food | The life of Rylee

Family Recipes

Raine and I helped my mom today. We did a deep clean of the living room in preparation for the painter to come this weekend to give the walls a fresh coat. One of the treasures I came across while cleaning out an end table was one of my Grandma Wedekind’s recipe boxes that my mom had been given. Grandma liked to snip and collect recipes from magazines as well as write down some of her favorites. Grandma was an amazing cook and I will always long for some of her great home cooking. Here she is as a young woman, beautiful. Almost immediately upon finding the old-fashioned recipe box, Raine and I wanted to stop what we were doing and start to read the recipes. We held ourselves back for another hour. Then I dove in. What a memory-laden...

Posted on Aug 7, 2014 in family, food | 0 comments

Conquering Risotto with Mushrooms

After all these years, I finally decided to take on risotto for dinner and a Monday night, no less. It is the dish that I’ve seen Gordon Ramsey break down young chefs with. I, being the smart chick I am – checked out several recipes before committing and it was quickly apparent that one recipe was worthy of my attention. Yep, Martha Stewart came through. Of the 10 recipes I reviewed, she actually made a mushroom stock out of the mushroom stems and dried mushrooms I had in the pantry. Sweet. This is a recipe that requires regular stirring but if you are already preparing other things for dinner – its easy to attend for 25 minutes – Here’s the link to the recipe. I made three slight changes – I reduced to 2 servings,...

Posted on Jan 22, 2013 in food | 0 comments

Pan Seared Scallops and Morels- Rylee’s Surf and Turf

Got the email from Steve’s in Madison that New England scallops were coming in on Friday – fresh, never frozen. They always sell out immediately. So I reserved two pounds on Thursday. I think of it as cheaper than buying an airline ticket to Boston…. Yes, I’m a foodie -but it wasn’t always the case, just ask my mom…. So it’s May and we are in the midst of Morel mushroom season in Wisconsin. Morels are the earthiest, darkest and one of the best mushrooms you’ll ever eat. Yet… I’ve never actually liked the way that they are typically served in Wisconsin – cut long like a fish filet, floured with some salt and pepper and fried. Meh…. I was looking for something different to do with...

Posted on May 6, 2012 in food, me, wisconsin | 0 comments

Last meal of 2011

And dang, did we make it good! The 2.5 lb T-Bone steak was really like a small roast. We started by searing it in the cast-iron skillet and finished it off in the oven. The ribeye and sirloin pieces were so tender that we call it meat butter as it just melts in your mouth. I can’t sing the praises enough of Jenny Street Market’s meat counter. Just wow! So now, I’m going to try and stay awake until Midnight. Adios 2011. Hello...

Posted on Jan 1, 2012 in food | 2 comments

The recipe that started it all

Here’s the recipe that I will always attribute to Raine’s path towards Chefdom. The cookbook was one of those freebies that came with buying a bag of flour. I had originally picked it up with Ryann in mind and we made lots of goodies from the book. Of all of the 26 recipes from “ABCs of Baking” book, the Mud Pie was our favorite. I love the chocolate smears on the page showing how often we used this recipe while we lived in Holland. This was one of the first recipes that Raine could make when she was eight years old. I found the little book on the bookshelf tonight and had a great trip down memory lane. My friend Melissa, who now lives in South Africa recently asked for the recipe of the brownies...

Posted on Dec 20, 2011 in food | 3 comments

Packers win and Venison

Wow…don’t get me wrong, I love my state teams, but I don’t get that fanatic. Until the nail biter of tonight’s game of the Packers and Giants. Holy Duck Feathers. That was a close one. Yay Pack. The only way to celebrate that Wisconsin win was with friends and venison from this year’s hunt in Marathon County. Served with Potatoes Au Gratin, grilled green beans and an very nice Clos Du Val Cabernet. Because the Packers are what? 12 and 0 – I threw in some homemade banana cream pie. Life is...

Posted on Dec 5, 2011 in food, wisconsin | 0 comments