Recipes for Leftover Turkey

Unless you had extremely hungry guests or you bought a smaller bird than usual, then you likely have a refrigerator full of leftover turkey this morning. Forget about making cold turkey sandwiches; rather, consider using your extra bird in the following hot dishes that are sure to brighten up any guest on this Black Friday. Both recipes are easy to prepare, kid-friendly, and extremely affordable. TURKEY PRIMAVERA Ingredients: 2 cups fresh broccoli florets 1 cup sliced carrots 2 tablespoons water 6-ounces Turkey breast 1 cup pre-made Alfredo sauce 1 package (9 oz.) fettuccine, cooked 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese Directions: … Continue reading →

Last-Minute Turkey Tips

The folks at Butterball are working overtime right now answering questions from turkey cookers from coast-to-coast. Whether you are preparing the holiday bird for the first time or the 100th time, it’s nice to have a guide to ensure you are on the right track. Here are some tips to get you through Thanksgiving… and beyond: FROZEN TURKEY If you haven’t moved your turkey from the freezer to the fridge by now, you’re asking for trouble. In order for your bird to be oven ready by tomorrow you need to submerge it in cold water (in its plastic wrapping) immediately. … Continue reading →

Classic Sunday Night Dinners

With Thanksgiving right around the corner most of us are preoccupied with turkey, turkey and more turkey. Unfortunately, most of us home cooks still have to get dinner on the table for our families in the nights leading up to Turkey Day. Our family has a long-standing tradition of gathering for a hearty sit-down meal on Sunday nights. It consists of recipes that are more involved than you would see at a typical quick and easy weeknight meal. Sundays, especially this time of year, are a great time to create warm and inviting dishes for the whole family to enjoy. … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving Recipes: Soda Pop Turkey

Coke is it when it comes to sweetening your bird this Thanksgiving. Sprite will work too, if you follow the recipe below. A week from today most of us will be gorging ourselves on turkey and all the fixings, but before we gather around the dining room table someone has to cook the Thanksgiving bird. If you are reading this blog, that “someone” is probably you. Of course, not everyone will be creating a Thanksgiving feast for dozens of extended family members. Some clans celebrate the holiday with an intimate gathering of just a few very close loved ones. In … Continue reading →

Recipes for a Simple Saturday Night Dinner

This three-course meal is elegant enough to serve to weekend guests, yet simple enough so that you won’t be slaving away in the kitchen all night. If you aren’t entertaining this weekend, then consider treating your family to this delicious fall meal. Kick off your night with some Raspberry Brie Tarts. They are extremely easy to prepare thanks to pre-made pastry shells. The main entree features fettuccine and shrimp with a lemony twist. Finally, top off your Saturday night with chocolate, coconut, and pecans in a sumptuous 7-Layer dessert. RASPBERRY BRIE TARTS Ingredients: 2 (2.1) ounce packages of frozen mini … Continue reading →

Sweet Autumn Recipes

Two of the three farms we visited this fall sold honey fresh from the hive. In fact, both farms had several glass cases on display so patrons could watch thousands of busy bees fill hive cells with fresh honey. It was fascinating, and naturally, a great marketing tactic to get us city folk to purchase a few jars of honey on the way out. Of course, it was only after I got into the car that I realized that I don’t really use honey all that much (occasionally on fresh biscuits and in tea, but not often in main dishes). … Continue reading →

Bringing Home the Bacon

If you not only bring home the bacon, but also are responsible for cooking it up, then you might find the following recipes quite helpful. One Christmas my dad was gifted with 15 pounds of fresh bacon as a thank you from a guy he helped at the office. For weeks we ate bacon for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Once the pig product was gone I took a break from bacon… for about 12 years. I’m not kidding. I swore off bacon until well after I graduated from college. To this day I rarely, if ever, eat bacon. However, that … Continue reading →

Autumn Recipes: N is for Noodles

I grew up in Hawaii where the only apples we picked were pineapples. I’m kidding. In all seriousness, I never had the pleasure of spending brisk fall days picking apples from actual trees until I moved to Wisconsin for college. If I hadn’t attended college in the Midwest I would have never met my college sweetheart and thus never obtained his mother’s recipe for Apple Noodle Casserole. Had you asked me 20 years ago if I would have ever considered combining apples with noodles I would have probably made a face similar to the one my 4-year-old displays when I … Continue reading →

Autumn Recipes: L is for Lamb

It took me until my freshman year in college to experiment with lamb recipes. My parents were not big lamb eaters and therefore I didn’t have the opportunity to sample many lamb dishes growing up. Now I know how incredibly sumptuous a moist and tender, warm lamb shank can be on a cool autumn evening. When you are shopping for lamb you want to look for a cut that is pink to light red in color and not dull or slimy looking. The fat should be white and waxy looking and the bones should be reddish in color and moist. … Continue reading →

Autumn Recipes: H is for Ham

Ham and bananas… they are among my preschooler’s favorite foods, regardless of the season. However, I would have never dreamed of pairing the two in a casserole. That is, until I saw Food Network chef Paula Deen do so with her usual aplomb on TV a few months ago. I swear that woman can make dirt look good enough to eat. Deen’s Cheesy Ham and Banana Casserole is a hit in my home (mainly due to the crushed potato chips that dot it) and is the prefect dish to pass at a fall potluck. It also makes for a wonderfully … Continue reading →