Irish Cream Pound Cake
March 16, 2010 by Andrea 
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Filed under Dessert, Featured, Holidays
It’s that time of year, time for me to dust off my Irish genes—which are mingled with Scottish, a bit of Cherokee Indian, as well as a few others that I’m not sure about—and enjoy a bit of my family heritage. We’ll have some Irish stew, Irish soda bread, and at least one dessert with some of our favorite Irish flavors: Irish cream and Guinness. Read more
Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
March 8, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Featured, Main Course, Pork
Each afternoon when the boys come home from school, they have one thing on their minds: food.
“Mommy, I’m hungry.”
“Mommy, when are we going to eat?”
“Mommy, what’s our snack today?”
“Mommy, I’m starving. What’s for dinner?”
“Mommy, I don’t like that.”
“Mommy, I just want a lollipop for dinner.” (When Monkey Boy said that, I had to look away so he wouldn’t see me giggle.”) Read more
Toby Train Birthday Cake
March 3, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Dessert, Featured
My husband Michael, the engineer (aerospace, not trains), is the designer for all our sons’ birthday cakes. He’s a big fan of Duff Goldman and watches Ace of Cakes often trying to pick up any tips he can. We only tackle cakes like this three times a year and we are definitely not pros. I bake the cakes and whip up the frosting and fondant and he does all the assembly and decorative work. Here’s his story on how we made the Toby train birthday cake. Read more
Pesto Hummus
February 20, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Appetizers, Featured, Grow Your Own
Snow falls occasionally here in Northern Virginia, usually no more than about 4 or 5 inches at a time, and it’s a chance for fun followed by a quick melting, but we have more than our normal share of snow this winter. We still have plenty of snow on the ground leftover from the back-to-back blizzards two weeks ago, which dumped almost 30 inches on us. The DC area set a new record for winter snowfall, beating the previous record set in the winter of 1898-99, and our county has received over 75 inches this winter, far above our average of 23 inches. Read more
Philly Cheesesteak Throwdown: Pat’s versus Geno’s
February 13, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Travel
This is a guest post from my husband, Michael, who travels the world and brings home stories of his many culinary adventures.
During a December business trip to Philadelphia with friend and fellow carnivore Garth Jenson, I realized the shipyards where I was giving a briefing was a mere three miles from what many would consider the Mecca of cheesesteaks, the quaint part of the city where two world renowned competitors stake their turf across a busy intersection. Garth and I couldn’t let this opportunity pass by. We had to settle the matter for ourselves: which was better, Pat’s King of Steaks or Geno’s Steaks. Both are open 24 hours a day seven days a week, which makes you wonder how many cheesesteaks they sell at 4 a.m. on a Sunday. Read more
BBA Challenge: English Muffins
February 10, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Breads
The English muffins nearly defeated me. My excitement turned to dismay when I split open the first batch and found doughy centers, and I resigned myself to trying again. For the purposes of the challenge I try to make each bread one time and move on to the next, just to keep things going, but I couldn’t let this go. Read more
