About Anita

Roasted Cabbage with Sausages

While normally I’d make this with a meaty Kielbasa I decided to make a meatless dish and chose a vegetarian Brat. It’s your choice! Just a word about Bratwurst & Kielbasa. They are not to be confused. They are seasoned differently and are usually cooked a bit differently. You might even notice a difference in the texture. Obviously, a vegetarian Bratwurst is slightly different from the real deal. But I must say, this one is pretty tasty and with a great beer who knows the difference?! Ha! I promise I’m not advertising.

Whether you use meat or go meatless you’ll find this recipe easy and full of flavor! Enjoy!

 

 

 

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Cheese and Rice Soup

Cheesy Rice Soup! It’s still soup season and this one is sure to warm you. Not only that, but you already have the ingredients … well most! It’s an easy recipe with few ingredients. The secret is in the caramelizing of the onion. This will involve most of your prep time. The rest comes together quickly. Yep, I can’t deny this is a very rich soup but Oh So Good. A cup will do!

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Greek Yogurt Coffee Cake

Coffeecake with a spongelike texture … Definitely a different take on coffeecake. This is a sweet eggy moist cake that’s perfect with coffee or tea. It’s pretty much a pantry ingredient recipe … freeing you up to make this just about anytime. Give yourself or family a morning treat with this delicious cake. You say you don’t have yogurt! You know the substitutions, right? Sour cream, buttermilk, blended cottage cheese to name a few.

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Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

Vegetarian take on a Classic! After I tasted this wonderful Cook’s Country Shepherd’s Pie (more correctly a Cottage Pie, ground beef replaced the lamb) my son Will put together I mused, a vegetarian version might be a good alternative. I’ve previously prepared a chicken version, here, and a ground beef version here. All these are great recipes! Give one or all a try!

First, a word about plant based meat. I’ve tried both of these with great success and recommend either for this recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re still not convinced and wish to use a meat but something other than lamb & leaner than beef, try lean ground turkey.

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Jambalaya

Country Western singer, Hank Williams, was not a favorite of mine in the early 50’s. But what 6 year old wouldn’t love his “Jambalaya a Crawfish Pie and a File Gumbo!!” Yep, that’s what has inspired this so many years later.

When in New Orleans in the late 90’s I tried this dish at a local restaurant. I was really surprised at the Ketchup like flavor. Nope, this one has no resemblance. Enjoy this easy flavorful dish with spicy Cajun-style Andouille sausage, and chicken.

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Cornbread Salad

Just a great change-up salad! Goes great with jambalaya, gumbo, chili beans, pot roast and all by itself!

First, make your favorite cornbread. I prefer from scratch with a less sweet version. Mixes tend to be sweeter and more cake like. Cornbread is an easy quick bread. Try this recipe, here. For a fewer ingredient recipe try this.

 

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Boston Brown Bread

Amazingly simple! Deliciously rich! Quick mix with a somewhat lengthy bake. So worth it! For the recipe ingredients I received a little help from Fannie Farmer. Yep, I grew up on canned brown bread … so, no family recipe. Homemade is so much better! Add a medley of seedless raisins or no raisins at all. It’s delicious.

Traditionally served with Boston Baked Beans. Try our many Baked Beans Recipes.

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Making Vanilla Extract

This is a gift from a family gourmet who put together Ina Garten’s vanilla extract recipe. The ingredients are pretty pricey initially but over time you’ll save. You’ll be making a larger volume and the price per ounce of your homemade vanilla will be much cheaper. Plus, as you use your homemade you can simply add more vodka (bourbon or rum) to your jar. Believe me, if you’re using imitation vanilla to save you might wish to read about the making of imitation vanilla. It will bring you back to this recipe. Here are a few of my suggestions. Vodka will give a more pure taste to the vanilla extract. For a change up flavor try bourbon or rum. While Madagascar beans are premium (and a little difficult to find and price may be prohibitive) you can use other vanilla beans or do a mixture of beans. Grade B beans, too, can add more vanilla taste. Grade B beans tend to be drier and broken. They may have split open from the dryness and have little paste inside if at all. But with this dryness may come more flavor.

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Caramel Banana Walnut Muffins

King Arthur Baking Products are high on my list. Nope, this isn’t a paid advertisement! I receive their free catalog routinely, and it’s one catalog I actually look through. Great recipes are included along with product suggestions. Their recipes are not included without their trial run. (Neither are my recipes, BTW.) Yep, you guessed it! This is one of theirs. I had all the ingredients (*well not white whole wheat flour) and we were hungry for muffins now. These didn’t disappoint!

*Just a word about whole wheat flour vs white whole wheat flour. As I mentioned this recipe calls for white whole white flour. I used whole wheat flour instead. White whole wheat flour is not simply bleached whole wheat. It’s actually a different wheat which leads to a less dense baked product. While my muffins were perfect I can’t say they might have been better if I had used white whole wheat flour instead.

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Salami Peas and Pasta

Sunday’s Pasta Meal

When you have the flu and someone brings a care basket with salami, cheese & pasta you wait until you’re better and you fix this! (Thanks Will for all the goodies!)

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