Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes, so when I saw a recipe for a mashed version full of butter and maple syrup I was all ears

Easy Cranberry Sauce

Growing up, my husband’s and my families both always served the jellied cranberry sauce with turkey. And interestingly enough, we have very different interpretations of this holiday side dish. He loves the stuff. It’s sweet, jellied, and slices lovely. It’s like jellied cranberry goodness from a can.

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Last month my husband and I had a nice dinner at Sullivan’ in Seattle. His entire three course meal was gluten-free and delicious, including his horseradish mashed potatoes.

Honestly, when he chose the potatoes off the menu I cringed a little. Horseradish is great, but it’s like garlic to me, people get so carried away that the flavor often overpowers the entire dish. Well, at Sullivan’s they didn’t do that, the potatoes tasted great and I knew I had to figure out how to recreate this dish at home (especially being that I live almost 200 miles away).

Red Potato Salad

I already have a wonderful Bacon Potato Salad posted, and you might be asking yourself how many potato salad recipes does one person need? I’ve asked myself the same question, and I have yet to come up with an answer.

Baked Beans

I have a favorite baked bean style recipe that I have been cooking for years. However, it requires bbq sauce and canned pork & beans, which I don’t typically keep on hand.

Yesterday, my daughter was in the kitchen with me and wanted to help me cook dinner, so we quickly found a recipe we could modify and make work with the ingredients we had in the cupboard. I gave my 5 year old the job of making the sauce and helping pour and stir it over the beans before baking.

Cranberry Relish

I am posting this recipe with full knowledge that most people will simply purchase a can of cranberry sauce when they need it. Especially this time of year, when you are likely to score a sale brand for under a dollar.

However, making homemade cranberry sauce is super easy and tastes much fresher than the canned variety. You can also jazz it up a bit, adding dried fruits, nuts, citrus peel, etc to make a sauce much more extraordinary than anything you can find on the store shelves. And if you live someplace (like here in Oregon) where there are cranberry bogs, you can support those local farmers and get some fresh cranberries for a bargain.

Heirloom Tomato Salsa

You know how some kids have faces only a mother could love? Or at least that is the expression. Well, heirloom tomatoes are the produce only a cook could love.

Their ugly, wrinkly, and multicolored, but I just love them! They are interesting and colorful and are bursting with flavor this time of year.

Perhaps salsa is not the best use of these expensive tomatoes, but what can I say, I am a girl that loves a homemade salsa. So these beautiful tomatoes met their fate in the food processor today.

Baked Zucchini Sticks

Plant a zucchini, feed a neighborhood. If you garden or have neighbors that do, chances are you have some zucchini waiting to be used. I know a lot of people dislike zucchini, but I actually like it and have no problem coming up with ways to use it.

Even if you don’t care for it, chances are there are two ways you’ll eat it: zucchini bread and fried zucchini sticks. Maybe. No? Come on, who doesn’t like a quickbread. And anything fried is better right? With enough cripsy, crunchy coating and red sauce it’s not so bad. You know it’s true.

Well, fried zucchini might get your family to eat their veggies, but it’s messy and not exactly the recommended way to get your 5 a day. I came across a baked zucchini recipe from King Arthur Flour. Of course, with panko crumbs, it was full of gluten.

Roasted Vegetables with Feta

Earlier this week I saw some beautiful organic zucchini on sale, I bought it without a plan on how to use.

Ultimately I decided to roughly chop it, add some other veggies, toss it with olive oil, and roast it until nicely browned…and then (here comes the good part) I sprinkled on some feta cheese and baked a few more minutes until the cheese was slightly browned and melted.

Lime Tortilla Chips

Tortilla chips are a favorite at my house. They are great for chips and salsa, a topping for taco salad, or a as a side with a taco soup or chili.

So when I read how to make Lime Tortilla Chips I had to give it a try.