Stooping For Manna

Amalia LaViolette is a singer and small business owner. She books gigs for her many groups: Caroling St. Louis, Connie & Amalia, The Jeweltones, and Terminally Hip. She is also a Weight Watchers leader and the mom of 2 children and a greyhound, and the wife of Richard.

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My Favorite Food(s): Let’s admit it, who doesn’t think about food all the time? And if it’s not all the time, it’s pretty often. I’ve come up with some “favorites” of mine and hopefully they’ll be helpful to you as well.

-To Bring To Someone: I have been the recipient of many meals over the years. Whether it was for a baby, surgery, or the death of my father, I’ve been blessed with numerous wonderful meals made by lovely people who want to help. I’ve also made many meals for these same reasons and I really love to pay it forward by trying to make (on average) one meal a month for a family who is in need. I usually make the same thing because it’s quite easy, nutritious, delicious, and convenient for the recipient.

I buy a pre seasoned pork loin (and you can often find these on sale anywhere), put that in a disposable foil pan, cut up various veggies around it (I use a variety of whatever I have on hand but it usually includes carrots, onions, potatoes, green beans, etc). I sprinkle the whole thing with salt, pepper, and olive oil, and then put lots of wonderful fresh herbs over the whole thing. It looks beautiful!

I bring it uncooked so the person can stick it in the oven whenever it suits their needs. Among other things, I include a french baguette and a fruit salad as well and always paper plates/napkins.

-To Bring to a Social Function: I almost always bring a veggie tray BUT I doctor it up and make it really pretty and appealing. I use a huge variety of veggies and ones that you don’t normally think of in a veggie tray, like asparagus, sugar snap peas, and green beans. I par boil for just a minute, the broccoli, beans, asparagus, and peas so that they’re bright green and taste SO much better. The trays are always super colorful (colored peppers, orange tomatoes, etc.) and I use a cut out purple cabbage or a pepper, to put the dip in.

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My Favorite Casual Restaurant:  My son attends the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. He was here last year for his externship, working at Niche. They have since closed and are reopening with a different name and philosophy but in the midst of this, we discovered Pastaria which is right next door and owned by the same James Beard – award winning chef. It is reasonable and the menu is outstanding.

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My Favorite Fall Dessert: Buy an apple crisp dry mix in the produce section and follow directions EXCEPT use double the amount of the dry mix (and butter) and drizzle it all with real maple syrup (no fake stuff). People will RAVE and it’s the “quick and dirty way” to make it as my Mom says.

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My Favorite Tip: Grow fresh herbs. You can use these all year long, it’s way cheaper than buying them at the store and they dress up EVERYthing.

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 Your friend,

Amalia

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veggie pic credit / culinary institute pic credit / apple crisp pic credit / herb pic credit