Chef Suz

10/26/2025

10/25/2025

It’s a “Chili” kind of day!!

50’s and rainy here in the Heartland, so comfort food it is! ☔️

Have a great weekend everyone! 💛🍁🌻🍂🌾🧡

Be Happy, Be Well,

Chef Suz 👩‍🍳

03/05/2025

Good evening friends! 🌻

Our weather here in the Heartland has been nothing short of, well.. a record breaking weather whiplash!
On February 20th, it was negative -8 then shot up to an amazing 78 on February 24th! An 86 degree temperature change! 🤯 😳
Today is cloudy, VERY windy and cold, so what better way to take advantage of my comfy warm abode is to make a big Ol’ pot of homemade sauce with beef, pork and veal meatballs!
Did I mention that the house smells amazing!?🤩

I recently bought some imported angel hair pasta, so that’s what I went with…(besides, it’s hubby’s favorite!)
For no particular reason, I just haven’t made this in months!
I know…crazy, right?!

I can’t say that I’ve ever
had a “recipe” that I follow, but this particular batch tasted soo deelish, maybe because I haven’t had it in forever. Lol

Enjoy the rest of your week friends, and remember to always…

Be Happy, Be Well

Chef Suz
🧑‍🍳

01/29/2025

Hello friends…I hope you all have been well and your 2025 is off to a great start!
As for me and my house? We are truly blessed.

We’ve had some, what we call, “typical” winter weather here in the Heartland.
Sleet, snow, ice, crazy winds, you name it!
Throughout the years, I’ve come to realize that it’s really needed for a great start to a beautiful spring, so I’ll be patient. 🌻❄️🌬️🥶

Tonight’s menu was a comfort dish that was a staple in the Jason household where I grew up in South Jersey. Such great memories and tummy warming dishes that will be with me forever.
I have a loved one who is very near and dear to my heart that is currently in Germany on a work assignment.
So what better way to pay him homage than to create a German dish. ❤️
I have previously posted my classic Pork n’ Kraut, but I thought I would zhuzh it up a bit with a Chef Suz twist! 😉
On a recent visit to Aldi grocery store, my hubby ran across some authentic “Deutsche” Sauerkraut that I just “had” to try...so, In the cart it went!
Aldi is known for carrying and importing many different types of German foods, cheeses, wursts, breads and sweet treats. My kinda place.
The “twist” I mentioned above has been a compilation of trials, textures, proteins and flavor combinations that I’ve tested throughout the years.
This go round, I went with boneless country pork ribs. Think about it, they’re super meaty, and with just enough “marbling” to make them melt in your mouth delicious after several hours of cooking….GENIUS!
After some savory seasonings, I let them marinate for a good 4-6 hours in the fridge.
No pre-browning necessary.
Everybody in the pool!
I have this perfect little 4 quart coquette that I use for literally everything, including homemade bread.
So, in the pot went large diced sweet onions and large diced apples (I went with Honey Crisp apples) 🍎
I then added the drained German Sauerkraut, chicken broth, garlic, lots of warm spices and earthy caraway seeds.
Top with those beautifully seasoned ribs and put the lid on.
In the oven it went and baked for a little over 4 hours.
Let me tell ya…those ribs were like BUTTA!
The house smelled amazing! 😋
I whipped some sour creamed mashed taters and made a slurry to slightly thicken that delicious gravy!
Ohhh, and that Sauerkraut was phenomenal! 🤤
**Disclaimer: The overly filled bowl in the pic was the hubby’s, but trust me..the taters and ribs were under there somewhere, Lol

This was a definite zhuzh’d up winner tonight, I hope you try it soon! 🥰

Continue to stay safe and healthy friends....until next time!

Be Happy, Be Well

Chef Suz 👩‍🍳

04/23/2024

Happy Monday Everyone,

For those of you who still have to go to work, at least your day is done. (1st shift, that is). Me..I’m legit retired, but sometimes I wonder. Lol

We’re way underway in to the Spring season here in the Heartland. 🌻
Our weather tends to continually fool you with what appears to be classic seasonal temps, until…BAM…it’s freezing and/or scorching at the most inopportune times!
Currently, it’s a gorgeous 72 degrees with the typical Kansas winds whirling around at a gentle 50 mph! 💨☺️ 🌬️

Both of us are just about a month out from a nasty bout with Covid.
I’m not even going to sugar coat it, this one totally took the sails out of both of us! Besides not being hungry, I could not drag myself into the kitchen if I wanted to.
So tonight, I figured I’d start with something easy, yet comforting and satisfying! As I mulled over a few ideas, I kept going back to an old childhood favorite!
Yep…classic chicken pot pie was sounding better all the time! 🥧

I just happened to have all the great pot pie ingredients on hand, so it was a no brainer.
Other than the peas, I’ve tried the frozen veggie version, but I just love the flavors of freshly sautéed veggies and homemade pie dough! Seriously, you can’t go wrong with flour, butter, ice water and a pinch of salt…voilà ! Trust me, easy peasy. 😉

I sautéed fresh celery, carrots, sweet onions, red, yellow and orange peppers, lots of gaahlic, and cubed, boneless skinless chicken breast in a lot of butter.
I’m not a fan of potatoes in my pot pie, so those are still sitting in their bag waiting on some future mashed taters.
My seasonings consisted of S&P, thyme, turmeric, paprika, celery salt, Dijon, garlic and onion powder, and fresh parsley. 🌿

After incorporating the seasonings and making it all happy, I then added flour, white wine, heavy cream and homemade chicken stock stirring until a medium thick consistency.
I tend to let the delicious mixture cool a bit before adding that perfect crust so it doesn’t get soggy from the hot mixture.

I love using my enameled cast iron skillet for one pot wonders such as this. It cooks great, holds the heat and is an absolute breeze to clean.
Winner~winner chicken dinner! 👌

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes then up the heat to 400 until beautifully golden brown! Let rest for 15 minutes then dig in.
Let me tell you, It’s very hard waiting on those last few minutes….VERY!
I make jokes about trying to keep the hubby out of food when indeed it’s “ME” that I need to keep in check!

I was so enthralled in getting this put together that I totally forgot to get some pics of all the colorful veggies!
Next time, I promise. 😏

Enjoy the rest of your week friends, and remember to always…

Be Happy, Be Well

Chef Suz 🧑‍🍳

03/19/2024

Hello Friends,
Well, I do believe that we’ve finally tapped into..what I hope..is now Spring! Hallelujah!
And what’s better at welcoming Spring than St Patrick’s Day?!? 🍀

Here in the Heartland, we’ve been enjoying warm, sunny days and chilly nights. You know, your typical Spring weather. The trees are blooming and the weeds are rearing their ugly blooms! But, I am definitely not complaining..just not a winter-loving girl, ya know?

So, with this fun, festive Irish holiday…what else is on the menu but corned beef and cabbage, only Chef Suz style! Lol 😉
In case you missed it, I pretty much zhuzh up everything that I create in the kitchen, and this is no different.

I bought a beautiful prime cut piece corned beef that was the flat only. I’ve been preparing this typical Irish dish for many (trust me when I say..MANY) years! This flat cut had a small fat cap on top and the body had zero marbling, it was very lean. This one turned out like butta!

I normally will sear all of my protein that I’m preparing. With this classic..the oven does all the magic.
As per normal, I prepped all my veggies first (the French culinary term Mis en Place is “putting in place”)
It’s truly a Godsend…if you don’t remember anything, please remember Mis en Place…it’s a game changer.
I prepped fresh carrots, turnips, yukon gold potatoes, sweet onions and the obvious..green cabbage.

The flat went into a 6 qt Dutch oven along with the small packet of peppercorn seasoning (trust me, go ahead and add it)! 👍
I added all the veggies on top of the flat, with the cabbage ending on top.
It was hard for me not to add a ton of seasonings like I normally do, but please try and restrain yourself from adding anything extra. It’s perfect in its own right.
The oven was preheated to 325 degrees.
I then added this, what felt like a 15 pound pot to the oven.
My timer was set for a 5 hour cook.
We had made plans with my Grandson and his wife to give them an unexpected baby gift for their 2nd little baby boy who’s due any day.
My cook wound up being nearly a 6 hour cook. Let me tell you, it was ahhhmazing!!

Please try and put this in your meal rotation..it’s definitely a keeper!

Be Happy, Be Well,

Chef Suz

02/13/2024

Hello my friends!
I am, now apologizing for my lengthy absence. No excuses, but
sometimes life just takes us on a different path that shocks us back in to reality.
I won’t go into details but, let’s just say that I’ve had a conundrum of unfortunate events that’s crossed my path for quite some time now.
My passion has never wavered, my Faith, my family and my love for cooking have always been my greatest strength!
I absolutely love sharing my love for food with you all…if I were still in my prime, I’d probably be a Chef (in my heart).
So, a couple days late, but we definitely are a football family. Right or wrong, good or bad…we’re there to cheer on our favorite team or sometimes an underdog. It doesn’t matter, it’s tradition.
We happen to live in the Heartland of Kansas, and around here, when it comes to football…most folks are about the KC Chiefs!
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and throw a little disclaimer in that we are also true Philly fans too! Being raised in S. Jersey, it’s Kind’ve a given, ya know? 😉

Getting back to the basics, the big game menu!
Normally, I tend to go for the norms…you know…wings, subs, dips, salads…you get it.
This year…I met it somewhere in the middle.
The menu was set…Tuscan Bean Soup, the infamous deviled eggs, macaroni salad (hubby’s favorite), homemade salsa and guacamole, homemade bread for dipping, the obvious condiments of olives, pickles and cheese.. and of course our adult beverage of choice! 😉🍺🥃
It was a definite win-win for us as our KC Chiefs pulled out a walk off win!

No matter who you were rooting for, I hope you all enjoyed your Super Bowl Sunday as much as we did.

And, as always………

Happy, Be Well

Chef Suz👼

11/20/2023

Shout out to my newest followers! Excited to have you onboard!
I hope you enjoy my passion for food and cooking!

Teera Katarake, Samantha Blommetjie Jonas, Susan Strombotne, Stephen West, Jenny Pillay, Je Vee, Charlie Matsui, Automobilist Joseph Aleke Makwaya, John Shep, Georgia Follis, Michael Mendel, Kandy Winnett, Thomas Dunn, Dakea Ward, Debra Blasey, Lucia Riva, Roger Ingram, Ajay Kumar

11/20/2023

Hello friends and happy Football Sunday! 🏈

So, here I am on this dreary, rainy and quite frankly…typical Fall day. 🌾🍁🍂
Our forecast for the Heartland includes 40’s & 50’s and even some..dare I say 🤫..snow flurries for the upcoming Thanksgiving week. 🥶🦃

So while pondering today’s menu..
I was thinking which one of hubby’s favorites he might request on a day like this. He has many. Lol
Hmm maybe breakfast….yep, that’s it, breakfast it is.
(btw…in case you missed it…he is a breakfast food ju**ie and will 100% ask for breakfast for dinner every single time, if asked.) 😉
So in April, we will have 50 beautiful years of marriage…and honestly he’s not had the best time with years of ongoing health issues.
So I figure, even after all these years, I feel it’s the very least that I can do to make his day a little brighter.
You’d be surprised how simply serving up something that he truly enjoys can make his day.
(Disclaimer: Ok, I admit…I’m an old fashioned girl 💯)

I had gotten some organic pork breakfast sausage a while back, so I decided that it was time for some good Ol’ fashioned sausage gravy. You notice I didn’t say, “biscuits” and gravy.
(sorry I’ve never been a biscuit fan)😳
Ya, ya, ya…I know…I can hear y’all through my phone! “That’s sacrilege”!
So it was literally toast, sausage gravy, fried taters with lots of sweet onions and the fluffiest scrambled eggs you’ve ever had. 🤤
Let’s just say…there was no conversation for at least 13 minutes
😏 Could that possibly be a sign?

It was more than I expected…so comforting and delicious. I grew up eating this classic and thought my Mother’s could never be topped. She would be so proud of my version.
Since I am notorious for never using a recipe…I am humbly admitting that I just may have to note this one down.

If you look up any internet recipe of “sausage gravy”, it usually only includes sausage, a roux, milk and S&P. Trust me, I’ve read many, and tasted many..I’m just not impressed.
I am a huge proponent of going outside the box and attempting to create a final outcome that satisfies my expectations and palate. This particular version definitely met those expectations.

As you can see from my photos, I added several out of the ordinary ingredients. After it all came together, not only did it work, but dare I say, possibly the best batch to date.
If you don’t already, I challenge all of you to at least try to step outside of your cooking comfort zone. You’ll find that you will be pleasantly surprised by your creativity and flavor profiles.

Enjoy your week ahead, have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones..
and remember to always...................

Be Happy, Be Well

Chef Suz 👩‍🍳