My Family Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of all time!  Something about the fall smell in the air mixed with the smell of turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, etc. gets me so excited and in the family spirit.  I usually have Thanksgiving with my mom, dad, and sister and that is how I like it.  We make a whole smorgasbord of food and then relax with our desserts and drinks.

This year our Thanksgiving menu consisted of shrimp cocktail and stuffed mushrooms for appetizers and then our meal of Turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, rolls, broccoli puff, feta cheese, olives, cranberry mold, stuffed celery, and gravy.  I know it sounds crazy that we didn't have stuffing, but with all of the other wonderful food stuffing is not at the top of our list anymore. 

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

When having a Thanksgiving meal you must all of the dishes being offered present on your plate, and that's exactly what I did.  I usually don't like my food touching each other, but in this case having all of the different foods come together is a must.  Now let's talk about the food!

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

The Turkey, which is the most important part of a Thanksgiving feast, was one of the best that we have ever had!  It was so moist and the seasoning of spices and herbs that my mom puts onto the skin of the bird were unbelievable.  The way my dad carves the Turkey is perfect, making it possible for all of us to get tons of skin.  I personally only like the white meat of the Turkey, but sometimes I will dig into a leg or wing. 

The mashed potatoes that my mom makes are garlic mashed potatoes and they certainly compliment all of the other dishes present in this outrageous meal.  When waiting for the mashed potatoes to be mashed my mom beings to start cooking down the squash.  She does this by cutting up the squash into cubes and places them in a huge pan to boil and cook.  When they are softened she then mashes the squash and then goes into the pot with the potatoes and beings to smash those as well.  In any meal you are making timing is essential, but for Thanksgiving time is everything!  

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

Now onto the broccoli puff.  This is a dish that I have mentioned before, and it consists of broccoli, cheese, and mushrooms all put into a casserole style.  When baking this dish make sure that before you take it out there is a golden brown layer right on the top of all of the ingredients.  If there is the dish is done, if not keep in the oven until there is. 

The dinner rolls that my mom uses are simply regular dinner rolls.  We usually get pumpernickel rolls, but this year we got white.  Make sure to put the rolls into the toaster or oven before you eat them.  Having that extra crisp on them makes a world difference.  The cranberry mold that my mom makes is comparable to a gelatin, but much better.  She puts apples into the mold and it adds a whole other level of texture.  The cranberry mold is a great dish to have at the end, for it cleanses your pallet and leaves you with a refreshing taste in your mouth. 
The celery pieces are stuffed with chive cream cheese.  This is a dish that we have been doing since I was a kid.  These along with the mold are a great end of the meal munchies. 

Feta and olives are a huge part of my life, being Greek and all, and they are always present at the dinner table.  This year instead of having the feta and olives as an appetizer we had them with our meal.  The feta is a great dinner roll stuffer and the olive is just a great side compliment.  As I mentioned above we do have gravy, but I do not eat the gravy.  I like my Turkey plain so that I can mix it with all of the other foods. 

Thanksgiving is one of the times out of the year where you can eat as much as you want and not feel bad about it.  It is also one of the times out of the year where your leftovers do not go to waste and you are sometimes more excited for that leftover open face sandwich you know you are going to get, rather than Thanksgiving day itself!
  

top ten breakfast places

As breakfast becomes one of my favorite meals of the day I have found many amazing breakfast places as well as many not so amazing places.  Below are my top 10 places to eat breakfast.  If you are in the area, try these places out and I'm sure you will not be disappointed.

10. The Village Pancake House - this restaurant is located in Rowley, MA and is a great place to go with a large group of people.  Their pancakes are the best!

 9. The Agawam Diner - this diner is located in Rowley, MA and is a great place to go if you enjoy quick and cheap breakfast dishes.  You will feel as if you are part of the Agawam family.

8. Sam's Diner - this diner is located in San Francisco, CA.  Their omelets are always stuffed with great ingredients and their waiters are very nice

7. Wenham Tea House - this cute, little restaurant is located in Wenham, MA.  It is known for its' tea and bite size sandwiches. 

6. The Red Skiff - this great breakfast place is located in Rock port, MA.  Their omelets are great as well as their home fries.

5. The Margate - this hotel is located on Lake Winnipesaukee.  Their buffet is great and they alwyas have so much to offer.

4. Henry's Diner - this diner is located in Burlington, VT and is cute and has some great food.  There is always a wait, but it is worth it!

3. Norma's - this breakfast spot is located in New York, New York.  There food is great as well as their service and drinks!

2. Sugar Magnolias - this small, yet very tastey breakfast haven is located in Glouceste, MA.  Their food was wonderful and their pancake are gigantic!

1. Penny Cluse Cafe- this wonderful breakfast experience is located in Burlington, VT.  Their menu features all fresh ingredients and teh atmopshere is great!

Eggs Galore

Over thanksgiving break I went to Sugar Magnolias in Gloucester, MA.  When I stay in Annisquam, my boyfriend and I usually go to the Red Skiff in Rock port, but we decided to go somewhere different.  To my surprise Sugar Mags was much better than the Red Skiff.  They have a great menu and their food is so tastey! 

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

I ordered the Veggie omelet which came with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and cheese.  I also got marble rye toast on the side as well as home fries.  I split the veggie omelet and one of the specials of the day with my boyfriend's mother.  The special included a fried egg on a piece of wheat toast with tomatoes, spinach, avocado, cheese, bacon, and pesto.  The combination of the omelet with the open face sandwich was delicious!  The omelet was stuffed with the cheese oozing out of it.  The vegetables inside of the omelet were so fresh and really elevated the dish.  I like to make a sandwich out of the bread and omelet, so that's exactly what I did.   The one default of the dish was that the bread had too much butter on it, making each piece soggy and crispy, which is what I look forward to when I am eating toast.  The open face sandwich was amazing as well.  The pesto that was spread all over the crispy piece of whole wheat bread added some great flavor to the overall dish.  The bacon added some needed texture to the meal making there be different levels to the dish.  I have never experienced avocado and egg together before, but I will certainly have this combination again.  

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

  



















The home fries were not your average home fries, but more of a potato that you would serve at dinner.  They reminded me of the oven roasted potatoes that my mom makes during holidays.  Along with these two huge meals, I also had the privilege of trying some of my boyfriend's meal.  He ordered a bacon, pepper, and cheese omelet as well as a apple and caramel pancake, which was one of the specials of the day.  I tend to only eat chocolate chip or blueberry pancakes, but after seeing all of the caramel butter and maple syrup being poured over this gigantic pancake, I had to try a bite.  The pancake was so moist and there was actually little bits of apple in the pancake.  The caramel butter added some extra sweetness to the dish making me need a large glass of water after.  The pancake mixed with my omelet and open face sandwich was a great start to the day!  

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

Doughnuts or Munchkins?

As I sit down with my chocolate glazed doughnut and my hot chocolate with extra whipped cream I begin to think about what is the better breakfast snack..... doughnuts or munchkins.

Doughnuts are bigger, but you can eat more munchkins at a time, so who is to decide which one is better?  I certainly can't, so I am here to tell you that you can't go wrong with either a doughnut or a munchkin.  They are both great to dip into your coffee or hot chocolate and they both have great flavor.  Sometimes when I'm eating a doughnut it tastes like a munchkin and that may be because munchkins are just a smaller form of a doughnut.  They are cooked with the same ingredients, but just in a different shape.

My top favorite munchkins are chocolate glazed (of course), powdered, and jelly.  I love it when the jelly oozes out of the center. 

My top favorite doughnut is simply chocolate glazed. 

I find it interesting that although they are made with the same ingredients, I do not like jelly doughnuts or powered.  I believe that the ratio of jelly to doughnut is not evenly distributed, but the jelly given in the munchkin is the perfect amount.  This can also be referred back to the powered doughnut and its' ratio of powder to doughnut and then powder to munchkin.

This may be a silly idea, but many people prefer doughnuts over munchkins and vise versa, which leads be back to the original question; who is to decide which one is better?  

Tacos

Everyone loves tacos, whether they are soft-shell tacos or hard-shell tacos.  Everyone loves the juicy, highly seasoned beef that fills up the shell that is accompanied by sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, and then some!  But what are good side dishes that go well with tacos?  Do tacos even need a side dish, or are they simply good enough on their own?

I am here to tell you what my favorite taco side dishes are!

- Rice (pilaf, white or Mexican)

-Beans (black or kidney)

-Salad (Greek, house or Mediterranean)

-Veggie Platter

-Nachos (guacamole, salsa, sour cream, olives, lettuce, tomatoes)

Why are  side dishes important you ask?

They make the dish complete.  When eating tacos they are usually small, so by having a side dish to munch on you aren't going to leave hungry.  Something like a side dish can be easily misconstrued, but when eating you can never have enough on the table!   

Top 5 Chicken Dishes

Chicken is a part of many meals and it is also one of the easiest pieces of poultry to cook just because you know it's cooked when the inside is not pink.  Since moving into my own apartment, two years ago I have found myself cooking with Chicken a lot more. 

Here my top 5 dishes that include chicken.

1. Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry (Boneless Chicken, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, rice)

2. Chicken Pesto Panini's ( Boneless Chicken, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, pesto, focaccia)

3. Chicken Fajitas (Boneless Chicken, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, wheat wrap)

4. BBQ Chicken Wings (Chicken on the bone, BBQ sauce)

5. Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo (Boneless Chicken, broccoli, pasta, pesto)

All of these meals are easy to cook as well as easy to pair with another side dish.  Whether you pair these meals with a starch or some form of veggie you are going to have great meal because Chicken is the primary ingredient.  Whether you cook with Chicken that is already seasoned or you do the seasoning yourself, you are going to have flavorful Chicken and a flavorful meal.  The best part of Chicken is that you can through it in almost any dish and it will add texture, flavor, and a great source of protein to the meal as a whole!

10 Best Ingredients to cook with

When cooking you find yourself cooking with the same ingredients over and over again.  This may be, because those ingredients are the best to cook with.  Here are my 10 best ingredients to cook with!

1. Spinach
2. Pepper (spice)
3. Salt
4. Broccoli
5. Mushrooms
6. Oregano
7. Garlic
8. Chicken
9. Fish
10. Steak

These ingredients may not all be used in the same dish (obviously) but they are the ones that I find myself using time and time again.  When creating a meal I stick to what I know as well as what flavors I like the most.  When working with meat I always need a starch and although a starch is not present in my list, it is an ingredient that I always like to have present in my cooking.  Your 10 best ingredients are probably different from mine, but coming from a large Greek family these are the ingredients that are most prevalent in the meals that my family members cook.

Feel free to comment on what your 10 best ingredients to cook with are!  Bouncing ideas off one another is always needed in order to grow as a person.     

Homemade Meatballs & Prepackaged Raviloi's...... can they be friends?

One of my favorite foods that my mother makes are her homemade meatballs.  She puts cheese in the center of the meatballs making for every bite to be cheese and packed with a punch!

When having meatballs, everyone always has spaghetti and meatballs, but I rarely do that.  I always try to spice things up, so lately I have been pairing my wonderful homemade meatballs with ravioli's that I have bought from the grocery store.  Why? one might ask, but once you try it, don't knock it. 

The ravioli's that I paired my meatballs with recently was a ravioli stuffed with a blend of different cheese as well as spinach.  I am a huge spinach and cheese fan, so putting them together is a win win for me.

Now let's get to cooking.  Place your meatballs and sauce into a pan together so the spices from the meatballs rub off into the sauce and vice versa.  As you are cooking your meatballs and sauce place your ravioli's  into a pan of boiling hot water.  They will begin to float and once they come onto the surface they are ready.

Place your 4 or 5 ravioli's onto a plate, and lather them with the meatballs and sauce on top.  The combination is playful, yet simplistic.  When serving this meal you can eat it alone or you can add some bread and salad on the side and there you have a great and delicious meal.

Meatballs can be great on their own, especially my mother's, but putting them together with another fun and whimsical food is something anyone can do!  

homemade egg burritos

When dinner time rolls around people, especially college students, wonder what they are going to make after a long day of work.  I always like to make a meal that is rather large so that I can have left overs for lunch, but in some cases that doesn't always happen.  A meal that you can always rely on for good taste and to be filling is an egg burrito, or at least the way I make my egg burritos are certainly tasty and fulfilling for me!  

What I use to make my egg burrito is eggs (obviously), some seasoning, some shredded cheese, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, and a large white or wheat wrap.   A large wrap is necessary because as you fill your wrap with your eggs and veggies you don't want the wrap to break and you want to put as much into as possible.  This is do-able with a large wrap.

When making an egg burrito I tend to scrambled my eggs so that all of the ingredients marinate together when cooking and in the wrap.  I started off scrambling the eggs and adding some pepper and a touch of salt to them.  As the eggs are cooking I saute my veggies so that they are warm and so they break down a bit.  As the eggs gain a nice golden color to them I add in a layer of cheese, then a layer of veggies, and then another layer of cheese to top it all off.  You want to make sure that the veggies are spread out among all the eggs so each bite you get every ingredient. 

As you watch the eggs and veggies marry in the pan, you want to put tour wrap into the microwave, just to soften it up a bit.  There is nothing worse than having a hard wrap and having it crack or break right when you bite into it!  

Once your eggs and veggies are all cooked and your wrap is heated up you then pile the eggs and veggies into the middle of the wrap.  You then begin to fold in the end flaps of the wrap and roll the wrap into itself with the eggs and veggies in the middle.  Once that is done you have yourself a warm, tasty, and filling meal.  You can serve the egg burrito with some bacon or hash browns or simply just eat it by itself, it is that good! 

One would be surprised as to how satisfying an egg burrito really is! 

Turkey Sandwiches

One of my favorite meals is certainly lunch.  Whether I am out to lunch with friends or family or making my own I just love sandwiches, and Turkey sandwiches at that.  I love the idea of Turkey mixed with cheese, a whole bunch of vegetables, some kind of condiment all served on a delicious piece of bread. 

I find myself quite often getting Turkey sandwiches that consist of Turkey (obviously), pesto, cheddar cheese, spinach or lettuce, tomatoes, and sprouts on a wheat wrap.  I know this sounds not as great as I think it does, but if you go to City Market and order this then you will know what I am talking about.

The Turkey is fresh and reminds me of the pieces of Turkey that are left after Thanksgiving.  They pile three thick pieces of Turkey onto the large wheat wrap, but not before they lather the wrap in their homemade pesto.  It is some of the best pesto that I have had so far in my life.  So onto the Turkey.  They pile three thick pieces of Turkey onto the wrap like I said before and then hour pieces of cheddar cheese.  (My favorite part)  They then put on the spinach tomatoes and sprouts then role that all up and boy do they role it up.  The wrap is so tight that it squeezes all of the ingredients together making for each bite to be packed with fresh flavor.

When eating this wrap a bag of chips are always welcome along with a beverage of some sort.  I usually get a Diet Coke with my wrap along with a bag of cracked pepper and sea salt Cape Cod chips.   

If you are ever craving something to eat think of lunch, then think of a Turkey sandwich, and then think of all of City Market!  You won't be disappointed.

Mom's Broccoli Puff

During holidays my mom makes this wonderful rendition of a broccoli casserole, but in our house it is called "Broccoli Puff."  This broccoli used to be made my one of my many aunts, but as time went on my mom started making the dish herself and boy I didn't think it could get any better than my aunts.....BOY, was I wrong! 

When making broccoli puff all you need is broccoli, mushrooms, cheese,  bisquick, and milk.

When creating this dish you want to make sure that the broccoli and mushrooms are cut up at fine as possible, so each bite you get is a combination of broccoli, mushrooms, and cheese.  You can layer the pan with these ingredients or make a huge mix type of thing and then just pour it into the pan.

Once it is all cooked all of the ingredients really come together and it is delicious.  The cheese is all gooey and just melts in your mouth.  The broccoli and mushrooms are cooked just right and this dish along with the roast beef and squash etc. during Christmas dinner is unbelievable.  If I could have broccoli puff everyday I would!

Nika

This weekend I went to Nika, in Burlington, Vermont with my mom, dad, sister, and boyfriend to celebrate my birthday and it was certainly a meal not to forget.

Having it be lunch time they were not serving any appetizers other than soup and salad, so instead of getting their wonderful Sicilian style Calamari, we got two salads.  We got two of the arugula & long wind farm tomatoes salads.  The dish was a combination of of baby greens, shallots, Parmesan and espelette pepper tossed in a mixture of extra virgin olive oil & spices for the dressing.  The salad was refreshing and well dressed.  The baby greens had the right amount of dressing on them making them crunchy at the ends and certainly not wilted.  The tomatoes were scattered in the salad and added a different texture to the overall meal.  Very thin pieces of Parmesan  with a few sprinkles of pepper added to them topped the meal.  The only complaint about the dish was that it was a little bit salty in the sense that too much salt was added to the dressing.  After eating the great salad my meal came out and I couldn't have been more exctied!

For an entree I ordered the Wild Mushroom Risotto.  It was delicious.  The Risotto was rich and had great flavor to it.  The Wild Mushrooms were a huge part of the dish, as each bite that I got I had a huge mushroom in my mouth.  The mushrooms were cooked perfectly and it made a great contribution to the dish.  My sister and I split our entrees, so along with having the Wild Mushroom Risotto, I also had some of the Seafood Risotto.  At first, I didn't want to get two Risottos, but they both sounded so good and since I don't eat a lot of fish here in Vermont and I love fish I couldn't resist.  The Seafood Risotto was a dish filled with tons of mussels, shrimps, clams, wood fired tomatoes, some charred green onion, and chourico which is a form of sausage.  This was a great meal.  The sauce that the Risotto and pieces of seafood were mixed in was seasoned so well it was a highlight.  Although some of the pieces of fish had that "fishy" taste to them, the clams & mussels were great.  When getting a mixture of the Risotto and a clam or mussel together my taste buds were going wild.  As I ate more and more of both the Risottos,  I as realizing how well the Mushroom Risotto went with the Seafood Risotto.  The Mushrooms complicated all of the fish.  These were two great dishes. 

Although both the Risotto's were filling I managed to make my way to tasting my boyfriend's and parent's meals as well!  My mom got a special which was a Pulled Chicken and pasta dish, which had a great tomato flavor to it.  The sauce to Chicken and pasta ratio was great and the pulled Chicken was cook and seasoned well.  The pasta that was featured in the dish was a spiral type pasta which went well with the pulled pieces of Chicken and had symmetry to the meal.   My dad got a special as well.  He ordered the pulled pork sandwich which came with a wonderful mustard spread and shallots on a toasted Portuguese roll.  The mustard had a unique taste to it making for the combination of pork and mustard to be dynamite.  He also got a salad with his meal, but already having my own salad I passed on his.  My boyfriend ordered the orechiette and house made fennel sausage.  He has ordered that before and I tried it then and it was just as good as it was before.  Although his portion seemed a bit smaller this time he got it the flavors were still right one.  The cut up pieces of sausage mixed in the with garlic, broccoli rabe, and other spices and herbs certainly made for a great marinade for the sauce.  The pasta was fun and playful just as I thought the last time when I ate this dish.

Nika used to be Three Tomatoes.  As the atmosphere changed I was expecting the food too as well, but I can say that the food is just as good quality as the food served as Three Tomatoes.  The food is great and so aren't the prices other than the 3 dollars you have to pay when you order olive oil to dip the bread they gave us in.  If you are looking for some good Mediterranean cooking definitely go check out Nika!     

Childhood Memories

Over the Halloween weekend I went to Atlantic City and while I was there one of my meals consisted of a wonderful juicy burger from Johnny Rockets.  I hadn't been to Johnny Rockets since I was a little girl and went with my sister and my Nouna (in Greek means Godmother.)

Johnny Rockets is one of those places that people will always take their kids to because their food is fun and so isn't the atmosphere.  Right when you walk in there is music playing and friendly people waiting for you at the counter.

Now onto the food!  I ordered an original Johnny Rockets cheese burger, french fries, and a vanilla & chocolate shake that came with whipped cream.  The burger came with lettuce, tomato, pickles, mustard, and of course a mound french fries on the side.  The french fries were perfectly crisp and had a golden brown coloring to them.  Fries don't always make a meal, but in Johnny Rocket's case the fries are icing on top of the cake for me.  When it comes to the burger itself, it is good quality considering Johnny Rockets being a chain.  The meat is nice and tender and the cheese cascades over the piece of beef drowning it in cheesy goodness.  Who can turn that down?  The pickles and other toppings add some depth and flavor to the overall patty making a lot bunch of taste buds able to be hit.  I love having pickles on my burger, but when I make burgers myself I never use pickles.  This may be, because the pickles that Johnny Rockets use have a sweet flavor to them and the way they are cut which is thin and round make for a perfect burger topper. 

 The bun is toasted, slightly, making for a little crunch to be added to the meal.  After taking a few bites of your delicious burger and crispy fries, you need to wash it all down with a huge gulp of massive shake that has about 2 inches of whipped cream on top.  I always order a vanilla and chocolate mixed shake wherever I go and this time was no exception.  When the waitress brought over the creamy shake my mouth watered.  The first sip is always the best because you get the thick layer of whip cream mixed with the perfect vanilla to chocolate ratio all in one bite.  The shake acted as a dessert which in this case certainly craved my sweet side.     

photo taken by Ariele Pappalimberis

       Having this shake with my burger and fries is certainly a meal that could hold me over until the next day.  After looking back at this meal I thought to myself, why don't I go here more often and then it came to me, 1. There isn't a Johnny Rockets here in Vermont, 2. It is a chain, and 3.  Since it is a chain this kind of meal should be have on occasion because yes it is bad for you, but furthermore it is a kind of meal that you want to remember and look forward and if you eat it all the time, you won't get that same feeling you do get when you have it once every few months.