This is a great pasta salad to have as a meal or as a side at a picnic. Lots of flavor and easy to adjust to tastes. I got this one from Chowhound, and we made this one for our Memorial Day picnic.
Blackberry Pie
I really, really love pie. Any kind. And I really love blackberries. When our local farmer’s market had some fabulous-looking blackberries, I bought a ridiculous amount and of course had to make a pie. The result was very good, and very tart, and would have been even better if I’d had some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on hand to go with it. I got this particular recipe from Joy of Baking, one of my favorite websites – I’ve always had fantastic luck with her recipes!
Cinnamon Pancakes
I was never a huge pancake fan until I started thinking about how good pancakes would be if they had some cinnamon in them…now this is one of my favorite breakfasts. Not something I make often, but always good when I do, and it’s really great for a cold fall or winter morning.
Spice Cake
My all-time favorite cake. I usually turn my nose up at dessert, but I can never resist this. This is probably the best recipe I have ever found, and it’s been tweaked and adapted so much that I’m not even sure of the original source, though it was somewhere on All Recipes many moons ago. You can make this cake lighter and fluffier if you use light brown sugar, or more dense and moist with dark brown sugar. My preference is the latter.
Mussels in White Wine
Mussels are one of my absolute favorite things, and this is a fast, easy way to make them. I just served this with some crusty bread on the side to soak up the sauce. Although this served two of us, it could easily have been for three, or even four with sides. We had to stuff ourselves silly to finish it all because the mussels wouldn’t keep. So keep that in mind if this is a meal for two.
Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
I’m not the world’s biggest dessert person, but the frosting was life-changing. Seriously. I could’ve eaten the entire bowl. I used this on a spice cake, but it would also be great on a pumpkin cake, or even just plain vanilla cake.
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 4 tablespoons Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
Beat butter until light and fluffy.
Add sugar half a cup at a time until completely incorporated, adding a tablespoon of milk at a time whenever the icing gets too thick.
Add vanilla and cinnamon and beat until just combined.
Dan Dan Noodles
My favorite dish at PF Changs, but just as good at home. You could do this with shirataki noodles in place of the Udon noodles. Do watch the chili oil…the original recipe, which comes from Serious Eats, calls for 1 teaspoon. The first time I made this, I did use that and found it almost inedible – and I *like* a lot of heat. I wrote it in as a 1/4 teaspoon here, but feel free to adjust to your taste.
Pineapple Tofu Stir-Fry
This was my first attempt at cooking tofu, and I really liked it. Having read some articles about preparing the tofu first, I froze it and think next time I will skip that step; I didn’t love the spongy texture. I will definitely make it again, but next time will ramp up the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes for a little more flavor. This recipe comes from Eating Well magazine. I added a few extra veggies I had in the fridge.
Pad-See-Ew
One of my favorite dishes to order in Thai restaurants, and it’s relatively easy to make at home. This is good with either rice or shirataki noodles.
Om nom nom! 