Apparently chaos is my new Christmas tradition. Last year, I was due with Baby Ice on December 28th – though he granted my holiday wish and waited until after the New Year to arrive. This year, I’ve decided to up the ante and bookend the holidays with a move and the launch of a new[…]
Christmas Dinner Recipe Ideas
Over the years I have experimented with an inordinate number of Christmas dinner recipe ideas. Past favorites have included Turkey with all the trimmings and Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding, but the all-time winner in our house is my Herb and Honey Marinated Filet of Beef. After the economy crashed in September of ’08, which[…]
Red-Wine-Braised Brisket with Dried Fruit
Red-Wine-Braised Brisket with Dried Fruit Serves 10 Ingredients: 2 cups robust red wine (I use Cabernet) – stock 5-6 lb. beef brisket (aka bottom round roast or pot roast) – $40.00 Paprika, kosher salt & pepper – stock 3 large onions (about 2 cups), chopped coarsely – $1.49 2 bay leaves – stock 3 sprigs[…]
Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Makes 12 Ingredients for Muffins: 1½ cups old fashioned rolled oats – stock 1¼ cups whole wheat flour – stock ½-cup packed light brown sugar – stock 1 teaspoon baking powder – stock ¾-teaspoon baking soda – stock ¾-teaspoon ground cinnamon – stock ½-teaspoon salt – stock 2 Tablespoons[…]
Shredded Chicken & Figs with Marcona Almonds and Thyme
Shredded Braised Chicken & Figs with Marcona Almonds & Thyme Serves 6 Adapted from Food & Wine Ingredients: 2 teaspoons canola oil – stock 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can also use skin-on/bone-in, just discard bones & skin after cooking/before shredding) – $5.00 Salt & pepper – stock 1 large carrot, chopped –[…]
Hot Crab Dip with Old Bay Seasoning
Hot Crab Dip with Old Bay Seasoning Serves 10 Ingredients: 8 oz. whipped cream cheese, softened – $2.19 3 scallions (about ¼ cup), chopped fine – $0.99 ½ of a red bell pepper (2/3 cup) , chopped – $1.07 a heaping ½ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese – $1.09 ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese –[…]
Soft & Chewy Gingersnap Cookies
Thin & Chewy Gingersnap Cookies Makes about 20 Cookies Originally adapted from Wives With Knives Ingredients: 2¼ cups all-purpose flour – stock 2 teaspoons baking soda – stock ¼-teaspoon salt – stock 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon – stock 1 heaping teaspoon ground ginger – stock 1 teaspoon ground cloves – stock 1½ sticks of unsalted[…]
A Christmas Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake Serves 8 Ingredients: Dough: 1 package (2 ¼ tsp) active dry yeast – $1.99 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 cup lukewarm milk – stock 1/3 cup sugar – stock 1/3 cup butter, softened – stock 1 teaspoon salt – stock 1 egg – stock 3 ½ -4 cups flour – stock[…]
White Chocolate & Salted Cashew Cookies
White Chocolate and Salted Cashew Cookies Gently adapted from Allrecipes.com Makes 3 dozen Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour – stock 1 teaspoon baking soda – stock ¼ teaspoon salt – stock ¾ cup butter, softened – stock ½-cup and 1 Tablespoon packed light brown sugar – stock ¼-cup and 2 Tablespoons white sugar – stock[…]
Cranberry-Almond Coffee Cake
Christmas Cranberry-Almond Crumble Coffee Cake Serves 12 Note: This cake doesn’t just have to be for a holiday breakfast. We think it would be a gorgeous addition to the sweets tray at an afternoon tea party. And if you plan to prepare it for a holiday meal, it can be frozen ahead of time. Simply[…]
Leek and Apple Soup with St Andre and Sweet Potato
Mary Anne here. We really are cooking in these parts, although you’d never know it by the pitifully few posts making it to our beloved blog. It seems that I’m long on inspiration but short on time when it comes to formally writing my latest creations. Hurricanes and snow storms only serve to slow my[…]
Sun-Dried Tomato Caprese with Smoked Mozzarella
Sun-Dried Tomato Caprese with Smoked Mozzarella Tip: You can prepare this up to 2 days before. Bring the tomato mixture back to room temperature before serving. Store the toasted baguette rounds in a sealed plastic container. Serves 10 Ingredients: 4 ozs. sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil – $2.49 2 cloves garlic, minced – stock 1[…]
Crispy Kale Chips
Mary Anne here. This fall, I spent a glorious eight hours up north in horse country with my favorite girl, Mariel. I just love those quiet, mom-daughter days. On this particular adventure, we stopped for coffee on the way and, while sipping from our paper cups, we perused the goodies at a local farm stand.[…]
Lacy Florentine Cookies with Almonds and Chocolate
Mariel here. With Santa arriving in less than a week, it seemed only logical to post a cookie for this month’s Secret Recipe Club. I took a stroll on over to My Danish Cooking, which chronicle’s Gitte’s endeavors to keep her Danish traditions alive while living with her husband and grown son in the US.[…]
Old-Fashioned Hermit Cookies
Mary Anne here. Hermit cookies are hands-down my ex-husband’s favorite treat. Tim is very conscientious about his diet, but when it comes to eating these chewy gems, all thoughts of eschewing sugar are cast aside. When a certain baking company stopped mass-producing the bars a few years back, I swear he was bereft. He needn’t[…]
Chocolate, Walnut & Coconut Pie Bars
Mary Anne here. Sadly, the Thanksgiving family feast is over and the holiday bustle is officially in full swing. Between Black Friday, which now apparently launches during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (gasp!), to Cyber Monday we are inundated with pressure to buy, buy, buy! Not so fast. I’m still glowing from our unequaled Turkey Day[…]
Glazed Carrots with Ginger and Fresh Orange Juice
Mary Anne here. Mariel is right – when it comes to our Thanksgiving feast, it’s all about the side dishes. I have to admit, I’ve gotten into a bit of a rut in terms of trying out new veggies, but who wants to mess with success and risk disappointing the “kids” on such an important[…]
Gingersnap Cheesecake
Mariel here. The women in my family are queens of the cheesecake. If you haven’t already given my grandmother’s versions a spin – both the chocolate and the regular – you better hop to. My mom has become a cheesecake pro in her own right and regularly dishes up these treats for her nearest and[…]
Popovers aka Yorkshire Pudding
Mary Anne here. So here at last is my final installment to our Sunday dinner of Roast Beef and Horseradish Cream with Haricots Vert and Roasted Shallots. One Christmas, when I was still the proud mother of two (number three was my post-New year’s surprise!), we hosted a lovely family from London for the holidays.[…]
Haricots Verts with Roasted Shallots
Mary Anne here. As promised, here’s my second installment to a Rittenhouse “Sunday Dinner.” When my eldest son and I went shopping for our Roast Beef, the produce market was touting thin Haricots Verts for a mere $1.99/pound. Usually when I want to treat myself to this crisp cousin of the fatter green bean, they[…]