Turkey and Chickpea Stew

It’s Seriously Soup day today, featuring one of my favorite bloggers, Serena, who authors a blog called Seriously Soupy.  Serena started Seriously Soupy as a creative outlet for herself after her first daughter was born, which combined her passion for cooking with an interest in learning more about soups and soup making.  Since it started, she has given soup tours and taught soup classes and has a catalog of over 100 soups on the site!  You can join Serena on her Soupy journey at SeriouslySoupy.com and twice a month you can find her here, at My … [Read more...]

Superbowl: Slow Cooked Pulled BBQ Chicken

Hosting a Super Bowl viewing party should be easy. They’re unpretentious, casual parties where  (it might be the only time) you can serve a bevy of not so healthy appetizers--from Buffalo wings to cheese balls--relatively guilt-free. This party isn’t about cooking up the latest culinary trends on your best china. Rather, it’s a night overflowing with plain and simple portable dishes since it’s assumed that the television (not the food) is the focal point of the evening.Cooking a dish in a slow cooker for your Super Bowl party is wise way to … [Read more...]

Honey Bran Bread

I'm on a bread roll since baking the Cinnamon Raisin Bread this past weekend.  I was looking for one of Mom's recipes that could utilize some of the honey we have piled up in our cabinet. We love honey in my household and  it definitely helps that these products have been used and endorsed by two of the world's most popular chefs:  Bobby Flay and Tom Colicchio. Tom has said the honey is one of his "personal pantry essentials" and "favorite gifts." He also admits he keeps a "jar of the stuff at my desk at all times."   Mom's Honey Bran Bread … [Read more...]

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

It’s the Secret Recipe Club reveal day today.  I was assigned the blog Lynsey Lou’s, written by twenty-something Lynsey who’s recently married and uses her blog to explore and share recipes for her husband.  Her blog represents a wide variety of foods from simple cakes and meat dishes to other recipes  categorized as “ for daring bakers.” While many of Lynsey's recipes are tempting, I decided to take a crack at her  Cinnamon Raisin Bread.  Actually, for me, it was a huge challenge to attempt to make bread (that has to rise twice) in my own … [Read more...]