Spiced and seasoned roasted nuts are a great pleasure. The problem I’ve always encountered was baking them in the oven without burning them, or at least some of the nuts on the baking sheet. Nuts contain flavorful oils that can scorch easily. I’ve come across several recipes for cooking nuts in the slow cooker and the idea made total sense to me. Large quantities without the … [Read more...] about Slow Cooker Spiced Pecans
Christmas
Peppermint Cookie Bars
A good, thickly frosted sugar cookie bar has all the old-fashioned comfort we look for during the holidays. I like to take that recipe and zuzz it up for Christmas, with some rich white chocolate and bracing peppermint. The shower of crushed peppermint candy adds a festive touch and couldn’t be easier to do. These are simple to make, but look gorgeous on a festive platter and … [Read more...] about Peppermint Cookie Bars
Spiced Baked Fruit Casserole
Baked fruit casseroles are a favorite food memory for me. They always appeared at holiday buffets, usually when a ham was the centerpiece. Recipes for baked fruit are ubiquitous in community cookbooks, and I was particularly fond of a curried fruit casserole recipe that has always been a favorite around here. But my Mom made a version that involved amaretti cookies, which … [Read more...] about Spiced Baked Fruit Casserole
Cranberry Gingerbread Cake with Butter Sauce
I am very nostalgic about gingerbread, though it is not part of some long-standing family holiday tradition. Other than the occasional hard gingerbread man cookie, I was well into my teens before I ever even knew there was any other form. But soft, cake-like gingerbread seems to hark back to the olden days. It has a Little House on the Prairie or Frances Hodgson Burnett kind of … [Read more...] about Cranberry Gingerbread Cake with Butter Sauce
Christmas Fruit Salad
Christmas is, for me, a time of indulgence. I gorge myself on cookies and candies and appetizers and heavy meals. It is one of the special treats of the season, and motivation for a new year’s resolution. I have been known to serve Christmas breakfast buffets featuring cheese grits, cheese and sausage casserole, bacon, ham, biscuits and all manner of desserts. It’s not how we … [Read more...] about Christmas Fruit Salad
