Food

In the U.S. the Super Bowl is practically a national holiday, and food takes center stage. Nothing reminds me more of watching the ‘big game’ than some peanuts and beer. I’ve never seasoned my own nuts before, so I thought it was something worth trying. I didn’t realize just how easy it is and I love that there are almost endless combinations of flavors I could create.

I bought a gorgeous loaf of sourdough for another recipe, but before I had the chance to use it, my entire family contracted this nasty, week-long cold/flu bug. Rather than letting a stale loaf of bread go to waste, the only sensible option was to find a recipe that called for crusty bread.

My husband heard about a slow cooker chicken recipe on NPR that is supposed to rival the flavor of KFC, so we wanted to give it a try. We decided to do slow cooker chicken wings instead of a whole bird, since we had been thinking about Super Bowl recipes.

When I saw this vegetarian lasagna recipe, I thought it would be a hearty winter dish, made even better with the addition of kale. My husband immediately groaned about yet another kale dish, the big baby.

I love chocolate in almost anything, but not that many Christmas cookies are chocolate-based. I’m always on the hunt for a Christmas cookie recipe I haven’t tried, so I was excited to find these Chocolate Snowcap cookies that combine chocolate and a wintry look.

Ginger is one of those flavors that immediately conjure images of Christmas Trees and sitting by the fireplace. I’m definitely a proponent of homemade cookies, but I have been known to buy a tube of that gingerbread cookie dough at the store, roll them in sugar, and make quick and easy ginger snaps.

A quintessential Christmas cookie is the peanut butter kiss cookie. This year, I wanted to try something new, so when I found this crinkle recipe, I thought it might make a good base for chocolate peppermint kiss cookies.

I really like kale, but its bitter bite makes it a hard sell to my husband. With this soup, however, I figured the longer cooking-time would mellow the bitterness.

Starting traditions for my own little family is my favorite part of the holiday season. One tradition that unwittingly started a few years ago is baking these tasty glazed pumpkin cookies every fall.