But these stuffed peppers are gluten free and amazing. They are an updated version of the stuffed peppers that mom would make when I was a kid.  You remember those….minute rice and tomato soup!  These are much better and pretty easy to make.

“A home cooked meal is a labor of love”

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Stuffed Peppers

An updated version of this classic comfort food meal.
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Servings: 6 servings
Course: Appetizer, dinner, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, Italian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2-3 cups Cooked white or brown rice
  • 7 Bell Peppers Any color you like
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb Ground Beef 80/20 (You could use ground turkey or chicken also)
  • 1 lb. Hot or Sweet Italian Sausage I used sweet and then spiced up the sauce
  • 1 Small, white onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 28 oz. cans Ground Peeled Tomatoes I used Pastene No Salt Version (unsolicited)
  • 1 15 oz. can Diced Tomatoes
  • 3 tsp Dried Basil I tend to use more
  • 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes Can use less if you not into spicy
  • 1/2 tbsp sugar
  • Salt & Pepper To taste
  • 2 tbsp. Fresh Basil chopped
  • 2 tbsp. Fresh Parsley chopped
  • 2 cups Cooked white rice
  • 1 1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella

Method
 

  1. Cook the rice in advance and set it aside.
  2. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
  3. Add Olive oil to a hot frying pan.  Brown the sausage and ground beef.  Drain off liquid. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Add the wine and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan.  Cook down a bit and then add the tomatoes, dried spices, and sugar.  Let simmer for at least 30 minutes.   Add the fresh basil and parsley and now it is ready.,
  4. While the sauce is cooking, cut the tops off the peppers and clean them out.  Put the cooked rice into a mixing bowl and add a few cups of the sauce as well as the ground beef mixture.  Don’t make it too wet, or you will have “soupy” peppers.
    Stuff the peppers with the rice/meat mixture and add them to a baking pan. Try to have them fit snuggly into the pan, so they do not tip over.
  5. These take longer to cook than you might think.  I would cook them for at least 40 minutes.
  6. After 40 minutes, take them out, add a generous amount of mozzarella to the top of each pepper, and put them back into the oven for at least another 20 minutes.
  7. Everything inside has been cooked, but you want the peppers to soften, and this takes a while.
  8. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with the extra sauce and a glass of wine! Be prepared one of these is a hearty meal. Enjoy!

Allergens: Dairy

Quarantine Cravings….

Today is Friday and I was tested on Monday night. Why did I get tested? I had stomach issues, a headache and a low grade fever Sunday night into Monday night. So I got tested… Work is trying to find someone to cover my shifts, my college kids couldn’t go back to school or work, my husband is home and my youngest had to miss her two day hybrid schooling. I am stuck in my room, losing my mind. I feel perfectly fine now and assume it was all for nothing. Yesterday, I went outside by myself and had a bonfire and I might go for a solo walk (with a mask) in a bit, but I feel horrible for inconveniencing my family. It is my eldest’s birthday this weekend and she wants to be with her roommates enjoying herself. Kids today have so little to look forward too and I have taken this away from her. It is her senior year and so many “events” have been cancelled and now I am ruining her birthday. A while back, I had cancer and thought I knew what all this quarantining was about, but that didn’t restrict my family from living their lives and I could leave my room.

I have thought a lot this week about the pandemic and how people are handling it. When I had cancer, people bent over backwards to help me and I believe if I asked them to wear a mask around me, people would have. Everyone said, “go to the best doctors, do what they tell you, trust them.” This pandemic is like a cancer and we all need to do our part, trust the doctors and have patience.

Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.

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What have I done to handle the confinement. Downloaded books, which I did not read. Sorted through the Christmas presents hidden in my closet and changed the whole look of my blog and watched a lot Food Network, Travel Channel and Hallmark Christmas movies. In addition to all of this… was an undeniable craving for Bruschetta. I cannot wait to get out of here and make it.

If I could have found a rapid test, I would have done that. I worry that people are not getting tested because of the wait time for results. This is really quite hard. Being stuck in your room for 24 hours a day, most likely for nothing. But I will do it, because we all need to do our part. I think of what my grandparents went through in World War II and the sacrifices that they made. Are we living up to their example? Will anyone ever call us the “Greatest Generation?”

Update: The Covid-19 test came back negative! Yeah. What to do now….cook. I have made eggplant parmigiana, stuffed peppers, caprese salad and Bruschetta. I dreamt of the Bruschetta all week and it was great. It is funny the stuff you think about. My late father would always make this for me and I have not had it in years. It will be regular from here on in.

Bruschetta

A simple but satisfying appetizer consisting of garlic bread crostini topped with a combination of fresh tomatoes, garlic, red onion, basil and olive oil.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 loaf of crusty bread Ciabatta, french or crusty italian
  • 1 tomato diced
  • 1/2 red onion diced
  • 1 bunch of fresh basil chopped (could use dried basil in a pinch
  • 1 clove garlic diced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin would be best
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method
 

  1. Diced up everything except the bread and combine. Let sit in the fridge for a few hours for the flavors to come together
  2. Slice the bread and put on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Take out and rub bread with a fresh garlic clove and brush with olive oil.
  3. Put back in the oven for a minute
  4. Serve bread topped with the tomato mixture.

Fishermen’s View, Sandwich Ma

This week we were driving home from Cape Cod and got stuck in a massive traffic jam. One of the Cape Cod Canal bridges was closed and all the traffic was diverted to the other one. After two hours of following Waze all over the place, we decided to stop for something to eat. After consulting Google to see what was close by we were very lucky to be around the corner from Fishermen’s View Seafood Market and Restaurant in Sandwich, MA.

“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its nets of wonder forever”

– Jacques Cousteau

Located directly on the Cape Cod Canal in beautiful Sandwich, Ma., Fishermen’s View Seafood Market and Restaurant was a very pleasant surprise and my favorite new find. The amazing outdoor deck was full, so we were welcomed in to their beautiful dining room. With walls of windows overlooking the canal you felt like you were outside. Since this was our first experience with indoor dining since the pandemic, we were watching things very carefully. The staff all work masks, the place was spotless and the tables were spread far apart. We felt very safe with the procedures they had in place.

We started the meal with a perfectly portioned order of steamers and some of their piping hot, homemade cornbread. It was a great start. My daughter ordered the children’s chicken and french fries. It was a huge order and we were all picking at it because it was so good. Above and beyond the normal chicken and french fries for kids at most restaurants. My husband got the Double Decker burger and it was huge and wonderful.

I got the crab cake appetizer as my meal. Now let me explain that I am crab cake snob. I order them whenever they are on the menu. The crab cakes at Fishermen’s View were without a doubt the best crab cakes I have ever had. As we were leaving, the staff let us know that the bridge had been cleared and gave us some tips on avoiding the traffic. The owner also came by and thanked us for stopping by. All in all it was a wonderful experience.

If you are looking for great food, reasonable prices, good service and a fabulous view, stop by Fishermen’s View Seafood Market and Restaurant in Sandwich, Ma. It is my new favorite.

VICTORY GARDEN

So…. we are in the middle of a pandemic. It is all so surreal, I have not known what to do with myself. I have been cooking a lot but the kiddos are like wild animals and start eating it all before I can take pictures for the blog. So, I decided to create a Victory Garden (Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany[1][2] during World War I and World War II. Wartime governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale.[3])
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