New recipe, December 25, 2025

No, we didn't cook on 12/23 or 24, as we were traveling. This is Sausage and Barley Soup with Greens. Not pictured is dessert, Microwave Sticky Toffee Pudding. Both are from NYT Cooking. The soup was fine but nothing really stood out, so if gets a 3. The pudding was a pleasant and quick surprise. It gets a 4.

New recipe, December 22, 2025

This is the salad part of Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Autumn Harvest Salad. Carl's brother made a spectacular pork tenderloin. The salad was quite nice, with arugula, apple, pecans and a bit of goat cheese. We made the dressing with apple cider vinegar rather than balsamic, and we thought it was perfect with the pork. As made, we give it a 4.

New recipe, December 21, 2025

Sheet Pan Full English Breakfast from NYT Cooking. This actually comes out nicely cooked. And it is a very satisfying full breakfast. We give this a 4.

New recipe, December 20, 2025

Rainbow Beef from NYT Cooking. The flavors are in perfect balance, and the recipe gives perfectly cooked vegetables. We give this a 5.

New recipe, December 19, 2025

A new breakfast, Malawax (Cardamom Crepes) from NYT Cooking. These are simple and very tasty. They get a 4.

New recipe, December 18, 2025

Saland-E Nakhod (Chickpea Yogurt Stew) from NYT Cooking. Seems like a humble recipe but the flavors are wonderful. We give this a 4.

New recipe, December 17, 2025

Asparagus Black Garlic and Feta Frittata from The Original Black Garlic. The garlic brings umami and sweetness to the dish, which is lovely. It does tend to clump together which left some parts of the frittata without it. We give it a 4.

New recipe, December 16, 2025

Plantains with Jammy Tomatoes and Eggs from NYT Cooking. This is a delightful combination of flavors and textures. A total winner, we give it a 5.

New recipe, December 25, 2025

Slow Cooker Creamy Lentil Soup from NYT Cooking. The lentil dis-integrate completely into the soup. It is very tasty and comforting. We give this a 4.

New recipe, December 14, 2025

Roasted Watermelon Radishes from Peel with Zeal. These are beautiful to look at. Roasted radishes have a mild flavor, nothing too outstanding. These are pleasant, we give them a 3.

New recipe, December 13, 2025

Purple Sweet Potato Cakes from https://chejorge.com/2020/07/19/purple-sweet-potato-cakes/#wpzoom-premium-recipe-card.  I bought purple yams, so I had to do something with them!  This uses the yam and glutinous rice flour.  It is mildly sweet and chewy on the inside, with sesame seeds and a touch of salt on the outside.  These are not a usual western dessert, but we really enjoyed them.  They get a 4!

New recipe, December 12, 2025

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry with Potatoes and Cauliflower from Food and Wine. This has a lot of curry flavor and is rich with coconut milk. We enjoyed this. We give it a 4.

New recipe, December 11, 2025

Forgot the photo. We made Beef Tagine with Green Beans and Olives from NYT Cooking. This had an interesting combination of flavors, especially preserved lemon with the beef. It felt like a bit of an odd, not completely successful combination. We give this a 3.

New recipe, December 10, 2025

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup from Food and Wine. The flavors are fine. It seemed really odd to add zucchini to a soup like this—an already fairly watery vegetable that just got mushy in the soup. We give this a 3.

New recipe, December 9, 2025

Pasta e Fagioli with Pancetta and Fire Roasted Vegetables from Food and Wine. This seems kind of thin til you add the beans and pasta. It is a hearty mostly vegetable soup. The basil at the end is important for the flavor. We give this a 4.

New recipe, December 8, 2025

Black Garlic Roasted Carrots from blackgarlic.co.uk. A very simple dish, but the black garlic gives a sweetness and umami that pairs nicely with the carrots and balsamic glaze. We give this a 4.

New recipe, December 7, 2025

Shira Ae (Smashed Tofu Salad with Green Beans) from NYT Cooking. This is quick and easy to make, a simple dressing of crushed sesame seeds, miso, soy sauce and mirin over tofu and beans. It is pleasant, maybe a little too simple for us. We give it a 3.

New recipe, December 6, 2025

Shorbat Adas Bil Hamod (Lentil Soup with Greens) from NYT Cooking. This is a traditional Lebanese soup, new to us. Lemon juice makes it very bright. We give it a 4.

New recipe, December 5, 2025

Slow Cooker Sausages Peppers and Onions from NYT Cooking. This has good flavors, but seemed out of balance. It was too salty, so I would not add any salt, as the sausage is salty. The Parmesan rind may also have added salt. I also felt the sausage dominated too much. I would double the amount of vegetables at least. As made? It gets a 3.

New recipe, December 4, 2025

Slow Cooker Hoisin Garlic Chicken from NYT Cooking. We had evening events so we went with a slow cooker recipe. But this one is really quite good! We give it a 4.

New recipe, December 3, 2025

Acorn Squash Saltimbocca from Food and Wine. This is a fun concept. I may have undersalted the squash wedges, knowing the prosciutto is rather salty, but the end result was that the part of the squash that was not covered with prosciutto felt like it needed some salt—it was a bit uneven. As made, we give it a 3.

New recipe, December 2, 2025

Peperonata Agrodulce with Whipped Feta Toast from Food and Wine. This is a simple recipe, but the combination of the sweet and sour peppers and onion with the whipped feta is very good. This gets a 4.

New recipe, December 1, 2025

Turkey Stracciatella Soup from Food and Wine. This is an eggdrop soup takes vegetables and leftover turkey, and jazzes it up with greens and pasta. IT is easy and very good. We give it a 4.

New recipe, November 30, 2025

Kimchi Egg and Cheese Sandwich from NYT Cooking. This is a very easy variation on grilled cheese, with egg and kimchi added to it. Overall it is pleasant but didn't stand out for us. We give it a 3.

New recipe, November 29, 2025

Missed the photo, the new recipe is the Improved Cherry Manhattan, a creation of Chat GPT. IT has 2 oz of rye, 1 oz of sweet vermouth, and 1/2 oz of Kirschwasser, along with 2 dashes of Angostura. We enjoyed this, it has a guilt more cherry flavor than the average manhattan. We give it a 4.

New recipe, November 28, 2025

We had to have something new with the heartbreak, so we made this Brown Butter Roasted Pear and Goat Cheese Salad from Food and Wine. Such delicious flavors, that go together so well. This gets a 5!

New recipe, Thanksgiving, November 27, 2025

We've been doing a new turkey every Thanksgiving, this is Tandoori Roast Turkey from Food and Wine. It has very distinct, classic tandoori flavor, and the turkey is very moist. The flavors didn't blend quite as well with the fairly traditional sides and we might have wished, so we give it a 4.

New recipe, November 26, 2025

Batch Thanksgiving Spritz, a creation from Chat GPT, which has 2 bottles of rosé, 3 cups of cranberry juice and 1 cup of Aperol premixed together. When served, it is topped with club soda. A garnish of cranberry and rosemary was recommended, but since neither can be consumed, I skipped it. It is a very nice spritz, however, and we give it a 5.

New recipe, November 25, 2025

Slow Cooker Red Lentil Pumpkin Soup from NYT Cooking. This uses a pumpkin puree, and the soup itself is pleasant but note outstanding, and would get a 3. The toasted pepitas with cumin and salt and the browned onion are what elevate this recipe, which gets a 4 overall.

New recipe, November 24, 2025

Pear and Avocado Salad with Tajín from Bon Appétit. It uses a crunchy Asian pear as well as radishes (we used watermelon radish). Simple but a great combination of flavors and textures. We give this a 4.

New recipes, November 23, 2025

Pictured is Black Bean Chorizo Stew, from NYT Cooking, which has as an ingredient Fresh Green Chorizo, also from NYT Cooking. We subsequently used the chorizo with scrambled eggs, and it has a really enjoyable flavor that is difference from most chorizos. We give it a 4. It also works really well in the stew, which seems rather humble, but is also very flavorful and also gets a 4.

New recipe, November 22, 2025

Cauliflower Adobo from NYT Cooking. The adobo works really well with cauliflower, as it turns out. The mild sweetness of the cooked cauliflower plays nicely with the salt, spice and vinegar of the adobo sauce. We give this a 5.

New recipe, November 21, 2025

The Virginia Woolf, from Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women. This has dumb, green Chartreuse and St Germaine, with some lime juice. It is unusual and refreshing. We give this a 5.

New recipe, November 20, 2025

This is the Margaret Cho, from Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women. It is like a mule with reposado tequila, lime juice and crème de cassis. It is pleasant, but didn't stand out for us. It gets a 3.

New recipes, November 19, 2025

> Rather than go out for my birthday, we decided to have the family over for dinner—it is much easier to hear each other at home than in a noisy restaurant! The Potato Gruyere Tart from Food and Wine has a lot of steps but is a stellar dish. It gets a 5! The Eggplant with Black Garlic and Fig Salad are both from Ottolenghi's Plenty More, with his usual playful mix of flavors and textures. They get 4s. The Porchetta with Cheesy Chard and Leek Stuffing from Food and Wine has great flavors, but we found some parts of the meat to be a bit dry, while others are moist. Not sure how to fix that, but overall, it gets a 4.
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New recipe, November 18, 2025

No new recipes November 11-17, as we were in New York. Today's new recipe is Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Tofu with Chile Lime Dressing from NYT Cooking. Fun Asian flavors, this is really tasty. We give it a 4.