Dad's Roast Beef

Lemon-Garlic Roasted Chicken with Dilled Orzo, by sharon
I made this over a month ago for my anniversary dinner, and it was such a hit that I decided to make it again. Originally found in a copy of EveryDay Food, I (as per usual) tweaked it more to my taste.  That means more garlic and more lemon! Lemon-Garlic Roasted Chicken with Dilled Orzo Ingredients: 1 chicken, cut into 10 pieces 3 lemons, quartered 8-10 cloves of garlic, smashed olive oil salt and pepper 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 cup dried orzo 1/2 teaspoon dried dill P

Creamy Tomato Soup
I love a good tomato soup.  And even though I’ll still crack open a can of Campbell’s and be happy enough, I much prefer a heartier version. In fact, Le Madeline’s sells some in a jar that is pretty good. But you know, that can get expensive. Especially as often as I want soup. Now that my blender is all fixed, I thought now would be the perfect time to give this a shot. And

Cheater Pulled Pork, by sharon
You know what? One might think that as much as I love barbecue, my living in Texas would make me a really happy, satisfied person. But it doesn’t.  I just don’t like Texas barbecue that much. It’s too smoky, too dependant on beef and brisket and . . . well it’s not my cup of tea (or bottle of sauce, as it were).  And speaking of sauce, I don’t like Texas sauce. Which I suppose means that I prefer Georgia or Carolina barbecue.  Maybe. What I like is my dad’s barbecue and I don’t have a clue what regional affiliation he might be going for. He’s from Florida, there’s just no telling. Anyway, the purpo

Orange-Lace Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle
I once bought some Lace Cookies with dark chocolate from World Market and thought they were amazing.  The large cookies were made into sandwiches held together by the yummy chocolate.  So I went hunting for lace cookie recipes to bring to a Pre-Thanksgiving potluck that I attended last year.  I came across a few versions that included orange zest and hey! I LOVE orange and chocolate together.  And almonds.  So I tweaked a few recipes and came up with the following recipe. A few notes: I went ahead and invested in a SilPat for this.  I had always wanted one and this seemed like the perfect reason

Why I’m becoming famous, by sharon
I bet you didn’t know that I’m on a steady rise to fame, but I am.  And do you know why? Because I bring bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese and almonds to parties. In fact, I was all set to bring something else to a party on Saturday, but the hostess said “Oh . . . well. That’s good. I guess. Or you could bring the bacon date things. PLEASE bring the bacon date things!!” And so I was at the store today, buying ingredients for the bacon date things.  As I’m checking out, Cashier: I gotta ask, why do you have this many dried dates? What are you up to? Me: Oh, I&#