We met with friends the other night for a Merlot tasting party. The main dish was grilled salmon and I was tasked with bringing an appetizer. I decided to bring prosciutto wrapped prawns. It was a beautiful hot summer evening and I wanted something that was quick, easy and would compliment the wine and our dinner. I’ve made this recipe by wrapping prosciutto, pancetta or even thinly sliced bacon – it’s all good!  I was...

 I’ve recently moved my main blog The Mortgage Porter over to WordPress… and I’m slowly moving my other blogs, like this one, over ot WP too. In doing so, I also picked up a new address: www.sipnsimmer.com for this blog since I like to not only share my favorite recipes — I also like to share wines that I think are nice every day drinkers. I’d love your feed...

The other day, I decided to toss our broccoli on the Big Green Egg to accompany the rib eye’s I had just finished grilling. Everyone loved them – even my step-son! The flavor is amazing and it’s very simple. I’m making grilled broccoli again tonight so I can share this with you. Wash and chop (bigger pieces) your broccoli and toss it into a large plastic zip-lock baggie. Drizzle olive oil. Add fresh sea salt and...

Here's one of the dishes I made for my son's graduation party. It's a crowd pleaser that can be made a day or two ahead of time.  If you're serving it right away, just mix it all up and enjoy! NOTE: I'm getting ready to make this for a Mother's Day potluck.  I'm happy to see that I started this post almost a year ago…and now I have an opportunity to finish it.  Happy Mother's Day to all...

I'm not sure if these are shrimp or prawns – but I do know they're fresh because my husband and his buddies just plucked them from the Puget Sound with the beginning of shrimpin' season. I'm following a combo of this recipe and my own paella experiments for cooking this tasty dish on the Big Green Egg. Begin with simmering 4 cups of chicken broth with a generous amount of saffron. Saute onion and red bell pepper until soft...

Last night, we had dinner with a group of friends for a "blind" wine tasting of cabs. Everyone brought wine, which was later "bagged and tagged" for the tasting, and a dish.  My dish assignment: appetizers. And since the main dish was a delishous prime rib, beef was out of the question for my dish.  I would up deciding two bring two dishes…in hindsight, for our group of eight, just one of these appetizers...

My neighbor has been raving about Big John's for years. She loves the cheese selection and great prices on imported foods. After the chef who was the instructor at the ravioli class I took at Sur La Table in Kirkland this weekend mentioned we could get "00 flour" for an affordable price, I had to stop by!  And I wish I would have listened to my neighbor sooner (but don't tell her that!!!) this place is a gem! Big...