Posts

Bodacious Brussels Sprouts

Bodacious = Bold + Audacious Looking for a side dish that's fresh and green for holiday menus? Bodacious Brussels Sprouts are prepped ahead of time then finished in a flash just before serving, studded with buttery pecans and laced with caramelized onions! Bodacious, indeed. Real Food, Fresh & Seasonal. Pretty Color! Weeknight Easy, Weekend & Holiday Special. Low Carb. Vegetarian & Easy to Convert to Vegan. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

Colored Roll-Out Sugar Cookies:
Christmas Stars

Just in time for Christmas cookie plates, an oh-so-pretty and easy-to-work-with roll-out sugar cookie dough that makes festive Christmas Stars, red and white and sparkly silver. No icing required! Colorful Christmas Cookies, Made from Scratch. Very Pretty on a Cookie Plate. No Frosting!

Finnish Meatballs

How to make Finnish Meatballs from scratch, baked in the oven and cloaked in a cream gravy that's contrasts so well with tart lingonberries. Suomolaiset Lihapullat are a traditional Christmas food in Finland and below you'll find my Christmas menu that pairs these light and tender meatballs with other typical Scandinavian recipes, perfect for festive family meals and holiday entertaining, either as the main course served in a shallow skillet or slow cooker or shaped as mini meatballs for an appetizer. Best of all? Finnish Meatballs freeze well so can be made ahead of time, that means no last-minute cooking! Traditional Finnish Recipe, a Favorite at Christmas. Three Easy Techniques for Light, Tender Meatballs. Great for Meal Prep, Great for Freezing, Great for Mostly Hands-Off Party Food. Potluck & Party Friendly. Low Carb. High Protein. Weight Watchers Friendly.

Chocolate Ginger Crinkle Cookies

Maybe we should hold a contest to name these cookies, for there’s no deciding. Gingerbread Cookies with Chocolate? Chocolate Spice Cookies? Chocolate Chip Ginger Cookies? I finally decided on Chocolate Ginger Crinkle Cookies but what I really know these chocolate-y ginger-y cookies deserve is, “C’mon over. Let’s dunk a cookie into a cup of coffee.” A little long, yes, but aren’t you just dying for a coffee now? These cookies, they'll do that to ya. A Sweet Treat Especially for Gingerbread Lovers, Coffee Lovers and Chocolate Lovers. Great for Gifts. Quick to Make with Pantry Ingredients. Spice Forward.

My Mom's Recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini

Wondering about good ways to use up leftover turkey? (Or leftover roast chicken?) Here's one recipe idea, an old favorite from my mother. It's home-cooking good and will be on the table in no time. And for anyone feeling less than svelte after the holiday? In Weight Watchers points, it's just six PointsPlus for a main dish serving, about as good it gets! My home ec-teacher mom was my personal cooking help line, as much as it pained her to answer my some times clueless questions. You see, I’d been allowed to pass out of Foods I, the beginning high school cooking class she taught, straight into Foods II taught by another home ec teacher. “Hello, Mom? How do I make … ” From the other end of the phone came the audible sigh I’d come to expect. With each gap in my knowledge, she’d berate, “If you’d only taken Foods I.” Luckily, it became our little joke, a private moment of shared history. Today’s young cooks have no idea what it’s like to face a mother like th

Recipe for Fresh Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Apple

Recipe for jellied cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries and softly gelled with the natural pectin in apples. A perfect recipe substitute for cylinders of canned cranberry sauce all jiggly-wobbly with high-fructose corn syrup. Quick and easy and nothing – nothing – like canned cranberry sauce. No gelatin so naturally vegan. The sad news that the pages of Gourmet shall go blank this month hit hard, like the loss of a family elder who seemed ready to live forever. Looking back, it was Gourmet’s 1986 or 1987 Thanksgiving issue that first revealed to me the concept of simple food cooked well, and in season, that expresses the food sensibility I call my own today. Who needs a can of mushroom soup when it’s so easy to slice mushrooms for Homemade Mushroom Soup ? Who wants a fridgeful of salad dressing when it’s so fast to mix a quick vinaigrette right in the salad bowl? Twelve boxes (one for each month) of back issues are testament to a long affair with food magazines, Go

Apple-Butter Pumpkin Pie

Here's a special two-for-one pie, half pumpkin and half naturally sweetened apple butter tucked into a graham cracker crust and dolloped with homemade whipped cream. I like to think of it as a "kissin' cousin" to Thanksgiving's apple and pumpkin pies, the best of both worlds. The recipe comes from my family's cookbook and my sister says that people who don't like pumpkin pie like this! (Wait! There are people who don't like pumpkin pie?! Poor souls!) A Stellar Pie, At Once Traditional & Inventive. A Long-Time Family Favorite. Budget Friendly. Potluck & Party Friendly.

Light & Fluffy Homemade Whole-Grain Bread

for Mini Buns, Dinner Rolls and Loaves My new go-to recipe for homemade whole-grain bread, formed into loaves for slicing and buns for sandwiches or dinner rolls. The dough is made with healthy whole-grain wheat flours and still achieves that soft and fluffy texture so many people like and is typically accomplished only with refined white flour. If you're looking for a whole-grain roll recipe, this one belongs on your to-try list, especially for tender and delicious whole-wheat dinner rolls. Homemade Bread, Made from Scratch with Healthy Whole-Wheat Flours. A Forgiving & Flexible Dough. Pretty Color with a Touch of Pumpkin. Budget Friendly. Potluck & Holiday & Party Friendly.

Sausage Stuffing (Turkey Dressing)

How to make a bread and sausage stuffing for Thanksgiving, either for baking inside a holiday turkey or baking separately in the oven any time of year. This is my grandmother's and my mother's recipe for sausage stuffing and now it's mine too. It's good stuff! Best of all, it couldn't be simpler to make! Real Food, Fresh & Seasonal, Perfect for Thanksgiving. Make It Ahead of Time or At the Last Minute. Budget Friendly. How to Feed a Crowd. Potluck & Party Friendly.

How to Dry-Brine and Roast a Whole Turkey

How to roast a turkey with the "dry brine" method that calls for no more than air, seasoning and time. A dry-brined turkey is simple and uncomplicated – best of all, it turns out a whole turkey with moist, succulent meat and a dark, crispy skin. (Did I mention that there's no grappling with a cooler full of brining liquid?) Occasionally I test out a different method for cooking a whole turkey and find myself, well, disappointed. And then I return to the dry-brine technique for simplicity and good results and find myself, well, re-impressed at just how easy it can be to cook a whole turkey. Simple Technique, Superior Results. More Than a Recipe, Many Practical Tips for Cooking a Whole Turkey. Weight Watchers Friendly. Whole30 Friendly. Low Carb. High Protein. Great for Meal Prep.

Recipe for Lamb Roast with Lemon & Oregano

An easy way to roast a leg of lamb, using just a handful of pantry ingredients. The recipe produces moist and fall-off-the-bone tender meat that collects many compliments! When I was a child, the Macks raised sheep on a farm out by the lake. Why my city-girl mother chose a farm visit the very day Mr. Mack docked the lambs’ tails, who can know? It must have scarred us all. Lamb never – ever? – made it to the family table and has perhaps once – maybe twice? – to my own. That’s changed, however, with the delivery of a lamb raised by Farmgirl herself on a 280-acre, 140-year old Ozark-holler farm in what she calls ‘the middle of nowhere’ Missouri. (Yes, this farm girl has a name, Susan, but I really do think of her as ‘Farmgirl’!) For anyone new to lamb, there’s something quite natural, primal even, about choosing a whole animal over plastic-wrapped cuts from the grocery store; knowing the lamb was raised in grassy fields, protected from weather and predators by people whos