Just~One~Donna

Chicken and Stuffing As the weather gets colder and the days get shorter here in the Northeast I find myself migrating toward recipes that are comfy, cozy and homey.  Chicken and stuffing as a name for this recipe really doesn't do it justice.  The chicken is moist, tender and very flavorful because it is cooked on the bone.  The stuffing is moist and filled with the flavors of herbs, onion and celery.  Bringing the two together is the mushroom and wine sauce made from that old standby, cream of mushroom soup.  Don't judge me, now!  You know you have some in your pantry for dishes just like this one. The great thing about a recipe like this one besides its homey deliciousness is that it can easily be scaled to serve a few more, or many more.  It takes about 30 minutes to prepare and an hour to bake.  That means it won't work as a last minute weeknight dinner, but consider adding it to your menu rotation for the days when you have a little ex...

Appetizers, little bites, hors d'oeuvres, tapas, small plates, antipasto, canapes, whatever you might call the tasty morsels you eat before a meal, are my obsession lately.  I've been on a quest to find the five to ten appetizers that can be prepared in a flash, but pack that burst of flavor I look for in my before meal bites. A Baked Cheese Appetizer Greek Inspired Baked Cheese One appetizer I have been making lately is a baked cheese appetizer inspired by the Greek bouyiourdi , a mixture of tomatoes and Feta cheese.  Served with crackers or a crusty bread, this is a perfect winter appetizer enjoyed in front of a fire with a glass of wine.  It also transfers just as well, to your backyard patio, sitting around a fire-pit, enjoying a summer evening. This recipe is not meant to replicate bouyiourdi.  You can do that by searching the internet starting with the link above.  It is meant to inspire you to think about combinations of cheese and aromati...

Public access to most of our local beach area is blocked by the National Guard, but this weekend I was able to walk a two mile stretch of the beach to see the Hurricane Sandy impact. Those of you who read Just One Donna regularly know that I love the beach.  I feel very lucky to live so close to the ocean's beauty and can't imagine ever living too far away.  We, New Englanders, are used to storms and the resulting beach erosion. It seems to come with the territory.  We check our beaches at the end of each winter to see whether or not we lost a significant amount of our precious beachfront to Mother Nature's fury.  Sandy was much more than our usual nor'easter.  The media dubbed it a super storm.   A storm of that magnitude was bound to wreak havoc. Sadly, many of the homes and businesses in the area sustained significant damage or were destroyed by Sandy.  Assessment of the full extent of the damage is underway.  Toda...