Still looking for one more sweet to add to a cookie tray or share with neighbors? Here is a quick no bake cookie we’ve had as part of our Christmas baking for years. Enjoy! No Bake Date Balls 1/2 c butter3/4 to 1 c sugar2 eggs1 1/2 c chopped dates (about 6 to 8 ounces)1/2…

As last minute home-baked hostess gifts or a contribution to a holiday potluck, quick breads are a great thing to have in your kitchen repertoire. The one featured today upgrades the old familiar banana bread with the bright colors of cranberries. This recipe makes one full sized loaf or four small, “gift-sized” loaves and should…

Tradition, tradition. When I was a child, my mother always included lots of cookie baking as part of our Christmas traditions. While we often tried new recipes for the festive cookie trays we shared with family and friends, there were two constants. First there were the “cut out” cookies, rolled, cut into Christmas-y shapes and…

Homemade pitas are wonderful things to have in your repertoire. They are a good introduction to yeast breads, don’t take much work time, and are good for everything from accompanying hummus to making healthy sandwiches that don’t fall apart when you add lots of veggies. Oh, and the ones you make can be eaten warm…

First published on 12/17/12 Two rolled cookie recipes–old fashioned sugar cookies and Swedish ginger cookies–are included today, along with a basic powdered sugar frosting, but first, some reminiscing. The local paper this week featured a woman with over a thousand different cookie cutters. While I never came close to that number, I did have a…

For many of us, this is the only time of year that we get out the cookie cutters, rolling pins, and often tattered and stained recipe cards from Grandma, ready to tackle the great American rolled cookie tradition. And for many of us, this ends up meaning a mess in the kitchen, shapes that seem…

Our family enjoyed potato pancakes for many years before I discovered that they were also called latkes. This time of the year, when many families will be making latkes as part of their holiday festivities, seemed like a good time to bring out my favorite method for making potato pancakes. Maybe I should put “potato”…

The stores are full of fresh cranberries from mid-November through December, often at loss-leader prices. This year, on the day before Thanksgiving, I found a store that had already marked these down to less than half the price of most places. Knowing how well these bright berries keep in the refrigerator and how easy they…

Many years ago, my sister shared a cookie recipe based on an ordinary cake mix, standard two layer size, any flavor of your choice, and it has been a wonderful go-to cookie for a variety of occasions. If you do an internet search, you will no doubt find tons of links to similar recipes, but…

Here we are, almost to December in the upper Midwest, and I am just finishing the last of the greens from my garden. Little warms a gardener’s heart than to be able to serve food fresh from the back yard for months and months. Even if you are not a gardener, however, now is the…