Better Homes and Gardens Double-Cheddar Holiday Biscuits

As I've stated before I absolutely love cheese. I have been caught many times eating almost a whole block of cheese from the fridge. The rest of my family holds the same feelings towards biscuits that I have for cheese. West Virginians take their biscuits very seriously, there is even a whole chain of biscuit fast food restaurants that have lines around the corner most mornings. It has taken me the whole eight years that my husband and I have been married for my biscuits to be considered better than just adequate. Biscuits are serious business around here. Recently, Better Homes and Gardens magazine had a recipe for Double-Cheddar Holiday Biscuits, which combined two household favorites, cheese and biscuits, and looked like the perfect accompaniment to my Thanksgiving meal.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes of prep and 16 minutes of baking time and makes 24 biscuits. All the ingredients are basic and I had no problems finding at my local grocery store. I always use whole fat buttermilk and this recipe was no exception. I rarely use low-fat buttermilk even if a recipe calls for it, the taste seems unauthentic to me. Instead of rolling the dough out to cut the biscuits I followed the way that my mother-in-law taught me a long time back and hand patted out the dough and used the top of a plastic cup to cut. I have also used the top of measuring cups to cut out biscuits before and that works well also. I did not pierce the dough, I forgot to do the step and have never done it to my biscuits before, so I don't think the step is necessary, my biscuits rose nicely without. I followed the remainder of this recipe as written.

I must say this was one of the highlights of my Thanksgiving spread. Everyone absolutely loved these biscuits and they were the perfect accompaniment to the collard greens that I served. The two cheddar cheeses blended perfectly together and made for a rich and delicious biscuit. Most importantly these biscuits are very versatile and would work well as either a side dish or a breakfast food.

For the recipe go to Double-Cheddar Holiday Biscuits.

Food and Wine Meat Loaf with Creamy Onion Gravy

My husband absolutely loves meatloaf. When we first got married I only knew how to make the oatmeal, ketchup and ground beef variety of meatloaf that I grew up with. My dad was the same way as my husband and frequently requested my mom make his favorite dish, meatloaf. Over the years I have expanded my collection of meatloaf recipes, but have always come back to the dutch meatloaf recipe that I found about five years back. I'm lucky that my husband is easy to please and enjoys meatloaf slathered in ketchup. As I've stated to many times to count now we are a big pork family. My family loves pork! I have tried a few meatloaf recipes utilizing ground pork in the past and have been less than pleased with the experience. As I was glancing in a recent issue of Food and Wine magazine I came across a recipe for Meat Loaf with Creamy Onion Gravy, which combined pork and beef and looked like a great new recipe for meatloaf.

This recipe has 16 ingredients in the meatloaf and eight in the gravy. The meatloaf takes an hour and a half of cooking and prep time, 45 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. The creamy onion gravy takes approximately 45 minutes and makes 5 cups. All the ingredients were basic and easy to find at my local grocery store. I made my chicken stock from scratch, which took me about 6 hours the day before I prepared this dish. Additionally, I ground my own beef and pork, which added approximately 45 minutes to my overall time. I found that the gravy took longer than the 5 minutes suggested by the recipe to fully reduce, I would say it took me about another 10 minutes. The one major criticism I had with this recipe is that the recipe calls for a tablespoon and a half of salt. To me that is way more than needs to be added, especially since the cheese is already salty. The meatloaf ended up way too salty for my tastes. I would recommend cutting the salt significantly. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved this entire recipe and my husband ate it happy, as he would with any type of meatloaf. The creamy onion gravy turned out delicious and would work well over egg noodles. The meatloaf had a nice taste from the cheese, but needs the salt reduced for my family's needs. Other people might not have as much of a problem, I am very salt sensitive. I will definitely use the gravy recipe again and try it with egg noodles or steak.

For the recipe go to Meat Loaf with Creamy Onion Gravy.

Saveur Kartoffelrahmsuppe (Spiced Potato Soup)

Cold weather doesn't agree with me. I freeze once the temp hits approximately 50 degrees. Everyone else in my house seems content to sit around in t-shirts, while I have a sweatshirt and huge blanket wrapped around me. To me the fall and winter are worse weather wise than the summer. Even when I am burning up I can shed clothes or turn on the air conditioner, in the winter I just plain freeze. One thing I love to keep me somewhat warm during the cooler months is soup. There is nothing more warming than a big bowl of soup and a slice of homemade bread. Recently, Saveur magazine had a recipe for Kartoffelrahmsuppe (Spiced Potato Soup), which looked creamy, warm, and delicious.

This recipe has 18 ingredients. The prep and cooking time is approximately an hour and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients. Recently, my local grocery store has started carrying leeks in the organic section, which is so much better than having to drive 30 minutes to the suburban grocery store. Instead of store bought stock, I used the homemade chicken stock that I already had in my freezer. I chose to leave out the caramelized onions since my two boys were eating the recipe, and would shy away from them. Instead of cooking the soup for 30 minutes, I allowed my soup to cook for closer to 45 minutes in order for the potatoes to be completely soft and cooked through. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was very impressed with this recipe. The horseradish gives the soup a spicy undertone which blends perfectly with the potatoes and leeks. The recipe states that it makes 4 servings, but it made enough for a meal for my family of four plus leftovers for lunch the next day. This soup would make a great addition to a steak dinner or a roast beef sandwich. A delicious soup that would compliment a variety of beef dishes.

For the recipe go to Spiced Potato Soup.

Woman's Day Easy Scones

As I've stated before I am horrible about eating breakfast. Most mornings I grab a cup of coffee and nothing else until lunch. The one exception is if I have baked scones. I love scones and they are one of the few breakfast foods that I will always eat. Since I make scones approximately once a month, I am always looking for new recipe ingredients. The November issue of Woman's Day magazine had a recipe for Easy Scones using lemon-lime soda, which looked unusual and perfect for a weekday breakfast.

This recipe has 3 ingredients. It takes a total of 30 minutes, 10 of which is active and makes 8 servings. I made a few modifications to this recipe. First, I used sierra mist soda, since it was what was on sale the week that I made these scones. For flavor I added dried cranberries, approximately 1/2 cup. I love fruit scones and the cranberries give a nice sweet/tart element. Finally, instead of spooning the dough, I hand patted the dough into a circle and cut into eight triangles. Before putting the scones in the oven I brushed the tops with heavy whipping cream and sprinkled with granulated sugar. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys got a kick out of this recipe. I had never used lemon-lime soda in a scone recipe, so I was intrigued by the concept. The scones turned out moist and delicious and the dried cranberries made a delicious addition. The best part of the recipe is that it only has 3 ingredients (4 if using dried cranberries). A very quick and easy scone recipe, that turns out light and perfect for breakfast.

For the recipe go to Easy Scones.

Martha Stewart Living Sweet-and-Salty Pecans

I'm a huge snack person. When I was younger I was always active in swimming, dancing, running; you name the physical activity and I probably had tried it. In the evenings after school I would run in and eat half the fridge before dashing off for hours of swimming lessons or dance classes. I was lucky that I had inherited my dad's very tall and lean bone structure and a very high metabolism. When my parents first got married my dad apparently ate 5 bologna sandwiches for lunch and was still a six foot three inch bean pole. As I've gotten older and had two c-sections I now try to watch the snacks that I put into my body and find a balance between protein and taste. Don't get me wrong, I am still the most likely person in my house to eat cake for breakfast, but I am also the one snacking on almonds and soy nuts. Recently, Martha Stewart Living had a recipe for Sweet and Salty Pecans, which looked simple, delicious and perfect for snacking.

This recipe has 4 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of prep and cooking time, 5 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 cups of nuts. Since this recipe has so few ingredients, I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I chose to use pecans, but cashew or walnuts would work just as well. Make sure to stir your nuts every 5 minutes and keep the nuts flat in order for them to be crisp, not soggy. Salt the nuts while still warm for the best flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With four ingredients, this is a very easy recipe. These nuts were great to grab as a snack during the rush of Thanksgiving cooking and my two kids thought they tasted like candy. I used these nuts as a snack, but they would make a perfect gift. With a great package and a bow these nuts would make a great homemade Christmas gift. Overall, a very easy and delicious snack or gift idea.

For the recipe go to Sweet and Salty Pecans.

Family Circle Wild Mushroom Soup

The cold weather and I have a love-hate relationship. I love all the flavors of the fall and winter seasons, but I absolutely hate being cold. Growing up we had an old fashioned furnace that had vents that I would stand right in front of in an attempt to stay warm. I have always gotten cold easier than anyone else that I know and I stay pretty miserable once the temps drop below about 20 degrees. I have learned that hot drinks and meals warm me up effectively and are a great way to boost my mood in the colder months. Recently, the November issue of Family Circle magazine had a recipe for Wild Mushroom Soup, which looked easy, warm and full of one of family's favorite foods. 

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It makes 8 servings and takes approximately 15 minutes of prep and 28 minutes of cooking time. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and I was pleased to find that I could purchase shiitake mushrooms in bulk, which was much cheaper than buying them pre-packaged. I make all my stock from scratch, so the day before I made this recipe, I roasted a chicken and used the bones for chicken stock. I found that it took a significant amount of salt in order to flavor this recipe, don't be shy with the salt. Finally, the soup didn't thicken up as much as the photo implied, mine was a thinner consistency of cream soup than the photo. The difference in consistency didn't effect the taste, so it was more a texture issue. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written. 

My oldest son absolutely loves mushrooms. If I tell him that a recipe has mushrooms in it, he will gobble it up happily. This recipe was no exception, he ate his whole serving. The flavor on this soup is nice and it takes very little effort to prepare. The consistency is thinner than the photo implies, but doesn't effect the taste. A warm, creamy mushroom soup, that would work great to warm up in the cold months ahead. 

For the recipe go to Wild Mushroom Soup.