Kitchen Encounters

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (12/3/10) ~

I truly hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and delicious feast. I was pleased to receive feedback from some of you who tried my recipes, thrilled that you and yours enjoyed them, and, are finding my detailed instructions and step-by-step pictures of great value. After today, I'll be devoting December to as many recipes as I can post for elegant hors d'ouevres, festive meals and, of course: cookies! Since our last Friday Q&A (we didn't have one last week because of the holiday weekend), Kitchen Encounters has had two great questions and one lovely comment! Here goes: Q. Gretchen...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (12/3/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (11/19/10) ~

It is an unusual Friday afternoon here at Melanie's Kitchen. It is the end of November, the sun is shining, there is no breeze and the doors across the back of my house (the afternoon sun hits them) are wide open. I'm planning to enjoy this afternoon, "the calm before the storm" so to speak, because as my close friend Faith so poignantly pointed out to me on Wednesday, "now it begins." I knew exactly what she was talking about. Starting tomorrow, the grocery stores and mega-marts will be filled with people, everything from apples to zinfandel will start to...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (11/19/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (11/12/10) ~

Ok, so it's Saturday morning (not Friday afternoon). I went to bed last night not having any questions for Q&A Friday and woke up this morning with two really good ones! Since it's my blog (and I can say and do pretty much whatever I want to here), I'm going post Q&A now, instead of making everyone wait a week for the answers. I can't promise I'll do this every time questions arrive a little late, but I'll do the best I can. Q. Gretchen (via Facebook) asks: I had a busy week and just spent the last hour or...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (11/12/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (11/5/10) ~

This post is late. I try my best to get Friday Q&A out of the gate by 3:00 PM, but on a day when my computer has no compassion or respect for my deadline... I move on to more pressing matters, like cooking dinner and deciding what movie I will be watching tonight. Tonight's dinner: Grandma Ann's Easy Chicken Vegetable Soup. Tonight's movie: The Bridge On the River Kwai. Last weeks' Penn State Tuning Up for Tailgate Thursday was a big success. The "White Out" White Chicken 'n Corn Chili and Deep-Fried Tortilla Chips (Totopos) recipes got a lot of...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (11/5/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/22/10) ~

This is the week that just won't end. You know, the kind where no matter how much you did accomplish, there is still a lot ahead waiting to do. Usually, after I post Q&A on a Friday afternoon, I take some time off to enjoy a few T.G.I.F. cocktails and, in the Fall, a Saturday filled with college football games. This weekend: The fun-filled task of putting all of our deck furniture into storage for the Winter awaits! The good news is, as promised, with a lot of help from husband Joe, we got all of our sugar pumpkins roasted...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/22/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/15/10) ~

Today is Friday and I am pleased to report this is a week that has had a happy ending on all fronts: First and foremost, all 33 Chilean miners (along with their 6 rescuers) have been reunited with their families and are pretty healthy too. I'm proud to say I watched all 39 be safely returned to the earth's surface! Secondly, since Penn State doesn't play football tomorrow, I stepped away from tailgate fare and cooked some great Fall meals which got plugged into my new Category 19: Just Family-Style Family Dinners. From my blog's stats, it seems that more...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/15/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/8/10) ~

This has been an "interesting" week. I say "interesting" because: With the change in season and temperature (hot Summer to cool Fall) came a change in food. Last weekend I started off October by making my ~ Apple-Braised Pork Pot Roast w/Apple Pan Gravy ~. Yesterday, I found myself buying some beautiful veal loin chops to prepare in some of ~ My Fresh & Spicy Tomato-Basil Sauce ~ that I made at the end of August! The season of "let's just throw something on the grill" is over. It was fun, but: every year at this time, I personally think...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/8/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/1/10) ~

Wow... it is October! Like clockwork, here in Pennsylvania, the temperatures have dropped, the trees are turning golden and "the frost is on the pumpkin". Actually, there is no frost quite yet, but my pumpkins are ready to be picked this week and turned into: ~ Roasted Pumpkin Puree ~. Here at Q&A on 9/10/10, Charlotte asked a pumpkin question, so, Charlotte, if you are reading this, the post will be coming your way very soon! I want to thank everyone for all of the nice comments this week! I'm so glad to hear you are all enjoying my website...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (10/1/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/24/10) ~

What a busy week. Most of it (3 full 10+ hour days revolved around the cooking, writing and photos of two recipes for this weeks Penn State vs. Temple tailgate. I put a lot of research time in each one as well, as Philly is one of my favorite cities. I spent a lot of time visiting there in the latter '70's and have lots great memories of the city! So, for some great stories, not to mention these recipes, check out: ~ Philly's Famous Cheese Steaks ~, found in Categories 2, 10 & 17 ~ Philly's "Frog" Lemon Cheese...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/24/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/17/10) ~

Once again, it has been another busy week in Melanie's Kitchen. Things got a bit tense for me this week, as a copper water pipe in the ceiling above my formal living room sprung a leak... the day before my ~Tuning Up for Tailgate Thursday~ post was due! I did get the post out in time, the ceiling repairs are well underway and my sanity is slowly being restored! I told you there would be "Kitchen Therapy Too"!!! Kitchen Enounters didn't have any questions asked this week, but we did receive 2 comments regarding 2 of last week's questions and...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/17/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/10/10) ~

For all of you "regulars", you know it has been a busy week in Melanie's Kitchen. We cooked and posted a lot of great recipes here on Kitchen Encounters and received four great questions for our weekly Friday Culinary Q&A today! For all "newcomers", welcome! To leave comments or ask questions, simply click on the blue title of any post, scroll to the end of it and type away... or e-mail me directly! Q. Jeanne asks: Hi Mel! I marinated a salmon fillet in brown sugar, wine and lemon juice. The recipe calls to marinate for 6 hours. The question...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/10/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/3/10) ~

How nice, I actually did receive both a comment and a question here on my very first Culinary Q&A Friday! It is later than my promised 3:00 PM EST time response, but I just got and read these and decided to reply immediately... rather than waiting a week until next Friday! I really do hope this becomes a popular feature of my Kitchen Encounters on T.G.I.F...riday! Gloria says: I remember that library of cookbooks and am proud to say that I have even contributed a couple of books... looks like it's overloaded... you are doing a magnificent job girl, keep...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Too (9/3/10) ~"

~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Friday! ~

Kitchen Encounters is happy to announce that beginning today, Friday, September 3rd, and each and every subsequent Friday in the future, at about 3:00 PM EST, I will: ~ Attempt to answer any and all of your weekly culinary questions; ~ Try to solve any or all of your weekly cooking dilemmas; or, ~ Endeavor to comfort you in your weekly hour of foodie hell! If you have a question about food from A-Z in general, a problem with that new kitchen gadget or appliance you just bought, or, just want to know how to get the significant other in...... View full recipe for "~ Culinary Q&A & Kitchen Therapy Friday! ~"