I had never had Italian Wedding Soup until a few days ago.   I have been to 8 million weddings and I love-me-some-soup, but somehow this tradition passed me by.

After enjoying this meatball goodness at a local restaurant, I wanted to make my own.  Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) has a great recipe that highlights the pasta/spinach/meatballs perfectly.  I've copied the recipe below with my comments/alterations noted.  Enjoy!
Italian Wedding Soup
Original recipe by Barefoot Contessa
Serves 6-8

For the meatballs:
3/4 pound ground chicken (I bought ground chicken thigh)
1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed (I used ground pork sausage)
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs (I only had whole wheat bread and it tasted fine)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano (I was all out, so I used all Parmesan)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup 
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups homemade chicken stock (I used store-bought chicken broth)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars (I used orzo)
1/4 cup minced fresh dill (I loved this.  Boyfriend hated it.)
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

I recently read Skinny Bitch, the foul-mouthed manifesto about an organic, vegan lifestyle.  It is extremely persuasive.  So much so, that I completely weaned myself off of coffee, sodas and refined sugar.  I was having visions of being the healthiest version of me (including the 6-pack I was sure I would have.)

I had a caffeine headache for four days.  Then I woke up one morning and said, "screw the skinny bitches" and I made myself some coffee.  My key takeaway from the book is that organic chocolate is good for you (well it's not BAD for you.)

Leave it to me to start eating more chocolate because of a diet book.  I highly recommend this Dark Chocolate from Whole Foods.  They even have some with mint crisps in them. Delicious!

Paella, the traditional Spanish dish with shellfish and saffron flavored rice, is one of my favorites.  In it's original form it is cooked over an outdoor fire.  I don't have that luxury, so I was happy to find this easy version on Gourmet.com.

It turned out great.  Somehow more like a latin jambalaya.  I left out the peas, and traded clams for mussels.  Delicious.

Quick Paella  
Originally featured on Gourmet.com  
3 tablespoons olive oil 
3 garlic cloves, chopped 
1 cup frozen onions and bell peppers (6 oz) 
1 lb kielbasa (not low-fat), quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (1 cup) 
2 cups instant long-grain white rice such as Uncle Ben’s 
1/4 cup dry white wine 
1 1/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (10 fl oz) 
1/8 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads 
20 frozen cleaned raw medium shrimp such as Contessa brand 
1 1/4 lb cockles or other very small (1-inch-wide) hard-shelled clams, scrubbed 
1 cup frozen peas 
1 cup small pimiento-stuffed green olives 

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat until just smoking, then sauté garlic and frozen onions and peppers, stirring, until garlic and onions are golden, about 2 minutes. Add kielbasa and cook, stirring, until kielbasa is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add rice, wine, broth, saffron, and shrimp and cook, covered and undisturbed, over high heat until most of liquid is absorbed and shrimp are cooked through, about 6 minutes. Stir in cockles, peas, and olives and cook, covered, until cockles open wide, 2 to 4 minutes. (Discard any cockles that remain unopened after 4 minutes.) Remove from heat and let stand, covered, until all liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.

My man is a sensitive, tenderhearted man.  He loves refined food and even enjoys baking Christmas cookies.  But a man has to be a man.  Tonight he looked at me and said, "Enough with the fish and veggies.  I need meat and potatoes."

So we made roasted pork tenderloin and simple roasted potatoes.  And when I say simple, I mean simple.  Olive oil, salt and pepper.  That's it.

We beth kept gushing about the potatoes.  They tasted like a blend between popcorn and McDonald's french fries.

'Manly' Roasted Potatoes
Take fingerling potatoes (as many as you want) and cut them in half.  Spread evenly on cookie sheet.  Drizzle generous amount of olive oil on top (you can't over do it.)  Salt and pepper generously (you really can't over do this either.)  Roast at 400 for 45 minutes, stirring once.

Thomas Keller is known for in culinary circles as one of the most technical, refined and ground breaking American chefs.  He's put out several ridiculously advanced cookbooks, and finally one for home cooks.  Ad Hoc at Home is filled with family style dishes that Keller makes for his friends and restaurant staff.  Check out this excellent review on EatMeDaily.com.
So here's my story:
1. My friend Wendy told me Thomas Keller was at my local Williams Sonoma for a book signing.  I booked it over there.
2. I ran into an old-schoolmate-turned-chef-and-food-orchestrator, Jordan Swim, of Food Creates Community fame.
3. I decided the line was way too long to get my book signed, so I walked to the front and took this unremarkable picture with my iPhone:

He seemed perfectly charming and knowledgeable, and now I'm more motivated than ever to cook some of his more 'accessible' dishes from Ad Hoc.

Another quick tip from this great guide:  don't touch it too much.  Poking at the rice will break the grains, releasing starch and making it more  'mushy' than you want.

Shrimp Fried Rice 
Modified from version on SimplyRecipes  
8 ounces small raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat 1 tabelspoon cooking oil in large sauté pan on high heat.
2. Add the shrimp, let fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate.
3. Turn the heat to medium, and add the eggs.  Stir quickly to scramble until they are almost cooked through.   Remove eggs from pan and keep on the same plate as the shrimp.
4. Use paper towels to wipe the sauté pan clean and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of pan.
5. Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the peas and carrots, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again, until the rice grains are so hot they practically dance! Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.

I've been sick.  Coughing and sneezing and sore throat-ing.  The only thing I've done in the kitchen is make hot tea.

With all this time spent resting on the couch, I've done a stupid amount of internet-recipe searching.  I now have a long list of recipes to make as soon as I can breathe out of both sides of my nose.

This Oven-Fried Panko Chicken from Gourmet.com (moment of silence for my favorite magazine that has shut it's doors) is first in the queue.  Check out the video of the former editor making this chicken.


Oven-Fried Panko Chicken
Originally featured in Gourmet.com 
2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs) 
1/2 teaspoon cayenne 
1 stick unsalted butter, softened 
1 chicken (about 3 1/2 lb), rinsed, patted dry, and cut into 10 serving pieces (breasts cut crosswise in half) 

1. Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
2. Stir together panko, cayenne, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in a pie plate. 
3. Stir together butter, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 /4 tsp pepper in a small bowl, then brush all over chicken. Add chicken, 2 pieces at a time, to crumb mixture and coat evenly on both sides, pressing chicken into crumbs to help them adhere, then transfer, skin side up, to a shallow baking pan.
4. Bake chicken until well browned and cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. Let stand, uncovered, 5 to 10 minutes to crisp.

Enough with the turkey!  I have been craving seafood after all this Thanksgiving fare.  Last night I made this ridiculously easy salmon and it didn't disappoint.  The brown sugar locks in the moisture, leaving me a juicy, flavorful piece of love.  I served with these sweet potatoes.

Also, Old Bay is having another great giveaway.  Become a fan of their Facebook page and you can win all sorts of goodies by uploading a picture of your holiday feasts.

Sweet and Spicy Salmon 
Simply coat both sides of a skinned salmon fillet with brown sugar (coat liberally) and sprinkle Old Bay Seasoning (be generous) on top of the brown sugar.  Wrap in foil packet and bake for 30 minutes on 350 or until it flakes easily.