Gingerbread Men!

My dad has a thing for gingerbread cake, but for me, it's gingerbread cookies - no matter what the shape. This recipe was the one that made me take the leap . . . oh so long ago . . . to signing in to a recipe website so I could save my recipes. Thanks to my friend and neighbor, Renee for sharing it with me!

(Before you get started, just know that you'll have to chill for an hour.)

Curried Chicken Salad

Do you ever get stuck on a certain ingredient? I think it was my oatmeal that got me stuck on golden raisins. And my bean burritos got me stuck on cilantro. Well, this recipe has both and boy is it good! My in-laws were coming over today to see our pictures from Switzerland and to have lunch. I made curried chicken salad, egg salad, and had deli turkey for my Frances. (Elsie had a cheese sandwich made with, bleh, American cheese.) This is from, what else, Cooks Illustrated, but I poach my chicken instead of roasting it.

Holy Pumpkin, Batman!

Which came first? The cow or the egg?

I crack myself up. I was making my egg-in-a-hole again today, but the glass I usually use to make my hole was in the dish washer. A biscuit cutter, I thought! But it was too small. I found a flower cookie cutter in my utensil drawer but it was too big. But that got me thinking. I love cookie cutters and have tons. So what turned out to be the perfect size? The cow!

Egg-in-a-hole

Here it comes . . . turkey lurkey day!

I am gearing up for Thanksgiving. I am hosting for the first time . . . EVER! As much as I love to cook, I am deathly afraid of putting on a big holiday meal for others. I think it's as much to do with cleaning my house as it is making a meal to please. I am such a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like this that I'm also so afraid of the timing. How the heck am I supposed to have everything warm and ready at the same time? Here's my menu, so far (recipes to come later):

Gyros at home

One of my favorite things to eat at festivals is a gyro. I love that yummy spicy meat, in a nice warm pita wrap, with the cool tzatziki slathered throughout. At the beginning of October every year, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral near our house puts on the awesome Atlanta Greek Festival. It's usually a 4-day extravaganza. One of my favorite parts is their drive-thru. As soon as the festival opens (on a Thursday), I swing through on the way home and pick up gyros and spanakopita. Once the weekend end hits, we all climb aboard the big tour bus that takes you from the parking lot and head to the festival. In addition to more gyros, we always get these greek potatos which are sort of like steak cut fries with awesome spices and more yummy sauce. (They're also smart enough to have some good ol' fashioned pizza and hot dogs for the pickier of kids, like mine.)

Another Birthday Cake

Big George's Rockin' Spaghetti Sauce (The Best Veggie Sauce Ever!!)

When I try something yummy, I'm not afraid to beg and plead to get the recipe. And when people ask me for a recipe, I always willingly pass along my secrets. (Duh, I have a blog.) Well, a long time ago, up in Highlands, North Carolina, I began begging for the recipe for the yummiest spaghetti sauce I have ever had.

Making concessions for others

Have you ever changed a recipe for the sake of another person only to find you regret it. When I was in college, I was new at making meals for others, and being the people pleaser that I am, I always tried to make everyone happy. I offered to make spaghetti one night for a small crowd (4 or 5 people), but one person was a vegetarian. Well, back then, the only way I knew to make spaghetti was using the spaghetti sauce spice packet. Brown the meat, add the spice packet, some water, and a can of tomato paste.