Turkey-Cranberry-Brie Grilled Cheese

Christmas is our second-favorite occasion for a good turkey dinner, and this decadent grilled sandwich oozing with melted brie is just about the best way to finish off the holiday leftovers.

This year we were doing a whirlwind Midwestern family tour, starting in Iowa, then celebrating with the Dueas in Minnesota. We were home for a day and a half and are now packing to spend Christmas with my family in Ohio.

Since everyone else planned something different for holiday meals, I got my turkey fix when Joe roasted a turkey breast and made his light garlic mashed potatoes. Since we'll be on the road all afternoon, I grilled up a few of these sandwiches to keep us company on the drive. Yum!

Ingredients

4 slices Italian bread
2 tbsp butter
4 oz brie
4 oz thinly sliced turkey
1/4 cup cranberry relish

Instructions

Spread the butter on one side of each slice of bread. Slice the brie (you can peel off the white outer covering if you want - Joe likes the way it tastes, but I take it off of my slices). Arrange the brie on the bread and then spread the relish over it. Top with the turkey slices and the other slice of bread.

Grill or toast the sandwiches on a hot skillet until browned and heated through.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

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Kathleen's Light Fruitcake with Grand Marnier Icing

I like to scoop up the moist little crumbles at the bottom of the pan and eat them like a bit of butterscotch brownies.

I've heard all the jokes about fruitcake, but could never really understand them. My mom's fruitcake was always so buttery, crumbly, and nutty, full of all the fruits I loved and none of that bitter fruit rind I've heard some people put into theirs. I looked forward to it every year.

This year, my mom made it especially for me. Yeah, other people got to eat it too, but I'm certain she made it just for me. Try this, and you might become a fruitcake evangelist, too.

Ingredients

4 cups pecan halves
2 cups walnut halves
2 cups candied cherries (we use both green and red)
2 cups candied pineapple
1 cup golden raisins
1 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 cups butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp Grand Marnier or 2 tsp orange extract and 2 tsp milk
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine, add top 6 ingredients, toss. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs, orange juice, and lemon, mix. Add flour and baking powder in thirds and mix after each third. Add batter to fruit bowl and coat well. Put in well-greased tube pan. Cover top in foil. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hrs. Uncover top for last 5 minutes.

Place on a rack until nearly cool. Stir together the Grand Marnier and powdered sugar, and drizzle over the cake.

Makes 1 large fruit cake.

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Vegetable Tamale Pie with Green Salsa

The origin of this recipe is a funny, if slightly embarrassing story. A couple of my friends came over once for a tamale-making party. We also decided to make some roasted pepper salsa and cranberry-apple chutney, and I was teaching them how to can the extra sauce.

There was also a bottle of tequila, fresh limes, and some Grand Marnier that we shook into some very strong Margaritas. And a mason jar of cranberry-soaked moonshine.

Cranberry moonshine. Lord help me.

By sunset, we'd canned eight pints of salsa and seven half-pints of cranberry chutney, the chicken mixture had stewed all day into a luscious shredded filling, and the portobello and corn filling smelled fantastic. The limes were all gone, and one or all of us might or might not have done a shot of tequila.

And man, those cranberries had soaked up a powerful amount of moonshine. They were little Molotov cocktails bursting in our mouths.

We were working diligently on spreading homemade masa dough into corn wrappers and these tamales - oh, they were the most beautiful ones I've ever made. I was feeling wonderful about my recipe-teaching skills.

But I unwrapped the first ones and they were dry and crumbly...make that powdery, actually. The filling was out of this world, but the corn dough was dry as dust. I read back over my recipe and realized, somewhere in the midst of joking and sipping and stirring and filling, I'd forgotten to add the broth to the dough. Gah!

The next day, after I asked my friends if anyone remembered what happened to the beaters for my mixer, we decided that the remaining tamales could be saved by unwrapping them, mixing the dough with some broth and salsa, and layering them in a casserole dish.

It turned out so well that this may become a staple in our home. You don't have to wrap a casserole in leaves, after all, and this is the hardest part.

Ingredients

2 cups shortening
4 cups masa flour or tamale flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tsp oil
1 pound portobello, button, or other mushroom mixture, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup onion, sliced
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
2 cups salsa verde
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Put the shortening in a mixer or food processor and mix until soft and creamy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and garlic, then slowly add it to the shortening. Pour the broth in a little at a time while mixing until the dough is thoroughly mixed. It should be similar to a very sticky bread dough or a very firm muffin batter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 11 casserole dish. Spread half the dough into the dish.

In a large frying pan, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the mushrooms and onions and saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the corn and 1 cup of salsa. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer with a lid on for 10 minutes.

Spread the vegetable mixture over the dough in the casserole pan, then spread the rest of the dough over the top. Drizzle the remaining salsa over the top. If you are not a strict vegan, this is an excellent time to top the pie with a mixture of shredded chihuahua and cotija cheeses.

Cover the dish with foil, set it in the middle rack, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the pie is cooked through and the tamale dough is crumbly.

Serve with chopped cilantro and additional salsa verde, if desired.

Serves 4-6.

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Norwegian Potato-Ham Dumplings (Kumla, Kumle)

Joe's Norwegian ancestors came from the Bergen area of Norway in the 1800s. As they moved across the U.S. to establish the town of Roland, Iowa, they kept their heritage fairly intact. Today that whole area is settled with very tall fair complected people, and the name "Duea" is often seen in the town records.

My first Christmas with the family, I was introduced to these hearty, dense potato dumplings in ham broth. I think you might remember that ham and potatoes are two of my most favorite foods ever. The next day my future sister-in-law Chris sliced them and fried them in butter for breakfast. Yes, I love butter so much. It was love at first bite with kumla, obviously.

Thankfully, his family is not big on lutefisk, a powerfully-flavored dish of cod preserved in lye. I understand this is a meal for the strong-hearted and the brave, and I'm glad they didn't want to test my courage before allowing me into the family.

So back to kumla (KOOM-lah). I have since learned that people also call these potato balls klimpor, klubb, kompe, kumpe, potetball and raspeball - I guess these must be regional differences. Clearly this is not lean and light food, but it's a big satisfying meal in your belly during a midwestern winter, when the wind can tear across an entire state without hitting much that would slow it down.

On old farms, here and in snowy Scandinavia, settlers would often tie ropes from the house to the barn so that they wouldn't get lost in a blizzard while tending the animals a couple times a day. For weather like that, you need food that will fortify you.

If you make this for a holiday meal, I'd suggest a good snowball fight or a long walk in the woods to work it off afterwards. For me, food like this makes me appreciate the exuberance of a people who find winter life-affirming with the joy of an ample meal and a warm home filled with family and friends. I truly felt this warmth a few Christmases ago when Joe's brother Alan and sister Carolyn finally shared their family recipe with me. It's their wonderfully talented hands that are cooking in these photos.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I hardly ever cook without listening to music. When I was making this recipe last time, and writing it yesterday, I was listening to the movie soundtrack "We Bought a Zoo" on Spotify. The music is from Scandinavian singer Jonsi, frontman for the group Sigur Ros. It's wonderfully upbeat.

Ingredients

1 4-5 pound ham
10-12 cups water
5 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
About 4 cups white flour (some people use a mix of white, whole wheat, ground oatmeal, and/or rye flour)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp butter, melted

Instructions

Place the ham in a large stock pot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer into a rich broth, about 1 1/2- 2 hours. Remove the meat, slice it, cover it, and refrigerate until just about to serve.

Shred the raw potatoes by hand, or grind them in a food processor until crumbly. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the potatoes, flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder. The dough should be thick like bread dough, but still sticky.

Bring the remaining ham stock to a boil. Scoop out dough about the size of an egg or a plum, form it into a 2-inch ball, and drop it into the boiling stock. If you'd like, you can press a bit of the ham into the center of each dumpling.  Stir the broth often while dropping in the dumplings, so that they don't stick to each other or the bottom of the pot.

When all the dumplings are in the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 1 hour, then remove from the broth. Pile them on a platter, drizzle them with the melted butter, and serve with the hot ham on the side.

Makes 25-35 dumplings.

Hungry for more? Find more of these great recipes at Sons of Norway. 

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Holiday Cocktails and Chocolates

Spiked Egg Nog, Cinnamon Toast Hot Toddy, Cranberry-Pomegranate Cosmos, and Carrot Cake Cocktail - 'tis the season to be merry! These cocktails are fun for a party, or sipping while you're wrapping presents, assembling kids' toys, or playing a holiday game. Warms you all over.

Talea's Spiked Egg Nog

One of our family Christmas traditions is to set out a smorgasbord of meats, cheeses, olives, dips, pate, fruits, and a pitcher of egg nog while we slowly decorate the Christmas tree. Trimming the tree takes quite a while, because so many of the ornaments have a memory or some special significance that we talk about before placing them one-by-one on the tree. Our Christmas tree is really a family record.

In the end, Jessie puts the star on top of the tree and lights it. Jenn sets up the manger scene with all the animals and kings in different positions each year, and then the cats crouch under the tree, knocking over baby Jesus and pretending they live in a forest.

Egg nog is essential to the tradition, but it's never been spiked until the girls were old enough to indulge. My friend Talea's hard eggnog is superb, but she likes it strong - drink it slowly and savor every bit.

Recipe

64 oz. egg nog
1 cup Frangelico liqueur
1 cup dark rum
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
1/2 cup Malibu rum
1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 tbsp orange zest
2 tsp cinnamon

Stir together all ingredients, and keep chilled between servings.

Serves a crowd!

The Walnut Room's Cinnamon Toast Hot Cocktail

Generations of Chicagoans have traveled to the Walnut Room in Chicago's downtown Marshall Field's shopping emporium for Christmas gifts and a very special meal. Even though Macy's took over the Marshall Field's property some years ago, if you go down to State Street and Randolph today you'll still find the luxurious service, Frango mints, and the stunning two-story Christmas tree in the walnut-paneled dining room.

I'm a relative newcomer to the Walnut Room; my first trip there I was interested in the handsome and elusive Joseph Duea who eventually asked me to marry him a few blocks away at the Art Institute. That year, the first Harry Potter book had blasted away all sales records, Marshall Fields' was still Marshall Fields', and the Walnut Room tree was decorated with hundreds of snowy owls from the novel.

This year I went for lunch with a few of my friends, and the menu has retained some classics while updating for today's tastes. The restaurant still serves a dish called "Mrs. Hering's 1890 chicken pot pie". It also offers "Field's special salad" which is similar to a club sandwich in a bowl, and is all that my friend Robin really remembers from holiday trips downtown with her Grandma.

I'm guessing a more recent touch is the "fairy princesses" who travel the dining room offering you sparkling magic dust to help you when you close your eyes and make a wish. Their satin tip bags, with dollars dangling suggestively from the openings, were the only tacky touch of the entire experience, and I assure you my tack-o-meter has been finely honed over time.

Still, we all made our quiet wishes. My friends and I spent the rest of the day distracted by the glitter on our noses and eyelids, rather joyful from warming up with a signature cocktail they called "Cinnamon Toast".

Recipe

48 ounces apple cider
2 cups Amaretto
1 cup whipped cream
2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sugar
4 cinnamon sticks, to garnish


Heat the cider until near boiling, then stir in the amaretto.

Stir together the cinnamon and sugar on a plate. Wet the rim of a large mug, then swirl the rim in the cinnamon mixture. Pour the cider mixture into the mug, stir in the whipped cream, then garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Makes 4 cocktails.

Cranberry-Pomegranate Cosmopolitans

Last Christmas I held a candy-making party at my home, and served these delectable cosmos while we made chocolate truffles, chocolate-covered pretzel rods, and salted caramel dreamboats.

These cocktails go down easy - very easy. Joe made a second pitcher and left it cooling on the balcony before going to another holiday party. Around eleven, our platters of homemade candies were full and both pitchers were empty. Our bellies hurt from laughing together. What a jolly, funny, loving group of friends I have!

Cranberry-Pomegranate Cosmo recipe

Chocolate Truffle Recipe

Gourmet Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods

Salted Caramel Dreamboats

Carrot Cake Cocktail

At the very end of 1999, I had been working feverishly as a business systems analyst at a corporation that was redesigning its financial systems, in part to solve those Year 2000 problems. New Years Eve came, and I was part of the calm group of people who knew how little we had to worry about a global computer shutdown and a resulting apocalypse, because I knew how much rework had been done.

Remember when that was the crisis of the year?

My parents came to celebrate New Year's Eve with us, straight after a visit with my grandma in Minnesota. They brought a recipe from Grandma Tarr for a 'carrot cake cocktail'.

All day long, my mom tantalized me by saying how delicious it was and how I was going to love it, but every time I suggested she make it, she insisted that she would only make us one and it would be at midnight, and then she was going straight to bed.

This is the exact opposite of the way I'd plan a cocktail party for New Year's Eve, but if you know my mom, you know that she's always the boss.

Midnight arrived, we sipped this lusciously rich drink, then bundled up the girls, and my friend Michael and I took them outside to light off fireworks and sparklers in the snow. Mom went right to sleep, since midnight is about four hours past her bedtime.

This drink is really a liquid dessert, and it's just the sort of thing you might want in your hand if you think the world is going to end in a few minutes.

Recipe

1/2 cup Irish cream
1/2 cup cinnamon schnapps
1/2 cup butterscotch schnapps
Ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Shake together the liqueurs, then pour into 4 small glasses. Garnish with ground cinnamon before serving.

Makes 4 3-oz cocktails.

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Butter Bean - Butternut Squash Soup

Thanks to Talea Bloom for this beautiful photo.

Butter beans and butternut squash are well-named - they both taste especially creamy. This savory winter soup, which is a combination of Midwest winter staples and southeast Asian flavors, was a hit at a friend's holiday party. Luckily, she shared the recipe with all of us. We hope you love it as much as we did!

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion - diced
1/2 cup chopped orange bell pepper
3 tbsp Fresh ginger - peeled and diced
4 cloves Garlic- finely chopped
1 large Butternut squash- peel, seed, chop into 1 inch cubes
28-oz can butter beans – drained and rinsed
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
½ cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste (a pepper medley is preferred, as black pepper on its own has very little flavor, but red, green and white peppercorns add a lot of pizzazz.)
3 cups garlic croutons

Directions

Heat your soup pot for 90 seconds or until hot, turn down heat to medium, add olive oil then diced onion and bell pepper. Sauté  until translucent, 3-5 minutes but not until browned.

Next add ginger, garlic, squash, beans, stock, and basil. Simmer about 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Turn down heat to warm. Use an immersion blender or food processor to puree the soup so it becomes completely creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste (note: beans and butternut squash need a healthy dose of salt to shine - don't be stingy!). Serve hot with garlic croutons sprinkled on top.

Serves 8-10.

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Pork and Tangerine Stir-Fry

I don't know why pork tastes so good in fruit-based sauces and dishes, but it certainly does. Ripe tangerines or those clementine "cuties", along with aromatic Chinese five-spice powder, make a luscious Christmas-tinged meal.

Ingredients

1 lb pork tenderloin, but into 1-inch cubes

1 tsp canola or grapeseed oil

1/3 cup red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

 3 tangerines or clementines, peeled and pulled into sections

1 tsp cornstarch whisked into 1 tsp warm water

2 tbsp Asian sesame oil, divided

1/4 cup Asian sweet chili sauce (we like Mae Ploy brand)

2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

6 baby bok choy, hard bases removed, and cut into 1" diagonal strips

5 green onions, thinly sliced on a diagonal, divided

White or brown rice for serving

Directions

Heat the oil  in a wok or large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the pork and stir-fry until browned on all sides, 3-5 minutes. Remove the meat.

Add the pepper, ginger, and clementines to the wok and stir-fry until slightly tender, about 3-5 minutes. Return the meat to the pan. Stir together the cornstarch, sesame oil, chili sauce, soy, and five-spice powder and pour into the pan. Add the bok choy and half the green onions and toss and cook until the bok choy is slightly wilted. Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with the rest of the green onions, and serve with rice on the side.

Serves 4-6.

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Cheddar-Beer Fondue Soup

This recipe started out as something completely different: a potato-cheese soup with a bit of apple to brighten it up. Then I said, "Joe, can you invent a soup that tastes like a cheese fondue?"

Turns out, he can. And man, do we love fondue. Since the girls were little, restaurants like Fondue Stube and The Melting Pot were their favorite places to go for special occasions. And cheddar, beer, and homemade pretzel bread - what's a better combination for watching the Sunday football game?

Joe put together this soup by cooking classic cheese fondue dippers like potato, carrot, apple, and celery, while making the cheese sauce according to classic fondue prep techniques, then slowly stirring the cheese into the soup pot. This recipe comes together even quicker if you use Kraft's packets of shredded cheeses. We made a batch of pretzel bread for the side, and dipped it in as we ate. Swoon.

If we could have sent a big pot of this soup to the Chicago Bears yesterday, I'm sure they would've trounced the Rams. Next time we'll invite them all to dinner.

Ingredients

3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" dice

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced
4 cups chicken broth

1 large Granny Smith or other tart apple, peeled and cut into 1" dice

4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tsp salt

3 cups Kraft sharp cheddar, shredded

1 cup Kraft Swiss cheese, shredded
1 cup beer
1/2 cup white wine or sherry

Directions

In a large pot, add the potatoes, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the apple, then continue simmering, covered, until the vegetables are tender - about 20-30 minutes.

In a smaller saucepan, melt the butter. Slowly stir in the flour, spices, and seasoning, until the texture is creamy. Pour in the beer and sherry, and simmer until the alcohol is evaporated.

Strain the broth from the vegetables and return the vegetables to the soup pot. Cover the pot and keep the vegetables hot. Slowly stir the broth into the beer-flour mixture until it is creamy, about 10 minutes. Gradually add the cheeses, stirring constantly so the cheese melts and is incorporated into the broth.

Pour the cheese mixture over the vegetables and continue to heat over a low flame until heated through. Stir frequently, and be sure not to boil the soup, since this will cause the cheese to separate from the broth. This soup will keep all day in a slow cooker pot on warm heat, if you stir it occasionally.

If you'd like, garnish the soup bowls with thin slices of apple and a sprinkle of paprika.

Serves 4.

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Apple-Cranberry-Currant Relish

My friend Becky gets compliments and requests for this cranberry sauce every year, and with good reason. It's a perfect make-ahead chutney when you want something a little more sophisticated, but still enjoy those Norman Rockwell-like traditional flavors of tangy cranberry and sweet orange.

This Thanksgiving, we are celebrating at The Boy's parents' house, so that Jessie and Erich don't have to dash from our house to theirs to Jessie's dad's, and try to eat enough to be polite at each home. We love their family, and we're going to skip the jar of jellied cranberry and bring this instead.

We're also bringing this luscious pecan-orange sweet potato casserole. Happy holidays all!

Ingredients

1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup dry red wine
1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp curry powder
Juice and grated zest of 1 orange
1/3 cup dried currants (if you can't find currants, try dried cherries, or add more apple)

Directions

Place the onion, sugar, and wine in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes.

Stir in the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer again. Crush the cranberries slightly with a spoon, then cook for 10 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

Make about 2 cups relish.

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Orange-Cranberry-Rosemary Muffins

Rosemary isn't the first ingredient you'd think of to put in muffins, right? Well, in this recipe, the fresh herb adds a little tang and zest without becoming too pine-y or overwhelming. It's a delicious addition.

I came across this recipe a few years ago when I was writing the herb section of my book
The Complete Guide to Food Preservation. When I started writing my next book, The Complete Guide to Growing Windowsill Plants, I put a pot of rosemary on a sunny windowsill. The next winter it was huge and bursting with pale lavender flowers that lasted until May.

Now that rosemary plant is a bush near a sunny window in my kitchen, and I can't use the branches fast enough to keep it decently trimmed. Rosemary is a wonderfully hardy houseplant for a sunny location; it handles neglect and drought well, and smells lovely every time you brush up against it.

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup orange juice
½ cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (can substitute dried)
1 cup dried cranberries, lightly chopped
2 tbsp orange zest, divided
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp milk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a smaller bowl, mix the egg, orange juice, milk, and melted butter until combined.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, until just combined. Fold in the rosemary, cranberries, and 1 tbsp of orange zest.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups, nearly to the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Stir together the powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and the last tbsp of orange zest, and use this to frost the tops of the muffins as they cool.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Sriracha Sea Salt Sprinkle and Spicy Roasted Almonds

Last Christmas, we send bundles of herb blends to our family, including this Sriracha sea salt sprinkle, Joe's Rib Rub, and his Grillmaster's Blend. People are already clamoring for refills on all the bottles, and we're happy to make more!

The home smells wonderful while the Sriracha salt is drying. We keep a bottle of the seasoning right next to the stove because we add it to a lot of dishes that need just a little kick and a bit of salt at the same time: omelettes, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, steamed veggies, and so on. It's also wonderful on popcorn, or one of our favorite snacks, roasted nuts.

Tuesday night our bible study group met at our place, so we were making snacks for people to nibble on while we studied the story of the wedding in Cana. We learned some pretty interesting things about Jewish marriage customs in the first century A.D. For example, men would ask their father's opinion on a woman he wanted to marry, before formally going to the woman's father to ask permission to marry her. When the father and the bride-to-be agreed, they made a covenant together, then the bridegroom would build a wedding chamber in his father's house for them to live.

When the place was ready, the man would do a mock kidnapping in which he and his friends would take the woman, her friends, and sisters on a parade through the street, laughing and joking and singing. Pretty festive, right? Once they got back to his father's house, they would have a seven-day party that ended with a huge feast. That's where the story of Jesus turning water into wine would have happened.

It sounds just as elaborate as weddings are today, or maybe even more so. I can't imagine having to plan a seven-day celebration! It's pretty likely they would have served almonds and sea salt at the feast as a Mideast food staple, so I will use that as my very awkward segue into two quick and delicious recipes.

Sriracha Sea Salt Sprinkle

2 cups fine sea salt

1 cup Sriracha sauce

2 tbsp lemon pepper

2 tbsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stir together all ingredients and spread onto a baking pan. Bake slowly in the oven, stirring every 5-10 minutes, for about 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 225, and continue baking and stirring for 30-60 minutes more, until the salt is completely dry.

If the salt is too coarse after it's fully dry, whirl it in a blender, food processor, or spice grinder until it is the consistency you like. Store in an airtight jar.

Makes 2 cups.

Spicy Roasted Almonds

12 oz unblanched whole almonds

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup Sriracha sea salt (or more, to taste)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread out the almonds on a baking sheet. Melt the butter, then allow it to cool slightly, Stir in the Sriracha salt. Pour the mixture over the nuts and stir them so that they are completely coated.

Bake for 5 minutes, then stir the nuts and bake for about 5 more minutes. Take them out before they look completely browned and toasted; they will continue cooking for several minutes after you remove them from the oven. 

These are best if you make them a day ahead and let the spices develop. Store in a plastic bag or airtight container until ready to serve. These make great little gifts too, packed into plastic gift bags and tied with some pretty ribbon.

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Fab Four Fall Desserts

There's something special about fall baking; warming up the oven, the luscious scents filling the house, and the satisfaction of a big platter of sweets. These four recipes combine some of our most favorite fall flavors...spices, pumpkin, apple, caramel, and pastry. And chocolate. And nuts. And sugar. Oh my.

Enjoy!

1. Apple Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Bars, from Recipe Chatter

2. Acorn Treats, from The Hungry Housewives

3. Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies, from Recipe Girl

4. Salted Caramel Pear Tarts, from Vikalinka

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Harvest Apple Kale Salad

Joe says he rarely thought about adding fruit to salads until we started cooking together, and he likes to call me the master at salad-making in our house. Of course, now that there are only two of us at home, that title is...well...oh heck, I'll just take the compliment.

Apples, apple cider vinaigrette, and a touch of cinnamon pulls together great tastes of fall on a pretty plate. If you don't feel like arranging the salad on individual plates, just toss it in a big bowl with the dressing before serving.

The person that gets the salad bowl last gets all the delicious heavy bits that fall to the bottom of the bowl, like the nuts and cheese. No, go ahead, take all the greens you want. Pass me the bowl after you're done.

Ingredients

For the Vinaigrette

3 tbsp apple cider
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the Salad

1/3 cup walnut pieces
1 large Honeycrisp or Jonathan apple
4 oz. Swiss cheese
3 cups kale, collard greens, or spinach
3 cups mesclun lettuce mix

Directions

Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients and set it aside until ready to serve.

Heat a small frying pan at medium heat, then add the walnuts and toast them, shaking constantly, until they are golden and fragrant. Let them cool.

Core the apple and cut into thin slices. Cut the Swiss cheese into a small dice, about 1/4" square (you don't really have to measure this). Chop the kale or other greens, then mix with the lettuces. 

To assemble, put the greens on four plates, then arrange the apple slices in a pinwheel shape around the center. Sprinkle with the cheese and walnuts, then drizzle with the vinaigrette.

Serves 4.

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Chicken-Chorizo Tinga Poblana (Shredded Spicy Chicken)

Chicken tinga poblana is a traditional way of simmering chicken with tomatoes, garlic, peppers, and herbs until it shreds into fabulously flavorful bits of tangy meat. We added just a bit of chorizo to the pot to pump up the flavor even more, but this dish is great without it.

It's also a perfect recipe for a slow cooker - just swap out the chicken thighs for sliced chicken breast, add all the ingredients at once, and let it cook all day.

Tinga is a long-time specialty of the Puebla, the south-central state along the curve of the Gulf of Mexico. Any kind of savory shredded meat works in this recipe - pork, beef, turkey, rabbit, fish. We use chicken thighs, stripped of skin and fat, because the meat has more flavor than breasts. Serve the meat in warmed corn or flour tortillas, over rice, or in tamales.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs, skinned and fat removed

2 cups white onions, quartered

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 lb Mexican chorizo, skinned and crumbled

1 15-oz can stewed tomatoes

1 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup canned chiles in adobo sauce, chopped

To Serve

16 corn or flour tortillas, tostadas, or rice 

1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped

2 ripe avocados, peeled and diced

Directions

Place the chicken, onions, and garlic into a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain and reserve all but 1 cup of the cooking liquid for another use. Pull the meat off the chicken and return to the saucepan with the onions and the 1 cup of broth.

In a frying pan, cook the chorizo until browned and crumbly. Add it to the pan with the chicken, then add all other ingredients to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until thickened and well blended.

Serve in tortillas and top with onion and avocado chunks.

Serves 6.

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The Omnivore's 100 Foods to Try...just for fun

My extended family has had a food challenge going on for a few years now. One of the biggest wins was when my cousin Sue ate durian in Thailand; I'd love to get to the Far East but eating durian there is not one of my dreams. I countered this move by eating a block of gjetost, a Norwegian brown goat cheese, and the funny food challenge is still on.

Here's a bucket list of foods you might want to try if you're into unusual things, or if you want to be sure you've tasted some of the more common Western-culture items.

I've read the average person has eaten 20-30 of these, but you food-lovers will probably score more. Here are the instructions:

1) Copy this list into your blog, journal, or Facebook wall, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you've eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I've marked ones I really love in red)
4) Comment on your results in the comments section.

The Hungry Lovers Hundred

1. Venison ( you can't get away from this in the Midwestern U.S.)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (Joe likes these better than I do)
4. Steak tartare (Joe's eaten it, not me)
5. Crocodile (I've had alligator, does it count? Tastes like catfish)
6. Black pudding (Yes, I love the fried patties.)
7. Cheese fondue (OMG yes!)
8. Carp (meh.)
9. Borscht (Joe had it on a trip to the former USSR in 1989; maybe someday I'll try it)
10. Baba ghanoush (I've eaten it, Joe has not)
11. Calamari (The best calamari ever is at Tufano's Vernon Park Tap in Chicago's University Village neighborhood. We have references, if you want to verify this.)
12. Pho 
13. PB&J sandwich 
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (The Chicago redhot: Vienna Beef hot dogs, steamed poppyseed bun, neon-green relish, yellow mustard, onions, celery salt, dill pickle spear, tomato wedges, hot sport peppers, and NO ketchup. )
16. Epoisses 
17. Black truffle (we first tasted these from a vendor in Tuscany who sold us a pound of buffalo mozzarella embedded with thick shavings of truffles. We took this back to our Agritourismo and lunched on it for a week.)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (When I grew up in the fruit-growing region of southwestern Michigan, I tasted many varieties of fruit wine. Fruit ferments wonderfully, and hard cider is one of my favorites.)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (heavenly)
21. Heirloom tomatoes (again, heavenly)
22. Fresh wild berries (see our Wild Berry/Lavender Jam recipe, and go forage next summer!)
23. Foie gras (Oh, yes please!)
24. Rice and beans (such a great combo)
25. Brawn, or head cheese 
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (in St. Lucia, USVI)
27. Dulce de leche 
28. Oysters (Joe yes; me, maybe never)
29. Baklava (have mercy!)
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas (my favorite snack in college)
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (we love clam chowder, but bread bowls are annoying)
33. Salted lassi 
34. Sauerkraut (I love sauerkraut, but it doesn't love me)
35. Root beer float (fabulous)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Cognac is wonderful, and Joe likes good cigars on occasion. My one cigar experience was not pleasant. How do we rate this?)
37. Clotted cream tea (I had the best clotted cream over scones in Edinburgh. God is good.)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O  (No thanks.)
39. Gumbo (Joe's is fabulous, but if he insists on a trip to New Orleans, I'm there for him.)
40. Oxtail (Oxtail soup is ok.)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (sweet-salty grasshoppers (tsukudani) and bee larvae (hachi no ko) in Japan)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk 
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more.
46. Fugu 
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (lovely in sushi)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (call me, Krispy Kreme? Please?)
50. Sea urchin (in sushi, with lemon)
51. Prickly pear (in jam, meh)
52. Umeboshi 
53. Abalone 
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (One of my guilty pleasures.)
56. Spaetzle (yep. Try the Detzner family recipe.)
57. Dirty gin martini (a passion I share with my daughter's BF)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (we love the Belgian Delirium Tremens)
59. Poutine 
60. Carob chips (YUCK.)
61. S’mores (meh.)
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin 
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs (My mom served this, oddly enough, when I was young. It's a lot of work for a little meat.)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (Meh...although Joe is in love with beignets. New Orleans trip is in order.)
68. Haggis (Better than I thought, when I tried it in Inverness, Scotland.)
69. Fried plantain (Fabulous but a little greasy. I love the Puerto Rican mofongo and sweet fried platanos maduros.) 
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette 
71. Gazpacho (Tried it as a kid. Really need to try it again as an adult.)
72. Caviar and blini (I suggest the full caviar service at the Russian Tea Time Restaurant in Chicago's Loop.)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (Pretty good.)
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (can someone mail me a cherry glazed one?)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (heaven in a glass)
81. Tom yum 
82. Eggs Benedict (I will eat this anytime, anywhere, but Joe's low-fat version is amazing and guilt-free)
83. Pocky 
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant 
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (One of our most memorable dinners in Tuscany; we'll share the recipe one of these days)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (Cheese-stuffed squash blossoms in Rome? I'll go back any day.)
89. Horse 
90. Criollo chocolate (My ex-MIL made the best hot chocolate from this. Complicated but lovely.)
91. Spam (meh.)
92. Soft shell crab (meh.)
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish (Tastes muddy. Do not like.)
95. Mole poblano (We have several recipes, including Mole with Pork. Yum.)
96. Bagel and lox (One of our traditional Christmas Day breakfasts.)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta (Good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

By the way, the Japanese blogger, Just Hungry, posted a list of 100 Japanese Foods to Try. If I find similar lists later on, I'll keep adding them.

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Hot Reuben Dip

Last weekend, we gathered at my sister's house in Michigan for a big party, ostensibly for a celebration of the 4 family members who have birthdays in October. Instead, we used the date to also celebrate my mom's birthday, since we weren't able to get together last year for her big 70th birthday.

We didn't really have a theme for the party, just decorations, a taco bar and our festive White Sangria, and this crockpot Reuben dip with pumpernickel bread. Oh, and a couple of surprises for Mom.

When she arrived from the Toledo area, she found this on my sister's front lawn. That's right, the flamingoes are breeding.

My mom is famous for making funny faces and doing silly things. So we cut out a bunch of her most classic faces and hung them all over the house. We since she's also notorious for cutting off peoples' heads in photos, we included a few headless Moms too. Finally, we made a slideshow of her photos and played it to Helen Reddy and Ann Murray songs. Her favorite was "I Am Woman", which is absolutely the best theme song for my mom. If you know her, can I get an "Amen"?

Left to right: Jim, Adair, Joe, Sheryl, Beth, Belle. Front row: Dad and Mom.

In our family, no get-together is complete without games, and my parents are the king and queen of game-playing. They are slightly, um, competitive. Really, I come by my competitiveness honestly! But this time, I asked the birthday people - Mom, my brother-in-law Jim, my niece Kristin, and my sister Beth - questions like "What 3 things are on your bucket list?" and "What is the weirdest food you've ever eaten?" Jim's parents were great at guessing, but the results were hilarious, especially when I threw in some "ringer" answers of my own.

Everyone really loved this corned beef and cheese dip, which I first tried at a friend's Octoberfest party. The appetizer disappeared at the last party as soon they brought it out to the table. That's a good enough recommendation, right?

To make this dip, we bought a corned beef brisket and cooked it for dinner one night, then used the leftovers to make this dip. You don't have to do it this way - we just wanted a corned beef dinner. You can also find corned beef at a deli counter or sometimes in the packaged lunch meat aisle of the grocery store.

Ingredients

1 14-oz can of sauerkraut, drained
1 9-oz package light cream cheese, cubed
10 oz low-fat Swiss cheese, shredded
2 cups corned beef, finely chopped
1/3 cup low-fat Thousand Island Salad Dressing

Pumpernickel or rye cocktail bread, corn chips, and/or crackers for serving.

Directions

Place all the ingredients into a crock pot or saucepan. Stir and simmer on medium until the cream cheese and Swiss are melted and bubbly. Serve warm - we served this right from the slow cooker pot kept on low heat.

Serves 12-14.

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Kale and Ricotta White Bean Casserole

Originally a recipe we found on a Weight Watchers board, we've experimented with this dish to make it more satisfying, filling, and popping with flavor for a meatless Monday. It's also pretty quick to make, but you can make it ahead and freeze or refrigerate it until you're ready to cook it. When we're in a hurry, we use 2 cups of frozen spinach, which does not need to be sauteed before adding it to the casserole.

If you follow Weight Watchers, one 1-cup serving is 4 points plus and counts for 2 vegetable servings and one milk serving. If you don't follow Weight Watchers, just know that it's a low-calorie dish full of veggies and fiber and a healthy dose of fat-free dairy.

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups kale or spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup white onion, chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
8 oz fresh mushroom(s), sliced
2 15-oz cans Great Northern or Cannellini beans, drained
1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 tsp basil, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups coarse low-fat bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp parsley, minced

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x11 pan with cooking oil.

In a skillet, heat the oil and pepper flakes until the pepper begins to sizzle. Add the kale or spinach, onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Saute until slightly tender, then place in a bowl.

Stir together the ricotta, egg,, and basil, and add to the vegetables. Stir in the salt and pepper. Spread this mixture out into the baking pan. Mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and parsley, then sprinkle over the top.

Bake until the topping is golden brown and the casserole is heated through, about 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.

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The Moscow Mule

Last week my photo shoot was in the Little Italy neighborhood of Chicago, just south of my alma mater, The University of Illinois at Chicago. It was a gorgeous day that still felt like summer - sunny, warm, breezy. Little Italy is an interesting mix of an old Italian-based neighborhood, tony condos and townhomes of the medical professionals at the Illinois Medical District, and cheap student apartments.

After shooting for a few hours, we had lunch and cocktails at Rosebud, one of Chicago's landmark Italian restaurants. The patio seating was lovely for people-watching and soaking up the last of the year's warmth. I ordered my first Moscow Mule, partly because it sounded good and partly because it reminded me of one of the most recent episodes I've watched of "Orange is the New Black". This is the episode where we learn more about the Russian cook Red's criminal history.

Anyway. A Moscow Mule is a classic 1950's cocktail of ginger beer, vodka, and lime juice. It's classified as a "buck" or "mule" drink, which is any cocktail with ginger beer and citrus juice. Aren't you glad I looked that up for you?

It's a really refreshing drink for summertime, or a day when you're not quite ready to let go of the warm weather and settle down into winter. This isn't a strong drink, but if you don't like alcohol, you can get almost the same flavor from our Homemade Ginger Ale recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz. vodka

1 oz. lime juice

4 oz. ginger beer

1 lime slice

1 sprig peppermint

Directions

Fill a highball or rocks glass half-full of ice cubes. Pour the vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer into the glasses and stir gently. Garnish with the lime slice and mint sprig.

Ваше здоровье! - [vashee zda-ró-vye] – Your health! Or, Cin-Cin, when you're at an Italian restaurant.

Makes 1 6-ounce cocktail.

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Roasted Root Vegetables with Herbs and Vinaigrette

The time of year when farmers and gardeners are digging up root vegetables is always a bit exciting for me. When you're pulling up the plants that have been flourishing all summer, you don't know exactly what bounty has been growing under your feet.

With other vegetables, you watch them develop from flower to little swelling nubs to lusty ripe full-grown foods. Root vegetables are more dramatic, growing quietly underground, maybe peeking out a shoulder from a crack in the soil, until their big reveal at the end of their season.

Root vegetables are also some of the most long-storing of all produce, something that people in regions of long cold winters have counted on since the early days of agriculture.

I learned just how important cold storage and root cellars can be to these people when I was researching for my book,  The Complete Guide to Food Preservation: Step-by-step Instructions on How to Freeze, Dry, Can, and Preserve Food.  Without those methods of storage, many people would not have made it through a winter on a meat and grain diet alone.

This recipe gives you a chance to branch out and try some vegetables you may have passed by in the past. Experiment with any combination of parsnips, turnips, beets, radishes, celery and cassava root, rutabagas, fennel and kohlrabi bulbs, and yams, along with the familiar potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic. I bet you'll find some new favorite veggies in this mix.

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp rosemary, snipped

2 tsp thyme, snipped

2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp prepared horseradish

2 pounds root vegetables, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

8 fingerling or tiny new potatoes, scrubbed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the garlic, oil, salt and pepper, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and horseradish. Toss with the vegetables, then spread them out on a baking sheet. We covered the baking sheet with foil to make clean-up easier, but this is optional.

Roast the vegetables at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the veggies don't stick or get too browned on one side. Check the densest vegetables, like parsnips, cassava, or radishes, for tenderness - they will take the longest to cook.

Serves 4-6.

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Grilled Squash and Almond Quinoa

It suddenly feels like fall here in Chicago - crisp apple weather, bright leaf weather, comforting cable sweater time. Fall kind of crept up on me this year, but I really noticed it last Thursday.

I'm taking an urban photography class right now, and last week we were in the famous Graceland Cemetery in the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago. Graceland was founded as Chicago grew northward into the Lincoln Park area. The cemetery there was dug up and transported to Irving Park road and Clark Street. This is where many of the most famous Chicagoans are buried: Marshall Field, Potter and Bertha Palmer, Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe, and George Pullman.

Graceland Cemetery, Field monument

It was pouring when my class gathered in the coffee shop to critique last week's photos - and when I say pouring, I mean flash-flood storm. But at the cemetery, there was only a quiet drip of rain off the enormous spreading trees, and a warm blanket of misty air that muffled all the noise from the surrounding streets.

Graceland Cemetery, Glessner grave

Graceland is famed for its park-like setting and Gilded-Age mausoleums in Romanesque, Art Nouveau, and intricate Art Deco styles. When I took my eyes from these statues and simple graves, I noticed that the first reds and yellows were appearing on the leaves. In few places, leaves and crab apples scattered across the graves.

It was a beautiful place to spend a day, wandering among breathtakingly beautiful monuments and lush, overarching trees.

I'm not a particularly superstitious, but one monument has sort of haunted me since that visit. It is the tomb of Peter Schopenhofen, shaped as a pyramid. To the left of the door stands a statue of an angel facing anyone who approaches; to the right, lying side wise facing anyone touching the door handle, is a Sphinx. He's a little unsettling.

What I do have is an unfortunately vivid imagination, and as I focused my camera closely on his face (my side to the bronze asp curled around the door handle), I suddenly imagined his eyes coming to life, and knew that if that happened, I would drop dead immediately of a stopped heart.

By the time I got home, after lunch at Reza's Persian restaurant, my shoes were soaked and muddy, and I had a chill. I changed into a warm sweater and started the grill for this luscious winter squash and toasted almond quinoa. I had quite an appetite that night.

Later, when I looked through the images of the day, I was so pleased with the photos. Except the Sphinx. I thought of that statue endlessly staring at the wing of the angel across from him. It was full night, a harvest moon, and he was standing guard at the door of a stone grave. I may not be superstitious, but this was somehow sad. I wonder what the sculpture might have meant to the owner of the tomb, or the designer who created it.

This is what I do with my excess of imagination, when I'm not cooking or working on my novel.

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 pound butternut, acorn, or other winter squash
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 tsp rosemary, snipped
1/3 cup scallions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup slivered almonds or peeled pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted

Directions

Heat the grill to medium. Cut the squash into quarters and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle the nutmeg on the cut side of the quarters. Place on the grill, skin side down, and cook 10 minutes. Flip over and grill the other side for 10 minutes. The flesh should be slightly charred but still a little firm. Remove and let it cool until you can handle it.

Cut the squash from the skin. Place in a medium pot with the rest of the ingredients except the nuts. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat, and cook the quinoa about 10 minutes, or as the package directs. Remove the cover, fluff the grains, and let it sit for a minute before serving. Sprinkle with the nuts before serving.

Makes 4 - 6 side dish servings.

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