Mimi’s Blog

Lemon Pasta from John Alberti

We’ve been grilling since Memorial Day. Time for a switch. It doesn’t get any easier than this. Lemon Pasta is inexpensive to make, easy and quick to prepare, and is a delicious lemony, cheesy pasta delight. Lemon Pasta is a perfect main dish or as a side dish served alongside any lightly grilled protein.

Quick & Easy Burrito Pie

Hot, melty, cheesy, and scrumptious Quick & Easy Burrito Pie. Serve with toppings like guacamole, sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, diced onion, sliced jalapenos and/or salsa.

Shirley’s Ground Beef Pot Pie

My mother, Shirley, was a pie master. She could mix up crust for a double-crust pie in a matter of seconds. It was always the same recipe: 2 cups all-purpose flour mixed with 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (sugar if she was making a sweet pie); 2/3 cup Crisco; and 3-4 tablespoons ice-cold water. Her’s was always perfect. Perfectly flavored, perfectly crimped, and perfectly browned. Mom didn’t make savory pies often, but this recipe was one of our favorites.

Peach Crumble Pie

Peach Crumble Pie

Peaches are in all over Billings.  A local hardware store advertised fruits and vegetables in bulk this weekend for canning, just in time for those who don't plant gardens or to supplement garden bounty that perhaps wasn't as bountiful as they'd hoped.  Oh, by the...

Outstanding Homemade Hamburger Buns

Outstanding Homemade Hamburger Buns

Just in time for tailgating parties and fall picnics, or just for yummy sloppy joes and pulled pork sandwiches, these delicious hamburger buns hit the mark.  Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I also have more time to do lot more bread baking.  I love...

Broccoli Cheese Soup – Perfect Summer End and Fall Begin

Broccoli Cheese Soup – Perfect Summer End and Fall Begin

It's still 90° in Billings, but what can I say?  It's close enough to September and blessed cool weather that I got very hungry for some broccoli cheese soup.  My husband, Richard, loves soup of any kind.  He's feeling a little under the weather, and I had a boatload...

A Word About Using a Pressure Cooker

A Word About Using a Pressure Cooker

A Word About Using a Pressure Cooker Pressure cookers cook ingredients at lower temperatures under pressure.  Foods cook quicker, retain more nutrients, and meats tenderize.  Once you've learned to use one safely, a pressure cooker is a valuable tool.  But, once you...

Easy Chicken & Noodles

Easy Chicken & Noodles

A family favorite quick go-to recipe try this Quick & Easy Chicken and Noodles.  Sure to please, this makes plenty, more than enough for four.  If you add two more chicken breasts or thighs, you can stretch it to serve six. Serve this with a salad or apple sauce or fresh fruit or crusty bread, and you’re all set.

Country Green Beans – Summertime Delight

Country Green Beans – Summertime Delight

This is my Grandma Smith's recipe for Country Green Beans.  Our summer table was not complete without green beans as they were harvested fresh, bright green, and crisp.  We often had them with barbecued chicken or pork chops.  Sometimes, we'd have them for dinner as...

Ham Fried Rice in 30 Minutes

Ham Fried Rice in 30 Minutes

Ham Fried Rice is one of my go to recipes.  My mother retrieved it from an old cookbook, "Dining Out at Home."  (I mean like the 70's.)  I made this for my daughter's family several months ago.  Jessica remembered it was a dish she enjoyed growing up, and I enjoyed...

Extraordinary Blackberry Ice Cream

Extraordinary Blackberry Ice Cream

Everyone who loves ice cream should have an ice cream maker.  Of course, who doesn't love ice cream?  I prefer the cold, creamy concoction to almost all other desserts, except pie - I love pie and ice cream!  I grew up going to family reunions on farms in Terre Haute,...

Perfect Macaroni Salad

Perfect Macaroni Salad

My husband and I love macaroni salad.  I frequently buy it from the deli counter, because I really like the creamy, tangy consistency paired with firm noodles, sweet pickle relish, a hint of diced onion. Over the years, I've made several batches, but none came close...

BBQ Brisket and Macaroni Salad

BBQ Brisket and Macaroni Salad

I don't think there's much better on earth than a BBQ brisket sandwich.  Well, of course there is, but this is about brisket!  I've made this a few times, as has my sister, and we've both been very pleased with the results.  This sandwich on this particular night was...

Spring Visit to Yellowstone

Spring Visit to Yellowstone

We are very fortunate to live only two hours away from the oldest national park in the United States.  Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872.  Richard and I have been married for 15 years, and our goal is to visit the park twice a year, in the summer and...

Japanese Soba Noodle Salad

Japanese Soba Noodle Salad

I've found a perfect summer side dish that is easy and quick to put together, perfect for a hot summer day.  These are seriously so delicious! It's made with Japanese soba (buckwheat) noodles.  I picked up a package at the local World Market, which, in Billings...