Pistachio French Macarons

There are some difficult foods that are not worth making and some that most certainly are. One that isn't, in my opinion; croissants. While I've made them a few times and am glad to know and understand how the process works, I can find pretty decent or even amazing croissants in pretty much any bakery for a decent price.

Festive Cranberry Apple Tea Ring

 

I love baking from Red Star Yeast's collection of recipes. They are always clear, well tested recipes that have always turned out for me. They have so many great recipes to choose from too and I love finding things that I haven't tried before. I've definitely made tea rings before but this was a new combination that was perfect for Christmastime. It has a festive collection of apple, cranberries, orange and walnuts throughout the dough that creates a beautiful loaf that would be perfect for sharing with friends and family.

Glazed Yeast Doughnuts

After all these years, it's finally here. It's my early Christmas present to everyone; My doughnut recipe. It's not that it's necessarily been a secret or that I haven't shared it with others. Just not formally here. And of course I'm excited to be sharing this recipe through my partnership with Red Star Yeast.

Tart Cherry and Cream Cheese Buns with Lemon Zest

Today the Virtual Potluck team is celebrating the release of fellow team member Donna Currie's new cookbook. We're all making a recipe from her book and sharing them with all of you! As I went through the book there were so many recipes that I wanted to try right away but the one that stuck out the most was the Blueberry and Cream Cheese Buns with Lemon Zest.

Greek Yogurt Marinated Smoked Chicken Lollipops

I'll be the first to admit that I don't spend a lot of my time watching football but that definitely doesn't mean I can't eat all the food that's associated with traditional tail-gating and game days. I'm the type of person that can make an entire meal from appetizers and be perfectly happy.

I'll also admit right off the bat that I love the look of these chicken "lollipops" but they definitely take some work and I'd only do them for special occasions where people can actually admire my hard work. Yeah, I'm that vain. I love making food for my family but they don't fully appreciate the intricacies of creating these things and ate them all in about 10 seconds flat without even a second glance.

Tostadas with Smashed Orca Beans

I'm not sure how we got to November already but I don't think I'm quite ready for it yet. We cleaned out our gardens finally though except for the sweet onions and the rosemary which seem to be just fine. I like leaving the onions in as long as possible and then grab them as I need them, except there's no way I'm digging through the snow to get them now. There were only a few left though. We've had gardens on and off for the last few years but this has been the first year we really focused on it and we really enjoyed some great food from our own backyard this year.

Apple and Rosemary Stuffed Pork Chops

I was walking through Costco yesterday trying to decide what I wanted to make for our Sunday dinner this week when I came across these beautiful pork chops. We haven't had pork chops in a long time and I'm not usually a big fan because all I can typically find are the thin little pork chops in the grocery store. These ones were about two inches thick and even though they were boneless, which is usually another strike, they looked perfect.