Brandy Slush

A beautiful pine tree with lighted glimmer, frosted cookies adorned with sprinkles, embroidered stockings, packages with colorful ribbon, the crunch of snowy footsteps and brandy slush, Christmas is drawing near.

Black Walnut Cake

This morning was one of those peaceful mornings where it was just me and the kitchen. Yet, in a beautiful way, the room was abuzz with chatting and laughter and humming.. The racket of mixing bowls and beaters, the clinking of measuring cups and spoons. The warmth of being surrounded by family even though it was just me in a room with a recipe and a bag of black walnuts. It's a recipe with a lot of love behind it.

Brisket Omelet

Following is how to make the perfect omelet. And what makes it even more perfect than perfect? Filling it with wonderful slow cooked brisket. Add a side of diced hash browns and you have a plate that even a diner on Route 66 can't compete with. A slice of Texas toast would also go along fantastically, especially if you've had a hard day at work.

Ready, Set, Go!

Our household is beginning this week on a mission! Preparing for our week began Sunday evening with a trip to the grocery store gathering staples for the week. Upon returning home, prep work for Monday's meals began.. All with the hopes of sneaking in some time at the gym in the evening then gathering up the kid and settling in at home to a warm awaiting meal and some good ol' family time. A whole fuss-free day and preparing for it was hardly even fussy in itself.

Pie Pastry

Pie crust recipes to go along with the Pumpkin Pie.

Pumpkin Pie

The week of Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. The anticipation of the delicious meal that hours of time have been devoted to. The smells of cinnamon, turkey and toasting marshmallows dancing in the air. Uncle Jim's marinated vegetables, Grandma's stuffing, Great-Grandma's Macintosh apples, olives on our fingers...  Playing games while enjoying Aunt Wanda's fruit pies and Mom's pumpkin pie with coffee. Waking up in the morning to hurry and have another piece of pie...

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

I love the foods of fall, I would almost go out on a limb and state them as my favorite.. But, unless grilled steak can be classified as a fall food, I'm completely torn. Anyways, the below recipe is from a family friend and is a Thanksgiving table favorite for the Russ family. And I could totally go for one right now, a cold dreary day is easily defended by sage alone.

Thanks Patti!

A week of culinary smiles.

My kitchen hasn't been very abuzz this last week, I don't even know where this last week went. However, there have been several culinary delights in my life the last week.

Bento Boxes & Mason Jars

What fun lunch assembling I had this evening! I took a bit of a shortcut this evening and grabbed dinner from the freezer section. What lovely choices they have these days. With the magic of only having to boil water, we had Grilled Vegetable and Goat Cheese Agnolotti, and it was quite saucy so I was able to stretch it by adding in a sliced leftover grilled chicken breast. I'd love to share the recipe, but ummm.. It's a family secret... Anyways, it left me plenty of time to get some lunches packed and the kitchen organized for the week, can't beat that!

Banana Pecan Pancakes

Sometimes dinner just calls for pancakes and bacon. It's a menu that is painless yet indulgent and when you happen to have ripe bananas on hand, a little bit of the guilt is replaced with the comforting component of offering a fruit serving in lieu of a vegetable, right? But breakfast or dinner, these cakes are tender, fluffy and lovely! The only thing missing was a cup of coffee..

Migas

Usually at our house, Sunday means pancakes. But today I took over breakfast duty. Migas are one of my favorite breakfasts, especially on Sunday, because they are great for using up the odds and ends in the refrigerator.

Individual Caramel Pecan Tarts

What's better than a decadent, hold your breath and close your eyes dessert? One that is also prepared in minutes, has six ingredients, no cooking and instead of using a special pan, uses mason jar lids.

Fully Loaded Cookies

I'm not a gal of many words this evening, but who can be when you have a mouth full of cookie?

Guilty!

I was summonsed for jury duty. Again. They must really like me over there at the court house.. So, I was thinking, what would my alter ego do that I would end up trying to evade jail time.. hmm..

Tea Infused Creme Brulee

I have snuck into the kitchen and composed this evenings dessert. So excited! During our landscaping project however, my darling husband took a fifty fifty chance on which line was the cable line before cutting it and in short I'm writing this from my phone... Bless his heart.. No I take that back, bless my heart!

Sugar Encrusted Day Dreams

I have a culinary vision just wafting around in mind, just waiting to hit the palette. I realize that waft is an interesting word to use in this opener, but it will give my mom a little giggle I think.

Who Am I?

This was a little project that we were asked to complete for work. I found it to be rather fun and thought that I would share it with you. And in turn - Who Are You? I'm not sure if there's a limit as to how much can be shared in the comment box, but answer the questions yourself as well, or pick out a couple to share answers on. I'd love to hear!

So here goes... This is me -

Granola

What a better time to add something a bit special to your day than right in the morning, after that first sip of coffee. Granola is a lovely treat but the better the quality of the granola, the better it is at emptying your wallet.. I spent hardly anything to make this batch. One secret, hit up the bulk bins at your grocery store if you have the luxury, that really helps to make this an inexpensive treat. I also saved a little stash for my desk drawer that I'm going to toss some dark chocolate chips in with. Cause once 3:00 in the afternoon rolls around...

One More Project

My kitchen is starting to feel abondoned. But I just had to finish one more project..

My new window board.

Best Seat in the House

This isn't cooking related... But... I can't tell you how excited I am with how my little "jazz up the porch" project turned out!

Corn Cakes

A couple of weeks ago, our little family visited my "back home". It just never seems to fail that food is what pulls everyone together. Whether it was one of the incredible scoops from The Bigger Dipper (the two flavors that I tried were Cardamom and on the return trip, Thai Curry Peanut)... Hello! Amazing! The Cardamom is still my favorite and I can't wait until Christmas so that I can have another scoop.. A simple and perfect dinner of burgers from the Winston Bar or Fish n Chips from the Glass Slipper.. As well as the pleasures of running into people that one hasn't seen for several years. And a very blissful dinner at Isaac's along the Missouri River. There's just something as well about a road trip to please the palette. A journey of about 100 miles for dinner and ice cream.. That's a pretty good road trip!

But then there's the dinners that are prepared together as a family. Grandma Marlene brought dinner to a whole new level with the mention of needing to make corn cakes. What a great side dish and one of my new go-to favorites. And the leftovers are delicious with butter and honey for breakfast - yumm!

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

In honor of Lottie's first birthday, I thought I'd share my favorite cake recipe. It has great flavor, starts with a box mix, yet tastes entirely homemade.

Photo: Jessie Sarrazin

When Butter Met Sugar

It was a friends birthday and sometimes its just fun to make someones day a little bit more special. I had went to Micheals to look for cookie packaging ideas, wow, there are a lot of fun options now! Almost enough to make me want to treat someone to cookies every day, but I get a little exhausted at the thought.

Summer Cobbler

Ohh dear blog, I miss you I really do! I love you still, I've just been a little bit busy preparing for vacation and such. I do have a recipe that I'm dying to share, hopefully tonight I will get it posted. In the meantime, I wanted to share this article.

Photo: New York Times

Indulgence

 Yes, cooking I believe should be a whim and the best part is that sometimes that whim of indulgence lies right at the fingertips, not even needing to touch a pan.

An old family picture, including grandma Charlotte, and is one of the greatest treasures of indulgence and joy I've ever seen.

All in a days work.

I suppose from the looks of this blog, it can be pretty tricky to discern what it is I do for fun and what it is I do for work.. If only all relationships of work and play were that content.


Photo: Fresh Home Ideas



Blueberry Cobbler Pancakes

Good Morning!

Not to be a pancake snob, but there's just something about placing the blueberries in the pancake that hasn't quite appealed to me. You can mix them in the batter, but the pancake experts say that thats no good.. So you're left sprinkling them over the batter rounds on the griddle. And I'm not quite an expert perhaps, but that doesn't seem to do justice either for the pancake nor the berries.

Hello, Siriracha!

I went to the store this evening knowing that I wanted salmon for dinner. What I didn't know though, is that I would stumble upon the perfect marriage of herbs, heat and barbecue!

Happy Independence Day

Of the whole year, this is always one of my favorite weekends! The sun is shining, people are busy, there's water to splash and its also a time of reminiscence and gratitude. And what marries all of this better than the smell of charcoal, the sounds of chatter and the allure of fireworks!

Sometimes I'm a Rock Star

Last nights dinner was so decadent and lovely. It was the exact dinner hug I was hoping for. Even though the stormy evening I was expecting ended up being sunny and bright, this perfect for fall meal was still plenty exciting.

Chatter

In much excitement, I'm awaiting preparing this evenings supper. I have delicious and comforting expectations.

What's in a Store

One big grocery store and a gal without a plan. I figured there has got to be something fitting that can be found in the grocery store and assembled quickly in the evening for dinner. But what...

Spilled Cinnamon & Snickerdoodles

A perfect marriage of crisp and chewy. Ohh how I wish I would have either had the gumption to bake these little charmers before the coffee was brewed

Chicken Curry in no Hurry

Mental note: my next career move should be poetry... Perhaps recipe poetry is a niche not yet accomplished...

The Grind

When I was thinking of what I would title this post, I thought well it's the last night of my play-cation. My sister and a couple of her neighborhood gals come to visit us for a few days. We used every hour of day and night very wisely.

Herb Wisdom

In an earlier comment posted by KarlaJo, she mentioned that she's welcomed summer by planting fresh basil. Being able to dash out and grab a snip of fresh herbs to sprinkle over a dish or toss into a salad takes a recipe to a whole new level of delightfulness and is every bit as good for the soul as a church choir.

Dearly Beloved...

Alright... So, I've been sitting with last nights dinner on my mind.. And I'm thinking ay, ay, ay, I already have confessions.

Brussels & Barley Steak Salad

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 shallot, finely chopped
Kosher salt and pepper
Salad:
4 cups chicken broth or water
3/4 cup barley
3/4 pound Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
handful grape tomatoes, quartered
handful sliced baby portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 leftover grilled steak, thinly sliced
Plain yogurt

In a small bowl, whisk vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate. In a large saucepan, bring broth or water to a boil. Add barley. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until tender. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, combine the sprouts, tomatoes and mushrooms, toss with vinaigrette. Let stand until serving - the vinegar in the dressing will "cook" the sprouts while it stands. Add cooled barley; if working ahead of time, this can be chilled until dinner. When ready to serve, top with steak slices and drizzle with yogurt.

For the extra mile, I don't consider myself an organic follower. However, there's something about organic plain yogurt (and whipping cream) that makes it richer and smoother in my opinion, give it a try, its delicious! If I would have had fresh parsley on hand, a couple snips would have been quite complimentary. The best part about tonights dish, is that tomorrow, there will be leftovers! Tonight I will get the leftover barley mixture packed up with some sliced apple chicken sausage and tomorrow morning it will be a breeze to get out the door (assuming that I also get the coffee programed). So I'm off to do dishes! Whim's can go far, but they can't do the dishes...

Welcome

So here I go! Not a lot makes me happier than putting something exciting on the table (except for a big wet kiss from Lottie, Troy doing the dishes or a card in the mailbox).