Welcome to Tim and Victor’s Totally Joyous Recipes

We have recipes from family reunions, heart-healthy from the ’90s, artery-clogging from the ’60’s, rustic breads, gooey desserts, hundreds of recipes from friends and family, quick and easy ideas, and whatever we decided to pull together for dinner.

Eclectic, to say the least.

And eclectic really does sum up what it’s all about – fun food for fun people with something for any occasion.

Peruse the site and have some fun! There are several thousand recipes just waiting for you!

Desserts, Victor in the Kitchen

Sicilian Almond Lemon Cake

I guess it's no longer much of a secret that we're putting the house on the market and moving west. It's been a fun run, but 19 years on the east coast is enough. Vancouver, Washington, here we come! Vancouver is

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Cauliflower Bolognese

I received my latest Bon Appetit magazine the other day and found a recipe that intrigued me - Cauliflower Bolognese. It was especially timely as I had just bought a head of cauliflower with no particular idea in mind -

Victor in the Kitchen

Happy New Year

The meal is different but this is a reprint of last year's New Year's Eve post... I can only wax poetically about new years so much... If my mom ever cooked anything special for the new year, I really don’t remember

Bread

Breadsticks

Victor's making homemade pasta, so I decided to make some breadsticks. My first thought was a loaf of crusty bread, but we'll be having one of those on Tuesday with our Crab Cioppino. Yes, our Christmas Eve tradition continues... I already

Tim in the Kitchen

Savory Rugelach

Every now and again, I come across a recipe that I really want to make right away. Back in our endless eating days, I would. Now... I have to think about it a bit and balance the pros and cons.

Victor in the Kitchen

Salmon Patties

I love it when Victor heads to the kitchen to cook dinner. It means something fun and different will be had. I tend to do variations on a theme - Victor gets an idea and runs with it. When making something

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Fresh Pasta and Fresh Tomatoes

We're not done, yet, with those tomatoes! They really are the gift that keeps on giving! When we cleared out the majority of the garden the other day, we brought in a lot of unripe tomatoes - the upcoming weather was

Victor in the Kitchen

Sunday Dinner

Sunday Dinner. I feel like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof singing Tradition - except I'm Irish eating Italian. I guess it's the ultimate in cross-cultural recognition. As a kid growing up, we'd have Sunday Dinner now and again - usually a

Tim in the Kitchen

The Last Hurrah

Sadly, the garden is over for another year... It's been a good year, with a record amount of tomatoes, cucumbers, galore, and some pretty hot peppers. The eggplant didn't do as well as it has in the past, and, neither did

Victor in the Kitchen

Tomato Galette

The garden tomatoes are slowly coming tpo an end, but while they're still around, we're coming up with more ways to eat them. Tonight, Victor made a Tomato Galette - layers of sliced tomatoes under crisp and crunchy croutons. It was

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Orzo Salad

We did a bit of tag-team in the kitchen, today... I had planned burgers with a mushroom sauce because I had mushrooms that needed using up. Victor decided to make an orzo salad because orzo salads are really good. I

Tim in the Kitchen

Tomatoes

They just keep a'comin' even as the plants start dying back. I'm really rather in awe - last year, they were pretty much gone in early September. I think the Black Krim have been the best-tasting, overall, this year - a

Tim in the Kitchen

Tomato Risotto

I have been making risotto for years. And years. It's one of those dishes I just make - the basics are always the same, the flavors can change depending upon what's in the 'fridge. It's really an easy dish to pull

Victor in the Kitchen

Eggplant, Ravioli, and a Seven Minute Egg

I always know when Victor asks if I have planned anything for dinner that he has a plan for dinner. And I ain't no fool - I let him go for it! His plan, tonight, was based on a soft-cooked egg

Bread

Russian Black Bread

This is an interesting recipe... 99.999% of the breads I make are pretty basic combinations of flour, water, salt, and yeast. It's rather amazing that how you play with those four ingredients can create such a variety of different breads. This bread,

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Another Batch of Pasta Sauce

It appears that I'm going to be forever banned from posting my recipe site on Facebook... Yeah... it says they're 'reviewing my content' but... I'm not hopeful. One message says I've spammed. I guess three or four recipe posts a

Victor in the Kitchen

Baked Cod Gratinée

The Year of the Tomato continues... I canned another 8 pints of tomato sauce, today, and then set Victor loose in the kitchen for dinner. Kitchen tag-teaming is an art in our house! We had cod, we had sweet potatoes, and we

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Homemade Italian Sausage

We're back from California after a whirlwind visit. The occasion was my nephew's wedding. I hafta tell ya - my family does great weddings! Loud and boisterous while still reasonably civilized. We had a blast. The wedding was in Capay, California

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Homemade Tomato Paste

The tomato bounty contines. Victor was online and came across recipes for tomato paste. We had both thought about making it, but neither of us were thrilled about stirring it on the stovetop for literal hours, worrying about scorching or burning... Enter

Victor in the Kitchen

Homemade Fettuccine and Home-Grown Tomatoes

Homemade pasta with a fresh sauce made from tomatoes out of our garden. It does not suck to be us. Some meals are over-the-top because of their exotic ingredients. Others are over-the-top because of their simplicity. Tonight's dinner was definitely of

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Stuffed Tomatoes

The tomatoes just keep coming! The eggplant fizzled, the peppers fizzled, but the tomatoes are coming on strong. If I was going to hope for at least one of the three to come on strong, it would be the tomatoes -

Tim in the Kitchen

BBQ Pork Tenderloin

In my quest for fun, new - to me - spicy peppers, I ordered some Korean Gochugaru Pepper Flakes online. While I know that I like eating Korean food, I haven't cooked a lot of Korean food. We used to

Tim in the Kitchen

Risotto with Aleppo Pepper

For a spice that is so popular, I must say that trying to find Aleppo Pepper out here in the culinary wasteland of the Philadelphia suburbs is nigh-on impossible. Thank goodness for online shopping or our culinary staples would be

Tim in the Kitchen

Canning Soup

As we were eating the Roasted Tomato Soup, yesterday, I started thinking about fall and winter - and having lots of soups. I grew up on homemade soups and, to this day, they're one of my most favorite foods. I figured

Victor in the Kitchen

Roasted Tomato Soup

When the garden gives you tomatoes, it's time to make tomato soup! The vines just keep on giving, so Victor took about six pounds of them and made a big batch of roasted tomato soup - and it is outrageously good! This

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Red Lentil Soup and Tomato Galette

It's summertime and it's rather hot outside, but with the air conditioner running, it could be any time of the year, at all, indoors. Time for some soup! Victor found a recipe for a Turkish red lentil Soup that sounded like

Tim in the Kitchen

Tomatoes and Potatoes

The Tomato Bounty continues... We have lots of sauce downstairs and lots more to make - and that's just from the plums and san marzanos. The other heirlooms are coming along strong, as well. I had less than a pint of sauce

Tim in the Kitchen

Leftover Rice

I've always found it easier to cook a minimum of one cup of rice - I just don't have a lot of luck with cooking smaller amounts. It's even easier to cook two cups and have a couple of meals

Tim in the Kitchen

Tomatoes and Beans

The tomatoes are starting to come in fast and furious. We're now harvesting daily. With different varieties, there are different uses. In the grand scheme of things, they're all interchangeable, but they all have characteristics that make them better at some

Tim in the Kitchen

Stuffed Pattypan Squash

My impulse buy at the produce store on Monday was a huge pattypan squash. I had never seen one that size, so I thought it would be fun to see what I could do with it. While we did end up

The Cookbook Collection

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

FAMILY

AND

FRIENDS

This is a collection of recipes from family and friends, TV personalities, and stuff just found along the way.

There are handwritten recipes from long-gone relatives and things we’ve recently found. There’s no real rhyme or reason to anything other than they’re things we like.

Because that’s really what it’s all about.

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

TIM’S

MOM’S

COOKBOOKS

Here it is! Tim’s Mom’s collection of recipes from the 1960s and 1970s. Days when cooking was definitely more fun and adventurous!

The two original loose leaf binders contain recipes culled from magazines and newspapers, as well as handwritten recipes by her, her mother, and other friends and relatives.

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

RECIPES

FROM

VILLA MODICA

Villa Modica is located in Modica, province of Ragusa, in Sicily – in the southeastern corner of the island. Close to Syracusa, Catania, and easy driving to Mount Etna, it’s the perfect location.

Our hosts, George and his lovely wife, Antonella, were the epitome of Sicilian hospitality.

George has a collection of recipes on his Villa Modica website that I have copied here for convenience.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Sicily, there is only one place to stay.

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

FLOUR

POWER

A collection of sweet and savory baked goods made with various types of flour.

There are pies, cakes, cookies, yeast breads, quick breads, and handmade pastas – something for everyone.

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

RECIPES FROM FORT ROBINSON

FAMILY

REUNION

1

Family recipes from our first Family Reunion at Fort Robinson, Nebraska in 1986.

They run the gamut from savory to sweet – with something for everyone.

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

RECIPES FROM FORT ROBINSON

FAMILY

REUNION

2

Family recipes from our second Family Reunion at Fort Robinson, Nebraska in 1996. Even more fun foods!

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

RECIPES

FROM THE

HEART

These recipes were created for the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center by menu and recipe coordinator Christine Leishman, who has extensive experience in some of San Francisco’s finest restaurants. They are for anyone who is serious about cooking and eating delicious and healthful foods.

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

QUICK MEALS

IN

MINUTES

The majority of these recipes were created when Tim was doing Demo work and created by Tim, Ruth, and Elizabeth.

Use your imagination and have fun with them. That’s why we made them up in the first place!

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

LITTLE GRAM’S

COOKBOOKS

“Little Gram” was Mary Ferante, nee Taomina. She was our sister-in-law Marie’s Grandmother, and, while not exactly a blood relation to us, was nevertheless “Little Grandma” to us as well. She was spry, active, and ready to talk politics or cooking right up to her passing in July 2008 at 105. Yes, one hundred and five.

The recipes as written are taken from Grandma’s own notes.

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

HOLIDAY

COOKING

These are all recipes submitted from all our wonderful family and friends. Recipes that have been handed down over the years as well as fun foods newly created. A one-stop-shop for all your Holiday Cooking!

THE RECIPES

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTION

OTHER

STUFF

This is a collection of recipes I have had on my computer for years. And years. I am not sure where most of them ever came from. I think a lot of them were collected as ideas for work back in the days when we created recipes. Some of them worked their way into the house under a different guise and a lot of them have never been made in their posted form.

THE RECIPES