Nov 27

Nov 27 Italian-Style Pigs in a Blanket | Holiday Recipes: Make Ahead

Holy November! You guys, this month went out with a serious attitude. We had Winter Storm Brian come through Sunday night and around 5am Monday morning the power went out. During this power outage, there is a small chance my laptop got fried but it’s oddly the only thing in the house effected and it was on a surge protector. So chances are it just decided to die on me for no reason. So when the power finally came back on in the late morning, which also happens to be the time I found out about my dead computer, I had to dive into new laptop research…

Nov 18

Nov 18 Chocolate Strawberry Pie Squares | Holiday Recipes: Desserts for Non-Bakers

Christine Rosko

Food

Happy Sunday! It’s the week. The week where the holiday season officially kicks off with the first holiday...Thanksgiving! I celebrated Friendsgiving with my group of girlfriends from college this weekend and let’s just say I don’t want to eat for five days. Hopefully I’ll have deflated by the time Thursday comes around. We’re not doing any entertaining for Thanksgiving, our job is 100% Christmas. However, I can understand the need for quick and easy recipes this week. Lucky for you, we have our second Easy Dessert for Non-Bakers and coincidentally, it’s another that uses the amazing store-bought pie dough. These whip up pretty easy, although a little messy, and they’re super addictive. I wasn’t sure how this recipe would turn out while it was still an idea but man was it a hit…

Nov 17

Nov 17 Sausage & Farro Stuffed Acorn Squash | Farmers Market Series

Christine Rosko

Food

It’s the weekend! While I’m working a sweat up in the kitchen preparing brunch and dinner for a whole day’s worth of Friendsgiving activities, I hope you’re taking it easy this morning catching up on some Food Network. I’m kind of sad because today is the last farmers market series recipe! I was really bummed that our local market ended earlier in the season. I haven’t had a chance to get to one of the closest farms so the journey sadly ends here. However, I will most definitely be bringing the series back in the late spring once the produce starts growing in…

Nov 16

Nov 16 Herby Apple Stuffing | Holiday Recipes: Make Ahead

Christine Rosko

Food

Happy Friday! Thanksgiving is less than one week away which means that Christmas is 5 weeks away. It’s the countdown of the year and I seem to get a little bit more excited every day. We already have one Christmas tree up and the kitchen is decorated all festive. I have my schedule pretty much in place for the rest of the year unless, of course, something comes up which isn’t uncommon. Many people who are entertaining for Thanksgiving have already been preparing for next week. Any groceries that can be bought are sitting on their own shelf in the pantry and freezer. Decorations are bought and ready for display…

Nov 12

Nov 12 Sweet Potato Soup | Farmers Market Series

Christine Rosko

Food

Happy Monday! I hope your week is getting off to a productive start. It’s been awfully cold around these parts lately. Dinners have been all about soup in my house. Not only is soup easy to make and a one-pot-dish, it’s comforting and warming which is all you need on a cold night. The sun starts setting around 3:30 and is down completely by 5 which is crazy but I love it. I’m still adjusting to the early nights and trying not to go to bed by 8PM but I’m all for the arrival of winter. It’s the season of bundling up, fires in the fireplace, hot cocoa, Christmas music, and comfort food. You can add this recipe for Sweet Potato Soup to your collection of cozy cold weather soups too! It’s a good for you but still stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup…

Nov 5

Nov 5 Classic Meatballs | Holiday Recipes: Make Ahead

Christine Rosko

Food

There’s one question people who rock the holidays always get: How. Do. You. Do. It? For starters, a lot of very serious planning. Once the planning is out of the way, preparation beings. It’s crazy to believe that one person can prepare a meal for 10+ people in just a day. No. It takes days of work, and weeks of advance preparation a little bit at a time. Just yesterday, I was visiting with one of my best friends. While I was putting the final touches on the meal planning for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, she was making homemade turkey stock for Thanksgiving. Why? Because it’s one less thing to worry about when you’re in the final countdown. There are several make ahead recipes that will make it to my holiday parties this year, including these delicious Classic Meatballs…

Nov 4

Nov 4 Apple Hand Pies | Holiday Recipes: Desserts for Non-Bakers

Christine Rosko

Food

As an Italian, the sweet table at holidays rivals that of our dinner table. I come from a family of bakers and not just average bakers, great bakers. Pie making, pastry wielding bakers. Bakers that make me feel incompetent with a whisk and mixer. In case you haven’t caught on, I’m not a baker. Sure...I can whip out a muffin or two, brownies and easy one-bowl creations. But I hate to measure and I certainly don’t have the patience for butter to soften. Have you noticed that any recipe I’ve shared that uses butter in baking, it’s always melted? Simply put, I don’t have the patience for baking. When I need to make desserts, I want them to be easy and brainless. That’s what inspired me to come up with a few recipes for other people like me this holiday season who are not born bakers and would rather whip up a pot of Coq au Vin than measure out perfectly portioned cupcakes. Starting with these scrumptious Apple Hand Pies that take a shortcut for the hard part…

Nov 3

Nov 3 Sauteed Kale with Bacon & Apples | Farmers Market Series

Christine Rosko

Food

Not to start a panic or anything but Thanksgiving is two days short of three weeks away! If you’re hosting this year, I hope you’ve got your ducks in a row. The last thing I want for anyone is an overwhelming feeling of stress from procrastination until the last minute. Get those turkeys ordered, set that timeline for prep and execution, start stocking up on supplies and ingredients that won’t spoil...and in case you need a helping hand to get started, we put together a few tips. Regardless of the occasion, recipes that whip up quick without much effort are ideal for busy weeknights or holidays. This sauteed kale recipe is tasty, it’s fast, and there are only three total ingredients making it a winner. I served it for a regular weeknight dinner alongside seared steaks but this would be a delicious addition to any holiday dinner table as well…

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