Pamela, Author at Pamela Salzman

Dinner Planner: Week of August 15th

I’m not cooking most of this week since we’ll be moving both my daughters into their dorm room and apartment, respectively. Although I will likely help my older daughter stock her freezer with cooked grains, smoothie packets, maybe a soup or two and, of course, cookie dough! Let’s hope my cooking lessons this summer sank in. I’ll share whatever I can on Instagram Stories, so pop in from time to time to see what we’re up to. In the meantime, I know you have to cook, so I put together a great dinner planner for you this week!

Italian Potato Salad Recipe

Just before I leave my parents’ house for the airport, my father always does the same thing. He takes some plastic bags and heads out to his gardens to pick vegetables for me to take home. In my suitcase. If this doesn’t sound crazy to you, then we should be friends. I instantly repack our suitcases to fit as many eggplants, peppers and tomatoes (packed in plastic containers) that I can. Yes, I can buy excellent vegetables in LA. But, nothing beats homegrown and I’ll take whatever won’t make my clothes smell (ahem, basil.) It’s one of the things I miss most about the East Coast given my patio of a backyard, so I take full advantage of my father’s green thumb.

Roasted Beet and Burrata Salad

My vacation is coming to an end today, like all good things do. But there’s always next time. We were incredibly lucky with the weather this week. It never rained and the humidity was almost nonexistent. This is important because there were lots of children present and we wanted them all outside and not on their devices.

Dinner Planner: Week of August 8th

I’ve been through a range of cooking experiences over the past month, from teaching my daughter how to cook for herself to cooking for my family to cooking for 15-24 people every day while I am on Long Island. Such different strategies, but it all still requires planning ahead. In preparation for my trip back East, I took a few minutes on the plane to jot down a schedule of what to make for lunch and dinner. This year I decided I wasn’t waking up early to make everyone breakfast. 😉 It has helped tremendously and allowed me to relax much more. Plus, anyone can look at the schedule and not have to ask, “what’s for dinner???”

Here’s a great week of summer dinners to help you get organized this week:

Five Friday Favorites- 8.5.16

Happy Friday! I am currently on my first vacation of the summer, relaxing at my parents’ house on Long Island, if you call cooking for 15 people every day relaxing, LOL! Did you see my Instagram stories of my pizza-making yesterday? My husband and I actually made 13 pizzas for lunch. And then we had 11 more guests join us for dinner! Sounds crazy, but it’s actually very fun and I make everyone else do the dishes. 🙂

Here are some of my favorite things lately. Hope you enjoy!Continue reading

Corn and Vegetable Chowder Recipe

I am headed to Long Island this week and my first stop (after I say hello to my parents) is the nearest farm stand. My father’s vegetable garden is wonderful and bursting with all sorts of goodies, but there’s no corn to be found. And I can’t be on Long Island in the summer without corn. I think my father doesn’t plant it because A) corn takes up too much space and B) when he was growing up on a farm in Italy, corn was fed to the pigs, not to human beings. He just doesn’t get it.

bell pepper carrot corn potato

Dinner Planner: Week of August 1st

I am so excited to go to Long Island this week to visit my family. I have been working so hard on the cookbook and really need a vacay. You’ll have to follow along on Instagram and Snapchat to see what I really make for dinner. I haven’t planned it all out yet, but there will be a pizza oven involved, vegetables from my father’s garden, and, if we’re lucky, some mussels caught by son, Mr. Picky. Cannot wait!

Classic Coleslaw Recipe

Can we talk about mayonnaise for a minute? Are you ok with it or does it repulse you? Because from my experience, there’s no in between. I have no issue with mayo, but so many people have textural issues with creamy food. I have many students who won’t eat bananas, avocado or mayo. Some people won’t eat mayonnaise because there’s a stigma attached to it and they think they’re supposed to avoid it.