Happy Anniversary to my blog! I started M’s Belly on WordPress officially 60 posts and one year ago today, with a post about mini beef wellingtons. To commemorate the occasion, I baked my friend Alena’s zucchini cake recipe. Alena is the first official friend I made after moving to Nashville, waaay back in 2008. On the day …
When I was a little girl, mom and nana both made golumpki, or Polish stuffed cabbage. Because raw cabbage smells like stinky feet, I refused to eat the cabbage part of the stuffed cabbage meal. As a kid, I’d carefully unwrap each little cabbage package and dive straight in for the filling of tomato flavored …
I looooooove figs. LOVE THEM. Sweet, sticky, with tiny seeds that pop when you bite down, figs are among the richest plant sources of calcium and fiber. Pair them with fresh ricotta cheese, honey and pistachios and you’ve got a delicious, quick snack, or a pretty appetizer for guests. This recipe is awesome because minimal …
I know other parts of the country have had snow, snow, and more snow, but here in Nashville we’ve had rain, rain, freezing rain, and then more rain. So much so that we actually had a flash flood warning yesterday! I’ll take snow over all this rain in the dead of winter any day. The …
About three weeks ago, the lovely people at The Hatch Chile Store reached out to me all the way from Hatch, New Mexico. They wanted to know if I would like to cook with their Hatch Green Chile. An enthusiastic, HECK YES!, was my response. I think they noticed last Fall’s chutney and enchilasagne posts, both …
Spicy pork and mustard green soup is on the 2014 January cover of Bon Appétit. I like to challenge myself and will sometimes attempt to cook their cover (remember the beautiful pork roast?). I have to admit I was not particularly jazzed about eating wet, wilted greens, but the premise of a spicy bowl of …
Last year my sissy told me she makes her own waffle mix. I was impressed because for years whenever I wanted to make a pancake or waffle, I’d grab the Bisquick (later I graduated to Farmhouse pancake & waffle) mix to make batter. Right before my birthday I lamented to her that I didn’t have …
Want to impress your book club ladies? Bring them Ina Garten’s Ice Box Mocha Cake. Last Tuesday my book club discussed Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. Since half the story is set in Italy, I figured Ina’s mocha cake made with Italian mascarpone cheese and espresso powder was a perfect compliment, capish? Apparently the ice box …
I found writing part 2 of my St. Martin trip tips to be extremely difficult!! The cold snap we just had here in the South has me daydreaming of 84 degree days spent on white sandy beaches by turquoise water, while washing buttery croissants down with a café au lait. C’est la vie. When traveling to …
Last week The Hubs and I returned to beautiful St. Martin for a much needed vacation of decompression. St. Martin is a tiny island in the middle of the Caribbean ocean, 35 square miles small. Divided into two parts, the Dutch side and the French side, St. Martin is known for being the culinary capitol …
