Kay's Hazelnut Chewies ... Sugar Bliss!

Remember that 'must-try' list of recipes you've had going for a while?  The one from food bloggers who you admire? Whose food looks and sounds soooo good? Here is one of MY list items ... Hazelnut Chewies, as Kay over at  The Church Cook calls them. I was doing a whole lotta baking over the weekend for my church friends and since it was World Nutella Day, and since I'd been drooling over Kay's cookie recipe for a few days, and since I knew many of these cookies would be eaten with happy hearts, I put a huge platter of them together and got them ready to pack off to church.

Crock Pot Mushrooms & Meatballs

Look at this relic! This throwback to the Brady Bunch years was a wedding gift to Silent Bob and I over thirty years ago ... it's been the starting spot for stews, soups, sauces, and boozed up wine and cider, but this weekend, it's getting ready for some football ... and church.

Chipotle Chicken and Butter Bean Soup

Sometimes the lines and squares of life are altered. Mother Nature takes over and tells us, in her own subtle way, that we are insignificant. We are wise if we turn away from the highway's center line and become mindful of the line of the sun's shadow in the forest, the twirl of the birdfeeder in the breeze, the maze of branches clicking against the sky. We can moan about this season ... or we can marvel at its beauty and power. Sometimes it's a good thing to realize there are powers well beyond our petty claim.

Because everyone needs a soup that will warm the cockles of  the heart after braving a cold blustery day or dark rainy night - because there are never enough chicken soup recipes - because I had a bag of frozen chicken meat in my freezer and various cans of stuff in my pantry - because Silent Bob was on the roof shoveling a whole lotta snow off the dormers - because it was comin' on lunchtime - just because.

Two Words ...

Messy Project

Sephardi Spicy Cabbage with Tomatoes, Turmeric and Peppers

I found a book on Jewish cooking a while back and have been experimenting with some of the most interesting blends of flavors and spices. Last evening, I made a colorful braised cabbage and meatball dish that was just out of this world! Look at these colors! Too bad there is no 'scratch and sniff' application for our computers!

Imitation As the Sincerest Form of Flattery ...

This food blogging thing has become such a far-reaching project that I am sometimes overwhelmed with the scope and levels of cooking ability that are out there in the culinary world! I come away from each day  of surfing the blogs with a few recipes that I really want to make for my family, a few that inspire me to adapt to my food tastes, and more than a few that astound me in their beauty and intricacy ... like the latest Daring Bakers' challenge. I can't even wrap my brain around the process of making Mousse Entremets with all its intricacies! I loved reading about the process and the thought that various bloggers put into the creative process and I loved oogling their food photography, but I set those posts aside as 'works of art' - not necessarily anything to aspire to, but posts to admire and honor.

When all is said and done, I always move back toward the more homey and simple foods - the ones toward which Silent Bob and I gravitate. Those are the foods that inspired me to begin blogging. We love rustic stews and spicy treatments for vegetables, crunchy cookies and sweet muffins, classic cakes and homey breads ... I have shared many of the recipes from our family cookbook and many that I've come across in my collection of cookbooks. Of late, I have begun going through my on-line list of  'must try recipes'. I hope folks on blogs don't get offended if I post their link and recipe with my take on it ... I mean these posts as a compliment to them. Those of you reading this post who know me and get frequent comments from me, be forewarned - my imitation of your recipe is my most sincere form of flattery. Thanks for posting such wonderful dishes!

'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.'  - Charles Caleb Colton

Spicy Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Frosting

It's the weekend and that means I've got time for experimenting with recipes and making special dinners. I've been busy!

Look at these beauties! Isn't this just the prettiest little Leaning Tower of  Pisa pile of sandwich cookies?  I am thinking so. Lynne, over at milk n cookiezzz , made the most gorgeous little spicy star cookies back at the beginning of January and I have been waiting for a chance to try a little add-on. I love the flavors of ginger and spices with lemon and I have been fixated on finding a good rolled cookie recipe that incorporates those spices plus five-spice powder in a slightly crispy cookie that is rolled and cut so that two layers can be put together with a lemony cream cheese and butter icing.

Stromboli - A Warm Sammich!

It's not a pizza, but it has pepperoni!  It's not a grilled cheese, but cheeses are in there! It's not a Monte Cristo, but it's brushed with plenty of egg! It's not a Calzone, but it's got some folding goin' on. It's a Stromboli and it's a lovely, long, hot pocket of ham and red peppers and herbs and cheese and pepperoni and garlic and black olives and whatever else YOU think might be a good addition!