cactus i.v.

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Being defined as a good or great cook is not based on how well you can follow a recipe, but about what you add to the drama of cooking.
I watch people when they are in the kitchen; the way the move (fast or slow), their ability to carry a conversation (on the phone […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
I was going through my home fries and toast kick for about a week, and then was asked to train my friend at the gym. I decided eating bad food would be a bad example.My friend, though, doesn’t like anything healthy. I mean really who doesn’t like salad? She doesn’t. She works in […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8364(at)gmail.com
Atlantic City’s two slogans are “Always turned on and “Caution: Adults at play.” I never really understood them until this past weekend when I went down to celebrate my dad’s birthday! I was exhausted after driving a whole extra hour because of traffic so after dinner I snuck away for a nap. Three […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
My dad called on Friday to ask if I wanted to get pizza in town. A minute into the phone call, shots were fired in the distance. We went silent until he asked, “Michelle? Where did you say you were?” I thought I would make light of the situation and answered, “Kuwait.”
I got […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
My new favorite commercial is for Febreze. A lady is walking around spraying clothes, and she picks up a face mask after spraying it and wears it, making her look like she’s robbing the house. She walks by the window and her neighbor, who is watering plants drops, the hose in fear. At […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Two weeks ago, my friends threw me a party just to make me smile.
I got the pictures back from that day on Friday. Man oh man, I apologize to those that saw me that day because lord did I look miserable. There is one picture where I am on the phone and “smiling” […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Rachael Ray has a show called $40 A Day where she goes to different cities and eats from the best foods from that city — and only spends $40. I thought it would be fun to go to my favorite places to eat in my hometown and only spend $40. I did this […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
My heart hurts. I need some “Make you feel better when your heart is broken” recipes. I’ve had my heart broken before, just not like this, so I’m lost. Usually I just get mad, get even and eventually I’m over it. Not this time. It’s a completely different feeling, and I wish it […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Love is friendship on fire; that’s how I feel about you. Boy said to Hilary Duff in The Perfect Man.
I woke up Tuesday morning thinking about the same person I’ve been dreaming of for the past five months and thought of that quote. My relationship with this boy isn’t normal by any […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
I suck at watching TV shows; that’s why I love the news. It’s always the same, so I don’t miss a thing. But everyone I know watches some show religiously, especially my mom.
My mom’s weekly ritual TV programming goes as follows:
1. Fox News for the weather
2. The Price is Right with Mr. Bob […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
I’m not a fan of eggs, but my family is. I make egg salad, and it’s like these people have never ate a day in their lives. It’s an easy recipe, just time consuming.
You’ll need:
4 or 5 eggs
Mayonnaise
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinaigrette
Tomato
Directions:
Boil eggs in medium pot for 4 minutes. Cut up tomato in […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
Couscous. Its what’s for dinner. Well, if it’s not on your menu, it certainly should be!
According to Wikipedia.com, couscous consists of spherical granules which are made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour. So in other words, couscous is finely cut pieces of […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
I don’t know if I’ve ever expressed how much I love my dog. She’s more like my child than a dog because I’ve had her since she was three-weeks-old. What do I know about raising a dog? Nothing, so I just spoiled her instead of trying to train her.
I was at a local […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
I have a new favorite grocery store. It used to be PathMark, but then I moved too far away, so I started going to A&P because it was convenient. But the food wasn’t as fresh, and I kept getting harassed with strange comments from the cashiers like “You just had a baby right? […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
“Look at you!” is probably one of the funniest and my favorite line from a movie ever. It’s from the movie Elf with Will Ferrell. The scene where he goes to tell his dad that he is in love, but his dad is in a meeting with a book writer who is a […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
I was given a challenge a few weeks ago. A cute boy called and said, “Hey, I’ll be there in 15 minutes, and I’m starving…” Of course, it just happened to be a day I hadn’t cooked and there was barely any food in my kitchen. I brag about being such a good […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Guess what readers? I am lactose intolerant. You might be remembering now all the times I noted that I love dairy. Well it dawned on me just this week that each time I have dairy (which was almost every meal) I would get sick. I tested it and told e-i-c Lisa about it. […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
One of my favorite couples is my boss Lindsay and her boyfriend Terrence. I love how different they are physically (Terrence is 6′2 and Lindsay is a whopping 5′2) and how their eating habits are completely opposite. Terrence will eat almost anything you put in front of him — but watch out for […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
How was everyone’s holiday? Mine was okay. I worked until 2 p.m. then went to pick up my dog and we went down to see Grandma (mine, not the dog’s). With most of my family there, it was hard to keep an eye on my dog, who I keep from eating people food […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
I am pretty sure everyone has a food they think is disgusting even if they haven’t tried it yet. Mine is anchovies. But my whole family loves them: Anchovies on pizza, anchovies in salad and anchovy pasta. Like I have said, when I was younger, I was very picky. Even switching from my […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Happy spring! Thursday’s weather was so nice in N.Y. I didn’t wear a jacket — and I have been known to wear one in eighty degree weather. I hate cold weather. I read once that Hawaii’s weather only changes twice a year; in the winter it drops from 86 degrees to 84. I’ve […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
All week long I have smelled ripe bananas in my fruit basket on my kitchen table. I kept saying I was going to do something with them, but didn’t until Friday night. I couldn’t go out because of the snow, so at about midnight I made chocolate covered bananas. Yummy!
I didn’t have a […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Hi and hello. Why is chicken parmesan such a popular meal? All of my friends say it is one of their favorite dishes. I asked my friend Brian what his favorite ingredients are, and he answered “The chicken and cheese. Anything with chicken and cheese is awesome.”
Then I asked some other people and […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
We were weird last Sunday, and that was fun, so let’s throw a dinner party this Sunday and have even more fun! Write this down: You’ll need some friends that are available for dinner on a certain night. Decide what is best for you. I chose a Friday because I now work on […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Happy Birthday Dani! That is my cousin, and she is 23 today! It’s very exciting. She is six months and a day older than me.
I developed a mild case of insomnia throughout the past week and a half. I have not slept more than four hours each night since a week-and-a-half ago. I […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Let’s be weird. I was watching Molto Mario on Valentine’s Day because, yeah, I didn’t have a date, and it snowed, so I stayed in and watched a lot of TV. Molto Mario made me so sick on Wednesday, I almost don’t ever want to see chocolate again. He made duck — which […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Happy Sunday! Just a reminder for anyone who is so busy they forgot… Valentine’s Day is Wednesday. Even though my heart is a little broken (fiancé and are aren’t together anymore) I still think Valentine’s Day is a cute holiday.
I think about elementary school when you gave out those cards and candy hearts […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
Happy Saturday readers! Hope everyone’s week was awesome; mine sucked. I have this new job where all I do is file or answer phones, which is a huge change from my other jobs where I am in charge and doing everything. So I’m bored and need a change. But what else is new… […]

One of the worst things in the world is being late and I am a professional late person. I say professional because I hate being late, but it never fails if you tell me to be somewhere at 10 I will definitely be there at 10:15-10:30.
Most of my friends realize they have to tell me […]

By MICHELLE RICCARDI
mia8263(at)gmail.com
This article is going to be more fun than the others because instead of trying to burn down your kitchen with my amazing recipes, I want you to pick up a phone and order or go out and try something new at your favorite restaurants. With each relationship I get into — with […]