Category: Recipes

  1. Wednesday, November 26

    Thanksgiving Prep: Just Desserts


    I think it’s time for dessert! This year we’re making Chocolate Mousse (in fact, my mom is making it as I type!), Pumpkin Pie and Apple Bavarian Torte. Click on the Recipes - Sweet Things page for the Mousse & Torte recipes…as for pumpkin pie, I’m just going to do what the can tells me…unless you have a fantastic pumpkin pie recipe to share!

    And feel free to share any other dessert recipes. There were some pretty fantastic-sounding desserts on your Thanksgiving menus, so I think it’s time to share recipes!

    Quick note: if you are going to make this mousse recipe, you need to make it one day ahead.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:27 pm   1 Comment
    Categories: Holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving Prep

  2. Thursday, November 20

    Thanksgiving Prep: Cranberry Slush

    Everyone seems pretty excited about the Cranberry Slush on my menu, so I think I better get the recipe out there!  Plus, it’s one of the items you can make way ahead of time, so it’s perfect for this week’s planning.  In fact, you need to make it at least 1-2 days ahead so it has time to freeze.

    It’s my Great-Grandma Blomquist’s recipe.  Everyone in my family, from coast to coast, serves it on Thanksgiving.  Definitely a family tradition and one I’m excited to share!

    CRANBERRY SLUSH:
    There are two versions - the original and the fast. We always do the fast version and it’s fantastic.
    Original Recipe:
    - 1 lb cranberries
    - 2 cups sugar
    - 2 cups water
    - 2 quarts cranberry juice
    - 2 quarts ginger ale

    Cook cranberries, sugar and water until thickens. Run through collander. Add 1 quart cranberry juice. Freeze. When ready to serve, mash up frozen cranberries with 1 quart cranberry juice and 2 quarts ginger ale.

    Quick Recipe:
    - 4 cans whole cranberry sauce
    - 3 quarts cranberry juice
    - 2 quarts ginger ale

    Run 4 cans of whole cranberry sauce through collander. Add 2 quarts cranberry juice. Freeze. When ready to serve, mash up frozen cranberries with 1 quart cranberry juice and 2 quarts ginger ale.

    For those of you who like to make it “interesting”…feel free to spike your slush. I have a few friends who evolved dear old grandmother’s recipe with a little alcohol and were quite pleased with the results. Grandma’s rollin’ in her grave!

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 8:09 pm   8 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving Prep

  3. Tuesday, November 18

    Thanksgiving Prep: Pumpkin Butter

    I have a scrumptious Thanksgiving recipe that you can make this week, long before all the Thanksgiving cooking really begins.

    I recently purchased the Muirhead Pumpkin Butter from Williams-Sonoma. Love this stuff. (Try whipping it up with some heavy cream or cream cheese. Pure heaven.  Or use as a base for pumpkin pie!)

    But at $10 a jar, not the most frugal of purchases. So, I decided to try making my own. The recipe I found here was delicious. It’s just as good as the stuff from Williams-Sonoma. Although, not as sweet, which isn’t bad actually. (I do think I’ll add more sugar next time.)  Not only is pumpkin butter great for Thanksgiving, but also as a gift for friends this holiday season.

    One quick note. When it’s time to simmer the butter for 15 minutes…well, it’s so thick that it pops and makes a huge mess as it “simmers.” I put the next-size-up lid on my saucepan and kept it propped open with my wooden spoon…that way the moisture could escape to help thicken the butter, but your kitchen doesn’t look like the battleground for the Great Pumpkin War of 2008.

    Tomorrow I am going to finalize the Thanksgiving menu!  I’ve got some tough decisions to make…

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 4:28 pm   6 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving Prep

  4. Thursday, November 13

    New Favorite Easy Dinner: Paninis

    Here’s my new favorite easy dinner.  Paninis.  No, I don’t have a fancy panini maker (yes, I accept free panini makers).  I just cook it in a pan and smash another pan on top of the sandwich.  Oh so fancy, but it does the trick.

    If you’re stuck for a new dinner idea, give it a try!  I use actual panini bread or yummy sliced bread and pile on whatever toppings I happen to have in the fridge.  (I also browse sandwich shop menus for ideas.)

    Pictured is a chicken panini (I cut the chicken into strips, pounded, and sauteed on the stove in olive oil and S&P) with provolone, spinach, tomatoes, roasted red pepper and honey mustard.

    Another plus of the panini - you can use spinach.  Lettuce ain’t so good warm, but spinach is, and it’s oh so super healthy.

    Fast, warm, easy, tasty.  My idea of a good dinner.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 11:47 am   4 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Meal Planning, Recipes

  5. Wednesday, November 12

    DELISH cookies

    Okay, I made these cookies last night…and again tonight. They are that good. (Just to be clear, I took the cookies I made last night to book club, so it’s not like we ate 3 dozen cookies in one night…just 1 dozen is all.  But I can’t promise we won’t eat 3 dozen tonight!)

    I found the recipe on this blog.  She found the recipe on this blog.  That blogger found the recipe in a cookbook. So, I can’t lay any claim whatsoever to discovering this little gem, but I’m sure glad I stumbled upon it! (Thanks to Ashley at Delish for commenting here on TWFD, otherwise I might never have been introduced to my new love…the Chocolate Chip Amish Puff Cookie.)

    I rolled the cookies in cinnamon sugar as is suggested and it was, well, DELISH!

    Enjoy!

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:33 pm   6 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Recipes

  6. Monday, November 10

    Simple Side Dish: Spinach Salad Variation


    I threw together this little spinach salad variation the other day for lunch. Spinach, Raspberries, Candied Pecans & Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette. Easy and delectable! I’ve thrown all kinds of fruit into spinach salad but never raspberries. They were delish!

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 8:00 pm   2 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Recipes, Simple Side Dishes, The Goods

  7. Wednesday, October 29

    Raspberry (or Blueberry) Sauce

    I love raspberries.  They were on sale this week, so I couldn’t resist grabbing a couple little containers.  They were still kind of expensive, but worth every penny!

    I made some sauce/syrup out of them and it was mighty tasty.  Here’s my recipe!

    Raspberry -OR- Blueberry Sauce/Syrup
    - 1 1/2 C raspberries (one of those 5-6 oz containers) -OR- 1 C blueberries (I’ve only ever used fresh fruit for this recipe)
    - 3/4 C sugar
    - 1/3 C water
    - 2 t. lemon juice

    Bring to a boil. Lower heat. Simmer for a bit. That’s it! Refrigerate leftovers.

    NOTE: If you want to thicken it up (which you probably do, the raspberry syrup was a little thin, but it still tasted awesome)…you can sub some of the sugar for karo syrup and/or add a little cornstarch to the water. I’ve always just sort of done this off the cuff. If I ever actually pay attention, I’ll provide measurements for you.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:55 pm   5 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Recipes

  8. Friday, October 24

    Easy Friday Night Dinner: Chicken Parmesan

    Here’s an easy-peasy recipe for you on a Friday night.  Trust me, it’s easy. And delicious.

    Chicken Parmesan
    - 1 or 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
    - 1 beaten egg (with up to 3 T milk if want)
    - 1/2 C grated FRESH parmesan cheese (if you don’t have this, just do more breadcrumbs)
    - 1/4 C dry bread crumbs (plain flavor - the italian flavored isn’t that good)
    - Some garlic powder
    - Some dried oregano and/or basil
    - 1/2 t paprika
    - 1/8 t pepper
    - 2 T butter melted
    - Mozzarella cheese (regular or fresh - optional)

    Beat the egg. Mix the dry ingredients together. Slice your chicken in half width-ways (picture your chicken breast lying on your cutting board and you slice through the whole thing so that your knife is parallel to the cutting board). Pound the chicken. Dip in egg, cover in breading, place on buttered baking sheet or silpat (I butter the silpat, as well, for flavor). Drizzle melted butter on top. Bake at 325 until done…doesn’t take long because the chicken is so thin.

    If you have some mozzarella cheese, put some on at the very end of baking so it can melt. A nice addition!

    Serve with pasta and red sauce, or as a sub sandwich!

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:49 am   3 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Recipes

  9. Wednesday, October 22

    Call for Recipes: PUMPKIN!

    We went to a pumpkin patch yesterday (oh so fun!) and it got me thinking…I haven’t done a Call for Recipes in a while, and I think a pumpkin call would be perfect for this beautiful season we’re in!

    Please share your favorite pumpkin recipes…sweet, savory, anything! Bring it on! Show us what you got!

    I’ll start with Pumpkin Rocks. Don’t be fooled by the name. They are moist and cakey, despite their physical likeness to a rock. :)

    OH!  And you MUST try the Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe on the Recipes-Sweet Things page.  It is to DIE for.

    PUMPKIN ROCKS
    From Tassie Earnest
    - 2 1/2 C flour
    - 2 t baking powder
    - 1/2 t baking soda
    - 1/2 t salt
    - 1 t cinnamon
    - 1/2 t ginger
    - 1/4 t ground cloves
    - 1/4 t allspice
    - 3/4 t nutmeg
    ******
    - 1 stick butter
    - 1 C sugar
    - 1/2 C dark brown sugar
    - 1 small can pumpkin
    - Mini chocolate chips
    - 2 eggs

    Mix together ingredients up to *****. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs. Add pumpkin. Add dry ingredients. Add mini chocolate chips. Bake 375 for ~18 mins.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:35 pm   20 Comments
    Categories: Call for Recipes, Recipes

  10. Monday, October 20

    AWESOME Flour…and Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I’m in love. With King Arthur. And his White Whole Wheat Flour.

    I made these cookies tonight. They were awesome.

    I also made my whole wheat pancakes yesterday using the white whole wheat flour instead of traditional whole wheat flour, and they were even better than the first time I made them. This flour is awesome.

    And my cookie recipe is pretty awesome, too…if I do say so myself. (I’m a little obsessed with making the perfect cookie. This is what I did tonight and it worked. This doesn’t mean next time it will work, but one can hope!)

    Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
    - 1 C butter
    - 1 C white sugar
    - 1 C packed light brown sugar
    - 2 eggs
    - >1 tsp. vanilla
    - <1 tsp. salt
    - 1 tsp. baking soda
    - 1/2 tsp. baking powder
    - 2 C white whole wheat flour
    - 3 1/2 C oats
    - 1 package chocolate chips

    Mix butter and sugars. Add eggs & vanilla - mix. Add soda, powder and salt - mix. Add flour and oats - mix. Add chocolate chips and, you guessed it, mix. Bake at 325 degrees for appx 15 minutes (pull them out a LITTLE before you think they’re supposed to come out).

    PS - I apologize for the indiscriminate use of the word “awesome” in this post. I plan to use a thesaurus next time, or maybe just write when I’m not so sleepy. ;)

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 10:47 pm   10 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Recipes, The Goods

  11. Wednesday, October 15

    Featured Recipe: Whole Wheat Pancakes

    I’m trying to cut white flour as much as possible (more on that tomorrow!). Normally when I make wheat pancakes, I do half white flour, half wheat flour. This time I took the dive and went ALL wheat flour. I looked through my recipes, found one I thought might work…and it worked GREAT!

    I thought using all whole wheat flour would make the pancakes heavy, but with this recipe they were fluffy…and delicious! Without further ado, the recipe!

    Whole Wheat Pancakes
    Adapted from “The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook” (a MUST-HAVE for your kitchen library, by the way!)
    - 2 cups whole wheat flour
    - 2 TBSP. sugar (I think honey would be a great alternative…I’m going to try that next time)
    - 2 tsp. baking powder
    - 1/2 tsp. baking soda
    - 1/2 tsp. salt
    - 1 large egg
    - 3 TBSP. butter melted
    - 2 C buttermilk (or 2 C regular milk with 1 T lemon juice added, let sit for a few minutes)

    Whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and butter, then buttermilk. Make a well in dry ingredients, add wet into well, whisk very gently until incorporated (a few lumps should remain). Don’t overmix.

    Cook pancakes over medium heat. Flip when bubbles start to appear. My batter was VERY thick, so I had to sort of “spread” the pancake a bit when I put the batter in the pan…and the little bubbles never popped by the time it was time to flip the pancakes, but I could see them forming when it was time to flip. (I wouldn’t thin out the batter with milk because I don’t think they’ll come out as fluffy.)

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 2:13 pm   7 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Healthy Eats, Recipes

  12. Friday, October 10

    Simple Side Dishes: Spinach Salad a la Lindsay

    I’ve decided to start a new category here at This Week for Dinner - Simple Side Dishes. I don’t always put much thought into side dishes, and I would guess that I’m not alone.  Sometimes all it takes is for someone to remind me of a side or point out an easy way to prepare a vegetable and I’m good to go.  So, whenever I discover or re-discover a simple (e.g. fast, minimal ingredients, easy prep) side, I’ll be sure to share it with you!

    How about a nice salad today?

    Spinach Salad a la Lindsay
    From Lindsay Rutman
    - Spinach
    - Candied pecans (yes, candy-ing them is pretty easy, but to keep it really simple, jut buy them!)
    - Feta cheese
    - Strawberries, sliced
    - Poppyseed Dressing (or Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette)

    Mix together!

    Poppyseed Dressing
    From Lindsay Rutman
    Feel free to just buy poppyseed dressing (Brianna’s is AWESOME, by the way)…but if you WANT to make your own, this is some dang good dressing
    - 3/4 T. poppy seeds
    - 1/3 c. vinegar
    - 1/3 c. sugar
    - 3/4 c. vegetable oil
    - 3/4 T. grated red onion
    - 3/4 t. salt
    - 1/3 t. dry mustard

    Mix all the ingredients, and preferably let it sit a few hours before serving so the flavors can combine.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 4:23 pm   3 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Lindsay Claus, Recipes, Simple Side Dishes, The Goods

  13. Thursday, October 2

    Featured Recipe: Curried Squash & Chicken Soup

    I’ve been a real slacker cook lately.  I mean, it WAS my birthday after all. But I’m back in the kitchen and, as per Nate’s request, I’ve been trying new recipes more often lately.  The latest experiment - Curried Squash and Chicken Soup, a recipe from my good friend Natalee.

    It was quite yummy and healthy to boot.  And SO EASY.  The only trick is finding the curry paste, which is usually at Asian markets.  But seriously, even on a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, this soup added no extra stress whatsoever.

    A few quick notes. Nate commented it would be good on rice if it was a little thicker.  I may try that - I’ll either cut the water or add a little cornstarch at the end.

    And, believe it or not, I have lemongrass growing in my flower garden!  So, I threw a few whole blades of grass into the crockpot and pulled them before serving.  It gave the soup such a great, fresh flavor!

    Without further ado, the recipe!

    CURRIED SQUASH & CHICKEN SOUP

    From Natalee Maynes
    Serves 2-3

    1 10-ounce package frozen pureed winter squash
    1/2 cup coconut milk
    1/2 cup water
    8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced (can be added to soup raw) (Jane note: I just threw big hunks of raw chicken in that I cut with kitchen scissors, then broke it up with a fork at the end)
    1 6-ounce bag baby spinach (Jane note - I would chop up the spinach a bit before throwing it in for better texture in the soup)
    2 kaffir lime leaves (or 2 T lime juice)
    2 teaspoons brown sugar
    1/2-1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
    1/4 teaspoon salt

    Natalee’s favorite way to do this is in the crockpot because it allows all of the yummy Thai flavors to come out. Just throw it all in and cook on high for two or three hours–yummy! A great addition to this (but tricky to find anywhere except an Asian market) is LEMONGRASS!!! It is divine and makes it even that much better.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 4:16 pm   9 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Healthy Eats, Recipes

  14. Tuesday, September 30

    Heavenly Lunch

    My friend Melissa invited the girls and me over for lunch last Friday. It was wonderful! The table was set beautifully and the food, oh the food. I suppose pretty much anything is a step above my usual PB & honey sandwich. But this lunch was probably a million steps above that. It was a real treat. Cate gobbled up the salad. That’s really saying something when a 3-year-old will eat SALAD.

    Melissa was kind enough to share the recipes with me. Enjoy!

    CRANBERRY SALSA
    From Melissa Esplin
    makes about 3 cups
    - 12 ounce package cranberries (fresh or frozen)
    - 1/2 cup sugar
    - 1 medium jalapeño
    - 1 bunch green onions
    - 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro
    - 1/4 teaspoon cumin
    - 1/4 teaspoon ginger
    - juice and zest of a lemon
    Blend in food processor and chill for a couple of hours to allow flavors to marinade. For a twist, serve salsa over cream cheese and top with fresh cilantro.
    BOOKCLUB CHICKEN SALAD
    From “Favorites” by Grace Ivory Rock & Jane Ivory Metcalf
    - 6-8 chicken breasts
    - 8 ounces slivered almonds
    - 4 tablespoons sugar
    - 2 bags European blend salad mix
    - 1 head iceberg lettuce, torn into pieces
    - 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
    - 1 cup raisins or craisins
    - 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese (or Feta and/or Apricot Stilton)
    Cook chicken breasts for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (or in the microwave on high 4-6 mins, or until done). Cool and cut into small pieces. In a small skillet sprinkle sugar over almonds and cook over medium heat until almonds are coated and sugar has dissolved. Cool.
    Mix all ingredients together and top with sweet red onion dressing.
    Sweet Red Onion Dressing
    makes about 1 quart
    - 1/2 red onion, or less if onion is large
    - 2 cups sugar
    - 4 teaspoons dry mustard
    - 1 teaspoon salt
    - 1 cup red wine vinegar
    - 2 cups vegetable oil
    Finely chop red onion in food processor (or blender). Add sugar, dry mustard, salt and vinegar and blend until frothy. Slowly add oil. Toss with salad.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:49 am   6 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Recipes

  15. Tuesday, September 23

    Crispy Garlic Potatoes

    I am SO loving my subscription to Everyday Food. It’s the BEST.


    I made these Crispy Garlic Potatoes from the September issue. They were simple and fantastic. Just wanted to share the recipe with you!

    A few notes…I used a little more than 1 Tbsp of oil and I put my garlic through a press instead of mushing it with a knife. Oh, and the thinner the potato slice, the yummier they were.

    Posted by Jane Maynard at 10:00 am   9 Comments
    Categories: Featured Recipes, Recipes, Simple Side Dishes

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