Visit our Bread Recipes page for more fantastic homemade breads! There are times when nothing but a biscuit will do. Drop biscuits are okay, they can fill in the gaps when you are desperate and short on time, but most of the time, what I'm really and truly hankering for is a lofty, perfect, flaky, layered-from-top-to-bottom, golden brown, moist, golden brown, and delicious biscuit. I'm talking about the kind where you can split it in half with your fingers and slather with cold butter and strawberry jam or cover with sausage gravy. My biscuits were always really good... My grandma's from Arkansas, folks, and she's an amazing cook and View Post
Fromage Fort (Cheese Spread)
Do you ever get invited to last minute shindigs? Have you heard of Fromage Fort? Do you love cheese? That last question is the most important really, because this is a recipe for cheese lovers. Serious cheese lovers only. Because this is how you use up the odds-and-ends in your cheese collection. You do have a cheese collection, right? A nub of Romano, a hunk of Cheddar, a couple tablespoons of crumbled bleu, some Asiago pieces rattling around in a bag or a drawer or a container in your refrigerator... The French ride to the rescue here, with classic Fromage Fort. Fromage Fort translates as "strong cheese" and believe you me, View Post
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Walnuts
As I walked up from the mailbox a couple weeks ago, I glanced through the pile of stuff; a bill, some advertisements, blah blah blah, and then something caught my eye. On the cover of the new issue of Whole Living was a pan full of what appeared to be roasted Brussels sprouts with grapes and walnuts. "Ooooh," thought I, "That looks good. I'll give that a look over as soon as I make myself a cup of tea." I walked in the door, sat the magazine down and never saw it again. What happened to it? Who can say? What happens to anything that disappears in a home with five sons ages thirteen (for another two days) and under? Well, sometimes those View Post
Jellied Cranberry Sauce {canned or refrigerated}
My almost 16 year old son (excuse me while I hyperventilate a bit over that one...) has -year after year- requested a giant Thanksgiving style feast on his birthday that falls about a week and a half before Thanksgiving. It's his favourite meal of the year and he sees no reason to be confined to having it only once. He also sees no problem with having the gigantic meal twice in one month. ...And he knows what he likes. Since he was able to say so, the thing he has grabbed for first from the table is the bowl of cranberry sauce. It has to be smooth. He and I both feel strongly about this. Even though Martha and legions of foodies present View Post
Pumpkin Cheesecake Milkshake
Disclosure: This post brought to you by Kraft Foods. All opinions, recipes and photos are, as always, my own. Thanksgiving is drawing near so fast my head is almost spinning. I eagerly await it all year long and to think we're this close? It is far and away my favourite feast of the year. Food, family, gratefulness... it's like a wonderfulness bomb that explodes joy all over my heart. Is that too much? I can't help it. I love it so. And I love ALL of it: the planning, the lead up, the actual event, and the days following it. It makes me feel giddy. Is anyone else about ready to pop? In this season of togetherness, friends, and View Post
Crisps with Goat Cheese, Blackberries and Honey {fast appetizer}
Almost twenty years ago, when my husband and I were still dating, we loved to have cheesy romantic evenings. I'm not saying romance is cheesy, I'm saying our romantic evenings involved cheese. Lots of cheese. We would drive to the nearest Wegman's, grab a baguette from the bakery then meander over to the cheese bar where we would most often grab goat cheese, some brie, and some fun and exotic cheese we hadn't tried yet. A quick stop in the produce department for a salad and the olive bar for some salty little bits of goodness, then back to his house or mine we went. We'd crack open a bottle of wine, tear hunks off of our baguette and load View Post
Garlic & Ginger Pot Roast
Can you think of many foods that are more comforting than a big, brown, juicy, fragrant beef pot roast? I can't conjure up even one time in my life when I haven't eagerly awaited or at least been pleased to see a pot roast. It is -simply put- a powerful dish. There is something in the time it takes to make it; while it is simple to create, it is most definitely not fast food. It feels luxurious in our hurry to sit down to something that cooked for hours not minutes. Don't we all need this from time to time? I surely do. The hands-on investment is negligible. You spend about fifteen minutes browning the roast, View Post
High Peaks Deep Dish Apple Pie
{UPDATE} The Pick Giveaway Winner plugin chose Christa D. as our winner! Congratulations, Christa! Email me your mailing information and I will forward it onto our friends at Harry & David! This past summer I had the distinct privilege of traveling to Oregon as part of a group of bloggers brought out by Harry & David to tour their orchards, facilities and community. What a treat! It was wall to wall wonderment, beauty and inspiring people. You don't get a trip like that every day, I'll tell ya. Aside from making some great new friends, I came away from it all with a deep respect and affection for Harry & David's operation and View Post
Layered Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Salted Caramel
This cake has two layers and this post has two purposes. One is a no-brainer: to share the recipe. The other? Well the other reason is a serious case of Mama pride. This cake is what my pickle in the middle son requested for his birthday but that's not why I'm proud. I'm busting my buttons because he came up with the idea for the cake. Let me backtrack a bit and introduce you to my guy. This is Ty. Not Tyler, not Tyrone, not Tyson. He's Ty. It's a Welsh word that means "House": as in strong like one. And Ty is. He's the strong, silent type. He has a fast wit, but you have to listen for it. Believe me, it's worth listening. Ty View Post
Honey Potato Rolls
Visit our Bread Recipes page for more wonderful homemade bread recipes! Every year right around this time I get sappy. I spend November first through January tenth in a heightened state of emotional lather. We have all five boys’ birthdays interspersed among Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. The ever-racing nature of time is really driven home by singing Happy Birthday twenty five times in six weeks (I figure an average of five rounds of Happy Birthday per child) and throwing in Christmas carols to boot. What this boils down to is that I am the Queen of the Holidays. I’m not suggesting that I’m about View Post