My View of Life on the Dock
Twenty years ago today we said I Do…
We celebrated our marriage with family & friends…
and we wowed our wedding guests with a choreographed first danced to “It Had To Be You” by Harry Connick Jr. ….
and yes… It’s true, I began feeding you that very night!….
Happy 20th Anniversary My Love…
Cheers to continuing our happy journey through life together… I adore you
Pasta with Rope Mussels and Chourico
Our dear family friend Toby Pett stop by the house with a special delivery Saturday afternoon
Toby’s visits always include a special treat of some kind! He usually comes bearing delicious, assorted cheeses, bottles of fine wine and on occasion handy kitchen gadget of some sort. Saturday’s visit was no excepting. When the door bell rang, and Coconut began barking, I peeked out the window and noticed his tan truck in the driveway. I greeted Toby at the front door where he stood grasping a white shopping bag, sporting his big happy smile. As I opened the door, Toby said “I brought you a few things today, and one of them I’m hoping you don’t already own.” Tobey knows how much I love our conversations about food, cooking and fine wines! He and I have been know to chat hours about our passions for good food and delicious wines. As Toby entered and walked over to my kitchen island, the excitement to learn what was in the bag grew…. he reached into the white bag and pulled out a container of marinated Colossal Green Olives, and said, ” I know you loves olives…so enjoy these how ever you please, but have you ever cooked with this? …as he removed 4 large links of Smoked Chourico Caserio. The smell of the smoked Chourico was mouth watering. He then pulled out a beautiful hammered copper dome shaped pan, one in which I had never seen before, and said, “do you have a “Cataplana?”…and immediately began explaining the uniqueness of cooking with a Cataplana- a traditional Portuguese seafood pan. The copper pan, cooks very much like a pressure cooker, and has been commonly used to cook seafood dishes in Portuguese kitchens for many generations. After admiring, and thanking Toby for his generous and thoughtful gifts, he shared some of his favorite dishes prepared with seafood in this pan over the years. During our conversation Toby encouraged me to create a new recipe for Sista’s Dish GMG post. I used the Cataplana yesterday for the first time, and I’m loving it! It easy to use, cook awesome, and love that it makes one dish meals in minutes. I highly recommend purchasing a Cataplana. This traditional Portuguese seafood pan get a two thumbs up in my kitchen this week!
Yesterday I whipped up this incredible pasta dish for a late luch my husband Barry and I shared. This handy copper pan, cooked an amazing one dish meal in less then 20 minutes. The flavor of the Smoked Chourico, combined with the Rope Mussels was outstanding! Pasta with Rope Mussels and Smoked Chourico is a quick and easy recipe that’s delicious enough to serve as an entrée or appetizer this summer!
Toby, thank you for the treasures that inspired me to create this tasty fast and easy new recipe!
For Step-by-Step recipe details and photos click continue Continue reading “Pasta with Rope Mussels and Smoked Chourico”
Late afternoon Lunch….Pasta with Mussels and Smoked Chourico Caseiro!
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Stop by City Hall for the “Golden Gloucester Resident Beach Parking Sticker!”
Beer Battered Panko Fried Pickles With Chili Pepper Dipping Sauce
Today the kids asked for a batch of Fried Pickles for a late afternoon snack…they are easy to make and supper yummy !
Click continue for Beer Battered Panko Fried Pickles With Chili Pepper Dipping Sauce recipe details and photos Continue reading “Beer Battered Panko Fried Pickles With Chili Pepper Dipping Sauce”
I absolutely love my Good Grips Cherry Pitter, by OXO! The OXO cherry Pitter, removes the pit swiftly without bruising the fruit. This handy little gadget makes eating cherries more enjoyable without their pits, and keeps them looking pretty enough to add to a summer fruit salad. The OXO’s small non slip handle design is perfect for the tiniest of hands. Most kids find this gadget more like a toy, and look forward to the task of removing pits. Yesterday within hours of my daughter Amanda’s arrival home from school for summer break, I found her at our kitchen island pitting a big bag of cherries just for fun!
It’s Simply a summer kitchen gadget must have !
Cheesy Fingerling Potatoes
Click continue for Step-By-Step recipe details and photos Continue reading “Cheesy Fingerling Potatoes”
Freshly cut chives from the garden have made their way onto the dinner table tonight!
Fudge Brownie Bars with Salted Caramel Pretzel Crust And Chocolate Ganache Frosting
My mother and daughter Amanda are currently obsessed with all things Salted Caramel. When I spotted this bag of Salted Caramel Pretzels in snack aisle at Market Basket I immediately thought of them, and tossed a bag into my grocery cart. On my drive home from the store I began creating this recipe in my head… and as soon as the groceries were put away, I began baking. Latter that night I served my mother and family with these heavenly Fudge Brownie Bars for dessert….they were a big hit that night, and an even bigger hit this past weekend at a friends BBQ.
Click see more for Fudge Brownie Bars with Salted Caramel Pretzel Crust And Chocolate Ganache Frosting Step-by-Step recipe details and photos Continue reading “Fudge Brownie Bars with Salted Caramel Pretzel Crust And Chocolate Ganache Frosting”
The overcast sky isn’t stopping hundreds from enjoying a day at the beach! Sent from Xfinity Mobile App
Last Saturday Craig Kimberly and I filimed the Mathews family’s traditional “Stomping of The Grapes “Vino Making Extravaganza, for an upcoming cooking show segment we are working on together. Yesterday Neil and Bridgette Mathews invited us back to their home to shoot part two of their wine making process.
Cheers to Neil and Bridgette Mathews, and family for sharing their family tradition and wine making secrets with us! It truly has been a pleasure and we look forward to filming part 3 later this year!
Today Is Phase 2 Of Vino Making!
The Calm Before The Storm…. No Lines & They still have bags of New Potatoes if your planning to make my New Potato Salad with Fresh Dill this holiday weekend!
https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/new-potato-salad-with-fresh-dill/
Mother natures’ unpredictable climate this time of year makes espresso lovers official decision to switch from enjoying a daily hot espresso, to enjoying an iced espresso a big challenge. This weeks favorite kitchen gadget is my Keurig Café One-Touch Milk Frother. This handy little gadget has made my transition from hot espresso to iced espresso a lot easier to drink. I have found that a warm frothy dollop of milk floating on top of my iced espresso is a heavenly in between beverage. I know I’m breaking all the rules by adding warm frothy milk to an Iced beverage, and it really defeats the whole concept of drinking an “iced beverage”, but this combination is perfect on a day like today when the temperature outside is neither hot or cold enough to commit one way or the other! Coffee connoisseurs will definitely disagree, but it’s working for me, and I highly recommend trying it!
Sunday Dinner was enjoyed at Essex Seafood this week! It has been one of our families most favorite spots to stop for fried clams and seafood. Check out their new expanded dinning area …Essex Seafood has been serving great food, with great prices, and friendly service for many years!
Open 7 days a week, opening at 11:00am daily, and closing at 9:00pm on Friday and Saturday, 8:30pm Thurs and Sunday and at 8:00pm Monday through Wednesday, year-round. We are located on Rt. 133, (1/4 mile before the Essex/Gloucester line) 143R Eastern Avenue in Essex, MA 01929. (978-768-7233)
Melissa Smith Abbott speaking about Blogging
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Yesterday Gloucester residents, Neil and Bridgette Mathews, hosted their 4th Annual Wine Stomping Extravaganza! Family and friends gathered at their home here in Gloucester, for an afternoon of Old Fashion Fun. It was a day of…Family, Friendship, food , and of course lots of homemade “Vino.” Neil, “Head Winer” of yesterday’s festivities, led an assemble line of helpers through the first stages of wine making, while his wife Bridgett and their three beautiful daughters, Lindsey, Abbey, and Melodey, fixed an Italian style buffet lunch, which included several bottles of wine produced by the family last year. Neil and Bridgett are committed to producing wine “The Old Fashion way,” each step of the process is a labor of love done by hand. All 540 lbs. of imported Chilean Carmenere Grapes were carefully inspected, for mold and leaves, before the labor intensive work of plucking thousands of juicy plump grapes from their stems began. Dozens of sorted grapes were mounded in large trays, and transferred to a giant plastic stomping tub in the Mathews garage.
Thank you so much for your gracious invitation, and warm hospitality. We were honored to be apart of your family tradition and are truly grateful for allowing us access to your behind the scene’s Vino Making! It was a fantastic day! Grazie!
Get ready folks… GMG’s Craig Kimberley Master Videographer is working his magic with yesterday’s behind the scene’s footage of Vino Making, The Old Fashion Way …Stay tuned!
Thank you Craig for all your hard work yesterday, and for always keeping things running smoothly on location and real on the set! I’m truly blessed to be working with you!…and to Miss Hannah, Thank you for sharing your hubby on a beautiful Spring Saturday<3
Click continue to see more photos from yesterday’s Vino Making at the Mathews Home! Continue reading “Making Vino The Old Fashion Way!”
Grape Stomping Time!
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Part 1 ….. picking and cleaning 540 lbs. Chilean Carmenere Grapes Sent from Xfinity Mobile App
Good Morning Gloucester 