Simply Recipies Food Blog

I love to cook!  I know many of you do too.  This insanely time consuming, yet ultimately super satisfying activity or "hobby" (or necessity?) can at times still make me feel in a rut in terms of my recipe repertoire. My most beloved website that has an extraordinary variety of recipes is called Simply Recipes.  Whether you are a beginner cook or an advanced cook, this blog has a recipe for you. I am set up to receive all new recipe posts by e-mail, which is awesome!  If it is something I want to try I add it to my bookmarks for future reference.  The writer of the blog, Elise Bauer, feels like a cherished friend to me now....although she has no idea who I am.  No bother!  If your feeling down and blue and need a recipe pick me up, you must check it out! http://simplyrecipes.com/

Ninas Ristorante

In my never ending quest for the best Italian restaurant in the area, we took a trip to north Raleigh and ate dinner at Ninas Ristorante.  The pasta dishes here are very much worth a mention, as is the desert we tried.  I had the Rigatoni Amatriciana which had a mildly spicy, deep flavored sauce made with panchetta, chilli peppers, plum tomatoes, basil, and red wine.  So perfect for a winter evening with a glass of red wine. I did not take any home!  One of my daughters had the Ravioli con Salmone, served with chunks of salmon, peas, and toasted pine nuts in a creamy sage and basil sauce. I must admit I was worried that the ravioli would be too "pasta" heavy as so many house made ravioli are, but these were beautifully done. The ravioli seemed to be swimming in the sauce, but again, once a taste was had there was no need to complain. My other daughter had the Penne alla Vodka without the chicken. Since this dish is a family favorite, we enjoy ordering it whenever it is on the menu.  It never ceases to amaze us that the creamy pink vodka sauce can vary so much from place to place.  This one was a bit heavier on the cream than some, which my daughter seemed to relish. And for dessert we shared an order of tiramisu, which stunningly was one of the best we have had in the area.  It was a bit mild on the espresso and liqueur but not overly sweet and otherwise light and wonderful...made by the owner Nina herself.

Chirba Chirba

Soon after I read about the food truck Chirba Chirba in a local magazine I googled them and marked my calendar to pay a visit the next time they came from their regular location in Durham down to Raleigh.  Today they were parked in front of the Big Boss Brewery off of Capital Blvd, where they apparently show up every second Saturday of the month from 2-6pm.  Specializing in Chinese dumplings, the food did not disappoint. Now mind you I have eaten dumplings in China, both this style and the delectable "soup dumplings" where one must first drink the broth before eating; a tricky business. Though these weren't the slurpy type, we were still very happy with these! My daughters and I tried the Porkedame and the Juicy Buns.  Both dumpling types are filled with morsels of pork, one with edamame, the other just with a sweeter version of pork.  A veggie dumpling is also on the menu. Three dipping sauces were available; a Chinese dark vinegar (my personal favorite), a sweeter pineapple vinegar (also very good), and a ginger vinegar. For only 50 cents more we ordered the Sweet potato glass noodles in a sesame soy dressing.  The owner offered us a taste of the sweet sausage as well.  Well worth a full order! After this late afternoon snack I begged the owner to come to Raleigh more often, which he so kindly replied saying that he was working on it!