All Recipes

Super Immunity Soup

Super Immunity Soup starts with a good bone broth or chicken stock that is steeped with ginger root, lemongrass, and garlic. These three ingredients are packed with healing qualities, antioxidants, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties to speed the recovery from colds and flu. Then Ramen noodles are added to this healthful broth, along with fresh ingredients like bean sprouts, cilantro, sliced radishes, jalapeno and a slice of lime. It all comes together in a fulfilling and nurturing bowl that is both satisfying and delicious.

…

Grilled Steak Poutine in serving platter

Poutine is the ingenious combination of french fries and cheese curds covered in gravy. I actually had not realized this was the name of a dish until I toured Ontario and the upper Great Lakes. It was invented in Quebec, various forms of it found its way into the states, and the rest is history. It took the Canadians to bring those three things together and adding things like bacon, pulled pork or grilled steak has taken it to a whole new level.

…

Sometimes quiche is the perfect supper. It is almost always the perfect lunch, and better yet the perfect brunch. Asparagus and Tomato Quiche is an answer for any meal. Serve it with a lemony salad and you have yourself an elegant and satisfying meal. Add a glass of wine and now you are just plain classy.

…

This is a fabulous way to make amazing extra crispy fried chicken wings. It takes advantage of the classic Southern-fried method using buttermilk.

This recipe is brilliant, really. The buttermilk does all the heavy lifting by creating a thick coating without the use of eggs. The seasoned flour adheres in clumps to create the crisp and crunchy coating. Ultimately these wings are the extra crispy version of fried chicken with a tangy, crispy outer coating that leaves the meat tender and juicy inside. The ingredients are simple and the wings are quick to prepare.

…

The first time I had this version of Napa Cabbage Salad was when a friend brought it to a family party years ago. It was a highlight of the potluck buffet. I have since reverse-engineered my own version of this Asian inspired salad. Napa Cabbage Salad with Ginger Dressing and Chow Mein noodles is now a regular feature in my house, and the perfect salad for parties, holiday buffets, or even just as a light meal served with Sausage or Pepperoni Bread or a pot of soup.

…

Last week I wrote about homemade Italian Sausage Bread, a crowd favorite for Game Day. Here is an equally crowd-pleasing recipe for Pepperoni and Cheese Bread that can be made together with the Sausage Bread recipe using the same dough.

…

Fresh from the oven this homemade Italian Sausage and Cheese Bread is a showstopper at parties. Sweet Italian sausage with provolone cheese rolled into a bread dough and baked until golden brown. It’s a simple recipe that I’ve been making for years. Perfect for football Sundays it is a meal in itself. But sausage bread also goes great with other appetizers and looks awesome on the party buffet. For more variety make this together with Pepperoni and Cheese Bread, equally delicious!

…

Coconut ribs are a sweet and highly flavorful way to enjoy barbeque ribs. This version is my adaptation of a Hawaiian recipe originally from Keo’s Thai Cuisine in Honolulu that was featured in Bon Appetit September 1995. Using a marinade of lemongrass, ginger, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, brown sugar, and coconut milk this recipe hits all the high points of South Pacific cuisine.

…

Holiday Recipe for Sliced Christmas Stollen

Christmas Stollen is a German holiday sweet bread made with eggs, milk, and butter. It is studded with nuts and candied fruit and then wonderfully coated with powdered sugar. Often it is filled and baked with a rope of marzipan in the center. This is the traditional Christmas bread whose shape is said to represent the swaddled Christ child.

I make a slightly lighter version of Christmas Stollen with a Midwestern twist that is seriously just as awesome as the traditional German Stollen but not quite as dense. I find commercial candied fruits to be way too sweet for my taste. I swap out the standard candied fruits and raisins and use a more regional blend of dried fruits and nuts such as cherries, locally produced cranberries and currents.

…

Poppy Seed Torte is a staple of my mother ‘s vast dessert repertoire and a feature at many of our family events. It has a graham cracker crust, with a creamy poppy seed custard filling, and is topped with a graham cracker dusted meringue that is baked for a short time to a golden brown. This poppy seed torte was my very favorite dessert growing up as a kid, and is still as good as I remember it.

…

Cranberry Relish is a great alternative to the standard cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. This recipe combines chopped fresh cranberries with oranges, apples, celery, crushed pineapple, and pecans with cherry gelatin to make a refreshing holiday side dish. The combination of the tart cranberries, sweet orange and pineapple, the crunch of the apple, the celery and the pecans, and the aromatic hint of orange peel is what makes this dish so satisfying. It pairs nicely with the Thanksgiving turkey but makes a great accompaniment to any holiday meal. My mom introduced Cranberry Relish to our Thanksgiving table years ago, and it has been a family favorite ever since.

…

Halloween Dirt Dessert — Halloween dirt dessert

A Halloween classic in my house has always been Dirt Dessert. Dirt Dessert is super fun for kids because not only can you be creative with gummy worms and Halloween candies, it also looks like the real thing! We see this old-time dessert show up on occasion at parties. For whatever reason Dirt Dessert has become a favorite of my kids over the years; so much so that we now make it every year.

…

Peach Crepes Recipe — Easy Peach Crepes with Caramel Sauce

Peaches are finally in season! It’s that rare time of year when you can bite into a ripe peach and the juice runs down your chin. Love that. Who doesn’t love peaches? Besides the pure and simple joy of eating a whole perfectly ripe peach, there are also some great options to make with peaches for breakfast. See my blog from last week when we put them into overnight oatmeal. This week I’m doing peach crepes!

My kids love crepes. When there is a choice between the standard fave of chocolate chip pancakes and having homemade crepes…crepes will always win. Today I’m going to fill crepes with the wonderful fresh peaches I have sitting on my counter! When fresh peaches are ripe and in season, these caramelized juicy peaches make an excellent filling rolled up in fresh homemade crepes.

…

Overnight oatmeal in glass mason jars is the perfect breakfast food for busy people. It is made the night before by combining all the ingredients into the jar and simply placing in the refrigerator overnight. It makes the rush to get out in the morning so much easier. Just open the refrigerator, and there it is, a healthy and quick breakfast waiting for you!

…

I went to the farmers market today and saw these beautiful heads of cabbage. The first thing I thought of was stuffed cabbage rolls, or in my house, we call it “golumpki”. I can never make this dish too often for my husband. Coming from a strong Polish background, this is how his grandmother would make it. All the Polish households that I know cook golumpki in a tomato sauce using cans of condensed tomato soup. As much as I’d like to make a homemade sauce from scratch, tomato soup gives it that smooth and creamy sauce that does not have all the acidity of a regular tomato sauce. Besides, this is the classic recipe, why mess with what the grandmas have already perfected.

…

Making guacamole is really quite simple, and not at all out of reach. It’s just a matter of picking the right ingredients and seasonings,. There are really 4 key things you need in order to make really good guacamole:

Perfectly ripe avocados
Lime
Cilantro
Tomatoes

The other ingredients you add to this are what punch up the flavor and make it great. But rest assured, you can absolutely make a perfectly good guacamole as long as you are not missing any of the key ingredients above.

…

Crispy hash browns topped with sautéed vegetables and melted cheddar cheese—simply brilliant. This recipe is inspired by Keys Café and Bakery in Minneapolis. A family run business originating in St. Paul, Keys has been a fixture in the Twin Cities since the 70’s. They have since expanded out to a number of locations around the metro. When I worked just a half block from the Keys in downtown Minneapolis, I would order the #9 Potatoes Etc. for an occasional. A meal in itself, this is a hearty and satisfying favorite for either breakfast or lunch. I’ve created a simple version of this that is also great for a quick one pan weeknight supper.

…

This is an incredibly simple summer appetizer to make when ripe tomatoes and basil are in season. It is quick to assemble, using just 5 ingredients plus salt and pepper!

…

I learned how to make pierogis from Magda, our au pair from Poland. The dough is soft, tender, and not at all sticky, so you need no flour when rolling out the dough. This is important, because adding flour as you roll makes the dough tough. Virtually any type of filling works with pierogi, from savory to sweet. We love these recipes for potato and cheese, sauerkraut, and mushroom and cabbage.

…

It’s nearing the end of mulberry season here, which is usually the middle of June through early July. But this year’s rainy and cooler months of May and June have pushed the season slightly later this year.

I love making scones, which are a great breakfast treat when fresh berries present themselves. One drawback to most scone recipes is I rarely have fresh buttermilk in my house. This recipe uses plain yogurt in place of the buttermilk, which provides the same tangy flavor of the buttermilk without the special trip to the store.

…

Super Immunity Soup

Grilled Steak Poutine

Asparagus and Tomato Quiche

Extra Crispy Fried Chicken Wings

Napa Salad with Ginger Dressing and Chow Mein Noodles

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread -A Party Favorite!

Italian Sausage and Cheese Bread – A Game-Time Favorite

Coconut Ribs

Christmas Stollen

Poppy Seed Torte

Holiday Cranberry Relish

Halloween Dirt Dessert

Easy Peach Crepes with Caramel Sauce

Peach and Cinnamon Overnight Oatmeal

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls – Polish Golumpki

Really Great Guacamole

Hash Browns & Veggies

Simple Tomato Bruschetta

Polish Pierogies

Wild Mulberry Scones