I learned this as a little kid watching “The Galloping Gourmet” on TV. Cutting an onion the easy way.
1. Cut in half from stem to stern, actually root to what would be the leafy end
2.Peel the half, (it’s easy to peel half an onion)
3. Make cuts from the leafy end nearly to the root end, the root will hold the onion together for you.
When you are at the sides angle the knife so you are cutting towards the center, making wedges
Now cut across,
Look. Little squares!
Unstuffed cabbage rolls.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small cabbage, chopped
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or wine vinegar
pepper and salt to taste
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.
Note: Try the no salt added tomatoes and sauce to reduce sodium. It works fine.
A rich custard pie, made with buttermilk.
From my childhood. Grandmother made the best pies.
So there’s Chess pie aka buttermilk pie, and Lemon chess pie.
for simple chess or buttermilk pie, use:
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
Mix together sugar and flour. Separately mix together eggs and buttermilk. Combine dry with wet ingredients – blend. Add melted butter and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into pie crust. Cook 40-60 min in 350º oven till center is firm.
for Lemon chess pie, add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon lemon zest with the melted butter and vanilla.
Historical note: Chess pie recipes often used cornmeal instead of or in addition to flour. It would give a different texture to the pie. And some recipes used vinegar with milk, which would essentially clabber the milk, a substitution for buttermilk.
Avocado and tomato salad
2 cups avocados, rough chop
1 cup tomato, rough chop
1 cup cucumbers, rough chop
1/2 cup red onion, diced small
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
salt, pepper to taste
It’s St. Paddy’s day. And these caught my eye. Three for three leaf clovers. All have excellent tutorials. Inspiring images.
Check out her blog. Royal Icing diaries
And see 
– Mrs Fox’s sweets
And another favorite:
Chicken Fried Rice
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
3 cups rice, prepared
½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 cup peas & carrots, frozen
1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons sesame oil
¼ cup soy sauce
Instructions
Prepare rice according to package instructions to yield 3 cups cooked rice.
Heat sesame oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
Add chicken, onion, garlic, peas, and carrots. Stir fry until tender.
Crack eggs into pan and scramble, mixing throughout vegetables.
Add rice. Stir in soy sauce and remove from heat.
Passion for the sweet life