Time-tested Recipes, Stories & Nostalgia
The opportunity, or government order, to pause and spend time at home is an introvert’s dream. Weekends when the only thing on my “to do” list was to plan, shop for, create, and savor an elaborate dinner for my family is nothing short of a gift, no matter the cause.
You really need a sheet pan with a rim to catch any runaway juices. Don’t use a cookie sheet unless you fancy the excitement of an oven fire. If you don’t already have them, a couple heavy-duty sheet pans are the best New Year’s gifts you can give your kitchen.
The most economical way to make this is to cut the florets from a head of broccoli. If you’re in a hurry, the pre-cut bags of florets work well. If the florets are large, cut them down so that each one is small. They’ll get crispier and more caramelized that way.
There are lots of recipes for Christmas sugar cookies out there. But my family’s recipe for “Merry Christmas Cutout Cookies,” now being made by a fourth generation of Walsh descendants, is superior. Here’s why: This recipe actually tastes good.
So here’s a confession: I’m not much into kitchen gadgets. I find that at least 50% of these ‘time saving tools’ are superfluous if you have a good set of sharp knives and opposable thumbs. I’ve been gifted many gadgets over the years that I’ve used once or twice.
My mother-in-law was one of the most saintly women to walk the planet, but an adventurous chef she was not. She stuck close to her Canadian roots. Not familiar with Canadian cuisine? It’s not surprising that no one utters the words, “Let’s order Canadian tonight.”
When my niece, Abigail, was about 4, she declared she was a vegetarian. She saw Charlotte’s Web and couldn’t fathom the inhumanity of consuming Wilbur or any of his barnyard pals. For headstrong Abigail, vegetarianism stuck.
Living in Florida, one of the ways I fake fall – or perhaps try to fool Mother Nature into sending us temperatures below 80 degrees – is to make a lot of pumpkin recipes during the last quarter of the year. There are two primary reasons pumpkin appeals to me, other than the flavor.
Happy Halloween! This is Part 2 of the Pumpkin Everything Series. This is a perfect meal to serve with salad and bread before Trick-or-Treating, or as a first course at Thanksgiving. I almost always double it, so there’s plenty of leftovers to enjoy later.