Strangest winter ever! Here we are in Minneapolis with no snow and temperatures hovering around 30ºF. Usually at this time of year we are in a deep freeze under many feet of snow. Last week the weather people all predicted a huge snowfall, but not a flake fell here in the Twin Cities. It’s kind of disconcerting. And as the temperatures are strangely warm, work has been even busier than usual. I need me some comfort food! I need some Chicken Pot Pie! …
Here comes 2017 and I honestly cannot be more excited. And whether you like it or not the new year is going to bring Ch-ch-changes! Some are worrisome, some are a long time in coming and hopefully some of them are going to surprise us in good and productive ways. I’m going to share you with you a few changes I’m going to be making and it starts with Sausage and Tortellini Soup. …
Happy one year Blogiversary to us! We’ve been officially bringing you delicious food for ONE FULL YEAR! And what a year it was! In fact I’m not sure any other year has ever gone so fast! Our little blog duo has officially seen a new baby born (congrats Holly), a preschooler whose world was rocked by a new baby sister, a child who started kindergarten, and a teenager who has hit her stride. Holly and I are both another year older and wiser in our full time careers and yes, we’re both still married (Holly 10 years and myself 18 years) despite crazy chaotic schedules and demands (yay, guys-thanks for hanging in there with us!). But even more exciting, we’re both still loving blogging and bringing you our favorite recipes! For me, this would include this Buffalo Bacon Macaroni and Cheese which is pure, unadulterated decadence! …
What the world needs now is…Seven Layer Bars. Seven Layer Bars? Yep, these are bars what is going to bridge the country’s divide. So simple really, I can’t believe we haven’t thought of it before! Let me tell you why……
My teenage daughter recently said to me “Mom, you don’t need to put bacon in everything!” with the exasperated sigh that all teenagers use when dealing with their mothers. Hmmm…we may be speaking different languages, because I sure don’t understand this comment! (Don’t worry, I’ll be checking her room for drugs, right after I finish writing this, because really-who says this?) Bacon? Bacon belongs on everything. Bacon should be it’s own food group. Bacon is life. Like this Bourbon Bacon Meatloaf. If you agree with me, or know someone that agrees with me…keep reading……
It’s that time of year. After Halloween, after daylight savings time, when it’s dark by 4pm and we’re all anticipating our winter hibernation. Suddenly it’s perfectly acceptable to eat comfort food for 3 meals a day. And what is better comfort food than mashed potatoes? Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes.…
I won’t lie, it’s been a tough few weeks. I’ve been down and out sick and just getting out of bed in the morning has been a real challenge (and we’re talking getting out of bed to go lie on the couch). My poor husband has been keeping things rolling and picking up the slack with the kids and around the house. I haven’t been able to visit Holly and our newest addition to the With Two Spoons team (born October 6th!). I even spent Halloween holed up in bed while my dad handed out candy so my husband could take my little out. We’ve eaten pizza for 4 of the last 5 meals. But today, today I finally felt like maybe I could tackle dinner. And whenever you are struggling, go back to the beginning. Back to Balsamic Pork with Gnocchi….
I’ve been looking for this dish for a long time, and didn’t even know it. I’ve substituted many things, but this, this Mushroom Bourguignon is the real deal. So, just like so many awesome things in my life, this dish came in to my life by accident. Completely by accident. Well, really it was due to a minor mistake by my husband-but really, the best mistake possible. For real. …
This Carrot Ginger Soup with Coconut Shrimp was course number 3 in our epic dinner party. (P.S.-don’t worry if you’re having a hard time following along with our dinner party menu reveal, I promise to post the entire menu in order, with links, in a few weeks. And if you just can’t wait, it was already posted on twitter so you can check it out there!). We knew we wanted a soup course to follow our Pomegranate, Squash and Apple salad. While we were initially dreaming up plans for our blog we had a lot of “business” lunches at Lakeshore Grill at Macy’s in Ridgedale (which has been totally redone, and if you haven’t checked it out you definitely should!). Their summer soup was a carrot scallion soup that was so good, I would order it for lunch and then order a cup to take with me to my evening shift at work. Looking around the internet for a soup that would be similar to this one, brought us to this Carrot Ginger Soup with Coconut Shrimp from Food and Wine. Holly made the soup first, and interestingly enough, this soup is not really similar to the carrot scallion we loved-but it is fabulous in its own right, so fabulous that we decided to add it to our dinner party menu. Sometimes you find exactly what you need, exactly when you need it!
I first made this soup for some friends while up at my cabin. My friends loved it and the soup was given rave reviews. This soup is creamy and bright, with a hint of heat that is well balanced by the coconut shrimp. It is ridiculously simple to make and yet tastes complex. We served our soup not only with the coconut shrimp, but also with a peanut-cilantro gremolata. So delicious, your guests will thank you!
And if anyone has a recipe for a good Carrot Scallion soup, please let us know, we are still looking!
Ravioli with Rosemary Mushroom Sauce, makes me hungry just thinking about it! You may have heard about our epic dinner party this week, and if you haven’t, trust me you will, as we plan to explore the art of the dinner party in a blog post coming up soon. This was an old fashioned dinner party, complete with eight plated courses. Six guests (plus Holly and I), sitting at a large table, enjoying a delicious food experience. The dinner party is an art that it is high time we resurrect! (The complete dinner party menu is up on Twitter-so if you are unable to wait, you can check it out @withtwospoons)
As Holly and I were going over plans for this dinner party, we decided we wanted to serve a pasta dish before our main course. What to do, what to do? Preferrably, something not too difficult. We really wanted the course to look elegant. The pasta had to taste exceptional. That is when a ravioli presented with a simple sauce rose to the top of the list. Unfortunately the first recipe I tried did not work as written and we didn’t have much time to figure something else out. We had to take a leap of faith and stick to what we knew-wine and butter. Turns out, sometimes, out of the simplest ingredients, comes the most divine flavor! And thus Ravioli with Rosemary Mushroom Sauce was born!
Not only was this simple to make, we also found you could stick the sauce in a small crock pot, set it on low (or even warm), and serve it when the time was right-perfect for a multi-course dinner. Topped with some parmesan cheese and a garnish of rosemary, this ravioli received high praise at our dinner party. I promise you this one is truly simple and quick to make. Hmmm…might even make a nice dinner for Valentine’s Day!
