Recipe Roundups & Menu Ideas

While eating all that ridiculously good food for Thanksgiving, it’s unlikely that you’re thinking about breakfast for the following day. If, however, you have a house full of guests, and you don’t feel like grazing or just making sandwiches, these five recipes utilize leftovers in simple, smart ways. As you can tell from the photos of four of the recipes, eggs are your friend for transforming Thanksgiving leftovers.

My wife isn’t the biggest fan of turkey… which is a polite way of saying that she hates it! “She’s just never had a good turkey,” you might say. Au contraire mon ami, she’s had ’em done all the right ways from all the right people. Yet still, as far as she’s concerned, turkeys can pack its bags and jettison on a private plane co-piloted by Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Off to Never Neverland!

Ok, I’ll admit it. When I first heard of this crazy summer trend I was totally perplexed. How does one fry a liquid? Fortunately, ABC News provided a video of exactly how deep-fried Kool-Aid balls are made. And they’re not so bizarre, after all! More akin to doughnut holes than, say, soup dumplings, these treats start off with a cherry Kool-Aid flavored batter. That’s right, there’s no advanced equipment or culinary theory needed in order to fry liquid.

When you want something for dessert that’s more than a chocolate bar or ice cream, but still easy enough to make that you can eat it ASAP, mug cakes are your friends. Most of these take less than 2 minutes to make in a microwave. Yeah, that’s right. Just because these desserts are made in a microwave, it doesn’t mean the cakes can’t be made from scratch and taste good.

Chocolate-covered figs, watermelon salad with arugula, and hot dogs topped with guacamole and Sriracha!  Sriracha Guacamole Hot Dogs – Damn Delicious.  Zucchini Bread Cookies – Playing With Flour.  Chocolate Covered Fresh Figs – Give Recipe. Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad with Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette – Comfort of Cooking.

Last week Faith shared how to throw a seriously delicious s’mores party – complete with birthday cake marshmallows with sprinkles. I’ve had flavored marshmallows before at restaurants, but in a s’more? That is so next level. The possibilities are endless — beer marshmallows! Bacon marshmallows! Get crazy with these ideas and stuff them in between that chocolate and graham cracker with pride.

Reaching for whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour is an easy way to work whole grain nutrition into a simple pie dough. In doing so, you’ll not only have a healthier pie shell, but you’ll have one that boasts the flavor of whole wheat flour (as all-purpose white flour doesn’t have as much flavor on its own).

Booze it up in style with these seriously adorable and semi-seasonal jello shots. Yeah, fine, they can take a little time to make, but trust me, they are so worth it. I mean, who wouldn’t want to eat a delicious alcoholic strawberry, complete with a tiny lime wedge? Or a Bloody Mary jello shot made in a celery stick? THE MAN, that’s who. Just think about how much your friends and Pinterest followers will love you for making these beauties. 1.

You’ve likely read a lot about whole grains in the news lately. It seems everywhere I turn, a magazine or major news source is touting their benefits, and it’s now recommended that our intake of whole grains sit right around 48 grams per day, which can feel overwhelming to many people. But it doesn’t have to be; there are a lot of sneaky, quick ways to work whole grains into your diet without sitting down to a big bowl of farro every day.

With more fresh vegetables arriving every day at the markets, we’re now approaching the salad-as-dinner season. Late spring in Seattle means green garlic and ramps, carrots and occasional shelling peas — all an absolute invitation for the perfect salad dressing. What you’ll notice with these dressings: they tend towards the creamier side of things, as I love to lightly cloak summer veggies in a creamy dressing.

Happy Saturday! Hope you have lovely things planned for the long holiday weekend. Popular posts this past week on The Kitchn include a genius tip for quick and easy lemonade, a list of 10 low-budget pantry items everyone should have, a revealing video from a fourth grader on what school lunches are really like, and 10 picnic-ready salads to eat outside. Enjoy! 15. Kitchen Before & After: Cecelia’s ‘Making Better Use of the Space’ Kitchen Renovation 14.

I am a huge fan of the slow cooker. It’s not for everyone, but for me, I love being able to assemble a slow cooker meal in the morning (when I have time) and know that it will be hot and delicious by dinner (when time is in short commodity). I’ve gotten pretty good at spotting recipes with slow cooker potential over the years. Here’s my best advice. 1. Pick the Right Recipe: Soups, braises, even many casseroles — these are slow cooker gold.

Dessert is one of my favorite meals. Let’s face it: I have a pretty fierce sweet tooth. But many of us are trying to watch our sugar intake or, at least, cut down on the pure white stuff. Here are seven desserts that satisfy a sweet tooth without using any white sugar at all.   So what are they? They’re a list of a few inspired and varied desserts that don’t rely on processed white sugar (or chemical/artificial sweeteners) to craft delicious, satisfying desserts.

Are you a fan of Game of Thrones? Were you thrilled when the new season kicked off on March 31? If you’re enjoying your fresh helpings of sword ‘n’ sorcery fantasy goodness as much as we are (yes we are fantasy geeks around here!) then you have to see this lavish lineup of cocktails designed to be sipped with Game of Thrones. From Tyrion to Ygritte, there’s a cocktail here for your favorite character.

Cocktails beg for snacks, and in our house, when we think snacks we usually go for simple crackers and good cheese. Alternatively, if we’re having people over, I love making bar nuts tossed with olive oil and herbs. But with the ushering in of a new season comes the drive to do something new in the kitchen, so lately I’ve been looking for snack ideas beyond store-bought crackers and bar nuts.

Welcome to the weekend, folks! Popular posts this week on The Kitchn include a behind-the-scenes look at Faith’s Italian Polenta Party (the first of a special new entertaining series we’re doing!), five indispensable panty ingredients everyone should have, tips to keep your countertops clean, a few unexpected uses for kitchen tongs, and more. Enjoy catching up!15. 5 Habits for Keeping Countertops Clean14.

Here’s one more way to cut back on kitchen waste: try cooking with your carrot tops! We’ve been seeing these nutritious greens popping up on restaurant menus and food blogs in all kinds of interesting ways: whizzed into pesto, blanched and dressed with sesame seeds or snipped into a pretty salad of shaved carrot coins. And yes, despite what you may have heard, carrot tops are edible. (Even Harold McGee agrees.

This holiday breakfast is warm, cheerful, and tasty. Everything on the menu is easier than it looks, so you won’t wind up stranded in the kitchen all morning. Whether you’re cooking for a crowd the day after Thanksgiving, or planning ahead for December brunch, this menu of creamed spinach with baked eggs and ultra-easy cheater sticky buns is the way to go. Imagine actually sitting down to enjoy the meal along with your family and friends.

Eating small at breakfast can mean a few different things. First, it means you can scale back and eat smaller portions. Alternatively, it means you get to try many things without committing to one full-size choice. Following this logic, I’ll often get a few mini cupcakes or cookies in the afternoon instead of one large one, and I’ve been doing mini versions of favorite breakfast recipes at home, too.

In the early fall as the mornings get just a touch cooler, the breakfast options can get all the more hectic. There are often new school schedules to contend with, or at the very least, new school traffic to contend with. While granola bars or quick oatmeal are easy options, the substantial smoothie is a great way to mix things up this time of year. In the summer, smoothies so often consist mainly of seasonal berries or stone fruit with a good dollop of yogurt and maybe a dash of honey.

When we have leftover coffee in the pot, we’ve been saving it in the refrigerator to make iced coffee later in the day. But we’ve had a cooler spell here in Seattle and we haven’t much felt like iced coffee, so it was time to start thinking outside of the caffeine box. Here are 10 recipes to put that leftover coffee to good use!

So you want to make something red, white, and blue to celebrate the 4th of July, but you’re not really into sweets. Or you want to avoid red and blue food coloring, Well, I have two awesome savory options for you, from two smart bloggers. Salad, and cheese — Independence Day-style!These are both ultra-simple ideas, and all the prettier for it.The first is a Red, White, and Blue Summer Salad from Roni at GreenLiteBites.

With the temperatures starting to rise, our gardens are starting to take root. Although you might not have tomatoes just yet, we’re willing to bet your herbs are going great guns! If you picked a few too many to use in dinner, we have an alternate way to put them to use: In simple syrup for cocktails and mocktails.Herbs are great in all sorts of situations.

There is something about Italian wine that takes you immediately to the table. Images of fun gatherings with family and friends or romantic dinners for two come easily to mind. With that thought, Faith and I decided to put together some easy ideas for an Italian wine inspired dinner. Here’s a whole menu, beginning to end, of Italian food and wine. You just add the table and the friends, and it’s a celebration waiting to happen.

For anyone who’s made your own hummus, you know how easy it is. And if you’re like me, you feel silly for not having done it earlier, and excited by all of the ways to customize the dip to your liking. (More garlic and red chile flakes, please!) The nice thing about bean dips is the simplicity: for the most part, you throw a handful of ingredients in a food processor and call it a day.Sometimes when you’re rushing around preparing for a party, that alone can feel like a lot.

We had a housewarming party last weekend, and decided to start the party at 8 p.m. Lots of drinks were on the menu, and you know what happens when folks stay late and drink: they want to eat. So while we weren’t serving dinner, we knew we’d need to have a bunch of heavier snacks to sustain everyone through the night.Surprisingly, we had far more fun planning the food for this snack-heavy party than we have with many of our smaller dinner parties.

If you think parchment paper is just for lining baking sheets, think again! It’s a great tool for making a simple yet elegant dinner en papillote.Whether you’re cooking for one or many, wrapping up parcels of seafood, chicken, tofu, mushrooms, or vegetables in parchment paper (en papillote) is an easy way to make a relatively hands-off meal. Baked in a hot oven, the parchment parcels retain moisture to create wonderfully succulent proteins and vegetables.

Q: For Christmas I was given an Amuse-Bouche/Mise en Bouche set which includes bowls, spoons, forks and glasses. However, my cookbook collection lacks creative ideas for small sized appetizers. I’m looking for Amuse-Bouche ideas, recipes or even recipe book suggestions. Anything help would be greatly appreciated! Sent by Stephanie Editor: Stephanie, we’re sure that one of these 20 amuse-bouche recipes from the great chefs at Saveur will offer some inspiration!

Smoked fish, tender seafood, fresh veggies, creamy binders and soft fresh baked bread; Layer it all together and what do you have? Smörgåstårta. It’s a Swedish staple that’s perfect for parties, brunches, and those days where your family never seems to eat at the same time. Plus, come on — it’s a cake made of sandwich! You know you want it! A Smörgåstårta isn’t quite cake and it isn’t quite sandwich.

Tall, golden loaves of panettone are everywhere this time of year. Traditionally eaten around Christmas and New Year’s, this fruit-studded sweet bread can be enjoyed plain or simply toasted — but it doesn’t have to be. How about crisp-custardy panettone french toast or even a savory panettone panzanella with pancetta and brussels sprouts? • Panettone Bread Pudding at BBC Good Food: Fluffy panettone bakes into a beautiful, flavorful bread pudding.

Plain mashed potatoes are great on their own, but sometimes you want to mix it up a bit. Mashing in other vegetables adds flavor, color and texture, transforming the usual bowl of starch into a totally new side dish. How about mashed potatoes with butternut squash or caramelized shallot and sage? Get these recipes and more ideas below!

It’s Halloween — which means we’re all supposed to pull out vats of Jell-O and light ’em with black lights, and scrawl spiderweb icing over elaborate cakes. Right? Well, if you’re short on time for such undertakings, or if you want to avoid the sugar overload of too many Halloween treats, check out this roundup.

Prunes need to revamp their image. Most people associate them with the elderly and the infirm, making them possibly the least sexy fruit ever, when in reality they are soft, sweet, deeply flavored — and dare we say sexy? Not only that, prunes are adaptable; they are as good served with duck as they are stewed with sweet port wine and spooned over cake. Prune lover or merely prune-curious? Check out the 10 recipes below!

Wonton wrappers get a bad rap (pun intended). Plenty of people only use them for cuisines of a certain background and forget about them the rest of the time. These little gems are actually quite useful no matter the background of the cuisine you’re preparing. In the mood for low-calorie tacos tonight? No problem! Grab turkey, lettuce, tomato and yes, wonton wrappers — they make perfect taco shells.

Throwing a party at a public park or any other location away from home can sometimes seem like a logistical nightmare. Figuring out what decorations you can bring and where you can hang them is enough to put you in a tizzy. When it comes to transporting the all-important birthday cake, however, well that’s when the headaches really start — especially if you’re moving them via mass transit. Here are five ideas for birthday party desserts that travel well.1.

This month’s issue of Food & Wine included a version of the classic wedge salad served on a skewer: chunks of romaine and crispy slab bacon skewered and served with a blue cheese dipping sauce. This got us thinking about all the possibilities for this party-friendly, utensil-free way to serve salad.We love Caprese salad skewers, and have seen recipes for Greek salad skewers, but we think there are a lot more salads that would be great served in this way.

Bacon-Cheddar Twice-Baked Potatoes It’s going to involve a little more than butter and sour cream. But making a baked (or sweet) potato a meal is an easy, satisfying way to solve dinner. We don’t do it nearly often enough. How To Bake a Potato in the Oven We were inspired by Faith’s 400-calorie lunches; one involved a sweet potato topped with yogurt and bacon.

Ever thought about eating salad for breakfast? Or sushi? No? Here are five unexpected yet surprisingly good breakfasts, gathered from around the world! Salad – Yes, a breakfast salad! I love eating avocado with prosciutto and a little Parmesan in the summertime. Add a poached egg and it’s a seriously nutritious meal. Many Asian breakfasts often include salad, too — why not try it sometime? Miso Soup – Nearly every Japanese breakfast includes miso soup.

A friend of mine recently asked for help brainstorming some good DIY junk food ideas for a party she’s going to in a few weeks. We had so much fun finding recipes for things like homemade snickers, oreos, and pop-tarts that I just had to share! Have you ever tried making anything like this at home?• Homemade Pop-Tarts from Joanne Chang’s Flour Bakery – These have been hanging out on my list ever since we first posted about them last year.

Have you ever seen anything like these candies?We did a complete double take when we saw them on the Splendid Table website. They look like little edible marbles or some interesting new nut that you pop out of the shell straight into your mouth.Apparently, they were one of artist Frida Kahlo’s favorite sweets. We have a feeling they will soon be ours as well!These sweets sound almost like coconut macaroons stuffed inside candied lime peels.

Did you know November 15th is National Bundt Cake Day? Mary of The Food Librarian has been celebrating by baking 30 bundts over the past 30 days and we’ve been inspired by the range of bundts she’s produced. Classic, mini, ice-cream-filled, savory, jellied — she’s made them all!Over the past month, Mary has baked many classic bundt cakes with simple glazes, like a zucchini olive oil bundt with crunchy lemon glaze.

We talk a lot about pairing wine and beer with food, but what about cocktails? Do you sip cocktails with snacks or with meals — or do you just drink them alone? If you drink them with a bite of food, do you have pairings that you love? Here are a few ideas for pairing cocktails with delicious snacks.What makes a good pairing of cocktail with appetizer? Do you look for complementary flavors, colors, or textures?

A few months ago, Elizabeth showed us the work of Yvette van Boven, a cook, artist and restauranteur living in Amsterdam who creates beautifully illustrated recipes. Here’s a round up of a few more hand-made recipes from other artists and cooks. Enjoy!We haven’t seen many hand-illustrated recipes since the days of Molly Katzen’ Moosewood Cookbook and Enchanted Broccoli Forest but they seem to be making a comeback.

So, you’re at a picnic, and you bring out what looks like an average watermelonboozy popsiclesThis tip comes from Sweet Paul (who has a beautiful online magazine), and he makes it look ridiculously easy. Cut a hole in the watermelon, stick in a funnel, fill with vodka, let it sit for a couple of days in the fridge.Even better, he uses lime-infused vodka. Yum. • Get the full instructions at Sweet Paul Has anyone ever done this? Does it work? What does it taste like?

A little later today, we are giving you a tutorial for preserved lemons. So, to whet your appetite for that, here is a recipe that uses preserved lemons to full effect: A flavorful Moroccan tagine with chicken, garlic, ginger, olives, saffron and other spices — as well as the tangy, delicious flavor of lemons preserved in salt.This recipe is like a party-fied version of our own Lemon Garlic Chicken. It is a simple recipe, with some exotic ingredients to give it a huge burst of flavor.

When we shared our favorite pot roast recipe yesterday, we also mentioned how much we love having the leftovers in the fridge to use for meals during the week. Our families inevitably get tired of straight pot roast for every meal (even if we don’t), so we have sneaky ways for transforming it into new dishes!We really like to stretch out the leftovers and make this ready-made food last through the week.

We get pretty wide-eyed at the cherries that are showing up in the market. We think of all the things we could make with them… and then we remember that we’d have to pit them. And we don’t own a pitter. Well, cookbook author Sally Schneider over at The Atlantic‘s food channel cooked whole cherries into a sweet, saucy dessert—pits, leaves, and all.

We mentioned this recipe a couple weeks ago in our roundup, but we just made these muffins again and we had to report back on how easy, fast, and good these are.We found this recipe for zucchini muffins at Simply Recipes earlier this fall, and we’ve made them several times since. We like this recipe because it calls for oil or melted butter, instead of creamed butter and sugar. This makes them easy to whip up in just one bowl, without a mixer.We also love how flexible they are.

Sixty-seven years of amazing cookies — 1941-2008. That’s what Gourmet Magazine is featuring on their website right now. They went back through every year of their magazine’s history and chose a favorite cookie from each year.It’s like a time capsule back to their early days inthe 40s and 50s and all through the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. They give a quick recap of each decade and some of the new influences in each.The real stars of course are the cookies.

As Kathryn pointed earlier today, it’s berry season! Who can resist picking up a pint of perfectly ripe berries and popping one (or three) in your mouth before you’ve even left the farmer’s market stand?But a pint of berries bought as a splurge can sometimes present a conundrum back in the kitchen. Many recipes call for more than you’ve purchased or maybe you’re just not in the mood to go all out with your great-grandma’s prize-winning blueberry pie!