If this soup doesn’t scream “AUTUMN” to you, I don’t know what does! You can find the pre-cut butternut squash at Costco and Trader Joe’s. Pictured below is one whole fresh butternut and a 2-pound package from Costco.

[Read more →]

Weekly Tip #5

When beating the eggs for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie or any other custard pie, brush a little of the beaten egg over the pie shell and set it in the freezer for 10 minutes. This helps seal the crust and keeps it crisp.

[Read more →]

Since standing on my feet in the kitchen for long periods of time is out of the mix at the present time, how about a holiday craft? Now, I already told you in the first installment of Crafts 101, I am not a crafty person… not by a long shot.  In fact, for this particular craft I needed professional help. Recently, Peggy and I took a class from the very talented Cindy and Lin Sue of Sweet-Stops on how to make these luxurious fabric pumpkins, which are perfect from the first day of fall, all the way through Thanksgiving. Now that’s some bang for your buck! And when I say “buck” -  I literally mean about one dollar! Depending on the fabric you use, or if you use scrapes you already have on hand, these beautiful pumpkins may cost no more than that. If you’ve seen them in boutiques, you already know they go for anywhere from $20 to $40 each! That’s just crazy talk!

[Read more →]

We enjoyed Gwen’s lentil stuffed acorn squash so much last week, that I decided to take another spin at it, with quinoa, this time. Especially since I STILL had more squash from that darn Thanksgiving centerpiece to get rid of. Not that I’m really complaining, but those things take up more than their fair share of room in the refrigerator.

[Read more →]

We shall begin with “a dollar short” – Do you ever buy something that you want to keep all to yourself, even though it really needs to be shared? Oh, you say that do it all the time? Yup, me too! Last week, I discovered another one of “those” things! As silly as it sounds, “that” thing is a box of crackers. Not just any box of crackers, but really expensive and amazingly decadent crackers. How expensive? How about $6.99 (at Whole Foods) for a 6-ounce box! That is about $1.17 an ounce or about $18.50 a pound! How many food items are you willing to pay $18 a pound for? Maybe something like jumbo shrimp, prime rib or beef tenderloin. But crackers? Yup, I did, and I will again.

Raincoast Crisps are the most amazing crackers on earth. I have to thank, and then loudly curse, Gwen Ashley Walters for turning me on to them. And when I say, me, I mean that I shall be purchasing these ridiculously expensive crackers and hiding them from family and friends while carefully rationing them out for myself.

Next, let’s address, “a day late” – Two days ago, I posted a recipe in which I used a smokey marinade from Gwen. At the end of that post, I said that the next day I’d put up another recipe of Gwen’s, that I adore. Well, I forgot and put up a lentil recipe yesterday instead. Sorry, here is Gwen’s scrumptious and “easy-breezy” party spread recipe that she made last week for the Les Gourmettes cooking class and served atop the Raincoast Crisps.

[Read more →]

You know that saying, right? It means you measure any wood you are working with twice to make absolutely sure that your measurement is correct because you only get the one chance to cut it right. That is how I feel about greasing a pan when baking. I am not a huge fan of baking or making desserts. Too many things can go wrong, at least for me they seem to. So the one thing I try to get right is to get the dessert out of the pan in one piece.  Easier than it sounds, unless you use parchment paper. Whenever I make a cake or quick breads, I always (even when I forget to put it in down on a recipe) grease the pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment, and then grease the parchment. Works every time, as you’ll see in the pictures below.

I’ll be on Channel 12 NBC Valley Dish live today at 3:30, making a wonderful winter salad, in case you want to watch. I’ll post a link to the taped show along with the salad recipe tomorrow. AND… a very happy birthday to my sweet Jennifer! I adore you! xoxo

[Read more →]

For 22 years we have adhered to a strict rule in our house at this time of year. No holiday decorations allowed on December 1st. That means Thanksgiving stuff needs to be taken down and put away and the Christmas stuff must be left unbothered until at least December 2nd. Hey that’s today! The reason for the rule is simple – December 1st is Marissa’s birthday and that day needs to be all about her – not about the two major holidays that surround her special day.  Over the years, the rule has been slightly modified, Christmas lights on the outside of the house became permitted. And this year, the rule wasn’t so much modified as actually broken – just a little! I have a TV shoot here this morning and it is going to feature me and my kitchen Christmas tree. Hence, the rule was broken when I put up that little tree yesterday – sorry baby girl, we’ll go back to being rule sticklers next year!

[Read more →]

“He who can give thanks for little will always find he has enough”~ Unknown

[Read more →]

Thanksgiving is tomorrow!!! Don’t know that I can help you now if you haven’t gotten busy yet, but just in case, I give you - Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline.

OK, so I have caved and I have made the dough for the potato rolls. How can I not, after The Audrey Files made them for her family and then raved about them on her blog? I’d feel like a heel if I stood my ground on that one. But I must rebel in some small way, so I am NOT going to make a homemade pumpkin pie this year! Instead I am making a pumpkin bundt cake, so take that, my whining family! But, I even felt a little guilty about that, so I purchased a little pumpkin pie at Trader Joe’s… oh well.

I do not trust a bundt cake to come out of the bundt pan cleanly. So I never, and I mean never, use Pam to grease it. I always melt plenty of butter and brush it on every visible interior surface and then dust the pan with flour. That usually does the trick, but not every time, sometimes it just sticks in one little spot, just to spite me.

[Read more →]

Turkey-Day is only 2 days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline. Better get there now!

I’ve known this fact for about a year now, bloggers are very nice and supportive people! Look at this sweet post from fellow blogger and often, nice comment sender, Audrey Larsen, of The Audrey Files. She is my new BFF – so sorry Jen and Peggy and Anne!

Wanna know something that makes my day (in addition to having a new BFF)? Finding a cool new item at Trader Joe’s, that’s what! While standing in the dried fruit/nut aisle I was scanning for dried cranberries. Not that I really need another bag, I’m guessing that I have at least a half dozen partial bags of dried cranberries tucked behind various other partial bags of nuts and fruits and chocolates in one of my two extra freezers, but I am to busy/lazy to dig for one. That is really a whole other story and could be a post on its own! Anyhow, as I stood there scanning, I saw it, the new item – dried pomegranate seeds.

Awesome! I was so excited to try them, I had to control the urge to open the package right there and then. The very second I was in the car, I ripped into it. They are tasty, and according to the package they are a “good source of fiber” too. There you go, run out and snag a couple bags so that it becomes such a popular item, there is no way TJ’s would even consider discontinuing them. Even though I am enjoying eating them straight from the bag, I decided to create a Thanksgiving recipe using them and share it with you… hey, it’s just how I roll.

[Read more →]