End of Year Round-Up 2019

At the end of every year, I've been counting down the top 10 most popular recipes of the past twelve months. In 2019, you all seemed to prefer savory recipes but I can't blame you. Most of these were also some of my very favorite as well.

Cranberry Lemonade Champagne Sparkler

I definitely like bubbles in my drinks so any kind of sparkling beverage is usually my first choice. Champagne is a given but, even though it's the New Year's Eve tradition, prosecco will also do just fine.

Lebkuchen (German Gingerbread) Plus a Treat Box

This month is turning out to be a busy one for me with lots of social events. I love it, though, but it does mean the cookie baking is going full force in my kitchen. In addition, my cookbook club is doing a cookie swap this week and I've got treat bags lined up for all the goodies.

Gingerbread Whoopie Pies

My obsession with whoopie pies began the first summer I ever spent in Maine. Since they're not a New York thing, I'd never tasted one before but they were for sale at every bakery we walked into so clearly I had to try them.

Holiday Gift Guide 2019

OK, boys and girls, it's gift guide time. And when I say gift, I mean stuff you probably want for yourself and can just print this out, circle the items and leave the list around for the people who might want to buy them for you. Or, if those people are unreliable, just buy them for yourself. This is not a sponsored guide since most of these items are ones I already own, use, love and highly recommend. As for the ones I don't have yet but just want? Let me know if you need my address. hahaha Happy shopping!

Crispy Chicken Holiday Bites

Lately I'm hearing people debate who has the best chicken sandwich. And while there doesn't seem to be a unanimous opinion, everyone does seem to agree that thicken sandwiches are delicious. Since I haven't tried any of the fast food ones, I'm going to say that the best version is mine. Certainly it's really damn good!

Pumpkin Crumb Skillet Cake with Honey Ice Cream

Let's talk about Thanksgiving desserts. I always bake an apple pie because that is what we love best. But I also like to offer something pumpkin as well. Plain pumpkin pie is not our favorite but I have lots of other creative ideas.

Cheddar Apple Pie Puffs

If you've been a reader for a while (thank you!), you will note that I haven't talked about my relationship status in quite a bit. And I wasn't really planning to. But, after a while of being single again, I'm OK again. And very proud of the steps I've taken to reshape my life. So, let me tell you about one of them.

Smoky Cumin Butternut Squash Soup

Every autumn I get excited to see the abundance of butternut squash soups available, either in canned form or in restaurants. But my excitement is always short lived because, as I taste test each one, I find they are sweet and that's not what I want.

Apple Crumb Bars with Salted Maple Glaze

I've come to the conclusion that I don't bake crumb bars nearly as often as I should. They have all the goodness of buttery pastry and fruity pie-style filling with the added bonus of a crumble topping and the fact that they're very easy to make. You almost can't even mess it up.

Haunted Chocolate Death Cocktail

Once upon a time, a Halloween hostess poured her guests a most delicious, yet subtly dangerous beverage. Hidden behind many layers of irresistible chocolate flavor was the fact that the drink was laced with a copious amount of spirits.

Creamy Chicken Soup with Herb Matzo Balls

The Jewish holidays are right around the corner which always makes me crave matzo ball soup. And, the temperature cool off just makes me think soup in general. So, clearly, it's time to make matzo ball soup. But with a twist.

Vegetable Loaded Couscous Salad

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.

As much as I love salads, especially in this very hot summer, I still need something more substantial and more interesting on my plate. Adding a variety of vegetables, some raw, some cooked helps to create great flavors and textures. And adding couscous makes it much more of a meal.

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the Rediscovering America culinary event at the famous James Beard House in New York and met several award winning chefs who are creating new menu dishes using the fresh produce found at Walmart. Their inspiration is Walmart's commitment to offering fresh, locally grown organic produce to their customers. This support of local farmers not only boosts that state's economy but allows customers to have the freshest, highest quality food.
I also had the chance to sample the bounty of beautiful produce now available at Walmart and came home with a huge and wonderful variety. And why choose which veggie to include in my salad when I can use them all!

I gave my onions, bell peppers and carrots a light saute but still kept some of the crunch. Then I combined them with fresh tomatoes and crisp, peppery arugula. They all got mixed in with the soft, fluffy couscous and drizzled with a tahini vinaigrette. With so many wonderful textures and flavors, I've been eating this for lunch and again for dinner with some grilled chicken. It's my favorite new way to eat all my veggies. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 Cup pearled couscous
1 1/3 Cups water
1/2 Teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 Cup chopped fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Red onion, peeled and diced
1 Red bell pepper, diced
1 Green bell pepper, diced
1 Orange bell pepper, diced
2 Carrots, peeled and diced
1 Cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Cups arugula
Dressing
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon tahini
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Teaspoon mustard
1 Clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste

Add the couscous, water and salt to a pot, bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat but allow the couscous to sit, covered, for an additional 5 minutes. Uncover, add the parsley and fluff with a fork.
Add the olive oil, diced onion, diced bell peppers and diced carrots to a large skillet or cast iron pan. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften slightly. They do not need to be cooked all the way through.
Add the cooked vegetables to the couscous and toss with the arugula and cherry tomatoes.
Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, water, tahini, lemon juice, mustard and garlic until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the coucous salad. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

This recipe is sponsored by Walmart. Thank you for supporting the products I love and use in my kitchen.

Some Good Eats for Wellness

This post is sponsored by Babbleboxx.com on behalf of Conagra Brands. As always, all opinions are my own.

A few months ago, I created a neighborhood cooking club and am thrilled at all the new friends I've met and great new foods I've tried. An added side benefit has been that the group includes people who follow lots of different eating plans and I've learned a lot. Newly inspired, I've been trying some new healthier options from the store and I'm sharing my opinions.

Cherry Cheesecake Linzer Slab Pie

This might be one of the most hybrid recipes I've ever created and it all started with me wanting to use up a big haul of late summer cherries. I had been thinking of making a slab pie so at first my plan was simple in that this was going to be a cherry slab pie. Then it got a little strange.

Biscuit Topped Tomato Cobbler

It still amazes me how much I disliked tomatoes when I was a kid and how I now can't pass up a ripe batch of these gorgeous August beauties. They call out from the farmer's market tables, begging to come home with me. I accommodate.

Nectarine Frosé Float

Peaches tend to get all the late summer love but I'm just as obsessed with nectarines this year. They're usually piled next to the peaches on display at the market and I find that their sweet aroma draws me in. I've had a steady supply to accompany my morning Greek yogurt but they belong in cocktails as well.

Ice Cream Cake with Peanut Butter Crunchies

Happy birthday to me and, true to form, I've made my own birthday cake. This year I took a break from my normal cheesecake obsession to recreate a childhood favorite. Since my birthday falls in the middle of summer, my mother always got me an ice cream cake and it's about damn time I tried to make my own.

Peach and Thyme Hand Pies

I normally don't expect to find sweet ripe peaches around here until August but this year the selection has been amazing. When I see peaches at the grocery store and give them a sniff, I'm rewarded with the sweet perfume of ripe fruit. And I definitely can't resist.

Baked Beet Chips with Pistachio Dukkah

The search for healthier snacks is pretty much ongoing in my house. I periodically whip out my mandoline, slice up some sweet potatoes and toss them in a hot oven, hoping for crispy chips yet always disappointed. Soggy or burned seem to be the only options. Until now.

Smoked Cheddar Corn Gratin

Summer corn has been on repeat in my house lately. That natural sweetness, paired up with butter and seasoning is hard to resist this time of year. And since I have so many ears of corn in my kitchen, there was also plenty to make something more creative.

Melon Ball and Feta Salad

This summer has barely gotten started but I'm already obsessed with all the sweet summer melons. I can't seem to walk past them in the market without buying at least one type and it's often all the varieties I find.

Cape Gooseberry Gin Smash

Have you ever tried cape gooseberries? Some of you might be saying you've never even seen them and, that's possible. They're definitely a specialty fruit so more likely to be found at a gourmet store or large farmer's market. But you also might have seen them and just walked past.

Cauliflower Falafel on Naan

One of my favorite meatless meals is a great falafel sandwich. Those little balls of chickpeas and spices are seriously so delicious and they make me feel like I'm not missing anything without meat in my meatballs. And I never tire of making variations.

Ramp Biscuits and Gravy with Maple Bacon

When I was growing up in New York, biscuits and gravy was not a dish I encountered. My mother didn't make them at home and none of the local restaurants served them. So it wasn't until my early 20's, having lunch with some co-workers in a new southern cuisine restaurant, that I had my first taste.

Brown Sugar Frozen Grapefruit Julep

Mint juleps might be the official drink of the Kentucky Derby but they're also just a great summer drink. With simple ingredients like good bourbon, fresh mint, a little sugar and plenty of ice, it's a cool drink for warm weather. Naturally I had to tinker with it.

Fluffy Almost Japanese Style Pancakes

Have you all seen those mile-high, extra fluffy, souffle type Japanese pancakes that are taking over the internet? I resisted for a long time until a video of them, bouncing around in paper sleeves on the griddle, finally made them too tempting not to try.

Crispy Goat Cheese Crouton Balls

Usually, when I eat something really great at a restaurant or on vacation, I come home and am immediately inspired to recreate it. But every once in a while, a tasty treat falls through the cracks and gets shelved for a while. In this case, it got shelved for about 10 years.

Savory Spring Vegetable Tart

The weather this past Saturday was so gorgeous that it absolutely called for my first farmer's market haul of the season. I came home with spring asparagus, peas, yellow squash and some beautiful crisp baby arugula. Now to turn them all into dinner!

Tahini Chicken Caesar Salad

I should start a series of posts about how to get dinner on the table in close to zero minutes given how often I find myself with nothing ready. Yes, I know I write about food and photograph food every day but that doesn't mean there's anything for dinner. Definitely a pain point around here.

French Onion Meatloaf

Is there a better cooking smell than onions, slowly caramelizing in a pan? For me, it's the ultimate in savory deliciousness and the promise of an amazing meal. And, of course, paired with all the melty goodness of Gruyere cheese, you get the flavors of French onion soup. My motto? French onion all the things!

Peanut Butter Banana Skillet Bread

We all know what to do with those leftover, over-ripe bananas, right? They're just begging to be made into banana bread for breakfast or an afternoon snack. And since bananas go so well with a dollop of peanut butter, I figured I'd just bake some into the bread. And then pour some more over the top. Because there is no such thing as too much peanut butter.

Blueberry Crisp

I think we can all agree that the worst part of cooking is the cleaning. So when my good friend, Lauren Keating, told me she was writing a one-pot cookbook, I knew it would be a hit.

Vegetarian White Bean Cassoulet

I hesitated slightly to call this dish a cassoulet because the original is a French casserole that includes white beans, duck confit as well as other meats and is slow cooked for days in a special earthenware pot. But if we can get past that, my version is way easier to make and ridiculously delicious.

Popcorn Balls and a DIY Popcorn Party

For me, watching the Oscar's or even a marathon of nominated movies, is more fun with a crowd. And what food is more associated with the movies than popcorn, right? So this year I'm making it the theme with sweet popcorn balls, popcorn topped cupcakes and a DIY popcorn bar with a fun assortment of toppings.

Roasted Peanut Linzer Heart Cookies

After an indulgent holiday season, I spent a sad, bleak cookie-free January and thank goodness that's over and it's cookie time again! February means it's time for my well worn and well loved heart shaped cutters to come out from the bottom of a giant container of cookie cutters. (Don't worry, I've checked and they all spark joy.)

Breakfast Yogurt Bowls

This post is sponsored by FAGE. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Did you make any new year's resolutions? I definitely did but I prefer to call them goals and intentions. Resolutions make me feel like everything has to start and be perfect on January 1st but, the fact is, I was still eating leftover holiday cookies on the 1st. Goals can happen slowly, over the whole year, and I think they're much more realistic for me.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

When the temperature outside is 5 degrees with a wind chill of OMG, don't go out there, I make soup. I pretty much live on soup in January and February anyway so I only need to decide what kind of soup I'm making.

Baked Three Cheese Spinach Dip

Hot, gooey, creamy, cheesy...I have your attention, right? January diet? Um...calories don't count while watching football. Or award shows. Or Netflix. Feeling better about this? Good. Let's get back to gooey cheesiness.

Hummus Toast with Perfect Jammy Eggs

For the past few years, lots of us have been spreading avocados on toast and loving it. I do too. But I've actually been spreading hummus on toast my entire life and it's about time this treat gets some recognition.

Individual Roast Beef Pot Pies

One of my favorite things to cook is a chuck roast in a big Dutch oven pot. I fill the pot with onions, carrots, beef stock, red wine and fresh thyme before letting it do its thing in a slow oven. The meat is so tender that you don't even need a knife and I turn all that cooking liquid into the best gravy.