I served this with glazed baby carrots which made for a warm, comforting winter meal.

These turned out really well and I’m anxious to try different versions of scones using this as a base recipe.

I found this recipe on Eating Well and it sounded healthy and seasonal. I added some sauteed mushrooms and swapped the pine nuts for unsalted pistachios. It turned out really well.

I think many different types of veggies could be added to this recipe based upon what’s available and what you like. For example, I think any type of oven-roasted winter squash would be yummy. A big plate of this would also make a substantial vegetarian dinner vs. a side dish.

This couldn’t be easier. The oven and food processor do all the work. I cooked the squash in a 375 degree oven for about an hour or until it was soft enough to scoop out the flesh into my food processor. I added a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar, a half teaspoon of vanilla and pinches of cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder and salt. Just blend in the food processor until a thick puree forms. I served this with seared sea scallops and snap peas.

I followed this recipe with the only difference being I used fresh sage instead of dried. After baking the potatoes, peeling them, sending them through a ricer, rolling out the dough and forming the gnocchi, an entire afternoon was gone and it looked like someone exploded a flour bomb in my kitchen. It took the dough a long time to come together. The sweet potatoes have a much heavier and wetter density than the russet potato and it took a lot of flour and mixing until I was able to actually roll the dough into a rope. I could never form a perfectly round or even rope so the resulting gnocchi pieces were not very uniform in size, hence their “very rustic” name.

In the end however, this was a very tasty dish with the pancetta, hazelnuts, sage and parmesan. Next time (if there is a next time) I may try making a lighter ricotta gnocchi.

I was super excited to meet Josh and Brent of The Fabulous Beekman Boys fame last November at Williams Sonoma where they signed my cookbook and generously posed for a photo! (Brent and I are totally coordinated with our blue shirts and puffy vest/coat.)

Here’s to cooking and hopefully blogging more in the new year!

We made a reservation over a week in advance which really didn’t seem to matter as we were put in queue with all of the other walk-ups and had to wait almost an hour post-reservation time for our table. This was slightly irritating as the bar area is small and we had to stand elbow-to-elbow with other Manhattanites and (very likely) tourists/fans of Tony. But once seated, all was right in the world and the creme brulee dessert was fantastic.

We had already planned our dinner menu when I saw the fava beans in the store so I decided to make an appetizer. I had read recipes for fava bean and goat cheese crostini and the combination sounded yummy. There were just a few simple ingredients: fava beans, goat cheese, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Puree in the food processor and spread on toasted slices of baguette.

I never liked radishes growing up but I was a pretty picky eater as a kid. When I met my husband I thought he was a really picky eater but he is sport for almost everything I come up with when experimenting with new recipes or meals. This one was just not for us. I’ve recently been reading about radishes with butter as an appetizer, although it sounds a little odd. After watching some Food Network shows over St. Patrick’s Day, I’m thinking I may want to look into getting some Irish butter and we do have some leftover radishes in the refrigerator. We’ll see . . .