The idea for these awesome burgers came from my friend Hayley. She has a fabulous shopping blog – Deals, Steals & Heels – you should check it out!

We have some vegetables leftover from last week that I wanted to use up and also some ground beef. Since our outdoor grill died an honorable death during our wine tasting party, burgers were out. Next best option? Sloppy Joes of course!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Well, this was all that was left of dinner by the time I got the camera out.
I guess that means it was good!

I found this excellent cookbook at a book fair recently called “The Meats Cookbook” – it’s from the early ’70s, published by Southern Living and Progressive Farmer. It is so much fun to look through – with instructions on how to cook every cut of meat you could possibly imagine! And the recipes are definitely old-fashioned! I found one that appealed to me, mainly because it combined two rather unusual ingredients: corn chips and hominy. Well, I souped it up a little bit with some extra veggies and some different kinds of cheese, and it turned out to be amazing.

Here is another recipe from our weekend wine-tasting. We served this as the main course, paired with a nice bold Cabernet Sauvignon from Avalon Winery and a fun red blend called Ménage à Trois.

Read the rest of this entry »

As I’ve mentioned a few times now, I have a mostly Irish heritage. So today is a fun and festive day in my family when we celebrate with food and friends! Here is what I put in my crock pot this morning. As opposed to a London Broil, I like to call this a Dublin Boil.

Here is what my crock pot probably looks like right now, bubbling away in my kitchen:

I can’t wait to get home and enjoy this overflowing, bountiful Irish feast!

Read the rest of this entry »

Just like with chili, my mom makes the absolute best meatloaf. There is nothing more comforting and homey than a nice juicy, tender slice with mashed potatoes and green beans on the side.

Here, I take my mom’s meatloaf, and I do it my way. Basically, this means adding some bacon and some herbs – but the base is the same recipe as my mom’s. This meatloaf is unbelievably flavorful. The smoky, salty bacon basically marinates the meat as it cooks, keeping it moist and delicious. The easy tomato sauce on top completes this perfectly cozy dish.

Read the rest of this entry »

My husband loves southern veggies. He could eat a veggie plate every night for dinner and be happy. One of my favorite veggie dishes that he makes for us is his Beefy Veggie Soup. It tastes so amazing that you would never believe how easy it is to make. We always have it with some nice hot cornbread on the side. Yummmmmm….

Read the rest of this entry »

My brothers and I calculated it once, and I think we came up with the figure of 85% – we’re 85% Irish. My maiden name has an apostrophe in it, and the only bad part about being married is that I miss my apostrophe. 😉

I like to put together a special Irish menu every St. Patrick’s Day, and a couple of years ago I was inspired to try to re-create the amazing bowl of Guinness Beef Stew that I enjoyed one night in a pub in Dingle, on the west coast of Ireland, when I was studying abroad there. Now it’s become one of my favorite slow-cooker recipes!

Read the rest of this entry »