First Dinner

This is my blog about what is for dinner every night at my house. We live on the north side of Chicago in a bungalow with a backyard big enough for a small garden. "We" are me, a 36 year old stay at home mom, my 5 year old daughter, and my husband who I have been happily married to for 7 years.

I have been cooking for a long time. I learned how to cook from my mom when I was in high school. She went back to work as an accountant, so during tax season if I didn't cook we didn't eat until 10pm. My brother and father were no help in the kitchen, so it was up to me. But that was okay because I would try all kinds of new recipes that my mom never made, like Mexican food. I didn't really learn to love to cook until I was married and had my own kitchen, but I had fun using my family as guinea pigs. :)

Since this is my first post, I'll give you tonight AND last nights dinners! (I hope you can handle the excitement.) Tonight I made homemade pizza. I used two boxes of Jiffy crust, which is good and easy. I made garlic oil for one crust and used Dei Fratelli canned sauce for the other. I sprinkled both with salt, pepper and chopped basil. The garlic oil pizza got fresh chopped tomatoes, then they both got topped with shredded italian blend cheese. Yummy! I also made rice pudding for dessert, which I will only make because my wonderful aunt gave me a rice cooker.

Dinner last night was my version of Pomodoro Pasta. I like to use fresh ingredients from my garden, but since this is Chicago and it is only May I had to use store bought.

8 ripe tomatoes
6 large basil leaves, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup white cooking wine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 package thin spaghetti

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. While spaghetti cooks, dice the tomatoes. Put them in a large skillet with all the other ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes. Serve with garlic bread and generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese.


I cannot remember where I got the original recipe for this, but I know I did a lot of tweaking to get it to my liking. I once tried to use pinot grigio wine in place of the cooking wine, but it was too dry. Happy eating!