What is about spaghetti?  It is such a simple idea, yet such a crowd pleaser.  Seriously, if you don’t love spaghetti, if it isn’t a total comfort food for you, leave me a comment and let me know because I just don’t believe you exist. 

I love meaty Bolognese-style spaghetti sauces.  I say “Bolognese-style” because I am sure there are rules about what is Bolognese and what is not and I wouldn’t know the first thing about it.  This meat sauce has a wonderful, clean flavor without overly complicated ingredients.  You can certainly doctor it up by adding ground veal or Italiansausage, mushrooms, peppers, cheese, chicken stock or any number of things people add to their spaghetti sauces but then it would be a different recipe and not this simply Bolognese-style one. 

This makes a modest amount of spaghetti sauce, you can double the recipe to make more.  I minced carrots for this recipe because I was out of carrot puree but normally I prefer Gerber brand. *wink* 

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup carrots, minced, about 4 medium (or puree)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tbsp  tomato paste
• 1 lb ground beef
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 (28 oz) can tomatoes
• 1/2 cup milk or cream
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.
2. Melt butter and add carrots and onion before the butter browns.
3. Cook carrots and onion until soft, stirring often.  If using carrot puree, add it after the onions have softened.
4. Stir in tomato paste and cook about a minute.
5. Add ground beef to the pot and break it up as it browns, stirring occasionally. Add garlic.
6. Add red wine and bring to a boil, scraping up the bottom.
7. Add spices, tomato, and milk.  Bring to a boil, cover, and turn heat down to maintain a simmer.
8. Simmer sauce at least 30 minutes or as long as you like.  I like to simmer at least an hour or longer if possible.

By the way, five out of five sauce-averse children approve of this recipe.  Serve with garlic bread and a salad.

I almost didn’t post this.  That is, I don’t think there is anyone left in the world who doesn’t already have a recipe for banana bread.  So why would anyone care about mine?

Then I realized that the reason I have this website is to archive our favorite recipes for friends who are curious or family who wants to reproduce them.  So this recipe is for them, but if you don’t happen to already have a favorite banana bread recipe, then you should try it too.  It is an easy snack-moist and subtly sweet-and a great way to use up your bananas that are getting too soft to eat by hand.

This really isn’t my recipe, although I do like to make each recipe mine in little ways.  My mother’s recipe and my mother-in-law’s recipe are the same, except for the addition of buttermilk (my mom) and spices (his mom).  So I combined them to create the perfect banana bread for my kids: a little bit Granny’s banana bread and a little bit Nana’s banana bread but with one of Mom’s twists.

My touch was to add mace instead of nutmeg.  I discovered mace this past Thanksgiving while making pumpkin pies (which I will share with you in the fall-its wonderful!) and I love it.  Mace is the outer shell of the nutmeg and has a smoother, creamier flavor.  It can be hard to find but you can order it online and those of you in Houston can buy it in bulk at Central Market.  Feel free to use nutmeg in its place.  Also, this recipe makes one loaf but you can double it to make two.

Banana Bread

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter (I use unsalted)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt (increase this to 1 tsp is using unsalted butter)
• pinch cloves
• 1/2 tsp mace or nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mashed banana (about 2-3 bananas)
• (1/2 cup chopped nuts, pecans or walnuts, optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs, flour, salt, and spices, stir to combine.
4. Combine baking soda and buttermilk in a measure cup, stir well then add to batter.
5. Beat until well combined.
6. Stir in mashed banana and nuts if using.
7. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake approximately 50 minutes or until a tester in the center comes out clean.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can quickly make it by combining milk and lemon juice (about 2 tsp) and letting it sit for a few minutes.  You can also omit the buttermilk and use 4 bananas (Nana’s recipe), just stir in the baking soda with the flour and salt.  Also, you can increase the spices or omit them, whichever you like.  I would use this amount in the spring but I’d increase them in the fall-but I’m like that.

Life has been hectic.  The sort of hectic that only comfort food can cure.  I saw this recipe on eCurry (which I highly recommend) and have been wanting to try it ever since.  It is the perfect combination of corn, creamy cornmeal, peppers, cilantro, and cheese.

Corn Casserole

• 3 cup corn kernels
• 2 cups milk, divided
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 jalapenos, diced
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup cheese, grated, such as Jack
• chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Grease a medium casserole dish with butter or spray.
2. In a food processor, combine corn kernels and 1/2 cup of milk.  Pulse several times or until about half of the corn is pureed.
3. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.
4. Saute onions and jalapenos in butter until soft.
5. Sprinkle with flour and cook for a couple of minutes or until golden.
6. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups of milk and whisk until smooth.
7. Cook, whisking often, until thick and smooth.
8. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste.
9. Stir in corn mixture, cornmeal, sugar and cilantro.  Taste for salt and pepper again.
10. Pour mixture into the casserole dish and sprinkle with grated cheese.
11. Bake 30 minutes or until cheese is golden and beginning to brown (you can put the broiler on for a minute at the end if your cheese isn’t brown enough).
12. Allow casserole to sit for about 10 minutes and then sprinkle with freshly chopped cilantro before serving.

Housekeeping note:  If you are reading chaos in the kitchen via feed reader or email you will not be able to see the picture above.  We are having a little trouble with content scrapers and have removed the photos from the feed.  So if this recipe sounds like something you’d like, just click through and see how delicious it looks!

We love fajitas, tacos, and anything else you can roll up in a tortilla.  Chicken fajitas are great because you don’t have to remember to marinate them ahead and they only take a few minutes to cook.

Chicken Fajitas

• 2 tbsp oil
• juice from 1/2 large lime (about 2 tbsp)
• 2 tsp chili powder (I used 1 tsp ancho and 1 tsp chipotle and they were medium-spicy)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp mexican oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• 3 large bell peppers, red, yellow, and orange
• 1 large red onion
• salt and pepper

1. In a large zip-top plastic bag combine oil, lime juice, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and chicken breasts.  Seal bag and shake and squish to thoroughly coat chicken.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add peppers and onion to hot oil and saute until soft and caramelized. Salt to taste.
3. While veggies are caramelizing, heat grill, grill pan, or frying pan.
4. Remove chicken from bag and grill or sear until cooked all the way through.
5. Slice chicken and serve with warm tortillas, peppers, sour cream, cheese, pico de gallo and/or guacamole.