I started making marinara, or the italian salsa, because I had never made it and liked the idea of a challenge.

Apparently, sailors in Naples in the 16th century began making the sauce after the Spaniards introduce the tomato to the world. This sauce was easily kept on ships because cooks didn’t have to worry about the sauce spoiling due to its high acid content and the absence of any type of meat fat. I am also sure, due to the sauces simplicity, that cooks could easily make tons of this stuff! The word loosely translates, interesting enough, as “the sauce of the sailors.”

When I started looking for recipes I quickly realized their wasn’t much to making it. I often freeze it in smaller bags to be able to have it when we need it so, we don’t ever have to buy Ragu again.

I like this recipe most because it is a shell. It by no means tells you everything that you can put into the pot. I make it different EVERYTIME I attempt to make it. I guess I enjoy being able to be spontaneous with it and use my taste buds to tell me when I think the sauce is ready!

The Sauce of the Sailors-

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 (28-ounce) cans of canned tomatoes

( I use crushed and pureed because I like a more pulpy sauce but you can use diced, or stewed for a more chuncky sauce)

1-2 teaspoon oregano, dried

( you can use fresh herbs, just know you will need more herbs maybe a 1 tbsp of fresh for every 1 tsp of dried)

1-2 teaspoons basil, dried

1 whole bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon sugar

salt and pepper, to taste

Over medium to high heat, heat oil in a large pot until hot. Add the onion and saute for up to 10 minutes until the onions begin to appear translucent to brown. Add the canned tomatoes. Then add all the other ingrendents. Bring to a simmer for about 20-40 minutes covered. Lower the heat and uncover cooking for another 20-40 minutes only stir as needed to keep the sauce from burning, until the sauce has thickened. Remove the bay leave before freezing or serving.

S’more Brownies

Crust

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
• Pinch fine salt

Brownie

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 4 large cold eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Topping

• 4 cups large marshmallows

Directions

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.

For the crust: Lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir the rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the brownie. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. Stir occasionally until melted. Stir the light brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat the oven on low (less than 200 degrees). Layer marshmallows across the top and toast until golden, (keep an eye on it, it can go quick), about 2 minutes. Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.

Guacamole

• 3 avacados
• 1-2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 -2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2-3/4 pico de gallo
• garlic salt/ pepper to taste

Cut each avacado in half and remove contents and throw away the seed. Mass up the avacados with two forks. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combine. Make sure and taste the guac ; you can add more of the ingredients per your own taste buds. If you like a hotter guac add cayenne pepper, jalapeno and/or chili pepper. Cover the guac and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The longer you let it sit the better it gets.

I love finding fresh tomatoes that I can make bruschetta with. Nothing complements bruschetta more than a nice sharp, aged, white cheddar to put on top of it all and a nice semi-dry bottle of chardonnay. If you aren’t a wine drinker or it isn’t the right time for a glass, bruchetta is a refreshing appetizer that will leave you feeling satisfied and a little bit healthier. I got this recipe in a William Sonoma cookbook I got from my grandmother for my wedding, but I imagine that any recipe will be fairly similar. I am a creature of habit though and once I find one I like that is what I tend to always make. Tried and tested!

Bruschetta (pron. brus’ket’ta in English, /bɾu’sketta/ in Italian) is a food whose origin dates to at least the 15th century from central Italy. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer. I also heard somewhere that bruschetta can mean anything sliced. I have made strawberry bruschetta before and thought it was quite tasty.

Bruschetta Primavera

2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp chopped basil or 1 tsp dried basil

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

French bread sliced and toasted

1/3-1/2 cup olive oil

In a small bowl, stir together the tomatoes, parsley, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside. Rub garlic on the top of sliced French bread and toast. Drizzle olive oil over top of toasted bread. Spoon 2 tbsp tomato mixture on toasted and oiled bread.

This is one of those desserts that isn’t hard to enjoy, but is hard to eat. It’s next to impossible to lick the plate without feeling miserably stuffed. This is a great recipe for summer and to satisfy the greater sweet tooth inside yourself.

I came across this recipe at www.allrecipes.com for a dinner party with some family. It was quite an awesome dessert and didn’t take long to make. I cut the recipe in half so that I didn’t have a ton left over.

So time for some friendly tips: Don’t substitute chocolate sauce in a can. The consistency of the peanut butter and chocolate should be really thick, and if you use thinner chocolate sauces, it runs. This dessert can be made and frozen for at least a week. Even better, it can be made ahead of time so, if you are entertaining, you don’t have to be stuck in the kitchen.

Hot Fudge Ice Cream Bar Dessert

1 (16 ounce) can chocolate syrup

3/4 cup peanut butter

19 ice cream sandwiches

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 cup salted peanuts

Pour the chocolate syrup into a medium microwave safe bowl and microwave 2 minutes on high. Do not allow to boil. Stir peanut butter into hot chocolate until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature. Line the bottom of a 9×13 inch dish with a layer of ice cream sandwiches. Spread half the whipped topping over the sandwiches. Spoon half the chocolate mixture over that. Top with half the peanuts. Repeat layers. Freeze until firm, 1 hour. Cut into squares to serve.

The idea for this blog spawned from reading many of the food blogs out there. My main inspiration is the Smitten Kitchen blog. I love how she combines photography and food. So I started thinking, I love both those things, why don’t I put the recipes I love on-line to share with those that might be interested? So … I am.

I feel like I try to expand my horizon when it comes to food and recipes, and this is the place to share that passion. I would like to think I am perfect at every recipe, but alas, the food is it’s own at the end of the day. Some good, some bad, and some that needed to be done differently. So if you are looking for culinary genius, you should keep on looking.

My palate tends to enjoy the sweeter things in life, but I do have a passion for entertaining. I am a chocoholic and I don’t try to deny it. I come from a long line of “sweet tooths” that steal bits from the kitchen every chance they get. I watched all the women in my family put succulent creations on the table and it just kind of caught on with me.

To learn about a subject, one has to start with history, even if it is boring and mundane. The first recipes ever recorded were from the Egyptians, which used hieroglyphics to depict how something should look after being prepared, but it wasn’t until Roman times that people began putting recipes in written form. So it makes sense that blogging merges both the pictured and the written form of a recipe. 

So, I hope you enjoy my recipes, and the recipes that have been given to me by those whom I love and also love cooking with. Bon appetite!