Cooking On the Side

Cheers to the New Year!

December 31, 2012

Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year! If you can get your hands on some edible hibiscus flowers in rose syrup before the clock strikes midnight tonight, may I recommend dropping one in the bottom of your champagne glass for a Champagne Hibiscus Cocktail. The flower “blooms” as you pour in the bubbly, [...]

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Gingerbread House — Part 2

December 20, 2012

So here it is…the Gingerbread House I was working on in my last post. These things are truly a labor of love! While I don’t expect Martha Stewart’s people will be calling me anytime soon to build any for them, I’m still proud to have completed it. Better yet, my kids had a fun time [...]

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Gingerbread House — Part 1

December 18, 2012

Nearly 6 pounds of sticky, spicy, molasses-laden dough…it seemed like an awful lot when I first embarked on my Gingerbread House project last week. It still seemed like an awful lot 4 days later when I finally completed my edible dwelling, affixing the final gumdrop with royal icing. This one definitely warrants two posts. Ho-ly [...]

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There Is Still Good in This World

December 16, 2012

Broken pieces. I didn’t realize it until I just looked at these photos now, but the images are kind of fitting for how many of us feel right now. I don’t want this to be a sad or depressing post – Lord knows we’ve had enough of those feelings over the past few days – [...]

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Holiday Spritz Cookies

December 12, 2012

I have clear memories of my mom baking Spritz Cookies when my sisters and I were little. We’d help with the sprinkles, which I always thought was the best part of the process until I finally tried my hand at squirting out dough through the press last week. Now that’s fun! If you’re not familiar [...]

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Panettone Bread Pudding

December 4, 2012

I’m not sure what made me believe this Panettone Bread Pudding qualified as breakfast this past weekend, as I fired up the oven to bake it at 7:45 AM. Maybe it was that it used slices of bread (well, cake really) rather than chunks so it seemed more like baked French toast. Perhaps because I [...]

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Gingered Orange Cranberry Sauce…plus more Thanksgiving (On-The-)Sides

November 19, 2012

I tend to be a purist when it comes to Thanksgiving side dishes – I need to have all the standards like stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and nothing too newfangled or off-the-wall. That said, I do enjoy a flavor tweak or two every year, such as with the Gingered Orange [...]

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Glazed Brussels Sprouts

November 11, 2012

Believe it or not, I was a kid who actually liked Brussels sprouts. I really didn’t mind the leafy green mini-cabbage-looking-things at all. They were kind of neat and different. These days, I kind of love them. A whole lot of flavor can fill those leafy layers…such as the ginger, honey and bacon that simmer [...]

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Mint Chip Cookies…and Blogging for Happiness

October 16, 2012

I know we’re just coming off of a major cookie blitz with the last post and, yes, there are a million and one things on my to-do list that I probably need to take care of before posting another cookie recipe. But the thing is – I want to post these Mint Chip Cookies. You might even [...]

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Top 10 On-the-Side Cookie Recipes

October 10, 2012

Maybe it’s because I happen to love cookies, but I have found more terrific cookie recipes printed on the side of food packages than any other type of recipe. My very first post on this blog featured a cookie recipe (the classic Toll House chocolate chip recipe) – since then I’ve posted almost 20 more [...]