Dinner With Daddy

I have, on occasion been accused of being a clown, childish, a nut, and even afflicted with adult onset A.D.D. One of the reasons for this is, well, that's how I act. One can often find me quoting funny movie lines, telling jokes, or one of my favorite past times, making silly (or stupid) faces. The other night while eating dinner, for no apparent reason, (maybe this is the reason I'm told I have A.D.D.), I dried my gums and stuck my upper lip to my gums exposing my teeth, kind of zombie like. Everyone chuckled as they usually do and then my beautiful children, all four of them, started with the most amazing array of facial deformations I have ever seen. Jim Carey would have been proud. My sweet, angelic little girl, whom I regard as one of the most beautiful creatures ever to grace the planet, turned into the equivalent of Quasimodo in the bell tower. My boys, my handsome boys, made faces that I can only describe as, well let's just say not so handsome. My oldest son, tall...

Recently my wife developed a reaction to eggs. Not an allergy but eggs are no longer an option, at least not in the form of an egg. This past week was her birthday week, and though the birthday week is not quite the same after 4 kids, I at least like to make her a fancy breakfast and her favorite dinner. My dilemma came at breakfast time. I wanted to make something she doesn't usually have, and fancy-ish. What do you make for breakfast for someone who can't eat eggs? All of the fancy egg dishes were out; you know, Eggs Benedict, Eggs Florentine, Omelette, etc. So I decided on French Toast with Sautéed Pears . I know, I know it's made with egg soaked bread but we had French Toast a few weeks ago and it seemed to go over well, so I gave it a shot. Then I had to make it Fancy-ish, right. So I sliced up a pear, sautéed it in butter, (butter is fancy-ish), flambe'd it with Grand Marnier, (Grand Marnier is definitely fancy-ish) and topped the whole thing with powdered sugar. ...

I was attending Toy Fair 2011 in NYC this past week and I had plenty of enjoyable moments, met dozens upon dozens of great people, and even managed to get a meal in here and there. Some were good, some not so good, but one in particular turned out to be my favorite and least favorite all in the span of about an hour and a half. Not having any plans for dinner and walking around the theater district, an associate and I came upon this restaurant called Bond 45. The menu was hanging outside the door, as is common in New York City and it looked like good, appetizing fare, so we went in. We studied the menu, heard the specials from our waiter, who was an awesome waiter by the way, got some recommendations, and made our selections. We ordered the Burratta appetizer, which is their homemade Mozzarella cheese. You can get it with tomatoes, which we did, or you can get it with prosciutto. When it arrived at the table it was nothing spectacular to see, just a big hunk of cheese and some sliced ...

A few nights ago while enjoying a lovely dinner with the family I started a conversation about my favorite lunch spot at work, The New York Soup Exchange . Just as the name implies their main product is, you guessed it, soup. Now it just so happens that my favorite food is soup. As a matter of fact soup is, in my opinion, God's perfect food. That particular night for dinner we had pork chops, pasta, gravy, and green beans. Nothing fancy but I was explaining to the children that nearly anything could be made into a soup, including tonight's dinner. "Anything?!" they said. "Yes" I said "anything.". "How can you make soup with gravy?" asked Croissant. I explained that you would use a gravy base for a stew. That was when we took a turn for the worse. The soup combinations from my children that followed made me wonder briefly about the culinary prowess that my children will possess in their adulthood. A few examples were rose petals, pomegrana...

I recently acquired a new gadget for the kitchen that has completely taken over my counter top. Not in a bad way mind you. I accept it, even welcome it. You see I now have the best appliance I have ever owned. I know, I know, you're all thinking "That's a pretty bold statement.", and you're right, it is. Before I share with you this breakthrough in kitchen gadgetry let me share with you some of the things I've done with it. Here is a small sampling: Scallop, Clam and Corn Chowder Chicken Noodle Soup Rice Pilaf Red Beans and Rice Hot Chocolate Hot Dogs Steamed Vegetables Rice (Brown and White) Just to name a few. Quite a list huh? And I don't think I even scratched the surface of what this thing can do. Alright, I don't know about you but the suspense is killing me. The product that revolutionized my kitchen and all but eliminated the need for my stove is………… Cuisinart Rice Plus™ Multi-Cooker with Fuzzy Logic Technology Here is a link to a video that ex...

Time:   1 Hr. 30 Mins. 15 Mins. Prep 1 Hr. 15 Mins. Baking   Ingredients:   1 ½ Cups Splenda or Equal (they sell the one that measures like sugar) 3 Tbsp. Corn Starch ¼ Tsp. Salt 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract Juice of ½ Lemon 2 lbs. pitted Dark Red Cherries (Frozen works fine) 2 pre-made pie crusts 1/3 Cup milk Directions: Pre-Heat Oven to 400°   Combine Salt, Equal or Splenda and Corn Starch in large bowl and whisk together. Add Cherries, Lemon Juice and Vanilla Extract to bowl and stir. In a 9 inch pie tin, lay out 1 pie crust, pressing to edges.   With a fork, poke several small holes in bottom of crust. Cut second pie crust into 10 equal width strips. Fill pie crust with Cherry mixture and top with pie crust strips in a lattice formation. Crimp edges with fork, Brush lattice top with milk. (not the edges)   Bake in 400° oven for 15 Minutes, reduce heat to 375° and Bake an Additional 1 Hour. Check edges to prevent burning. If the edges...

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 2 Cups Brussels Sprouts – Cut in Half 5 Shallots – Sliced 2 Cups Chicken Stock 2 Cups Yellow Squash or Zucchini – Cut into 1 inch cubes (Optional) 3 TBS Olive Oil Salt and Pepper to taste Sautee Brussels Sprouts and Shallots in olive oil until browned, about 10 minutes. Add pepper to taste, add chicken stock. Cover; Simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. (don't add salt yet as the chicken stock is a bit salty) Remove from heat, stir in squash if desired. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. The Squash will cook enough in the pan with the sprouts absorbing the flavor and becoming tender while retaining some crispness.