Cinnamon-Sugar Muffins

One of the great things about my parents' house (in terms of blogging) is that their kitchen has great light for photos. Take, for instance, this fantastic photo of this Cinnamon-Sugar muffin. I made these for brunch on the day after Christmas. They are easy to make and really good.

The recipe is actually called "Doughnut Muffins." And of course, it's a King Arthur Flour recipe. I renamed them "Cinnamon-Sugar Muffins" because they didn't taste like doughnuts to me (of course it's been awhile since I've eaten a doughnut). At any rate, they are tasty. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, but I did make a slight change to the spices. The original recipe can be found here.

Tender Turkey with Gravy

We had a small family gathering for Christmas "dinner" this year (we actually ate around 1 p.m.-- that way we could have leftovers for dinner and not be super stuffed before bed.) A whole turkey would have been too much for eight people, so my mom roasted a turkey breast. The meat was juicy and the skin was golden brown. The secret for the brown skin? Mayo. Yep, mayonnaise.

She used this recipe posted at Food.com. I used the turkey "juice" (I'm sure there's a better word than juice, but I can't think of it right now) to make gravy.

Chicken Tamale Pie

It snowed last weekend. I mean, it SNOWED last weekend. Inches and inches and inches, not to mention there were ferocious gusts of wind that whipped across the lake. Comfort food was definitely on the menu Sunday to top off our frigid weekend. I chose a recipe I’ve wanted to try for months:“Granny’s Tamale Pie” from the October/November 2009 issue of Cook’s Country magazine.

The recipe came from a recipe contest for “America’s Best Lost Suppers.” According to the article, “Some 70 years ago, the elderly wife of a sheep rancher bestowed this unusual recipe on Betty’s family. Now Betty is sharing it.”

Well, Betty, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing.

Rosemary Cheddar Bread

Since soup season is here, it’s extremely important to have some great bread to op up all those empty soup bowls. A recipe for Rosemary, Asiago, and Olive bread caught my eye a few months ago in King Arthur’s Baker’s Catalogue and I have been dying to try it.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta

Nothing beats butternut squash-- delicious and good for you. I’ve been on a butternut squash kick lately. Having just made soup with this super veggie only a few weeks ago, I went hunting for another recipe and found this one on the AllRecipes.com website: Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta.

It’s sweet and smoky and cheesy—the perfect comfort food. I pretty much followed the recipe word for word, so I’ve included a link to it. However, I made a couple of adjustments:

Mushroom-Barley Soup

When the weather outside is like this:

It’s time for a big bowl of this:

"This" is a big bowl of Mushroom-Barley soup.

Baking Bonanza Part 3: Pitiful Pitas

So, Baking Bonanza Part 3: Pita Bread, should have been posted last Sunday. However, I decided to experiment and cook the pitas on the stove top in a skillet instead of in the oven on the baking stone. While the bread did get cooked, it didn't turn out as it should have. Pita isn't suppose to have much color on it, and many of my little "loaves" got a bit charred, and only 3 out of the 12 even puffed. Therefore, Baking Bonanza will be completed tomorrow (probably a recipe for oatmeal bread).

Keep reading for pictures of the Non-Perfect Pitas.