Happy New Year!
I just wanted to take a moment and say a special thank you to you, my wonderful readers, for being so awesome. I am incredibly thankful for you – your comments and emails, your compliments, your words of support and encouragement, your interest, your loyalty. And most of all, for allowing me to be a part of your lives and as some of you have called me, your friend in the kitchen.
I’ll “see” you again in the new year! If you have certain kitchen-related resolutions that I might be able to help you achieve, please leave me any suggestions in a comment or email. (Aside from just wanting healthy foods – in January, that’s pretty much a given.) Have a wonderful holiday weekend and be safe!
Note: The sparklers here are for show and I wouldn’t recommend putting them in anything you actually intend to eat later. The baking cups were purchased on Bake It Pretty but they no longer carry them.
We’re in limbo between Christmas and New Year’s, and to me this is the perfect time to talk about homemade bagels. Many of us have a blessed extra day or two off of work, and may find ourselves with an extra moment to spend in the kitchen. New Year’s resolutions and diets are looming so if there was ever a time to enjoy an amazing homemade carb bomb, it would be now. Of course if one of your resolutions is to make yeast breads and doughs at home, then bagels might help with that. Basically I can always find a way to justify the making of bagels.
It’s December 23rd. I have a sort of rule for this date – whatever hasn’t been done by now isn’t going to get done. And you know what? That’s okay. After all the hustle and bustle of all the last minute details and running out for “one more thing” at least ten times, it’s time to let everything go and enjoy the holidays. Because none of those little things are what really matter anyway, but you already knew that. Sometimes we just need reminding.
The Christmas holiday is rapidly approaching. Are you ready? I’m honestly a bit nervous about how our first Christmas without Dad will be. I know it’s going to be hard, but it will be good to be with family so we can all support each other and lean on each other. We’re hosting at our house, and planning on keeping things very low maintenance. That’s how it has always been in our family anyway. This has never been a big food holiday for us. We’re too busy enjoying the giving and receiving of gifts and just spending a lazy day with each other. Food has always been more of an afterthought.
Today’s holiday giveaway is an awesome gift set from Grafton Village Cheese Co. Visit the 
Back when I first started making holiday treats and handing them out, peppermint bark was one of my favorite gifting options. It was simple to make, took very little time, and everyone loved it. However, as years have passed and our recipient list has grown, peppermint bark became a less feasible option. Buying chocolate to make enough bark for that many people became very pricey very fast. (And anyway, I still end up buying loads of chocolate but for homemade 
After much thought and deliberation this is what I ended up with – a dark chocolate sugar cookie with a peppermint twist, coated with a base layer of dark chocolate and topped with white chocolate and peppermint pieces. We loved the final result. The chocolate coating on each side of the cookie lends a nice crunch reminiscent of peppermint bark. Even this most-of-the-time mint hater enjoys a candy cane during the holidays, and the blend of chocolate and peppermint makes for a fun and festive seasonal treat.
Today’s holiday giveaway is an apron from the lovely 
If you have read my blog for any length of time, I don’t need to tell you how much I adore Cook’s Illustrated and the various publications from the good people at America’s Test Kitchen. I already own three of their cookbooks and they get plenty of use. When the ATK rep contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing another review and giveaway, it was a no-brainer. I was even more excited when I learned more about exactly what this book was.
For the past several years I have enjoyed the tradition of baking and packaging various homemade treats for friends, family, and coworkers. This year I didn’t have quite as much energy or enthusiasm as usual so I dialed back the list of recipients a bit. I also chose slightly less involved treats that would still provide a nice variety and overall effect.
I’ll be sharing the recipe for the cookies in a couple of days but I just thought this post might provide some inspiration to anyone looking for holiday gift ideas. I am a huge fan of homemade gifts for many reasons. They are a great option to express love or appreciation without wasting money on a generic gift bought just for the sake of giving something, that may then be re-gifted or thrown out. And of course, you just can’t beat homemade treats :)
This year our packages are filled with 
Note: This week I’m doing a series of holiday giveaways for you all! In an effort to prevent the giveaways from taking the focus away from the food, I will be linking to them on a separate page where entries can be submitted. Today I’m giving away two $25 gift cards to Garnish. Visit 
Do you think there is a group around the holidays such as fudge-aholics anonymous? Because I need it. Maybe I will be the founding member. The leftover fudge from our holiday party is becoming a real problem for me. Not this peanut butter fudge though, because it disappeared before the others. It’s smooth and peanut buttery and all kinds of awesome. And it only uses four ingredients that you already have. And it takes four minutes to make – no really. Are you in the kitchen making it yet? What are you waiting for? To me this is a perfect addition to any holiday baking agenda because it is so irresistible, yet so incredibly simple to make. It’s a little bit dangerous…
Having a father who was an elementary school principal meant that around the holidays, our home was full to the brim with all manner of Christmas cookies, fudge, candy, and more. So many sweet and kind people made sure to send some of their home-baked treats to our family, and for the most part I was thrilled. Every time I went past the kitchen I couldn’t resist nibbling on a cookie or my very favorite fudge. But rugelach were more like a B list treat to me, only worthy of my attention after all of the A listers had been eaten.
Crostini and bruschetta are always an easy entertaining option, but sometimes they can get a bit old and tired. Believe me, I love a classic 
This past weekend we hosted our annual holiday party. I’ll admit that with everything that has been going on lately, it felt a bit like a farce putting up festive decorations, prepping everything, and generally acting cheerful. Once party time rolled around though, it turned out to be exactly what I needed. Having so many wonderful friends and people I love in one place, all mingling, joking, and having fun – it was good for me. (Also watching IU beat Kentucky in the last seconds of the game and hearing the deafening cheers fill my living room…totally awesome. Go Hoosiers!)
I didn’t have quite as much fun planning this party as I normally would, but I think the end result was still very nice and everyone had a great time. Since I was short on time, energy, and enthusiasm I made mostly old recipes with just a few new things thrown in. As far as savory fare went, I wanted to be sure to include some classic comfort foods in miniature forms and I’m happy to say this went over very well. The highlight was definitely the mini mac and cheese in small mason jars. So many people commented on how much they loved it and I can’t say I’m surprised – it is mac and cheese, after all. Our full menu was as follows:
A huge thanks to Molly at 
I’ll be sharing a few new recipes from the party in the next week or two so be sure to check back for those. In the mean time I’m trying to figure out what to do with all this leftover fudge because fudge is sort of like my personal kryptonite…
Every once in a while I’ll be flipping through a magazine or cookbook and a recipe will stop me dead in my tracks. That’s what happened the moment I laid eyes on this recipe. Roasted portabello mushroom caps topped with a spinach and artichoke filling. Are you kidding me?! There was no doubt in my mind that we would love this meal and of course, we did. What I did not love, however, were the awful photos that resulted from my first attempt at this dish. It was late, I was tired from work, and I had no time or energy to achieve decent lighting. They did not do the meal justice in the slightest. Thankfully this meal is so wonderful we were happy to enjoy it a second time in the same week in order to get some proper photos.
So, what’s not to love here? We’ve got a hearty roasted portabello cap, a creamy spinach and artichoke filling, and a crisp topping of breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Another plus is that you can have the whole thing on the table in under 30 minutes from start to finish. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking the mayo in the filling could be easily substituted with Greek yogurt to lighten it up a bit. Both times I’ve been able to stuff five large portabello caps with the filling mixture. With three of us eating them for dinner, that makes two portions of excellent leftovers. In fact, guess what I’m having for lunch today?
We don’t need to discuss my profound love for pastry cream again do we? Okay, good. And it is a well known fact that almost anything topped with ganache becomes instantly better. So then it only makes sense that a cupcake combining a light sponge cake, amazing pastry cream, and rich ganache is going to be awesome…and of course these cupcakes are just that. I already loved the full size 
Like it or not, it seems more and more people are beginning to mark the change of the seasons or a holiday time by what seasonal beverages are available at Starbucks. I do enjoy indulging in one of those lovely concoctions from time to time, but I do not enjoy the cost or the waste that comes with the pretty red cup (cute though they may be). Ever since I first posted about 
I strongly believe that one of the very best things about being an adult is that I can drink chocolate milk whenever I want, and no one can say a single word about it. It is a perk I enjoy frequently. However, as an adult I am increasingly aware of both the ingredients we consume as well as the environmental impact of our habits. We have eliminated the majority of processed foods from our diets and I am generally pretty careful not to buy items containing high fructose corn syrup. Because of this, each glass of chocolate milk I drank was less and less enjoyable – I felt very guilty about my reliance on Hershey’s chocolate syrup.
So, what else to do but make my own chocolate syrup? Thankfully this recipe is so simple it can be made in less time than it would take to run to the store for the bottled stuff, and it uses just a few pantry staples. Of course I use it for so much more than just chocolate milk – making homemade mochas, drizzling on ice cream sundaes, etc. And as with just about everything homemade, this puts Hershey’s to shame. It is so much more rich and chocolatey – a little bit goes a long way.
Without a doubt, one of the most common questions I receive day after day is, “How do you do it?” Most of the time I suppose this question is in reference to how I balance being a mom, wife, working full time, cooking for our family, and writing this blog. It’s a very difficult question to answer because the first thing that comes to mind is always, “I just do.” I want to do all of these things and maintain this balance in my life, so I make it happen. Of course it helps that we have to eat every day and it just so happens that my favorite hobby aside from spending time with my kids is making something delicious in the kitchen, taking pictures of it, and eventually sharing it with all of you. But really, I have no secret strategies. I’m just motivated and very organized. I plan, plan, plan and then I stick to my plan. In the same way that I’m sure my Thanksgiving planning strategies appear neurotic to some, it actually keeps all of this manageable.
I don’t subscribe to a lot of food magazines but even the few I do subscribe to can quickly accumulate and take up space on our shelves. Not to mention that it never fails, when the time comes that I actually need a recipe I had dog-earred some time ago, it is nowhere to be found. I flip through page after page without success. Well, no more. I have since created this handy-dandy spreadsheet and it has made a world of difference. Each time I read a food magazine, I go ahead and dog-ear the pages with recipes I want to try. Then when I have a moment, I enter the recipes into the spreadsheet as you see above to include the recipe name, the year and month of the issue, and the page number. This has made it SO much easier to find what I am looking for. Every few months I try to go through and do a quick recycling purge of any issues I have saved that no longer contain recipes I want to try. You might also like to add a column to include the category of dish (appetizer, entree, dessert, etc.) but I haven’t felt the need for that yet.
So, that covers cookbooks and magazines, but what about the huge number of blogs I follow? Oh, Google Reader, how I love thee. Google Reader is one of many available feed readers that allows you to subscribe to blogs you are interested in following. When a blog you follow has a new post, you can tell by the bolding of that blog’s name in the list with the number of new entries listed alongside. I have a habit of sort of saving up entries and then have a big blog reading session with my dessert after the kids are in bed. It makes me happy.
But wait, it gets better! Not only does Google Reader make it incredibly easy to keep tabs on multiple blogs, you can star the posts you are interested in. In my case, I star recipes I either want to try or sometimes just as inspiration for my own creations. The search function is great. You can easily search all the blogs you follow, only starred posts, or even just the content of a specific blog. I do still try to visit most of the blogs I read and leave them comments as often as I can to show fellow bloggers some love.
And finally, one last little tip in how I keep my life in general organized. Another fabulous creation from the Google peeps, Google Calendar. Reasons I love it:
I had originally planned to share this lovely meal with you as a post-Thanksgiving suggestion, some lighter fare after days of holiday excess and leftovers. I may be a week behind schedule but I have been chomping at the bit to share this recipe (always the sign of a really good one). If you are not familiar with quinoa (pronounced keen-WA), I highly recommend giving it a try soon. Most quinoa recipes I’ve encountered so far are similar to a stir fry, using the quinoa as a base with whatever you like mixed in. The idea of forming it into patties is genius and a fresh take on this protein-rich grain. As with fried rice, the quinoa should be made in advance and cooled before making this dish. And speaking of fried rice, the flavors of this meal were very reminiscent of fried rice to me…a very good thing in my book. As you might imagine, the patties are fairly delicate but just use a light hand when flipping them and you should be okay.
The last week and a half has been a roller coaster, to put it lightly. I feel like I’ve been to hell and back a few times. Rather than focusing on the shocking and sudden loss of Dad, I’m trying to focus on some of the more positive aspects of the way things occurred, such as the fact that we had just recently enjoyed a nice family weekend including some extended family from out of town, complete with grilling (because if it didn’t come off of a grill, it almost wasn’t food to Dad) and birthday cake. The fact that he had recently picked up Andrew to spend the night so he could have Gagoo’s undivided attention and those best buddies could play, play, play. And the fact that my brother who moved to Atlanta earlier this year came in to town in the early hours of Thanksgiving day did get to see Dad and talk with him for a few minutes before they went to sleep. The sudden and untimely nature of his death makes the entire situation much, much worse for those surviving him, but I take comfort in knowing that he was in such a happy place in his life when he left this world. After years of sadness over Mom’s death, it was so nice to see him whole and happy again.
