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I thought I broke the cranberry sauce. When cooking, I don't usually work from memory or make things up as I go along. And certainly not when there is a holiday meal at stake. I wanted to make the cranberry sauce today and I couldn't find the magazine with the idea I had read. So I risked spoiling the sauce and struck out on my own, using the recipe on the bag of cranberries as a guide. To the bag of Ocean Spray cranberries, I added 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water, per the directions. But then I wanted to add 2 cups of frozen mixed berries I had. And I felt like the sauce needed orange juice and cinnamon. So in went 1/2 cup OJ and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. I set it to boiling on the stove. It looked like a lot of really runny liquid. I worried for many minutes and tried to calm my fears with the mantra "It'll cook down. It'll cook down." It cooked down. When I poured it out into a bowl to cool, my husband tasted it and pronounced it good. Whew! So it is ch...

Bacon makes everything better. Seriously, bacon is not the only thing that makes this Brussels sprouts dish palatable. Use the "petite" Brussels sprouts that are sweeter and more tender. The cranberries are very "Christmas-y" against the green dish and add more sweetness and nutrition. Lauren Graham of Morgantown brought this as her covered dish today to a scrapbooking crop held at Mountain Mamas Retreats . This is very good and I will serve it to my family soon -- maybe as a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner side dish. BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH CRANBERRIES & BACON 5 slices bacon 1 14-ounce bag Hanover Steam-in-Bag Petite Brussels Sprouts 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup dried cranberries Chop and fry bacon. Steam Brussels sprouts according to package directions. Add to bacon. Add cranberries and broth. Cook until the cranberries plump and the broth evaporates/absorbs.

Last New Year's Eve was cold and snowy and we decided to stay in. Even if we weren't partying, I wanted special nibbles to pass the time till the ball dropped. I wanted them to be easy to make and made with ingredients I already had or ones that were at least inexpensive to purchase in one quick trip. I was also looking for one last hurrah of fat and sugar calories before buckling down for better health in 2009 but I didn't want to get too crazy. So the sausage balls made with Bisquick and cheese were out, as badly as I wanted the foods to taste homey and comforting and be filling. I think I did OK. Even the husband said "That was a pretty good spread." Clockwise from left: deviled eggs, chicken wings with raspberry barbecue sauce , pepperoni rolls , hummus with herbed pita crisps and brown-sugar bacon (not shown.) Three of the starters came from Katie Lee Joel's cookbook, "The Comfort Table". But here's a sampling of some of her recipes. (She a...

I would rather have an Easter brunch than a dinner, perhaps it's because of all the sweets, yeast breads and egg dishes. Plus ham goes well for breakfast, too. Here are some of the brunch dishes I've served in the past plus some new things I've tried recently that I think would be great on Easter morning. This past Sunday morning, I tried this 1978 Pillsbury Bake-Off finalist recipe for Maple Cream Coffee Treat. If I made it again, I would up the powdered sugar and leave out the coconut. It's yummy though and the sticky sauce reminds me of January Thaw . Image borrowed from Pillsbury MAPLE CREAM COFFEE TREAT from Pillsbury's "Crescents biscuits & more" booklet 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/3 cup maple syrup or dark corn syrup 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup coconut 2 12-ounce cans Pillsbury Golden Layers refrigerated buttermilk biscuits He...