The Yum Yum Factor

It was the The Kid's 15th birthday and I think I have made it pretty clear that when somebody celebrates a birthday in this house, it's allllll about days of eating whatever the birthday person wants to eat. From our Saturday dim sum feast at Luckee, through to his Saturday night, adult free, all you can eat sushi dinner with a group of his friends all the way to the actual birthday dinner, The Kid got to eat whatever his little heart desired. It also so happens that Easter fell the day before his birthday this year, so a turkey dinner was thrown in there for good measure. At first, he just requested risotto with either pumpkin pie or a raspberry pie. I got a pumpkin pie for Easter dinner and he was the only one to eat it so the same pie was going to have to do as his birthday dessert and he was A Okay with that but I couldn't pin him down as far as kind of risotto. He said "just plain risotto" I am NOT making a big bowl of plain risotto for his birthd...

MMMMMM mussels. They are so cheap, so easy and so delicious that anyone who enjoys eating them but never makes them is insane. You can make a giant pot of mussels, cut up a loaf of some kind of good, crusty bread, maybe make a salad and you have dinner on the table in ten minutes for under $10. Sometimes it's fun to get fancy pants and do all sorts of exotic thai lemongrass or Indian spiced mussels to be sure, but for The Kid, it's always classic,  straight up white wine, garlic and buttery tomatoes. Bottom line is that there is no excuse to not make them so don't be a crazy person. Go and buy yourself a bag of mussels and get cracking. Mussels in White Wine serves 2 as a main course or 3 or 4 as an appetizer 2 lb mussels 3 tbls butter 3 shallots, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped pinch chili flakes 2 large plum tomatoes, chopped 1/2 cup white wine 1 cup chopped italian parsley 1/2 cup chopped basil Cook the onion, chili flake  and garlic in the b...