Hi, I’m Mandy, and this is My Daughter’s Apron. I am a home cook, writer and photographer in Rhode Island, and this blog is where I share the recipes that actually make it to our table. Some come from my weekly cooking group, some come from my garden and some are old family favorites I have been making for years. Every one of them has been cooked in a real kitchen, photographed on a real counter and eaten by real people who were not shy about telling me what they thought.
The blog got its name from my daughter. She came home from a year living in Paris determined to cook everything from scratch, and her enthusiasm was so contagious that it pulled me right back into the kitchen. If you have ever wanted to make your own salad dressing, bake muffins that do not come from a box or put a dinner on the table that feels a little special on a Tuesday, you are in the right place. Below you will find my newest recipes, and further down the page I will tell you where to start.
Today is Valentine’s Day, no big plans tonight. BUT on Saturday night, my cooking club is putting on what we are calling an “elegant dinner”….Kir Royale to start, lobster tail with drawn butter, asparagus with hollandaise, truffle potatoes, fruit tart to end….basically, the works!! I thought a lemon sorbet would be a perfect first course...
Ahhhhh, the potato chip. Can’t get any better than this…unless, of course, they are Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips!! After spending a week on the beach eating salt and vinegar chips straight out of the bag (please don’t judge), I decided to come home and make my own. There is nothing that compares to homemade. My...
So my vegetarian daughter has a stress fracture in her foot–not good for a ballerina. She gave me a list of foods she wants to incorporate into her diet so as to add protein, calcium and vitamin D to her daily intake. It’s quiet a healthy list (haha no pun intended) but a few things...
Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!! In honor of this day, my cooking group gathered and cooked up a Mexican fiesta. We made all sorts of authentic Mexican foods (even a chocolate flourless cake spiced with chili powder…amazing). One of my “assignments” was to make shrimp with a chipotle sauce. The most difficult part of this recipe...
I received my very first Farm Box the other day and in it was a 3 pound bag of yams….hhhmmmmm. What to do with all these yams? Yams and sweet potatoes, to me at least, taste very similar even though biologically they are not even closely related. So — as my thinking process went on about...
Doesn’t this look delicious? Fresh tomatoes, basil, mushrooms, onion, garlic and toasted pine nuts?? What more would you need for a stunningly healthy dinner? Oh yeah, fresh pasta!! Begin by toasting the pine nuts: evenly spread out nuts on baking sheet or glass pyrex dish and cook in a 400 degree oven for 8 minutes (or until...
In honor of National Coq Au Vin Day (yup, that’s today), I’m sharing my recipe for a quicker version of this French classic–I call it Skillet Coq Au Vin. You don’t need hours of cooking time, several pots and pans, the use of both the stove top and the oven. For this recipe, all you need is...
For my very first blog post I thought I’d share a staple in our house–Annie’s very veggie soup. I make it every Wednesday night for my vegetarian in the house who gets home late from a long day at school and ballet. It’s easy, healthy and filling (especially if paired with a fresh baguette!). To...
Here is another vegetarian delight. Since I don’t eat beef but wanted a hearty stew on a cold winter’s night, I decided to try making a veggie alternative to Beef Bourguignon. I know a lot of people these days are going gluten-free but not me! I love the fact seitan is a meat free product...
To me, peas are the harbinger of spring. Being one of the first vegetables you can plant early in the growing season, peas bring you back to your garden after a long winter. This year we really need spring. As I write this (mid April), there is a high probability it’s going to snow tonight. I’m...
To be totally honest with you, I am a new convert to Brussels sprouts. I grew up in the day where, when your mom served you food, you had to eat it. Couldn’t leave the table until your plate was clean. Let’s just say I spent many long nights at the dinner table because of...
This is an old family recipe handed down from a dear friend from Bermuda. ♥ Thanks Verona!! You taught us well. ♥ In a medium mixing bowl, sift flour, salt, nutmeg and baking powder. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, add sugar and butter and cream until smooth. Blend in the egg. Gradually...
So I’m not a big baker or a big sweet tooth, but ever since I was a little girl I’ve been making Junk Bars. My sister and I named them “junk” because, even as children, we knew there was nothing nutritious in them. Even so, when we made a batch we would proceed to eat...
In preparation for an upcoming party, I wanted to create a tasty “dessert appetizer”–a sweet treat small enough to be eaten in a bite or two while standing, holding a glass and talking to your friends. I tried a few different ideas and, with the help of my daughter’s hungry boyfriend, settled on the Strawberry...
Chicken Piccata is so easy to make having just a few basic ingredients, yet it has a restaurant quality appearance and flavor that will impress family members and dinner guests alike. It also happens to have two of my favorite ingredients: lemons and capers. Together they are a mouth-watering combo not to be reckoned with. Don’t limit...
Hello Blogosphere! So I am the “daughter” of My Daughter’s Apron here for a cameo appearance! This past Valentine’s Day my boyfriend and I decided to skip the big dinner, stay in and, inspired by Portlandia’s “We Can Pickle That!,” decided to try making our own pickles. My boyfriend loves all things spicy so we...
SUMMER’S BOUNTY! I love summer. Between my garden and the farmer’s markets, fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs abound! There is nothing more spectacular then plucking vegetables and herbs right from the garden, eating them within minutes still warm from the sun’s rays. The key to this salad is to always use the freshest and finest...
CAUTION: You are about to consume an ultra-cheezy post… There is a famous slogan out there…Porsche, there is no substitute. Well, I believe it could be altered to read Mac & Cheese, there is no substitute! I don’t mean out of the box, orange powder mix mac and cheese. I’m talking about a fresh, gourmet dish. Once you...
“Little Sal picked three berries and dropped them in her little tin pail… kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!” –Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey So let’s face it — blueberry muffin recipes are pretty similar. You can tweak it here and there but when it comes down to it, the basic ingredients are…well basic!. There’s not a...
One of my New Year resolutions is to make a concentrated effort to create more basics from scratch — mustard, ketchup, maybe even mayonnaise. Applesauce fits right into that category. When my kids were much younger I would make them applesauce quite often. Somewhere along the way of busy family life I stopped. Not sure...
Everyday for lunch it’s the same old thing…salad, salad, salad. I love salads, don’t get me wrong. But day after day it is getting old. Today, being Sunday, I thought I’d try something different and boy did I hit the jackpot!! This sandwich is packed with good nutrition and has tons of flavor. Give it...
Peanut Sauce is one of the most versatile sauces you can make. It can be used as a dip for egg rolls, pot stickers or veggies, a dressing for salad, a sauce for noodles, a marinade for chicken…and the list goes on. There are many different brands–some pretty good–but they don’t compare to fresh, homemade...
For many, 2014 started off really cold. Who ever heard of a polar vortex? Chicago being labeled Chiberia? I was fortunate enough to have missed the brutally cold air but the mere thought of it made me retreat to the warmth of my kitchen and make soup — a staple on a normally chilly day...
Have you ever had one of those days where you open the refrigerator door searching for something to make for dinner and you just stand there, looking blankly into the void hopelessly lost on what to cook? Well, that happened to me the other night and thankfully sometimes from despair comes victory!! With the few...
It’s getting cold out there so I think it’s time to bust out some muffin tops (baked ones of course! Keep your shirts on!). And because everyone loves pumpkin spice, from lattes, to candles, to pies, I thought I would share with you my favorite fall standby, The Perfectly Plump Pumpkin Muffin. Once these little...
I’ve had a request for “fancy finger foods” from a fellow blog follower — she is looking to make appetizers for an upcoming book group meeting she is hosting. I’ve got some great recipes that I will be posting in the upcoming days but let’s get started with my Mini Meatloafs. I made these last...
I keep the recipes here organized the way I actually cook, by the moment you need them. Whether you are planning a party, packing a lunch or staring into the fridge at five o’clock wondering what to make, one of these sections should have you covered.
Party food is my love language. This is where you will find crowd pleasers like homemade salt and vinegar potato chips, mini taco bites and roasted cherry tomato crostini, plus plenty of little bites that come together in minutes when friends drop by.
Lazy weekend mornings and something sweet after dinner. Start with my cinnamon blueberry muffins or homemade granola, then work your way to lemon sorbet, junk bars and a three berry pie my family calls the hot mess.
Weeknight dinners and company worthy mains, both meat and meatless. My chicken piccata and skillet coq au vin are dinner party standbys, and the fettuccine with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil is summer on a plate.
A bowl for every season and the vegetables that round out dinner. My tomato basil bisque and pumpkin soup are the two readers ask about most, and the roasted Brussels sprouts with walnuts and cranberries have converted more than one sprout skeptic.
I have been shaking dressing in a jar for as long as I can remember, a habit I learned from my mother and passed on to my daughters. Try my lemon vinaigrette, the wicked good avocado dressing or a big bowl of summer pasta salad.
The building blocks that make everyday cooking taste better. Homemade herbes de Provence, savory seasoning salt, tzatziki, my marinara and even Billy Boy’s mustard all live here, ready to turn a simple meal into something you will want to make again.
I am not a chef and I never pretend to be one. I am a home cook who loves good ingredients, simple techniques and food that tastes like someone cared about it. Most of my recipes use things you can find at an ordinary grocery store, and when something is a little harder to track down, I tell you what to use instead.
A lot of what you see here starts in my test kitchen, which is really just a rotating group of friends who take turns hosting. Each week we pick something none of us has made before, like a from scratch pie crust or a tray of appetizers for an upcoming party, and we cook it together. We taste, we argue a little and we write down what we would change. Only the recipes that win the group over make it onto the blog.
I eat mostly vegetarian myself, but I cook for a family that loves chicken and shrimp, so you will find plenty of both here alongside hearty meatless dishes like seitan bourguignon and veggie and tofu lasagna. Every recipe has a printable recipe card with clear ingredients and steps, and most posts include my tips for swaps, storage and making things ahead.
Living near the ocean shapes the way I cook. Summer means lobster and corn on the Fourth of July, fresh tomatoes from the garden and as many cold salads as I can get away with. Fall is soup season, and around here it starts the minute the first cool breeze rolls off the water. Winter calls for slow braises and warm muffins, and spring is all about peas, asparagus and the first radishes I can pull from the garden before the woodchuck gets to them.
Whatever the season, my advice is the same. Start with what looks best at the market or in your backyard and let it lead the way. A ripe tomato needs very little help, and a simple dish made with great ingredients will beat a complicated one every time.
If you are new here, these are the recipes I would make first.
Thank you for spending a little time in my kitchen. If you make one of my recipes, I would love to hear how it turned out. You can always reach me through my contact page, read more about me or follow along on Instagram for garden hauls and what is cooking this week. Now go dust off that apron and let’s get cooking.
