Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I realize that this recipe is coming out a little too late if anyone was looking to make it for Mardi Gras this year, but it's worth having in your arsenal and it's something you could make any day of the year and be happy with.

When we lived in New Orleans we were introduced to many new foods. Many of them were traditional southern style dishes and I fell in love with the deep richness that so often accompanied the meals we tried. Gumbo was one of my favorites because the ingredients were fairly simple but there was so much depth to it.

Sweetheart Coffeecake

I think I said this last year too, but we're not really big Valentines Day celebrators around here. We'll maybe go out or do something fun but not really into the gifts or anything extravagant like that. More often than not we'll stay in make something fun for dinner together.

I know though that others out there love to celebrate and love to find anything and everything Valentines. If you want to do something a little different this year, I've got this great bread from Red Star Yeast that you can make for breakfast the day of, or make it the weekend before for a special pre-Valentines day kickoff. It's a heart. I mean what else could you ask for if you want something to scream Valentines day.

Borscht

What's the most powerful memory that you have that's tied to a specific smell? I think many of my memories are tied to remembering a specific smell, whether it be the wet streets as it starts to rain in Seattle or the blast of aroma of freshly baked bread as you walk in the door.

One of my favorite parts of cooking is the smells. You start out using a spice like freshly ground nutmeg or crushed garlic. Wonderful smells individually start to come together with other ingredients as you cook or mix them together. Then as something simmers away on the stove top or starts to bake, the aromas fill your home, tempting you with what's to come. I love the anticipation of it, the not being able to fully experience the food yet, but with some smells that are powerful enough, you almost can.

Pineapple Chipotle Mango Guacamole

It's the 14th of January and this is my first post of the year. Two weeks into the year and I feel like it's already been months.

We're launching a new business, completely un-food related, and it's made it a bit more difficult to be in the kitchen. We've been pulling many more of the "breakfast for dinner" or other quick classics to keep us moving along. I'm still planning to keep posting though so don't give up on  me quite yet. Spending time in the kitchen is still a great release, I just have to plan that time a little more strategically now.

Peppermint Eggnog

We have a tradition in our house that we have to buy eggnog the first time that we see it in stores every year. It usually ends up coming out around Thanksgiving now and it's a fun way to kick off the holiday season.

Peppermint Bark Cookies

I had a craving for peppermint bark earlier this week and I went searching for a good recipe for it. While searching I came across this recipe for chocolate peppermint cookies from Martha Stewart and they sounded even better than just plain old peppermint bark so I went for it. That was Monday night, which was also the first night home after spending a week in China. I was exhausted but I decided to bake something instead of going to sleep. Probably because it was the first time I'd had the opportunity to be in a kitchen in over a week. I had also learned from my time in China that almost no one there has an oven. So I baked in honor of all those people who will never get to enjoy it.

Curried Peanut Butter Turkey Soup

It's the day after Thanksgiving and hopefully you still have plenty of leftovers to carry you through the next few days!

There's no reason to keep on reheating and eating the same thing though. Take the same ingredients that you have in your kitchen and create something totally different, like this Curried Peanut Butter Turkey Soup. I use some shredded leftover turkey, sweet potatoes, carrots and mushrooms combined with curry to take these leftovers in a completely new direction. I think you'll enjoy it.