easy cheesy chicken casserole

the casserole in the picture still needs to be baked, so imagine that the cheese is melty and bubbly, and that's what it would look like if it had just come out of the oven.

i'm traveling for work this week, so i made the geek this casserole to heat and eat later. it's simple to assemble and makes for a comforting, tasty and filling meal. 'assemble' is actually a very fitting word, since the actual cooking involved here is minimal.

a classmate in high school shared a variation of this recipe with me, and it's been my go to 'simple-yet-satisfying' dish ever since.

maybe if the geek is nice, he'll take a picture of the finished product. :)

eton mess

strawberries and cream are delicious together. add in crushed meringue, and it gets even sweeter. for sweet tooths like me, sweeter = better. eton mess is a  cool, creamy, and rich dessert. it's simple to make and a treat to eat.

on several occasions, the geek has announced that he does not like meringue. we'll see how he likes this; if he doesn't, it just means there is more for me!

adapted from nigella lawson's eton mess recipe (and reader comments) on foodnetwork.com. for more information on the history of this dessert and it's name, see this wikipedia article.

my oh my, it's shepherd's pie!

the best shepherd's pie i ever ate was in british airways' club world business class on a flight from london to boston. ever since that flight i've been in love with shepherd's pie. once i found a recipe and started making this at home, the geek fell in love with it too.

this isn't the prettiest of dishes (at least it isn't when i make it), but it's oh so tasty and filling. as an added bonus, it's budget friendly too.

traditionally shepherd's pie is made with lamb and cottage pie is made with minced beef, so i guess this technically should be called a cottage pie recipe or 'americanized shepherd's pie.' as folks always tell me when i'm in england, we're two countries separated by a common language.