Chocolate Easter bunnies are a tough call. They look cute peeking out over the edge of an Easter basket, but they aren't always made with the best chocolate and sometimes they are full of creme, caramel or marshmallow fluff. Which one to buy?
The editors over at AOL Food have devised a way to help you out of your bunny conundrum. They've lopped the ears off of dozens of chocolate bunnies (which all cost $10 or less), searching for the best and worst of the confectionary menagerie. Head over to their slideshow to see more!
If all of Jonathan's excellent step-by-step instructions weren't enough to convince you that you too can cook up corned beef at home, then watch this episode of Fork You from last year so that we can walk you through the steps in live action. As an added bonus, the episode also includes a recipe for Irish Soda Bread (which was excellent but it doesn't keep well, so plan on only making the amount that you and your brunch/dinner guests can eat in sitting).
There are a lot of holiday's happening this month. One of the things that can connect them all is bread. It sure does seem like a universal food.
If your holiday has a special bread, or if you're using bread to celebrate a holiday in any way, you might want to share with everyone else. The folks over at Wild Yeast are hosting a blog event this month celebrating holiday breads.
I realize that it is now January 3rd, which might be too late to be writing about all those lucky New Year foods. However, I've really been enjoying reading about all the things that people prepared for themselves to ensure an auspicious New Year and thought I might share a couple that I particularly liked with you all.
The video you see above is from Chris and Michelle, who decided to make pork chops and sauerkraut to commemorate their New Year (an Italian tradition). They also made some delicious-looking mashed potatoes and homemade applesauce (I love it when people make their own applesauce, as it is just so easy and so much better than the stuff that comes out of the jar). The sauerkraut song that they used as background music is also totally infectious.
Over at the Perfect Pantry, Lydia posted a recipe from Arlo, one of her readers, for Boullets, which is a New Year's meatball soup, traditional to Arlo's Cree and Metis roots. It consists of a large pot of meatballs (the size depends entirely on you) in a broth. The post explains that there is no definitive recipe for this dish, that it changes depending on who is making it. It was always made in large quantities for the New Year, so that every visitor who stopped by could be welcomed and fed.
We've fallen a little behind on our cookie of the day posting, mostly because we thought that you might all be a little overwhelmed by the avalanche of sweets and treats that have a way of filling our homes around the holiday season. It's taking all my willpower right now not to go and cut a slice off the chocolate and caramel covered apple that is currently hanging out in the fridge.
If you aren't totally tired of cookies, I came across a recipe a couple of days ago and spoke to me. I haven't tried it out myself yet, but it's from Julie at Noshtalgia and her recipes tend to be pretty darn reliable. It's for Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies, a style of cookie that is good any time of year, not just around the holidays.
I realize that it's the day after Christmas and probably not the best time to talk about what your holiday breakfast traditions are, but it's on my mind and so I'm writing about it. You see, in my family, it isn't Christmas morning without bacon. In our house it's turkey bacon because my mom Jewish, didn't grow up eating pork and still can't bring herself to do so to this day. But still, we must have that bacon, along with sunny side up eggs (whites cooked, yolks runny). Along with that there is typically a bread product (this year it was toasted panettone, last year we made these scones).
Last week there was an article in the Oregonian food section about another family's tradition of having aebleskivers on Christmas morning (I have never had the opportunity to try those little round pancakes and am hoping to get my hands on a pan in which to make them in the near future).
What are your holiday breakfast traditions? Did you stay true to those traditions yesterday, or did you branch out and try something new?
For most of the years of my life, my family has eaten string beans as the main vegetable for Christmas dinner. We don't do the traditional green bean casserole, instead choosing to steam them and dress them with butter, toasted almonds, salt and a little roasted garlic. They are so good and my sister, mother and I often fight over the leftovers the next day.
However, this year we're planning on deviated from our tradition in order to have a huge bowl of these Brussels Sprouts instead. Sadly, according to our friends over at Green Daily, Brussels Sprouts are not a particularly green choice for the holiday table. Apparently the seem to have the ability to cause some people to have a bit of gas after they eat them. If you multiply that gas over the millions of people who eat sprouts for Christmas dinner, it can have something of an effect on the green house effect. Luckily, for those of us who don't want to give up our sprouts, we can follow these simple cooking tips in order to reduce their gassy effects.
We've been baking cookies like crazy around these parts, all December long. I'm giving my rolling pin and baking sheets a break today and dipping into the archives to bring you some cookies from our archives.
Looking for a recipe that will look gorgeous on your buffet? These Cranberry-Cherry Icebox Ribbons are alternating stripes of red and white and are awfully nice to look at and will be tasty to boot.
I am constantly in awe of my friend Jennie's (she of Straight from the Farm fame) level of food creativity. She is constantly coming up with delicious new recipes, doing things like making cheese (people keep telling me that cheesemaking is easy, but I've yet to give a whirl) and making cranberries dance and sing (well, not literally). But I do believe that she has outdone herself this time with these jars of homemade dulce de leche. It actually appears to be pretty easy to make and if you're looking for a last-minute homemade holiday gift, this might be your answer.
Christmas is rapidly approaching, but there is still a day or so left to get a package in the mail to your friends and family (although you may have to second-day air it). If you've made a batch of cookies or fudge to send to a loved one and you haven't gotten it in the mail yet because you are uncertain how best to send it, then Nicole over at Baking Bites has some good tips for you.
She has put together a list of advice about how to ship, what foods work best shipped and some recommendations on how to pack your goodies so that they arrive at their location still tasting good and in one piece. So check out her info and get your treats into the mail! Your family and friends will thank you for it!
Here's another recipe from that 1984 Woman's Day Holiday Cookie pull out. They are a Dutch bar cookie served around the holidays and are fairly easy to pull together. I think they are my favorite of all the cookies I've baked so far this season as they come out light, crispy and buttery.
The only tricky thing is spreading the sticky batter out onto a cookie sheet. The way I did it was by lining a 10 x 15 x 1 cookie sheet with parchment paper (making sure that there's overlap on all sides) and plopping the batter in the middle. When the spatula I was using failed to be an effective spreader, I got out a sheet of waxed paper, lay it on top of the batter and then scooted the batter out to the edges. It worked really well and I was glad I did it, because the batter didn't really spread out much during baking.
Here's a list of gifts for the Fashionable Foodie that our very own Sarah J. Gim has put together. She has scoured the internet in order to find tasty treats, table accessories and a home appliance or two that would all make good gifts if you've got a high fashion food lover on your list.
Starting at the top of the list, we have the Pink Handbag Cake from Dean and Deluca. It's pretty enough that your first inclination might be to tuck it under your arm, however it's true purpose is to be devoured. Tasty!
The String of Pearls Trivet looks like a larger version of your grandmother's pearls, but with a decidedly different purpose. You can twist them into a doubled coil for smaller pots or leave it one strand for larger ones. You can also make a figure 8 out of it, giving you enough space for a baking dish or two smaller serving bowls.
The first year that my parents were married, my grandmother (my mom's mother-in-law) gave her a stack of cookbooks. She was a little insulted at the time, but came around quickly, learning to depend on the Joy of Cooking that was the centerpiece of the gift. From that time on, my mom has been convinced that cookbooks make good holidays gifts and often turns to them (or picture frames for some reason) when she isn't quite sure what to get someone. Personally, I always love getting a new cookbook, so I've never had a problem with this.
If the person on your list doesn't already have it, the Joy of Cooking makes a great gift because it is versatile and can answer just about any cooking question you throw at it. Although I love my 1970's version dearly, I'm really starting to be swayed by the latest edition.
The original Moosewood Cookbook is great for the folks who need frugal, healthy recipes. It's the book I turn to most often for soup inspiration.
If you've got new vegetarians on your holiday list, consider getting them a copy of The New Laurel's Kitchen. It is my resource for cooking with grains and beans and it has never let me down in that department.
When I was a kid, my dad had a music production and distribution company. One of his business partners was a woman named Eleanor and every year she would have a holiday cookie baking and decorating party. My sister and I would go over to her house some Saturday afternoon in early December and join Eleanor's kids around her dining room table, rolling, cutting and decorating our weight in cookies (we also ate quite a few).
It's been nearly twenty years since I made cookies with them, but I still have fond memories of those Saturday afternoons in early December. I also have very fond feelings towards this recipe, because it is tasty and fool-proof. Like the gingerbread recipe I posted yesterday, this dough keeps in the fridge for up to a week, so you can mix up a big batch and bake them off through the holidays. This is also another one that you can either decorate prior to baking or frost with a simple powdered sugar frosting after they've baked (which is what I did in the picture above).
Last Christmas I went a little crazy with gingerbread cookies. I made hundreds of gingerbread men, women, stars, bells and other cut-out shapes. I spend hours rolling, cutting, transferring, baking, cooling and frosting. You don't have to go so crazy with your cookies, although when you try this recipe, you might just be similarly inspired. The great thing about this dough is that you can keep it in the fridge for several days, so you don't have roll and cut it all in a single afternoon. This is also a terrific recipe if you have kids or want to have a cookie party.
For the frosting, I tend to just mix up powdered sugar, a drop of vanilla and some water into a semi-viscous state and dip the tops of the cookies straight into the frosting. They end up looking really pretty and are so delicious! Just remember that if you frost them that way you need to wait until they are totally dry before stacking them or your perfect cookies will adhere together into solid stacks. Which can be a bit disappointing (I speak from experience here).
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
There are a lot of holiday's happening this month. One of the things that can connect them all is 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
