Recipes Archives - Page 16 of 21

Chewy Cookie Bars: Your New Most Used Recipe

September 27, 2016 by Susan 6 Comments

One basic recipe…endless variations. These cookie bars are easy and delicious! And they’re made with ingredients you have in your pantry right now.

I bake quite a bit. We have study groups at our house once a week during the school year, and part of hosting means providing a snack for the group. It’s amazing how much more kids engage when there are cookies or muffins on the table! I also like to offer a treat when we have guests over, and sometimes I bake just to be a nice mom.

I have one recipe card in my cabinet that I don’t even put in my recipe box, because I use it so much. It’s really more a list of ingredients than a recipe. It’s faded and has dried crusty bits on it. Have you got a recipe like that?

Alice’s Tomato Pie

September 20, 2016 by Susan Leave a Comment

Cheesy, fresh tomato pie is a treat you’ll want to make again and again! It’s an easy and frugal recipe that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

I know that we’re well into “Pumpkin Spice” season…but I’m still picking fresh tomatoes. Are you? I’m not hating on pumpkin spice, here. Autumn is a lovely season that I plan to enjoy to its fullest. But this feels eerily like “Back to School” sales beginning in July or Christmas decorations in stores in … well, I was going to say October, but we saw some last night!

So when my friend, Alice, shared her recipe for tomato pie with me a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had to pass it along to you. Even though it’s pumpkin spice season.

Maybe I’m feeling kind of rebellious because Red Dawn is on TV. Whatever the case… here’s to tomato pie and bucking the system. Wolverines!

Brownies! The Only Brownie Recipe You Need: A Perfect Blank Canvas

September 13, 2016 by Susan 4 Comments

These fudgy brownies are the perfect canvas for add ins and customization. Nuts, chips, candies, frosting..the list is endless. And they’re SO easy!

I’ve made a million different kinds of brownies over the years. OK, not really a million…but at least 15. And I can honestly say that I don’t recall a brownie I didn’t like. I mean…chocolate.

For the last few years, though, this brownie recipe has been my one and only. It’s kind of a conglomeration of a few recipes I’ve made. It’s quick and easy, chewy and fudgy. All things I look for in a brownie.

And it is the perfect blank canvas.

Skillet Grilled Corn – Making Summer Last One Kernel at a Time

September 6, 2016 by Susan 5 Comments

Fresh summer corn–so easy! This corn makes a perfect side to serve with any grilled meat, & goes especially well with South-of-the-border dishes.

Did you ever have braces? No gum allowed. No chewy or sticky foods. No corn on the cob.

I had braces when I was younger, and for the past three years we’ve had at least one boy in them.

With corn on the cob off the table we resorted to what most braces-wearing folks do, after cooking, we stood the cobs on end and sliced the kernels off the cob.

And then I decided to introduce my fresh picked summer corn to my cast iron skillet and a hot grill.

Now they’re best friends.

You won’t believe how easy it is, too!

The Lazy Person’s Guide to Canning Tomatoes

August 30, 2016 by Susan 28 Comments

I admire people who put up summer produce by the bushel, stocking their pantry shelves with row upon row of the good stuff. I’ve tried that. My dad does pickles and relish each summer, and I’ve helped out. One time I did get a giant box of tomatoes and canned spaghetti sauce myself. It was delicious and wonderful, but it was an awful lot of work and mess for the amount I got.

I wouldn’t rule out doing a mega canning session again but it’s not really my style.

Here’s my style: I take out my canning pot mid-August and leave it in my kitchen until mid-October. I can two or three or six jars of excess produce as I have it. It’s the same with freezing. As I have extra peppers or corn or whatever, I fill Ziploc bags and stash them in the freezer.

Love is Caramel

August 24, 2016 by Susan 8 Comments

This easy caramel sauce is perfect to whip up for a spontaneous ice cream sundae or dipping slices of apples. No candy thermometer needed.

I think love is caramel. Sweet and fragrant; always welcome. It is the gentle golden colour of a setting harvest sun; the warmth of a squeezed embrace; the easy melting of two souls into one and a taste that lingers even when everything else has melted away. Once tasted it is never forgotten. – Author Jenny Colgan

I have made ‘real’ caramel before. You start with white sugar and burn it just enough to get caramel-y but not enough to scorch. Delicious indeed, but time consuming. And frankly, stress that I don’t need in my life.

If you, like me, occasionally need to whip up a quick caramel sauce…this is for you!