Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

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The Reet says eat here....

Johnny K decided to take me to a special restaurant for my birthday his choice, not mine). We dined at O'Porto Fine Portuguese Restaurant in Hartford, with good friends Keith/Sharon and Vin/Marsha. We started with good wine (I had a diet coke with lemon) followed by great appetizers (my favorite, Camarao Grelhado, grilled shrimp in lemon sauce, was so good that next time I will order that for dinner).

Another good appetizer was their famous Portuguese fried potatoes. (also served as the dinner potatoes); very tasty. The big hit of the night was the Paehla or Paella. Various concoctions were filled with shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, chicken or whatever and served with SAFFRON rice. The SAFFRON rice was everyone's favorite (but not mine). John order Black Pork, pork chops that were cooked to perfection, unlike the dried out ones I cook. Me, well I had a steak with those famous Portuguese potatoes again because I'm a wimp. My recommedation is if you want a great steak go to Anthony's Jacks. Portguese steak doesn't cut it. Now to the deserts, they were awsome! I had cheesecake with caramel sauce, very good. Keith and Sharon enjoyed an Almond Tarte together, and John and Sharon had Creame Brule together. We all shared, except Vin and Marsha, Marsha enjoyed her Chocolate Mousse and only gave Vin a bite. All in all, it was a great birthday evening with fine dining and good friends. I just don't think I would order steak again. And, too much Saffron rice for me.

O'Porto....

A Paehla For Everyone At O'Porto This Month by KORKY VANN, The Hartford Courant
O'Porto, 2074 Park St., Hartford, 860-233-3184

It's "paehla month" at O'Porto Restaurant in Hartford (paehla is the Portuguese version of paella), and culinary festivities around the event include hot deals for takeout customers. Get your dishes to go, and you'll save cool cash on the eat-in cost. The restaurant offers a number of classic combinations of meat, seafood and vegetables, all built on fragrant saffron rice and all great options for anyone looking to impress dinner guests without going near a stove.

We tried Paelha a Casa (the house version) and immediately make a note to add it to our holiday menu. (Discounted paelha to-go prices remain in effect through the end of the year. The takeout price is $30; the in-restaurant dinner regular price is $46 and $40 during paehla month.) The dish, packed with shrimp, clams, mussels, pieces of chicken and pork, chunks of spicy chouriço sausage and accented with red peppers and green peas, is an instant crowd pleaser.

Other varieties include Paelha Marinheiro, which features scallops and shrimp, Paelha Portuguesa which adds lobster to the mix, and Paelha Vegetariana, (a vegetarian version) with seasonal vegetables. There's a two-person minimum order for any of the paelhas and for an additional per head cost. You can expand your order to feed as many as you like. (If you're looking to feed 15 or more, call a day ahead, otherwise several hours notice will suffice.)

Another great deal is a fixed-price selection featuring appetizer, entree and dessert for $26. For starters, we opt for the Crepes Recheadoes, delicate pancakes stuffed with shrimp in a mild tomato broth, then move on to the Salmão à Sousa, a generous grilled salmon fillet, and finish with what instantly becomes our favorite dessert of the season - Tarta de Amendoa - a sweet pastry base topped with a toffee-like crust of caramelized almonds.

To sweeten the pot for takeout customers O'Porto is offering a $5 gift card good toward your next meal with any takeout order now through Thanksgiving.

The restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday from noon to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served from 5 to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday hours are noon to 8 p.m. O'Porto is closed on Monday. Information: www.oportohartford.com.

Finding The Real New England Lobster Roll

Futile But Tasty Quest (AP) - MASHPEE, Mass. -- Leaning back in his bar stool, the retired postmaster shook his head and jabbed a fork toward the pound of lobster and mayonnaise stuck between bread. Deprived of lobster rolls in Arizona, James Maguire III had returned to his native Massachusetts and consumed seven in almost as many days. He found the biggest and best at The Raw Bar in Mashpee.

"There's more lobster in this one than all the rest combined," he said, giddy with delight. New Englanders speak of lobster rolls with a reverence usually reserved for religion. Devoted sects squabble over the delicacy's origins, they quarrel over recipe orthodoxy and they flock to beloved seafood shacks like pilgrims to a shrine. A winding summertime journey from Connecticut to Maine spanned 250 miles, seven lobster rolls and several thousand calories. The search didn't reveal the one, undisputed lobster roll, but it uncovered some good ones.

Here's the truth: A proper New England lobster roll includes meat and bread. Everything else is negotiable. Disputes over the lobster roll outnumber the ingredients in one. Are they properly served drenched in butter or smeared with mayonnaise? Hellman's or horseradish? Lettuce or celery? And why lobster, anyway? "There is that weird irony that lobster is such an expensive ingredient and it's being served in such a pedestrian way," said Rebecca Charles, a Manhattan chef who first encountered lobster rolls while vacationing in Maine as a child.

Charles considers herself a fundamentalist. To her, a true lobster roll is cased in a toasted, Pepperidge Farm hotdog bun. It contains cold lobster chunks coated with Hellman's mayonnaise. She mixes in minced celery, salt and pepper, then adds squeezed lemon juice. Warm bread contrasts with cold meat. - complete article

2006 Wine Tasting Benefit at Mohegan Sun

Brenda sharing cooking secrets with Chef Todd English (Olives of Boston and Tuscany at Mohegan Sun) and Chef Ted Allen (from televison show Queer Eye) Saturday at the
2006 Wine Tasting Benefit at Mohegan Sun.

New eats on Center Street...

New eating places are sprouting up and down Center Street these days. Reet Says Eat aims to try them all.

Tonic out, Popular in

‘Popular’ spot will return to downtown by Harry Kyle, The Southington Citizen

Southington’s Renaissance project was developed to bring a rebirth to the downtown business district, and its redesigned walkways, outdoor dining areas and variety of new restaurants and shops have gone a long way toward fulfilling that goal. But, in a somewhat ironic twist, the newest piece of the revival puzzle has an old connection to the central business district as it existed almost 50 years ago.

The Popular Restaurant was once one of Southington’s favorite watering holes. Located at 71 Center Street, it was started as a nickel-a-beer tavern by Horace Secondo and his wife, Edna, in 1937, and quickly became the favorite gathering place in town. The next two generations of the Secondo family carried on the tradition until 1987, when the family sold the business. It continued in operation under the same name until it was destroyed by a fire in 1991. Now a new branch of the Secondo family has come back to town, and plans to combine the mystique and charm of the old night spot with some new amenities, in the hopes of making the Popular name popular once again. complete article

The Fire Place

We ordered a couple of pies at halftime of the Giants-Eagles game, made additionally difficult because they have no website and telephone number was not available from information. So we needed two trips - one to order, another to pickup. The verdict: crust, the most important element of the pie, was almost mushy; very disappointing. We will give them another shot, but the first impression was thumbs down. Too bad, the reataurant has been nicely renovated.

Fire Place heats up Center Street By Robert C. Pollack, Record-Journal staff

SOUTHINGTON — A new, upscale pizza restaurant called The Fire Place is coming to Center Street in May, if the Zoning Board of Appeals approves a pending application for a liquor license. Frank LaRosa and John Pucci, both of Southington, are spending $120,000 to renovate the storefront at 44 Center St. — former home of Apple Annie's — with an eye to opening the new restaurant in mid-May. LaRosa said the 2,400-square-foot restaurant, which will serve both lunch and dinner, will offer pizzas of every description, including shrimp and chicken. - complete article

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...that's Renaldo's

Reet Says Eat many times over the years at Renaldo's Apizza & Pasta, where a smiling Renaldo always greets our pickup orders with a Hello, Rita. The restaurant recently received a favorable review in the Hartford Courant, which said, in part:

A dozen booths make up the simple restaurant that even on a Sunday night was hopping with patrons picking up to-go orders, and others settling in for a meal. "It doesn't look like much from the outside. It's not the Waldorf Astoria, but we have good food and decent prices," explains owner Christopher Quiroga, a former corrections officer who purchased the place from Renaldo Riccitelli about six years ago.

"Renaldo still works here and he gave me the recipes along with the place when I bought it," explained Quiroga. "We don't give out the recipes, but nearly everything we do here is from scratch." I could tell. The sauce was sweet, obviously from good products, fresh herbs and hours of simmering. Breads, including the grinder rolls, were crisp on the outside and light on the inside, indicative of homemade. - complete review

Located at 378 N. Main St., Southington, CT 860-621-6005

Sharon Mirisola's Chicken 'N Rice 'N Broccoli

Ingredients:

2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli

2 cups Success Rice (I guess Minute Rice doesn't make it!)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 stick butter or margarine

1 16 oz jar Cheez Whiz

1 can Durkee fried onions

2 cups of of cooked chicken (cubed)

Prepare:

cook/strain broccoli

cook rice (not sure how long?)

mix cheez whiz, soup & softened butter (using a mixer)

add cooked chicken, broccoli and rice, mix with a spoon

bake mixture in oven @ 350 degrees

top with the fried onions and bake additional 15 minutes

Emilio's for Reet's birthday (yeah, it's open)

Dimly lit, tables close together, Italian music coming from the speakers....and an owner who appears at your table to play the ACCORDIAN for you! I'm a sucker for atmosphere. WE dined out for Reet's birthday; yes, WE, the waitress included herself in our party when asking if WE were ready to order. Annoying, but well-meaning. And WE liked the reincarnation of Giovanni's very much. Jonathan claimed his lasagna was not the equal of Pagliacci's, but good. My Something-All-Emilio was a seafood mixture with spinach and a white wine sauce over linguini. Very nice. (Bonus! If you get just the right seat, you can peer across the street into Blockbuster to pick out your after-dinner flick.)

---

Coming soon: Italian-style food in the old tradition By Jesse D. Smolin, Record-Journal staff

SOUTHINGTON — Emilio Gutic can feel the warmth of candles flickering on the tables, he can hear soft Italian music playing from the speakers, he can taste his homemade food as he eats with his guests and he can see his father, Mario, burst in from the kitchen to play a sonata on his accordion at Emilio's Italian Ristorante. - complete article

Judy & Her Sisters (and Reet) wow the Southington Apple Harvest Festival with their fancypants (the booth)!

The Harvest Honeys display their wares (and some mighty tasty cookies as well) at the 37th annual Southington Apple Harvest Festival. However, the Honeys were admonished by Festival Arts & Crafts officials for calling those who chose not to buy fancypants cookies "cheap bastards and trailer trash sluts."

An eye-pleasing fancypants display

fancypants bakery 153 washington street walpole, ma 02032 Web site email

Spicy Garden Pasta from Rozella Bogasian

Ingredients:
1 lb. penne or pasta
4 ripe plum tomatos (approx 3/4 lb.) cut into half-inch dice (go for snake eyes)
1/3 cup virgin olive oil (discuss definition of virgin)
1/4 cup of chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons of chopped mint
1/4 cup of basil, cut in chiffonade
1 clove of minced garlic (1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon of capers
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Prepare:
Boil water to cook pasta; when boiling, add salt to water and cook pasta according to package directions
Dice tomatos and place in a large, heat-resistant bowl.
Add oil, herbs, capers, peppers and garlic. Stir to combine.
Drain pasta when cooked and add to bowl of ingredients. Stir to combine.
Add the cheese and mix thoroughly.
May be served warm or cold.

Suggested music - For this refreshing dish, grab a nice vino and listen to The Manhattan Transfer's Vocalese, a wonderful tribute to Jon Hendricks.

Friday lunch at The Clam with Johnny Gumbo

"You eat yet?"
"Nope."
"Pick you up in fifteen."

It's Friday noon. Perfect time to review the week and prospective weekend with Gumbo over a brewski and some lunch at Sam's. We choose the bar and each pull up a stool. Real men don't do sundecks. Not being real men, we sometimes do.

Topics discussed over a couple Bass Ales, one Philly cheese and one chicken wrap:

Center Street rumors - Tonic has been sold and will become a sports bar; Brickhouse/Gorilla Joe's will reopen shortly as the "Groggy Frog" and will go after the young professional crowd (yeah, right);

What year will Emilio's open shortly in?

The new seafood place on Eden Avenue not a keeper

Apple Fest crunch time; things looking pretty good; some good music entertainment coming in

Gulp, gulp......we're outta here!

German brews world's strongest beer

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German brewer has concocted what he says is the world's strongest beer, a potent drink with an alcohol content of 25.4 percent that is served in a shot glass. "Everyone who has tried it is enthusiastic. It tastes like a quirky mixture of beer and sherry," said Bavarian brewer Harald Schneider.

Schneider, who lives in southern Germany where beer is a tradition, said his beer fermented for 12 weeks for an alcohol content twice that of Germany's other strongest beers. "People will only be able to drink two or three glasses, otherwise they'll drop like flies," he said.

Schneider expects the holders of the world's strongest beer, the Boston Beer Company, to put up a fight. "I'm pretty sure the Americans have something up their sleeve."

Musings on Malt
Bill Brand's Beer Blog

History's A Favorite At The Bristol Diner - Customers Eat Up Displays

by Jonathan Shugarts, Courant Staff Writer

BRISTOL -- Gary Wyrebek likes to tell a story about James Levins, who came into his diner one day. As Levins sat eating his lunch, he recognized the picture of Rochelle Oliver, Miss Bristol from 1963, that was on display above the seat in one of the booths. Wyrebek said Levins called him over to the table.

"What made you want to put this up here?" Wyrebek remembers Levins asking. "Her hair reminds me of my mother," Wyrebek responded. Levins said, "That's my wife, and I haven't seen that photo in 40 years." - complete review

Happy 4th!!!!!!

Send Reet some of your favorites!

Hamburger America - a film documentary

By ROGER CATLIN, Courant TV Critic
Film website

Hamburgers - and their odd regional permutations - will grill at countless U.S. barbecues this Independence Day weekend, and Sundance Channel will honor the occurrence with the July Fourth TV debut of the documentary "Hamburger America," in which this state figures prominently.

Two of the eight burger joints profiled in George Motz's film are in Connecticut. Not only does it feature New Haven's famous Louis' Lunch, which has long boasted of being the birthplace of the hamburger in 1900, but the film also highlights the steamed cheeseburgers served at Ted's Restaurant in Meriden since 1959. - Complete article

Ted's Restaurant, Meriden, CT

Louis' Lunch, New Haven, CT

The film also includes a visit to the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago, made famous in the "Saturday Night Live" sketch for John Belushi's "cheezeborger, cheezeborger, cheezeborger!"

Restaurant visit: Tonic

I want to like this place hidden halfway down Center Street, but it is the successor to a number of breakfast spots (Coach's, Joe's, Uncle Tony's) and, unfortunately, some ghosts remain. Originally billed as a seafood restaurant in the planning stages, the spot is now all over the place in style and cuisine. The bar (pictured here) is nicely done; high tables at the front allow you to look out onto the Center Street activity. And the rebel eyesore appliance store, Gladchuk's, has closed!!!!!

The problem is three-fold:

1. The facade is DREADFUL, not even an attempt to upgrade the tired storefront look, 
2. The main dinning area (as it is referred to on the website) is bland beyond belief; I'm all for understatement, but this is depressing, 
3. The food is....forgettable. An inexperienced server asked our 60th birthday boy how his Mahi-Mahi special was, and upon hearing that it was fine (a lie, it was mediocre), proceeded to gush that it was a new thing for the chef (he had been working on it for a month) and that Gene was the first one to have it. Wonderfully reassuring!

Suggestion: Go for drinks, appetizers and a ballgame and sit at the open front end. Hey, isn't that Johnny Gumbo walking down Center???? 

St. Patrick's Day

The first ever St Patrick's Day celebration in America happened in 1737 in Boston, and the city still boasts one of the USA's biggest St Patrick's Day parties. The annual parade begins from Broadway at the MBTA Station and goes to Andrew Square, boasting floats, fancy dress and all the usual hullabaloo we've come to associate with this quintessential Irish celebration. Expect marching bands and pipe bands from all over North America. St Patrick's Day is one of the only national holidays celebrated outside its native land - a clear indication of the Irish influence thoughout the world and especially in the USA

Half a mile from the county fair
And the rain keep pourin' down
Me and Billy standin' there
With a silver half a crown
Hands are full of a fishin' rod
And the tackle on our backs
We just stood there gettin' wet
With our backs against the fence
"It Stoned Me", Van Morrison


Irish Soda Bread from Food Network.com

Recipe courtesy Brother Rick Curry, The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, HaperPerennial, 1995

(brilliant idea: before starting, pour/consume a pint of Guinness)

5 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
2 1/2 cups mixed light and dark raisins, soaked in water for 15 to 20 minutes and drained
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg, slightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter 2 (9 by 5-inch) bread pans.
Stir together the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut in the butter and mix very thoroughly with your hands until it gets grainy. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds.

Add the buttermilk and egg to the flour mixture. Stir until well moistened. Shape dough into 2 loaves and place in the pans.

Bake for 1 hour. Test with a toothpick for doneness. Cool in the pans for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Suggested music: Tough one here, for you can go in a number of directions. Start with the Irish Tenors' "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen"; then Jonathan suggests you pick up the pace with some loud, rowdy punk from south Boston's Dropkick Murphys; next, taste the exquisite offerings of the Chieftains; then finish off with THE Man, Van Morrison, who, in my not-so-humble opinion, is fantastic (ok, a little impersonal) in concert, despite what Keith and Vin may say. OMG!!!! I almost forgot the talented, Pope-bashing Sinead O'Connor!

Oh, and reward yourself for such culinary and musical taste with another pint of Guinness. Brilliant!!!!

Alligator Sauce Piquante by Michael Gowland

Preparation Time 1-1/2 hours
Serves 8

2 lbs farm-raised alligator tail meat, cleaned
(ed. note: I may be talking out of school here, but once you've wrestled (rassled) and killed the alligator, isn't the rest kinda anti-climactic? Or maybe it's just me. Proceed......)
3-5 t blackened seasoning blend
4 oz butter
2 cups onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 t garlic, chopped
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 dried oregano
1/2 dried thyme
1 T crushed red pepper
5 t Blackened seasoning blend
1 bay leaf
1 t brown sugar
6 oz beer
1 can tomato sauce
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 T corn starch dissolved in a little cold water (optional)

Place a dry cast iron skillet on high heat. Season the cleaned alligator with blackened seasoning and sear on both sides in the very hot iron skillet. You may also prepare the meat on a barbecue grill. When the meat is cool, cut into cubes.

In a 6-qt Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic over medium high heat. Add the dry seasonings, Worchester sauce, brown sugar and stir. Add the beer and bring to a boil. Add the tomato sauce and turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cubed alligator meat and cook for an additional 40 minutes. Taste to correct the seasonings, add the corn starch slurry (add slowly, stirring constantly to avoid lumps) if needed to thicken the sauce and finish by adding the green onions.

Serve with white rice. Enjoy.

Suggested music: Dr. John from his Gris Gris album would compliment this nicely.

Final comment: It is rumored that deep in the Everglades there exists a comparable recipe for "Unsuspecting Sunbather Sauce Piquante" by Wallace Gator

Chili today.....

Texas Chili - The main differences between Texas chili recipes and those other chili recipes is that "real" Texas chili has no beans and the main ingredient, after the meat, is chili peppers - whether chopped, diced, powdered, or liquified. Oh, and Texas chili just tastes better. More...

$20,000 prize-winning chili - here; more chili recipes from pepperfool.com

quote of the day: "Chili should be hot as hell and make you have to fart like a racehorse."

Where's the beef?
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A diner at a Wendy's fast food restaurant in San Jose, CA found a human finger in a bowl of chili prepared by the chain, local officials said on Wednesday. - story...

Have a good one....

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme....

Fat Tuesday At AJ's -Save the date, February 8th. The Southington Rotary Club will host a Mardi Gras evening of hot jazz with interesting food and wine as a fundraiser for the Rotary Foundation. More...

God, it's cold outside; how about a nice chili recipe to warm us up!

It's a Bundt and it's a beauty! - H. David Dalquist, creator of the aluminum Bundt pan, the top-selling cake pan in the world, has died at 86. More...

Brunch Sausage Bread

Ingredients:
1 roll Spicy Jimmy Dean Sausage
8 oz. package cream cheese
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls

Prepare:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In medium size skillet, brown sausage. Drain fat and add in cream
cheese. Stir until completely blended.

On a greased cookie sheet, spread out 1 can of crescent rolls,
pinching together to make "crust".

Spoon sausage mixture over crescent rolls just to 3/4 of an inch away from the edge.

Unroll the other package of crescent rolls. Make a crust for the top and
pinch the bottom and top halves together to form a pouch.

Cook 10-12 minutes or according to the directions on the crescent rolls.

Serve warm.

Note: if you are a wuss and don't like spicy things, you can use regular sausage instead.

Suggested music: Well, "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean is what Reet has been known to hum about the house. She won't give the reason.

Judi's layered Sopranos appetizer

Ingredients: 3 pkg. crescent rolls 1/2 lb. salami 1/2 lb. ham 1/2 lb. pepperoni(large) 1/2 lb. provolone 7 eggs (mix well and add grated cheese) 1 jar roasted peppers

Furio Giunta

Prepare:
Grease 9"X13" or larger pan.
Layer 1 1/2 cans crescent rolls on bottom (seal seams).
Layer salami, ham, pepperoni, provolone. Add egg mixture and then peppers.
Layer rest of crescent rolls on top.
Brush egg on top of rolls.
Bake 350* for 1 hour or less.


When Judi wants to impress a Soprano, she whips up this tasty treat and he's, shall we say, BADA BING!

Suggested music: forego "Theme from the Godfather" and throw on some vintage Eddie Fisher singing "Oh, My Pa-Pa"

Super Bowl meatballs in beer sauce

Sauce ingredients:

12 oz Teresa (pronounced Terrraaaaza) Heinz Kerry ketchup (it's a tad bitter)

12 oz chili sauce

12 oz beer (flat, perhaps your favorite right out of the can)

Meatballs ingredients:

3 lb ground beef

1 small onion, chopped and sautied

2 eggs (over easy, wheat toast with little jam thingies, home fries, coffee)

3 slices of bread, soaked in beer

salt 'n pepa
My man is smooth like Barry, and his voice got bass
A body like Arnold with a Denzel face

Prepare:

mix meatball ingredients; roll into bite-size pieces (no jokes, ladies)

bake for 20 minutes, drain

combine sauce ingredients and add meatballs; simmer (if YOU are simmering at this point because significant other is a lazy bastard/bitch, take a deep breath and a sip of that flat beer)

Reet Sez: I use my crockpot to simmer all for several hours. Do not hesitate to use any meatball recipe or prepared meatballs. This can be made ahead and reheated; LEFTOVERS MAKE GREAT MEATBALL GRINDERS!!!

Suggested music: your favorite team's fight song or be groovin' about the kitchen to Whatta Man by Salt 'N Pepa

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

From the entire management and staff here at REET SAYS EAT, we wish everyone a delicious 2005.

a great marinating sauce

From the archives of my sister, Evelyn McGowan

Ingredients:

2 packages onion soup mix

8 tablespoons sugar

2 cups ketchup

1 cup vinegar

1 cup oil

4 teaspoons dry mustard

2 cups water

salt/pepper

Prepare:

bring mixture to a boil, then let cool before marinating meat

marinate overnight (or time equivalent thereof)

Suggested music: Soul Sauce by Cal Tjader

penne pasta with broccoli

Recipe compliments of Kathy LaBella

Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta

1/4 cup margarine

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup swiss cheese

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

3 cups cooked broccoli

Prepare:

cook pasta and drain

melt margarine; stir in flour; add milk, stirring constantly until mixture thickens

stir in 1/8 teaspoon of thyme

stir in 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

add salt, garlic powder, pour over pasta, sprinkle both cheeses on top

bake @ 375 degrees for 15 minutes (mine took a little longer)

Serve with a nice loaf and enjoy!

Suggested music: Pennies From Heaven (Kathy suggests the tasty Dinah Washington version)