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Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion

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Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion
Inevitably, after months of shopping and planning, my best-received gifts are the cookies and candies I’ve made for my loved ones. That’s why, in the days leading up to Christmas, you can only find me if you look in my kitchen. I’m the one covered in powdered sugar, chocolate, and corn syrup – dancing around to Christmas music.

Man, I love this time of year!

If you love giving gifts you’ve made in your own kitchen, too, here’s a cookbook you’ll want to add to your library right away.  Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion, by Annie Rigg (Amazon link) is an uncommonly beautiful book. As a cookbook collector, one of the first things I notice about a cookbook is how good it feels about itself –  the cover, artwork, and photographs let you know, right off the bat, if the cookbook feels really good about itself or if its heart is only half in it.

Gifts from the Kitchen (Amazon link) feels amazingly good about itself – we’re talking “supermodel” confidence, here.

Naturally, for a book to be a great book – there has to be more than just great looks going for it. Thankfully, Gifts from the Kitchen comes through in the personality department, too  – it’s not just a pretty face.

{Continued Below…}

Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion
The book covers all celebrations and all seasons. Not only can you use the beautiful delicacies for gift-giving, you can also use them to celebrate special occasions.

Special Occasion Recipes Include

  • Fortune Cookies (Chinese New Year)
  • Chocolate Valentine’s Cakes (Valentine’s Day or Anniversaries)
  • Love Heart Sugar Cubes (Valentine’s Day)
  • Double Dark Chocolate, Pecan and Ginger Cookies (Father’s Day)
  • Easter Nest Cupcakes (Easter)
  • Rugelach (Jewish Celebrations)
  • Baby Shower Cakes
  • Wedding Cake
  • Stained Glass Snowflake Cookies (Christmas)
  • And More…

Recipes for Gifts That Fit Any Occasion Include

  • Chocolate Truffles
  • Peanut or Macadamia Brittle
  • Creamy Vanilla Fudge with Chocolate and Nuts
  • Pickled Beets
  • Pickled Shallots
  • Spiced Cranberry Jelly
  • Florentines
  • Chocolate-Coated Candied Almonds
  • Mango Chutney with Chili Pepper and Ginger
  • English Muffins
  • Cherry Jam
  • Strawberry and Vanilla Preserves
  • Chocolate and Hazelnut Spread
  • Honeycomb (look especially perfect for Halloween)
  • Pesto
  • And Many more….

In addition to the clear and simple recipes, Gifts from the Kitchen (Amazon link) provides beautiful examples of ways to present many of these food gifts to your lucky foodie.

This is not a “gluten free” cookbook, but many of the candies and other recipes are, in and of themselves, gluten free. I have not tested any of the other recipes with gluten free flours, so I can’t say how well they’d take to substitutions. It is, however, in my opinion, more than worth having in your collection. The candies, spreads, jellies, etc. outnumber the cakes and cupcakes… and even they provide inspiration and ideas for the gluten free cook.

I’m especially excited about a recipe for “Wholegrain Honey Mustard.” Wholegrain mustard is an obsession of mine – I add it to more recipes than you can imagine (potato salad, BBQ sauce, deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, salad dressings…). I can only imagine how amazing this homemade Wholegrain Honey Mustard will be!

See Gifts from the Kitchen (Amazon link) for more information.

While you’re on Amazon, check out the other beautiful cookbooks by Annie Rigg!

Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion

Review: Quesadillas by Donna Kelly (I LOVE this Cookbook to Distraction!)

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Chicken Bacon and Ranch Quesadillas

Four-Layer Folded Ranch

I was recently sent a copy of a wonderful Quesadilla cookbook in exchange for telling you all about it and I KNOW you’ll love it as much as I do.  Quesadillas by Donna Kelly (Amazon link) is a dream come true for me for more reasons than one.

  1. When you have to eat gluten-free, you turn to gluten-free tortillas, like the AMAZING ones from Mission (Amazon link) often. Roll-ups, wraps, quesadillas, burritos, etc. Things you can’t put in pliable bread, you can most absolutely put in pliable gluten-free tortillas!
  2. I am obsessed… obsessed I tell you… with everything even remotely connected to Mexican or even Tex-Mex.
  3. Quesadillas are a meal that comes together really fast. Meal prep can all be done ahead of time, leaving you with only one task – put it all together and make the magic happen.
  4. This is a cookbook with easy to find (I’ve found that I usually have the ingredients on hand) recipes – ones you’ll use again and again and again.
  5. It’s a physical cookbook. Let me tell you why I find this to be a HUGE plus… I detest searching through my phone, files, and drawers for a recipe! Detest it like a shy 12 year old kid hates giving an oral book report in front of a roomful of other kids with every single eye staring a hole right through me… I mean her. Physical books mean the recipe is always right where you left it. Each and every time.

Book Description from Amazon:

Simply put, the quesadilla is a delightful package of melted cheesy goodness―all sandwiched inside crispy tortillas. But now these little gooey snacks we all used to make as kids have evolved into savory meals and scrumptious desserts that are bursting with flavor. Featuring all new photography, Quesadillas contains some of these delicious favorites, including Roasted Veggie and Goat Cheese, Thai Peanut, Parmesan-Crusted Italian, Chicken Caesar, Philly Cheesesteak, Peanut Butter Apple, Triple Chocolate Decadence, and Pecan-Crusted Pear.

The first recipe I made was the one titled Four-Layer Folded Ranch. It involves bacon, cream cheese, Ranch dressing mix, chicken, tortillas, pepper jack cheese… see why I chose it first?? It’s pictured at the top and was even more delicious than it looks.

Remember how I spoke of meal prep above? I am a firm believer and ardent follower of the meal plan attack for suppers. I have the JOY (one of the greatest blessing of my life if we’re keeping score) of watching my grandbabies (from around 8:00am to 4:00-5:00 pm) while their parents are at work. I have two (ages 4 and 2, both boys) every weekday and some days also have their cousin (18 months, also a boy!). My days are FULL of fun, dinosaurs, Hot Wheels, laughs, and immeasurable love.

They’re also deliciously busy – and, if you’re familiar with little people, you know that between 3-5 is the crazy zone. I mean, they kick it up a notch or 50 around then, don’t they?! That’s why I love meal prep and that’s why I turn to things like quesadillas so often.

For the quesadillas pictured at the top, I cooked the chicken and the bacon earlier and placed them in meal prep containers. Then I sliced the cheese and combined the other ingredients I’d need. When 5:00 came, all I had to do was heat up the gridle and throw everything in place.

Whether it’s adorable miniature humans or a not so adorable 9-5 job, meal prep may be your new best friend.

Other Recipes Include:

  • Crowd-Pleaser Sheet Pan (Giant Quesadilla!)
  • Old World Mexico (potatoes and chorizo)
  • S’Mores (a scrumptious looking dessert)
  • Peaches and Cream
  • Greek Isles (Feta, spinach, black olives…)
  • Black and Blue (spicy beans and several cheeses)
  • Four-Layer Folded Caprese (cream cheese, diced tomatoes, mozzarella, basil..)

There are International, Vegetarian, Meat-y, and dessert recipes as well as a section for salsas and sauces… they are amazing.

I can’t recommend this wonderful cookbook enough. I know you’ll love and use it as much as I do!

For more information, please see  Quesadillas by Donna Kelly (Amazon link).

Quesadillas by Donna Kelly

Quesadillas by Donna Kelly

The Muffin Tin Cookbook: Fun and Easy Meals Your Family Will Love (Plus a Fish Tacos Recipe)

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The Muffin Tin Cookbook

A while back, I was sent a wonderful cookbook to review, The Muffin Tin Cookbook: 200 Fast, Delicious Mini-Pies, Pasta Cups, Gourmet Pockets, Veggie Cakes, and More!

Love it, love it, love it.

Cooking is more than just one of my favorite hobbies and pastimes – it’s a passion that I love greatly.  Even now, I’m sitting at my desk in my home office – working in a frenzy of  keyboard tapping and brainstorming, breaking only for much needed sips of coffee.  Yet all I can think about is what I’m going to cook for supper, what my next dessert will be, and wondering when I can try out a new stuffed chicken recipe I saw yesterday.

Cooking, baking, cooking, baking, cooking, baking… a peek inside my brain.

Given the fact that it’s something I love so much, I want others to get the same kind joy from cooking as I do. I think that’s one of the reasons I get so excited about fresh, fun, and creative new cookbooks like The Muffin Tin Cookbook.  Not only are new cookbooks a complete joy ride for me in my amusement park of a kitchen, I know that other foodies will get a huge kick out of them as well.

I also like to see cookbooks filled with recipes that people will actually make! Recipes that don’t call for you to visit a foreign country and bring back an extract you can only find there – then stir it into a broth using the feather of a virgin peahen… Please. Every single recipe in  The Muffin Tin Cookbook is one you’ll make and make again.

Another thing I like to see in a cookbook is plenty of recipes that are quick and easy.  A lot of people have to work outside of the home AND come home and cook supper. People who have a limited amount of time to work with don’t need fussy recipes. They need recipes that can be thrown together quickly, cooked in a flash, and don’t require a lot of cleaning up afterward. The Muffin Tin Cookbook is a dream come true for someone looking for such recipes.

Since the recipes on Get Cooking are gluten-free (as are all of the recipes I personally make and eat – health reasons), I will point out that this is NOT a “gluten-free cookbook.”  Many of the recipes call for flour and a host of other foods off limits to those of us why have to eat gluten-free. HOWEVER, as with most cookbooks in my collection and recipes I find in the wild, I simply make the necessary substitutions.

Book Description

Muffin Tins—They’re Not Just for Muffins Anymore

There’s nothing you can’t make in a muffin tin—and we’re not talking merely muffins. All you need is a muffin tin, paper liners, and this ingenious, one-of-a-kind cookbook, and you can whip up delicious dishes that are as easy to prepare and serve as they are good to eat.

From quick-serve appetizers and sides to gourmet entrees and desserts, you’ll find an amazing variety of mouthwatering options for your dining pleasure, including:

  • Shrimp Cakes with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce
  • Egg Crescent Pockets
  • Deep-Dish Pizza Cups
  • Cornmeal-Crusted Mustard Chicken with Sweet Potato Coins
  • Duchess Potatoes
  • Zucchini, Corn, and Tomato Cups
  • Mini Ice-Cream Cakes

The best part (besides the tasty goodness): It’s fast, easy, mess-free, and provides built-in portion control. Kids will love to help you make them—like cupcakes, only better for your family!—and leftovers are as easy as popping the muffin-meal into the microwave.It just doesn’t get any better than The Muffin Tin Cookbook . . . your next memorable meal is just a muffin tin away! – From Amazon

Fish Tacos Recipe

3 pieces tilapia, about 3-4 ounces each, cut in half
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt and Pepper
6 taco-size flour tortillas
Light sour cream, chopped green onion, chopped tomato, lettuce, and salsa for serving

  1. Place the tilapia, chili powder, cilantro, oil, lime juice, and salt and pepper in a bowl and allow to marinate 1/2 an hour, in the refrigerator.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and prepare 6 jumbo muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray.
  3. Push one taco tortilla down into each cup and press any sections that bubble out against the sides.
  4. Place 1 piece of marinated tilapia in each cup and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness of fish, until cooked through.
  5. Serve with toppings.

Taco tortillas are smaller tortillas and are just the right size to line jumbo muffin cups. Lemon juice can be substituted for the lime juice.

Muffin Tin Recipes

There’s an entire chapter in The Muffin Tin Cookbook devoted to Breakfast – a time of the day when few of us have unlimited time. Recipes in the Breakfast chapter include:

  • Egg Crescent Pockets
  • French Bread French Toast
  • Grits Casserole
  • Cheese Danish Cups
  • Bagel Sausage Sandwiches
  • And More!

Other chapters include:

  • Appetizers and Snacks (Asian Dumplings with Dipping Sauce, Spiced Pecan Cups, Hot Pretzel Bites…)
  • Beef and Pork (Mexican Meatloaf, Sloppy Joe Cupcakes, Taco Mini Pies…)
  • Chicken and Turkey (Teriyaki Turkey Cups, Chicken Tortilla Pies, Italian Chicken…)
  • Seafood (Salmon Cakes, Deviled Crab Tarts, Shrimp with Polenta…)
  • Potatoes, Rice, Pizza, and Pasta (Candied Yams, White Pizzas, Stuffed Gnocchi…)
  • Vegetables ( French Onion Pie, Edamame in Rice Paper Cups, Cherry Tomato Cups…)
  • Muffins and Breads (Corn Muffins, Monkey Bread, Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins…)
  • Desserts  (Hot Chocolate Muffins, Lemon Pound Cake, Apple Cupcakes..)

Each recipe indicates the size of muffin tin needed.  As the author says on page 8, “Keep in mind that you can make your dishes any size you like, but you will need to adjust cooking time up or down accordingly (if you make a bigger cup than the recipe suggests, baking time will be longer; if you make a smaller cup baking time will be shortened).”

Please see The Muffin Tin Cookbook  for more information.  When giving cookbook reviews, I like to suggest the sort of cook that the cookbook in question is “ideal” for.   Although this cookbook is PERFECT for busy cooks, it’s just as fun and enjoyable for those of us who are simply busy cooking!  It would make an excellent gift idea for someone who’s new to the world of cooking – maybe even in a bag with a brand-spanking new muffin tin.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Cookbook

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Is anyone even half as ready for autumn and winter as I am? Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of things about summer – baseball, fresh produce, songbirds at my bird feeders that aren’t there in cold weather, grilling out, and so on. Summer’s awesome in every way… but, having said that, autumn and winter are super special.

As a foodie, the cooler months make me think of soup, stew, chili, casseroles, chai tea lattes, and (of course) Halloween goodies, Thanksgiving dishes, and Christmas baking… how could a foodie NOT love this time of year???

I may be one of the biggest soup fanatics in the world, which is one of the reasons I’m excited about a new cookbook I was sent to review: 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Naturally, grilled cheese sandwiches are perfect all year. We certainly eat them year-round in our house. In fact, we’ve been known to enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches at all times of the day and night.  Talk about a delicious comfort food.  Cheesy deliciousness that comes together pretty darn fast – sign me up.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches is a perfect guide to getting extra creative with this wonderful comfort food.  Although the modern version of the grilled cheese sandwich dates back to 1920 (when it became popular during the great depression, for obvious reasons), these delicious and inexpensive delicacies are currently a popular trend in cooking.  I think one of the reasons is the fact that they aren’t expensive to pull together.  I think the popularity of food trucks has also helped revive this wonderful sandwich.

Some people are even calling the grilled cheese sandwich the “new burger.”  The fact that so many people are eating less meat is another reason these sandwiches are so wildly popular.

From the Back Cover: A grilled cheese sandwich is classic comfort food and it’s enjoying an incredible resurgence in popularity. These fabulous recipes all begin with the grilled cheese we all know and love, and then from there, creative twists showcase just how incredibly versatile this sandwich can be.  The recipes reflect an almost endless and delicious variety of choices that include simple and timeless as well as gourmet and artisanal. From breakfast to dessert, there’s something for everyone in this book.

Another reason grilled cheese sandwiches are so popular is, let’s face it, they’re fast and easy to make.  You can have a warm, delicious, and comforting meal in a matter of minutes. This is one of the reasons they’re so popular with bachelors, college students, and beginner cooks.

Whether you enjoy your grilled cheese sandwiches with soup (one of my favorite meals), chips, or alone, nothing beats a great grilled cheese sandwich.

As I’ve probably mentioned on the food blog, when I had to totally give up wheat and gluten a number of years ago (health reasons), it threw my cooking persona into a tailspin. Imagine everything you are accustomed to cooking and baking for your family and yourself thrown out the door. Then finding yourself having to start over, pretty much, and discover a whole new way of both cooking and eating.

Stressful… and yet kind of mentally stimulating!

It’s a hideous predicament for anyone but for an avid cook and food blogger who was extra keen on homemade breads, cornbread, cakes from scratch, pies, etc.. it knocked me on my backside for a bit. However, I (honestly) found out that many aspects of gluten-free food are actually as good as their gluten-y counterparts and some are even better in many ways.

For example, for whatever reasons, gluten-free fried catfish is actually better.  Don’t ask me why (please), but the combo of rice flour and yellow cornmeal makes the best fried catfish in the world. Trust me, this is a personal favorite and something I’ve been cooking since I was allowed to touch the stove.

Grilled cheese sandwiches have been another pleasant surprise (along with French Toast, for that matter). Gluten-Free bread, in my opinion, makes them even better. I think it’s because they’re denser and, sometimes, thicker, than regular bread. Then again, Texas Toast is a great way to go with grilled cheese sandwiches.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches includes so many creative, fun, and delicious recipes you won’t stop until you’ve made them all.  The cheese combinations, along with the additions of complimentary ingredients will boggle your mind.  I cook every single day (and have for years) and consider myself to be really creative in the kitchen, but even I found myself saying, “Ooooh, I would’ve never thought of that...”  One of the combinations that was wildly new to me was the one given in the recipe below.  I wouldn’t have ever invited Muenster Cheese to a grilled cheese party, but this recipe has me slapping myself for the oversight.

The recipe below is from the cookbook and is outstanding. I love it alongside tomato soup or chili and have been known to have it simply with a large dill pickle and Funyons.

I know how to live, after all.

Classic Grilled Two Cheese

Author: Alison Lewis
Serves 4

8 slices white or whole-grain bread (1/2 inch/1 cm thick slices)
2 TBS butter or margarine, softened
4 oz Muenster cheese, thinly sliced
4 oz Cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Brush one side of each bread slice with butter.
  2. Place on a work surface, buttered side down.
  3. Top 4 bread slices equally with Muenster and Cheddar cheeses.
  4. Cover with remaining bread slices, buttered side up, and press gently.
  5. Place sandwiches on preheated panini grill or in a large skillet over medium heat and cook, turning once if using a skillet, for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is melted.
  6. Serve immediately.

When it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, you have to really be careful with cheese combinations. Make the wrong move and the result will be thisclose to gross. You also have to be careful with what fillings you add and how you treat the bread. Again, the wrong move can leave your taste buds borderline depressed.  In this wonderful and fun cookbook, Alison Lewis has done all of the hard work for us and taken all of the guess work out of our hands.  We’re left with a ton of delicious recipes and combinations that’ll make us the Queen or King of Grilled Cheese.  Whether you use a Panini or Sandwich Press or a favorite skillet, you WILL use these recipes again and again and again.

Below are just some of the recipes included in 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches:

  • Roast Beef with Asiago and Watercress
  • Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese
  • Italian Tomato-Basil Bread
  • Hot Bacon Swiss Crostini
  • Havarti and Cucumber Sandwich
  • Grilled Spinach, Pepper Jack, and Bacon
  • Warm Peanut Butter Power Wrap
  • Italian Salami Panini
  • Sweet Pepper Relish
  • Hummus
  • The Pilgrim
  • And many, many, many more.

See 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches for more information and to order your copy today… just in time for soup season!


Cookbook Review: The Duluth Grill Cookbook II

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The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
I was recently sent a beautiful new cookbook to review: The Duluth Grill Cookbook II.  The Duluth Grill (in Duluth, Minnesota) has been on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri. If you’re a fan of Guy’s, you’re probably with them.

Needless to say, I was very excited to get my hands on this cookbook!

I love cookbooks of all shapes, colors, sizes, genres, and attitudes. As a collector, I’m not very picky. If it says Cookbook on the cover, I’m going to hear it out. However, I do prefer cookbooks with the following traits…

  • Beautiful Pictures – I’m a really visual person and I love colorful photographs.
  • Creative Recipes – Ones that you don’t see a million and one times online, on Pinterest alone!
  • Recipes I’ll Make – Ingredients I’ve heard of and can readily get and recipes that don’t take the patience of Job to make.
  • Easy to Make Substitutions for the gluten free diet I must adhere to.
  • It’s a “little thing” to most, but I love for recipes that are Gluten Free to tell me right off the bat. Sure, a quick scan and common sense lets me know, but when the cookbook provides the information on gluten (as well providing information for vegans), I know they care. That means a lot.

The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
The Duluth Grill Cookbook II nails each of the above preferences and brings something extra to the party… a personality that’s outta this world. This cookbook doesn’t read like a cookbook so much as it reads like a letter from a favorite family member – the one you love to see coming and hate to see leaving.

The spirit of the book is light-hearted and fun and were they to make 100 cookbooks, I’d want each and every one.

Looks and personality? That’s worth a WOW.

As for the recipes, they are even more impressive. They’re easy to make, yet are beautifully creative and imaginative.  They’ll add fun and spark – to say nothing of deliciousness – to your kitchen.

From the Back Cover:

The Duluth Grill is back for its second cookbook. It’s big. It’s bad. And after gaining fans from around the country, it’s better than ever.

Do you want to know why it’s taken so long to get that fish farm going?  That’s in here. Wondering about that time the catering van almost got set on fire? That’s in here too. From digging up the back parking lot for a new garden to (not) getting sued by Heinz to having a Real Housewife of Miami endorse their first book, the last three years have been a whirlwind.

But the food is really the star here. You’ll find raw vegan marinara, but also a bacon ice cream sundae; gluten free options, but also homemade flaky biscuits. From the cilantro lime vinaigrette to the North Shore paella, from the beet lemonade to the bison stuffed peppers, this is Minnesotan food like you’ve never seen at a potluck. Whether you’re making the carrot cake (good), the sriracha aioli (good), or the bacon-blue cheese coleslaw (real good), you’ll be glad you picked this up.

So treat yourself. Support a family-owned business. And most of all, enjoy the read. Because when a New York Times published food writer, an award winning photographer and designer, and a nationally famous restaurant get together, you’re not going to be disappointed.

How creative and awesome are the recipes? Check out a few of my favorites listed below…

The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
Recipes Include:

  • Pork Rub
  • Pickled Jalapeno
  • Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
  • Kale & White Bean Soup
  • Italian Sausage
  • Carrot-Daikon Slaw
  • Cuban Black Beans
  • Salmon Salad
  • Swedish Meatballs
  • Lemon Chicken
  • Vanilla, Chocolate, and Peppermint Whipped Cream
  • Broccoli Cheese Soup
  • Hummus with Preserved Lemon
  • Marinated Kale
  • Bacon-Blue Cheese Coleslaw
  • Besan Chilla (Vegan Omelet)
  • Gluten Free Buckwheat Caraway Bread (pumpkin, chia seeds, carraway seeds, honey….)
  • Chorizo
  • Cold Press Coffee
  • Blueberry Lemonade, Mint Lemonade, Beet Lemonade
  • Raspberry Syrup
  • Cashew Sour Cream
  • And many more – 100 GREAT recipes in all.

Order a copy of  The Duluth Grill Cookbook II on The Duluth Grill’s website. They also have a “first cookbook” that I’m sure would be a great choice too. This one’s extra special.

The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
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Top 10 Reasons Printed Cookbooks Will NEVER Become Extinct

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The Southern Bite Cookbook

I love cookbooks.

There, you have now read the biggest understatement of the century. As I’ve often said on the food blog, I collect cookbooks and have since I was 16 years old.

Never you mind how long ago that was.

As you’d expect, given this lifelong passion, I write a lot of cookbook reviews on the Buttermilk Press food blog, “Get Cooking.” I only write about cookbooks I’m certain you’ll love as much as I do. While I buy a lot (A LOT) of cookbooks, being a food blogger has also given me a glorious perk – many cookbooks now come to me!  Unwrapping a new cookbook in the mail, for me, is like a kid unwrapping a present on Christmas morning.

I was recently looking through one of my new cookbooks and something occurred to me: Cookbooks aren’t going anywhere.  People stand on both sides of the eBook vs printed book debate. While I’m un-apologetic-ally old fashioned, I do have a great number of Agatha Christie books on my iPad. I prefer books I can hold, but having a Hercule Poirot mystery at my side every minute of the day carries some weight with me.

Cookbooks, however, are quite different and I’ll tell you why.  Cookbooks will never go out of print or out of style and they’ll never make anything but the most excellent gift idea for cooks and foodies. 

Physical cookbooks are here to stay and, in my opinion, they enrich the life of any cook and even make them a better cook.

{Discourse continued below….}

Cookbook Reviews

I’m sure you’ve heard the same logic I have, “You can find so many recipes online, why buy a cookbook?” As you’ve probably guessed, I have a few great reasons.

  1. It’s much easier to find a favorite Alton Brown recipe in an Alton Brown cookbook than it is to try and remember if you saw it on Pinterest, Food Network, Cooking Channel, or a recipe app. In the time it’d take someone to search through their “bookmarked” recipes, Pinterest boards, and saved e-mail, I can walk right over to my bookshelf, grab a cookbook and actually be cooking instead of looking.
  2. You can’t write in the margins of a recipe on the screen. I love to leave notes in my cookbook margins: which family members liked the dish the most, when I first made the recipe, ideas about ingredients to experiment with, and even the number of stars I give the recipe.  I cherish cookbooks my grandmother and mom wrote notes in and I get a huge kick out of the fact that we all loved to jot down our thoughts. They weren’t a fan of the star system, though, so I have that on them. Unfortunately, they didn’t write down the first time they made their favorite recipes either – something I really, really, really wish they had.
  3. Just as I cherish the cookbooks passed down in my family – one day my family will cherish all of the wild, loopy notations I leave in my cookbooks. I’m pretty sure they’ll laugh each time they see one of my smiley faces licking its lips.
  4. Cookbooks make excellent gift ideas. Not only do I love (make that LOVE) getting cookbooks for gifts, I love giving them. They do more than just look stylish sitting on counters or bookshelves (and they are quite stylish, you know) – they’re a lot of fun to read. The best food chefs and TV personalities write just like they talk, so reading one of their cookbooks is like being able to sit down and visit with them.
  5. Cookbook collecting is a lot of fun! Granted, I collect cookbooks in general, but I have collections within my collections. I collect Rachael Ray cookbooks, Michael Symon cookbooks, Emeril cookbooks, Alton Brown cookbooks, Gluten Free cookbooks, candy cookbooks, and Christmas cookbooks.  I never said I didn’t have a problem, you know. I’ve also just launched a Pioneer Woman cookbook collection and I really look forward to our visits.
  6. When you have a physical cookbook in your hands, you have more than “just” recipes. You have the author or that particular cookbook’s tips, expertise, tricks, and knowledge… right at your disposal!
  7. Granted, we can find a good number of recipes for our favorite celebrity chefs online, but you won’t find all of them. There are MANY special recipes you’ll only find in their cookbooks. Think about it… wouldn’t it behoove them to give the best to those who buy their cookbooks?!  And that they do. Recipes you will not find online along with tips they won’t even share on Twitter.
  8. Buying cookbooks will introduce you to wonderful cooks and chefs you’ve never even heard of. Their names aren’t household words and the first time you see their smiling face on the cover will probably be the first time you’ve ever laid eyes on them. Yet, it’s been my experience, that their cookbooks will be among your favorites. They have a passion for food and cooking and their cookbook is their outlet.
  9. Cookbooks introduce you to different cultures and different cuisines around the world – and I could, in no way, ever describe to you how cool this is.  “Mixing things up” with your recipes and meals is a great way to fall in love with cooking all over again.
  10. Last, but not least, when you buy cookbooks, you’re supporting the men, women, husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers involved in the publishing process. From the author to the illustrator and from the publisher to the distributor.  I want to see them all gainfully employed for years and years to come.

The wonderful thing about cookbooks is, I know they will be.

Cookbooks aren’t going anywhere and I think that calls for a piece of chocolate candy…. made from a recipe in a cookbook you’ll soon see reviewed on Get Cooking: Sally’s Candy Addiction!

I think I’ll actually have two pieces…

Thanks so much for reading! ~ Joi (“Joy“)

Cookbook Review: Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

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Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci
I have to admit, one of the things that drew me to Inspiralized (new cookbook by Ali Maffucci) in the first place was my great love of my Spiral Vegetable Slicer. I was curious how anyone could come up with enough different recipes to fill a cookbook.

I further have to admit that I was a little skeptical! My skepticism thought, “Meh. She’ll probably fill the book with 75% pictures, 25% recipes.”

Wrong on all accounts!

Inspiralized is a beautiful, fresh, and downright inspiring cookbook that is, in fact, filled with exciting recipes.

{Review continued below….}

Recipe from Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci
From the inside cover:
On her wildly popular blog, Inspiralized, Ali Maffucci is revolutionizing healthy eating. Whether you’re low-carb, gluten-free, Paleo, or raw, you don’t have to give up the foods you love. Inspiralized shows you how to transform more than 20 vegetables and fruits into delicious meals that look and taste just like your favorite indulgent originals. Zucchini turns into pesto spaghetti; jicama becomes shoestring fries; sweet potatoes lay the foundation for fried rice; plantains transform into “tortillas” for huevos rancheros.

Ali’s recipes for breakfast, snacks, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, salads, casseroles, rices, pastas, and even desserts are easy to follow, hard to mess up, healthful, and completely fresh and flavorful. Best of all, she tells you how to customize them for whatever vegetables you have on hand and whatever your personal goal may be—losing weight, following a healthier lifestyle, or simply making easy meals at home.

Here, too, are tons of technical tips and tricks; nutritional information for each dish and every vegetable you can possibly spiralize; and advice for spiralizing whether you’re feeding just yourself, your family, or even a crowd. So bring on a hearty appetite and a sense of adventure—you’re ready to make the most of this secret weapon for healthy cooking.

{Review continued below…}

Recipe from Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci
If you love vegetables – and I mean love them to the point of getting as excited about veggies as the average person does chocolate or bacon – you will definitely want this cookbook.  Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals is a celebration of vegetables.  Tomatoes, zucchini, corn,  bell peppers, carrots, parsnips, kale, and their colorful friends are the star of the show. There are, however, lots of herbs, cheeses, fruit, seasonings, and even meat as well.

If you enjoy “mixing things up” and creating meals that are as visually impressive as they are delicious, you’ll want this cookbook.

The recipes create colorful, fresh, delicious, and beautiful dishes that will make you a legend in your own kitchen.

Some of the recipes include:

  • Daikon Ramen with Skirt Steak
  • Pickled Onion and Watermelon Salad with Ricotta Salata
  • Jalapeno Turkey Burgers with Cilantro-Lime Kohlrabi
  • Short Ribs with Sweet Potato Grits
  • Zucchini Linguine with Garlic Clam Sauce
  • Spicy Jicama Strings
  • Cucumber, Avocado, and Strawberry Salsa
  • “Everything Bagel” Breakfast Buns

The recipes are extremely creative and most unusual.  Suffice to say the average guest would never be able to guess what you were about to serve them.

Earlier in the review, I noted that this cookbook was “downright inspiring.” It honestly is, from front to cover – and that’s what, ultimately, you want from a cookbook – more than anything else. You want to be inspired to come up with your own creative recipes and ways of expressing yourself with your cooking.

Ali Maffucci reminds us that vegetables are incredibly versatile that can be.. and should be… used as beautiful and tasteful center attractions to build our meals around.

Find out more about Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals (Amazon link) and order your own copy today – just in time to use on all the fresh produce this summer!

Note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. The opinions are entirely my own.

A Gorgeous Cookbook I Know You’ll Love

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I was recently sent a big, beautiful cookbook to review: Energy Cuisine.  The authors are two chef friends, David Denis and Jani Lehtinen.  This isn’t just any ordinary cookbook, mind you. It’s as though a beautiful coffee table book and an exotic cookbook had a child.

The premise behind the book is as original as it is cool:

Theirs is one of the most satisfying culinary friendships since soup and sandwich, meat and potatoes, or shrimp and grits. CHEF DAVID DENIS comes of age in the South of France, only to discover that everything-including restaurant success-is bigger in Texas. CHEF JANI LEHTINEN grows up in Pori, Finland, only to discover the meaning of life, cooking in Italy. Drawing on the dazzling culinary riches of Le Mistral in Houston and Bucco in Pori, these chef-buddies take us “on the road,” through their quite different kitchens and far beyond: sharing with us the people, places and things that truly make dishes spectacular. Written with veteran author John DeMers and photographer Shannon O’Hara. Journalist, radio host, author and playwright John DeMers ate his way through 136 foreign countries before discovering he could get all the same food right here in Houston. Currently, John hosts the weekly Delicious Mischief food and wine radio show Saturdays on NewsRadio 740 KTRH and on Austin’s Talk 1370, as well as the weekly Sunday show Houston ArtsWeek, covering the Performing, visual and literary arts. He is the author of 40 published books, including Follow the Smoke: 14,783 Miles of Great Texas Barbecue, reflecting the total distance he drove to overeat in 119 different places and his first mystery novel, Marfa Shadows. In the course of working with Chef David and Chef Jani on Energy Cuisine, John traveled further abroad, to Finland, Provence, Shiner, Texas, and everywhere in between.

The photography in Energy Cuisine is too beautiful to even describe. The big, gorgeous pictures just keep coming. The food looks so scrumptious and real you can almost taste it. I swear I looked at the “Burbot Wallenberg with Mashed Potatoes and English Peas” so long I thought my eyes would cross.

Gorgeous!

Recipes in this beautiful book include:

  • Seared Scallops with Foie Gras and Crawfish Reduction
  • Traditional Crepes Suzette
  • Smoked Salmon-New Potato Salad in Fish Egg-Sour Cream Sauce (you should see this beauty!)
  • Vanilla Panna Cotta with Fresh Strawberries
  • Meme’s Ravioli (a recipe from David Denis’ grandmother)
  • La Bomba (beautiful layered sorbet and mousse dessert)
  • Fresh Raspberries with Raspberry Coulis and Rosemary Whipped Cream

There are tons of recipes in this gorgeous cookbook as well as the fascinating story behind each chef/author. I highly, highly recommend Energy Cuisine.

Below is one of the recipes and if you love raspberries and rosemary as much as I do, prepare to drool.  The recipe calls for fresh raspberries and rosemary. The Raspberry Coulis (Coulis is a thick French sauce made from fruit or vegetables) is complimented by a gorgeous rosemary whipped cream.

Fresh Raspberries with Raspberry Coulis and Rosemary Whipped Cream (Page 86)

COULIS:

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 sprig fresh rosemary
3 cups fresh raspberries

ROSEMARY WHIPPED CREAM:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

36 fresh raspberries

When raspberries are in season, there’s really nothing better. This mix of fresh berries and a nice coulis is even more interesting when paired with the whipped cream scented with rosemary.

Prepare the coulis by putting water, sugar, and rosemary in a saucepan. Then add the raspberries. Let them cook for 10 minutes over low heat. Remove rosemary. Pour the raspberry mixture into a blender and blend until extremely fine. Pass the blended mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds.

Place the cream and ground rosemary in a saucepan and warm over low heat, being careful to not boil the cream. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Place the cream in the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 30 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla to cream and whisk until fluffy. Do not overbeat; it will turn into butter.

To serve, spoon coulis onto the bottom of a dish. Set 6 raspberries on each dish, topped with whipped cream.

Read more about Energy Cuisine and order your copy today. I know it seems early, but this would make extraordinary Christmas gifts for the cooks on your list.

Simply Suppers: Comfort Foods Recipes You’ll Flip Your Skillet For

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This is not a gluten-free cookbook but the recipes are easy to transition to gluten-free with simple substitutions. Just be sure to carefully check out ingredients you aren’t sure about.

I was recently sent a copy of Simply Suppers: Comfort Food You Can Get on the Table in No Time Flat by Jennifer Chandler to review. The first things to pop into my recipe-obsessive mind were:

  1. This is comfort food at its delicious best.
  2. The food photography is exceptional.
  3. These recipes fit every occasion imaginable.
  4. I’d better get started today, because I intend to make every recipe in the collection.

Author Jennifer Chandler graduated at the top of her class with Le Grand Diplome and a Mention Tres Bien in Pastry from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.   Suffice to say, she knows her way around the culinary world.  As the mother of two girls, she also knows a thing or two about making delicious food that your family wants to eat.  There’s simply no way that one-two combo can be beaten.

Jennifer Chandler is also the author of another outstanding cookbook, Simply Salads: More than 100 Delicious Creative Recipes Made from Prepackaged Greens and a Few Easy-to-Find Ingredients.

Simply Suppers, literally, has a recipe for every occasion:

  • Comforting, beautiful suppers you like to hit your loved ones with when they come home each night.
  • Tailgating food for taking TO games or for bringing games TO you.
  • Super special meals for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, anniversaries…
  • Hot Cocoa Chocolate Pudding for making the world a better place.

One of the things I love the most about Simply Suppers: Comfort Food You Can Get on the Table in No Time Flat is the fact that these are spectacular, beautiful recipes that still manage to feature simple, easy-to-find ingredients. Success! No scouring the entire region for foods I’ve never even heard of or searching for hours for substitutes for foods I can’t possibly find.

Hate that.

Some of the outstanding recipes in Simply Suppers include:

  • Crock Pot Beef Stew
  • Corn Chowder
  • Sauteed Spaghetti Squash
  • Double-Decker Peach Cobbler (be still my heart)
  • Baked Rigatoni with Sausage Meatballs and Spinach
  • Potatoes Au Gratin
  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • Shrimp, Chicken, and Sausage Jambalaya
  • Chicken Pot Pie
  • Roast Chicken with Pan Gravy (You should see the picture!)
  • Yellow Squash Casserole
  • Cheddar-Pecan Green Bean Casserole (Knock their socks off this Thanksgiving)
  • Smothered Pork Chops (recipe below)
  • Many, many more!

With entrees, side dishes, and unforgettable desserts, Simply Suppers will become one of your favorite cookbooks.  You know, the kind you keep nearby at all times and return to again and again.

Below is one of the recipes form Simply Suppers.  Try it. Love it. And, whatever you do, grab a copy of this cookbook as soon as possible – it’s simply perfect.

Smothered Pork Chops Recipe from Simply Suppers

4 thinly sliced center-cut pork chops (about 1-1/4 pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion (1 large onion)
1 can (10-3/4 ounce) cream of celery soup
1 can water

Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel and generously season with salt and pepper. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the oil until a few droplets of water sizzle when carefully sprinkled in the pan. Sear the meat until nicely browned on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a plate and reserve.

Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the soup and water, and stir to combine. Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Return the meat to the pan. Cover and simmer until the meat is tender, about 45 minutes. Adjust seasonings as needed. Serve the pork chops hot with the sauce ladled on top.

Serves 4.

COOKING TIP: You can use either bone-in or boneless pork chops for this recipe.

The recipe, above, is on page 71 of Simply Suppers and is just one of the many, many wonderful recipes you’ll flip for. This 256 page cookbook is a must-have and would make a PERFECT gift for new brides, new grooms, or frankly anyone who wants to cook great food for those they love.

When I was looking for a recipe to include in the post, the Smothered Pork Chops recipe stood out. Then I noticed the caption under the recipe title and it all made sense: The author wrote “This delicious, old-fashioned recipe is from my dear mom. Slow cooking turns tough pork chops into a fork tender treat.”

It seems like our best recipes always come form the same person we came from! Mom. It’s kind of what puts the comfort in comfort food.

You’re going to love this cookbook: Simply Suppers: Comfort Food You Can Get on the Table in No Time Flat


Cooking for Isaiah Has Recipes That’ll Astonish PLUS a Tailgating Recipe for Proof

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I was recently sent a new cookbook to review that I’m very excited about. Excited to tell you about and excited to cook each and every recipe in the 223 page book! You know how, sometimes, as you’re thumbing through a cookbook you’ll go, “I might make that… I’ll try that one… nah… nah… There’s one I might try…. nah…” With this cookbook, I thumbed through the entire book and each recipe was met with a, “I can’t wait to make that one!”

Not a single nah.

Cooking for Isaiah was written by Silvana Nardone, founding editor in Chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. Rachael Ray, herself, wrote the foreword. Silvana is also a columnist for Every Day with Rachael Ray with the “No-Recipe Zone” and “Sweet Spot” columns.

However, in this particular interest, I’m certain she carries a much simpler name – one worn closer to the heart. When you get down to it, this cookbook was written by “Isaiah’s Mom.”

Cooking for Isaiah is a labor of love. Silvana Nardone was challenged to create delicious meals for her beautiful young son, Isaiah, after he was diagnosed with food intolerances to gluten and dairy.

Description: “The cornbread was flavorful, moist and light with a deliciously tender crumb. My only hope with this recipe was that Isaiah would love it… And then Isaiah took a bite. The look on his face was pure heaven.”
Cooking for Isaiah is a love story of Silvana Nardone’s journey to develop great-tasting meals for her son, Isaiah, after he was diagnosed with food intolerances to gluten and dairy. The results of her efforts are found in the pages of this book, through 135 recipes that are not only easy to make, but taste and look delicious.
From “S’mores Pancakes with Marshmallow Sauce” to “Double-Decker Toasted Cornbread and Spicy Greens Stack,” and “Chicken and Waffles with Maple Bacon Gravy” to “Chocolate Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting,” all of the recipes in Cooking for Isaiah are entirely free of gluten and dairy. Crafted with a variety of cooks in mind, an ingredient substitution chart shows you what to swap if, for example, you need to cook without gluten, but dairy is okay. You’ll also find Silvana’s tried-and-tested all-purpose flour and pancake mix recipes, sure to make gluten-free cooking and baking accessible to all. Written by Silvana Nardone, Editor in Chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine, this charming, personal cookbook belongs on every cook’s shelf.

The cookbook is a labor of love.  Silvana Nardone was challenged to develop delicious (so delicious even a child would love them, without feeling like he was being robbed of a normal childhood filled with the kinds of foods kids love) meals for her son, Isaiah, after he was diagnosed with food-intolerances to gluten and dairy.

Remarkably, symptoms that had been plaguing young Isaiah cleared up almost immediately after his mom removed gluten and dairy from his diet.

While this cookbook would seem like a gift straight from Heaven for people of all ages who avoid gluten and/or dairy, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: Cooking for Isaiah is an outstanding cookbook for anyone – even those of us who are bedfellows with gluten and dairy.

There are two groups of people who will want to RUSH over to Amazon and buy this cookbook the very minute they finish reading this cookbook review:

  1. Anyone who is gluten and/or dairy-intolerant – or loves someone who is.  These highly-original and creative recipes and meal ideas will knock your socks off.  The recipes will open up a whole new culinary world in which you’ll delight in exploring.  It’ll make eating fun and exciting again.
  2. Everyone else!  Even those of you who aren’t the least bit intolerant of gluten or dairy will fall instantly in love with this cookbook.  There is a wonderful chart on the inside back cover (as well as on page 17) that gives you substitutions to use if you want to… well… gluten-ize and dairy-ize the recipes.   Basically, it’s as simple as using your everyday flour, cow’s milk, pancake mix, and cornbread where the author has used her own gluten-free recipe for flour and pancake mix, or where she has substituted with Rice Milk (although I’m such a fanatic for Rice Milk, I wouldn’t dream of substituting for it… LOVE the stuff!).

The creativity the mom-author shows in these recipes boggles the mind while it leaves you drooling over the pictures (the ones in the book as well as the ones in your own mind).

About the Author, Silvana Nardone
Silvana Nardone is the founding Editor in Chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray, where she has been honored with the magazine industry’s top awards since its launch in 2005. She is the magazine’s “No-Recipe Zone” and “Sweet Spot” columnist. A writer, editor, cooking instructor, and food consultant, she is the coauthor of Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian, has been featured in many publications including the New York Times, and has appeared on NBC Weekend Today, WCBS News This Morning, WABC Eyewitness News This Morning, E! Entertainment True Hollywood Story, Fox News Fox & Friends, and the Food Network’s Roker on the Road. She was profiled by Big Apple Parent and About.com for her focus on gluten-free and dairy- free cooking. Silvana owned an Italian bakery, Fanciulla, when Rachael Ray hired her to launch her magazine. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband Stephen and two children, Isaiah and Chiara. Visit her blog at DishTowelDiaries.com.

The first recipe I made from this outstanding cookbook was the Toasted Ham-and-Tomato Cornbread Sandwiches with Jalapeno Mayonnaise.  I simply used my favorite Buttermilk Cornbread Recipe instead of the “Double Corn Cornbread” called for.  The Double Corn Cornbread recipe is found in the book on page 75 and sounds awesome.  In fact, I plan to give it a try – but I simply had the ingredients on hand for Buttermilk Cornbread, so I went with it.

Besides, I adore buttermilk cornbread and I knew there’d be enough left over for breakfast the next morning.  I love to split cornbread in half, butter it, and toast it lightly on the griddle, right beside eggs as they fry.  Then I top off the cornbread with a layer of Pepper Jelly and place the fried egg right up on top.  SO GOOD.  Then again, the cornbread with pepper jelly is a special experience, with or without the egg.

Toasted Ham-and-Tomato Cornbread Sandwiches with Jalapeno Mayonnaise

1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley leaves (I used cilantro)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt
4 (4-inch) squares Double Corn Cornbread (page 75) or store-bought cornbread – split and toasted
shredded lettuce (about 2 cups) for topping
1 pound deli-sliced smoked ham
4 tomato slices, for topping

1. In a food processor, combine the mayonnaise, jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, honey, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Process until smooth. (This jalapeno mayonnaise is so good you’ll want to eat it straight from the food processor bowl – trust me on this one. Your’s truly spread some on a Ritz cracker and had a fine time.)
2. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the jalapeno mayonnaise on each cornbread bottom; top each with shredded lettuce, ham, and a tomato slice. Spread the remaining jalapeno mayonnaise on each cornbread top and set in place. To serve, cut diagonally.

I actually cooked my cornbread in a large round pan, so my sandwiches were triangular. They were all kinds of cute and even more delicious than I can tell you – however, next time (and there will be many, many next times) I’ll go the square route because it’d be easier to maneuver the tomatoes and lettuce on a wider playing field.

The jalapeno mayonnaise would be incredible on…

  • BLTs
  • Homemade Vegetarian Subway Sandwiches
  • Turkey Paninis
  • Chicken Paninis,
  • Egg sandwiches
  • Ritz Crackers…

The Toasted Ham-and-Tomato Cornbread Sandwiches with Jalapeno Mayonnaise would be an excellent recipe for tailgating.  You’d surely rack up points for creativity AND taste.

Recipes such as this one keep your family on their toes.  The reason I love creative, original recipes is this:  They show your family that you love them enough to make their meals extra-special.  Who wants to come home to the same meal every night?  Keep things interesting and unexpected!

Other Recipes in Cooking for Isaiah:

  • Penne with Walnut Cream Sauce
  • Tomato Live Black Bean Soup with Avocado Cream
  • Chicken Potpie Soup
  • Hash Brown Belgian Waffles with Apple Sausage and Fried Eggs (You should see the picture!)
  • Chocolate-Dipped Chocolate Doughnuts
  • Bacon-Apple Cornbread Stuffing
  • Creamed Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes
  • Grilled BBQ Onion-Smothered Double Bacon Burgers (I don’t think a teenager would even breath between bites.)
  • Raspberry-Lemon Meringue Layer Cake
  • Chocolate Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting
  • Super Fudge Brownies
  • Rocky Road Rice Crispy Treats
  • Grilled Vegetable Pesto Pizza
  • Chocolate Chip-Banana Split Belgian Waffles with Wet Walnuts and Hot Fudge Sauce
  • Grilled Corn Cakes with Strawberry Syrup
  • Isaiah’s Pumpkin Muffins with Crumble Topping
  • Asparagus Risotto Casserole
  • Creamy Corn Chowder
  • Isaiah’s Whipped Hot Cocoaccino (I’m enjoying one right this minute!!!  This is so delicious – it calls for rice milk, which I always have on hand.  Amazing – you’d know how amazing if you could see me licking my lips like crazy.)

Do yourself a huge favor and order a copy of Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy Delicious Meals right now. You will not find recipes like these anywhere else.

As for me, my oldest daughter will be home on her lunch break in a few minutes, and I plan on meeting her in the kitchen with a mug of Isaiah’s Whipped Hot Cocoaccino. She’s kind of under the weather and I KNOW this will set her world right again.