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.

Jalapeno, Sage and Orange Roasted Turkey

Are you ready for the main course? I'm not done with my Thanksgiving series quite yet but I know that people are starting to research how they want to cook their bird this year so I thought I better get this out there.

Last year, I researched a lot about cooking turkey and I ended up merging three different recipes and methods from some of my favorite people; Alton Brown, Martha Stewart and Bobby Flay. I'm sure if they ever got in a room together they would have come up with this on their own, but I went ahead and did it for them anyway. The end result is a turkey that's brined and then cooked with an herb rub that not only flavors the meat but makes some of the best gravy I have ever had. I've made it three times now and each time it's juicy and flavorful and just different enough to be fun and give people something different to try.

Pancakes

Many of you are probably already familiar with our family tradition of Pancake Wednesday's. This tradition has been going on for over 10 years now and I've been using the same recipe now for that whole time. I have to admit, and I think I could get a few backers, that my pancakes are pretty amazing. For that reason, I rarely try any other recipe.