The cinnamon roll you want on Christmas morning or any morning. From scratch, sweet and comforting, these Chocolate Chip Walnut Cinnamon Rolls are perfect. Make them the night before to make your morning even easier. The holiday season can be tough for anyone. It's 4 weeks of crazy with a bunch of family and wrapping paper involved. So, after a week that has seemed like a ...
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Butternut Squash and Pecan Muffins
This post first appeared in 2009, it has been updated. The thing with any winter squash (for me at least) is that I always buy them with the best intentions, but never seem to get around to actually eating them. For example, I've had a butternut squash sitting in my potato bin since November. It's almost April. The other day, I finally got around to roasting it, ...
Make Your Own Frozen Pizza
I am ashamed to say that in the last year or so, our family has adopted a nasty habit: cheap frozen pizza. It's a guilty pleasure sort of thing really. I mean, there is nothing more unhealthy than a $2 Tony's pepperoni pizza, but when you get home late with two hungry kids and no motivation to cook, the frozen cardboard with 5 pepperoni slices becomes a wonderful solution to ...
Breakfast Muffins
We have been having quite a few adventures over here in the middle of the country. School has started back, my catering side business has been picking up and my husband has taken up the accordion. Yep...the accordion. I'll just tell you right now it's hilarious. So, what's the first song he decided to learn on the weird mutt of an instrument? Moves Like Jagger. "An ...
Italian Pull-Apart Bread
This Italian Pull Apart Bread is easy to make, but it does take a little time.A basic yeast dough is flavored with fragrant herbs and cheese. There is just something about a loaf of bread that offers a sense of tranquility. That sounds really corny, I realize, but bread as a symbol carries with it so many connotations of warmth, comfort, and love. Even the process of making ...
Zucchini Cheddar Hushpuppies
Zucchini Cheddar Hushpuppies are a quick an delicious Summer side dish perfect for barbeques and fish frys. Use up all that zucchini with these puppies! Summer, for us, is just about over. My babies will have their very first day of kindergarten in 3 weeks! Almost all of the school supply shopping is finished. The new Tinkerbell and Cars backpacks are loaded down with ...
Overnight Monkey Bread
I can't begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to Christmas morning. I think this year is going to be the best year yet! The kids are old enough to really understand, but not quite old enough to be suspicious and the wonder and excitement is there. And oh boy are they excited! The small mountain of gifts already under the tree is like fuel to the fire. They have ...
Rosemary Garlic Foccacia Bread
Life without bread would be dismal. Even those who are allergic to gluten find ways to have bread. And ask anydieter and you will find that they crave bread. Bread is just so delicious, so satisfying. Adding garlic, herbs, and olive oil to bread sends it into another realm entirely. When the heat hits those aromatics your entire house fills with the intoxicating smells of yeast ...
Quick Chocolate Donuts with a Fresh Strawberry Glaze
I love donuts. I consider the donut to be the 8th wonder of the world. Yeast donuts or cake donuts will make any morning infinitely better. Either simply glazed or stuffed with jam, donuts are a wonderful morning treat. There are two problems with donuts. 1 - The light, fluffy yeast type ( a la Krispy Kreme) take a while to make. You can't just wake up in the morning and throw ...
Phyllo Wrapped Pork with Apple-Thyme Chutney
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and right now we are up to our eyeballs in Valentine's cards for 14 preschoolers. We have been cutting, gluing, sticking stickers, and writing our names for a couple of days now. The end result is eventually going to be 24 handmade butterfly Valentine's. Aren't they cute?! (I found the print out for them here if you are interested ...
Handmade Southern Fried Peach Pies
So, there is a little piece of news I would like to share with all of you. It's big. It's life changing. No, I am NOT pregnant. We are moving. And I don't mean across town. We are moving back to Tennessee. Back to the country. Back to a town without a Kroger. Back to the land of free babysitting. We are pretty excited. This is going to be a whole new chapter for us. A ...
Freezer Bread Rolls
Okay, so I have been making just about every loaf of bread my family eats for many months now. Oh sure, on occasion I will buy a loaf here and there but mostly, I am the bread maker. Why would I subject myself to this crazy primitive process of making loaf after loaf of bread? I have 2 very good reasons: 1 - It's cheaper. A loaf costs me less than $.25 2 - It tastes so much ...
In need of some comfort…Chicken Soup with Cheddar Rosemary Dumplings
Some days... things go wrong. Some days... you get a call from your husband at 5:30 am that goes something like this, " Honey...I think you were right" me: "What?" hubby: " I have a flat tire." me: " Is this the tire I told you to replace yesterday... on your day off?" hubby: "......... yeah" me: "...... I told you so" Some days.... you are very appreciative of good ...
A Fancy Schmancy Brunch
Well, I guess you have all figured out by now that I didn't make it to the third round of Project Food Blog. It's okay. I'm not too devastated. I am learning to cope with my devastation. Okay, it's not quite that bad. I did do round 3 just in case I did actually make it. Round 3 was for a fancy dinner party. Let me just tell you that "fancy" and "dinner party" don't ...
Pizza on the Grill
I'm here in Tennessee once again visiting with my family. My days have been full of wine, jelly, kids, creeks, and some great Blues music.It has also been full of heat. It's hotter 'an a match! - that's what my brother would tell you. It's been in the upper 90's all week and other than a couple hot dogs or grilled cheese sandwiches, we have not wanted to heat up the kitchen ...