Crispy Rack of Lamb with Honey & Mascarpone Sauce

After some careful consideration of what to make for our Valentine's Day supper, we decided on Rack of Lamb. This recipe came courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis from the Food Network, and boy oh boy was it ever good! It was my first time cooking rack of lamb and I was blown away by how easy it was. We served it with garlic mashed potatoes and carrots that were suateed in the same pan in which the lamb had been seared. We deglazed the pan with some chardonnay (a.k.a. added liquid to the reheated pan to get all the tasty bits off the bottom), heaved in a bit of salt and pepper and produced some of the yummiest carrots I've ever eaten. So good. What better way to spend Valentine's day than dressed in your finest comfy clothes, drinking copious amounts of wine, and feasting on a gourmet level home-cooked meal with the love of your life ;)

Stewed Chicken with Dumplings

Today, I bring to you another golden recipe from my mom's cookbook, Stewed Chicken with Dumplings! I love this recipe for a lot of reasons... okay, mainly for the dumplings and gravy - I am a dumpling fiend - but aside from that, it's actually pretty simple to make. Everything is cooked in the one pot which means minimal dishes to wash when you're done. That's a selling point if I've ever heard one! Last week alone, I cooked Eggs Benedict (for the 2nd time ever) and in the process dirt 2 pots, a frying pan, several ramekins, a whisk, a bowl, measuring spoons, multiple other utensils and then the plates we ate it on. Maybe this isn't as big a selling point to those of you with dishwashers, but that stuff counts to us dishwasherless folk. But I digress.

This recipe is truly yummy and about the hardest part of making it is peeling and chopping all those veggies. Methinks I'll be making this again very soon!

Fun Fact: When I was younger, I would eat around the vegetables and essentially consume dumplings and chicken! Mmmm... dumplings!

Pumpkin Curry Chicken

I'm sure I'm not the only one who plays 'clean the fridge' while cooking. You know the game, you have a bunch of veggies left in your fridge you'd like to get rid of, so they magically appear in whatever you're cooking! Sometimes it works marvelously, other times, not so much... last night I played, and last night, my friends, I won! I introduce to you a delicious, creamy, pumpkin-ee concoction with tender chicken and veg!

Glazed and Confused Carrots

If you're tired of plain ol' carrots on the side, spruce them up a bit with this glazed and confused variety. This recipe hails from one of my favourite cookbooks The Loonesypoons Collection. These 'babies' add a burst of flavour to any meal ;)