Vegetables and Salads

Spaghetti grows on trees

Spaghetti squash with sun-dried tomato dressing

On April the 1st 1957, the BBC broadcast a 3 minute segment on the bumper spaghetti harvest in Southern Switzerland. As you will have noted from the date, it was an April Fool’s Hoax and it has been recognised as the largest and most successful hoax ever carried out on television. So much so, that …

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It’s Pumpkin Time – Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

Sweet Dumpling Mini Pumpkins

At this time of year, throughout the US, there are pumpkins for sale everywhere. Outside supermarkets, at stalls at the side of the road, outside garden centres and on the lawns outside churches. They come in all shapes and sizes from the very small, to the one weighing well over 50lbs, and they are all …

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Save Money and Marinate your own Olives

Simple bowl of marinated olives

The mountains of glistening olives that you see in supermarket deli bars sure look tempting and they are hard to resist, but they can make quite a dent in your wallet. With a couple of ingredients, you can make your own at home, for a fraction of the cost and enjoy this little treat more …

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Caponata alla Siciliana – Sicilian Eggplant Cooked Salad

Caponata alla Siciliana

I’m a sucker for a bargain. The other day small fresh eggplants (aubergine) were on sale, and I had to buy as many as I could fit into a plastic bag, and then worry about what I was going to do with them later. I love the spontaneity of having not having a meal plan …

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Insalata Caprese – Simple tomato, mozzarella and basil salad

Insalata Caprese

Insalata Caprese or just caprese, is one of those dishes that most people will have eaten and enjoyed, but not really known what it was, other than tomato, mozzarella and basil salad. The salad originates from the island of Capri, to the South of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Italy, where …

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