We had a great Thanksgiving this year, all except the souvenirs we all seemed to have brought home with us. I estimate there were no fewer than 3 different colds kicking around among us, and the one that followed us home is just no fun at all. Sitting and staring vaguely into space between coughing fits is a singularly inefficient way to get any blogging done. But then, the fog lifted for a moment, and I realized that I can probably rely on my lack of organization and find a recipe that is all ... Read More about Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipes
Apple Butter Caramel Bars
I just wanted to get a quick recipe up before all of the family stuff starts for Thanksgiving. Once the family is all in one place, there is no time for editing photos or typing out recipes. I mean, I love you guys, but I'm not about to miss a game of Old Maid with the grandkids to tell you how I came up with my latest culinary masterpiece. So, let's get right to it - these bars came about because I had a couple of things around the kitchen I was sure would be just fantastic together. The apple ... Read More about Apple Butter Caramel Bars
Molasses Crinkles Cookies
When I was 8 or 9 years old, my Grandmother asked me what I wanted for my upcoming Birthday. I surprised her by asking for a whole batch of Molasses Crinkles, just for me. You see, we lived next door to my Mom's folks back then, and Grandma had an inordinate fondness for a particular cookie, called Sour Cream Softies. They are similar to Snickerdoodles, but with less backbone, and by then, I was heartily sick of them. I wouldn't mind one right now though, or standing and watching Grandma whip up ... Read More about Molasses Crinkles Cookies
Lemon Ginger Apple Butter
What do you make when life hands you apples? Like the half bushel of them that I picked up on sale because they were starting get a bit on the old side? You have to search pretty hard to find something better to do with them than make this Lemon Ginger Apple Butter. There is so much flavor here - deep and nuanced with undercurrents of the spices and lots of the zing of lemon and ginger. It ain't your granny's apple butter, that is for sure! Whenever I start working on a recipe idea, I look ... Read More about Lemon Ginger Apple Butter
Chewy Carrot Cookies
Carrots. Healthy & full of vitamins. Fiber. Antioxidants, probably. Home grown with all natural gardening methods. Sweat of our brow and all that good stuff. I know what we should do with these nice, healthy carrots - let's make some into cookies! Yay! Chewy Carrot Cookies! Yay! Seriously - we do eat a lot of carrots. We grow a lot and when those are gone we buy more through the winter. And with all of the nutritious, healthy veg we have been enjoying, we can afford a few cookies now and ... Read More about Chewy Carrot Cookies
Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese
This time of year, I starting shifting how I cook. Cocktail hour on the porch requires a jacket and shoes, and something delectable baking in the oven is nice when we finally wander back into the house. We go from grilling and salads to something along the lines of comforting cheesy casseroles with combos of pasta, veggies and whatever protein is close to hand. This past weekend, the protein was chorizo. Chorizo is sausage, Spanish, Portuguese and Mexican in origin. There are different ... Read More about Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese
Vanilla Bean Salted Caramel Sauce
Why in the heck do we find making caramel to be such a daunting task? I suppose it might be the risk of splashing oneself with molten sugar, which will peel the skin right off you. Or the fear of burning it all and making a big mess. Or of wasting some rather pricey ingredients if you do fail to achieve caramel nirvana. Bah I say! It only seems scary until you do it a few times. First of all - you are going to be careful, right? And not let the baby stir the melting sugar, right? So, there goes ... Read More about Vanilla Bean Salted Caramel Sauce
Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil
The stream of ripe tomatoes that ends in my kitchen is starting slow down now. I always have mixed feelings about that happening. On one hand, I'm heartily and truly tired of doing up tomatoes for this coming winter. I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 quarts of various forms of tomatoes, from sauce and stewed, to diced, to concentrated tomato paste and various soup bases. The nightmares of being chased by 5 gallon pails of tomatoes have just about ended, and my hand that was frozen ... Read More about Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil
Green Beans with Miso
Thanks to succession plantings, we keep getting a stead supply of really nice green beans. Larry plants a new row about every 2 weeks, until the early part of August. Our favorites are a variety called "Jade", which is pretty widely available in various seed catalogs. "Jade" is a really nice producer, and the beans are long, straight, and stay tender, even if they get a bit on the big side before you get them picked. Green beans will keep producing for at least a couple, weeks, so long as you ... Read More about Green Beans with Miso
Anadama Bread – Step by Step, Making Yeast Bread
When Larry and I first got married, his sister in law was always making this fantastic bread that I had never heard of before. I grew up in a family with a couple generations of breads makers before me - both my Mom and her Mom baked their own bread for long stretches of time, so making yeast breads was never an intimidating idea to me. But this bread was better than anything I had ever had before, and I was so glad when my new sister in law gave me the recipe. I have never changed one single ... Read More about Anadama Bread – Step by Step, Making Yeast Bread
Blueberry Skillet Cake
After a couple weeks of awful hot and humid weather, where no sane person entertained even the ghost of an idea that involved turning on the oven, I woke the other morning to cool, crisp air and a weather forecast that said the day would stay that way. Just what I was waiting for, as we had a container of freshly picked blueberries in the fridge, that I had been hoping would get a chance to be in this cake. I actually worked on this recipe last August, but ran out of blueberries before I had a ... Read More about Blueberry Skillet Cake
Coconut Toffee Squares
Is there a better flavor combo? Coconut, toffee, almonds, chocolate? Chewy, rich, with a little crunch? A little snap when you bite through the chocolate? Oh golly… See – if I had my way, we would eat a lot more chocolate. But Larry thinks it is actually possible for something to have too much chocolate! Have you ever heard anything so crazy? Still, I love him anyway, so when I come up with a recipe that has chocolate, most of the time, I make sure that there are some things in there that Larry ... Read More about Coconut Toffee Squares