Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Men

What says Christmas better than a cheery little gingerbread man? Be-deckled with edible jewels and painted with a benign, frosting smile; he bades any passers-by to stop and nibble at his tender, spicy flesh. The perfect gingerbread man should be soft and chewy, his appendages slowly drooping as you hold him across your palm. No crispy, crunchy, cardboard gingerbread men here. Those over-baked samples belong on the Christmas tree, not in the mouth.

Chocolate-Peppermint Sandwiches

Christmas will soon be here! This being my last week teaching piano lessons for the year, I decided to bake cookies for all 25 of my students. I settled on Gingerbread Men and Chocolate-Peppermint Sandwiches, two new recipes. I stocked up on flour, sugar, butter and eggs, bought plastic goodie bags decorated with grinning gingerbread men and got up early to start baking before breakfast.

Toffee Bars

Chocolate is the king of all sweets. Add chocolate to any dessert and it becomes infinitely better. Silky and smooth with deeply rich, cocoa flavor, chocolate is pleasing to the tongue and satisfies the sweet tooth.

I'm one of those people who eats chocolate chips as a snack. Ask me my favorite dessert and I say, "Anything with chocolate." I remember as a little girl, tip-toeing into the kitchen, climbing onto the counter and sneaking chocolate chips from the cabinet. And then I would be amazed when my mom (upon smelling my breath) would say, "You've been in the chocolate again, huh?" How did she know? The scenario today is much the same, except now it's my husband, smiling reproachingly at my mouth full of chocolate.

This recipe is pretty easy...a buttery, toffee crust topped by silky-smooth, milk chocolate. Beware though, they are sort of addicting.

Pork Chops with Sauerkraut

Pork Chops and Sauerkraut has been a staple in my family for years. I think it was my Grandma Beverly's recipe or maybe her mother's, Great-Grandma Dorothy. The pork chops are first seared to add a flavorful brown crust, then piled with mounds of sauerkraut and popped in the oven. The flavor of the sauerkraut penetrates the pork, adding juiciness to the rather flavorless cut and tenderizing the lean meat. This pork literally falls apart at the touch of a fork.

Soft Pretzels

The perfect pretzel is soft, but chewy. Salty, yet slightly sweet. A satisfying snack. Almost nothing speaks more to the heart of a Philadelphian than a giant, soft pretzel. I suppose, bit by bit, we are taking on the culture of our city. Pretzels, for instance, have become more important to me than at any other time of my life. And so, one Saturday when there was nothing to do, Brad and I took on the task of making our own homemade soft pretzels.

Cranberry-Nut Bread

The holidays are approaching and with them, bags of bright, red cranberries merrily fill the grocer's shelves, beaming cheerily to any passer-by. Their crimson color catches the eye and tempts the imagination with possible sauces, salads and breads to further adorn the festive spread. It seems fitting then to give in to the appeal of the cheery fruit and make Cranberry-Nut Bread.

Now, my mom does not like cranberries. Those pretty little berries could never succeed in tempting her which resulted in a cranberry-deprived childhood for me.

Thankfully, my cran-fast was finally broken by the mom of my college friend, Anni. This good woman is always baking some sort of enticing creation for a poor sick lady or laid-up-in-bed grandpa and her daughter's friend was to be no exception.

Upon leaving her home, I was laden with a napkin-ful of deliciously sweet-tart cranberry bread. I was slightly dubious, I admit, being prejudiced against the fruit by my mother's distaste for them. But my dubiousness was turned into exclamations of delight upon opening my mouth to the scarlet-trimmed bread. Bursts of slightly tart fruit mingled with the sweetness of the bread and hints of toasted pecans pleased my tongue and satisfied my stomach. Gone were my apprehensions and in their place was a healthy admiration for that small, red fruit.

Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe has to be one of the easiest on the face of the planet. A can of pumpkin puree plus a box of spice cake mix will bring you the most delicious muffins you will ever taste. The ingredients are by no means gourmet, but none-the-less, satisfying.

Beef Orzo Stew

I really enjoyed college. I miss the classes, friendships, dorm life and hours of piano practice (yes, even that). One thing I do not miss is Chucks, the campus cafeteria. Those four years are probably the most mal-nourished of my life as I lived basically on cereal, pb&j and the occasional orange. As the countdown to the nearest break would slowly dwindle down, I would begin to dream of my favorite, mom-made meal. I would sigh as I stared down at yet another bagel and the carb-laden meal would magically begin to morph into delicious slices of beef, carmelized carrots, and roasted potatoes all slathered with an abundance of dark gravy and finished with a bowl of homemade applesauce on the side. The first meal my mom would always serve when I got home was roast beef. I lived for those meals.

Risotto

This simple dish has to be one of the supreme comfort foods. A mouthful of the broth-saturated grains makes a rainy day better, comforts a life-battered heart and satisfies the hungriest of stomachs. It is reminiscent of by-gone days when mom used to warm a blustery day with her best chicken noodle soup or cheer a sick girlie with a special bowl of Gramma's rice pudding.

Gingerbread

When most people hear the word "gingerbread" they probably think of little cinnamon-colored men, bedecked with red hots, frosting and sprinkles. They might also think of houses constructed of sturdy (or maybe not-so-sturdy), eatable walls that are carefully decorated with gumdrops and marshmallow men.

Pan-Seared Chicken with Lemon-Chive Pan Sauce

Chicken can be such a dry, boring dish. It is usually accompanied by lots of stuffings and soup mixes in order to hopefully mask the dehydrated meat. It is hard to cook chicken well. A wonderful way to ensure juicy, tender chicken is to use bone-in breasts. I however, have a hard enough time preparing boneless chicken, not to mention preparing or eating bone-in chicken. So I am stuck trying to making dry, boneless, chicken tantalizing.

Crumb Coffeecake

My husband and my sister bond over coffee. Lace comes down for the weekend and first thing, out comes the Bodum french press and specialty roast. They stand there, staring into the depths of their cream-colored coffee mugs, commenting in soft tones about the "oiliness" and "floral notes." So it seemed appropriate, upon welcoming my sis down for the weekend, to make a coffeecake to accompany their hot brew.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

When you find a truly amazing recipe, the second time you make it is filled with such anticipation. You wonder if that piece of heaven really was as good as you thought last time you made it. Maybe that first taste was colored by love-at-first-bite and you will be disappointed with your second attempt. You carefully follow the directions, trying to remember what worked well and what didn't the last time. You hover eagerly over the stove, waiting for the internal temperature of the cake to creep up to the perfect doneness. You agonize over taking it out of the oven, terrified of dropping it. And you doggedly wait and wait and wait for it to cool. Then there is the last breathtaking moment when your lips close around the fork and the creamy texture slides over your tongue. And you realize, yes.... yes, it is as good as you remembered.

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Cheesecake is an involved thing. And it takes a long time to prepare. I usually end up making this only once a year, in the fall. That being said, it tastes amazing. If you like to bake, this is a truly special recipe. 

Give yourself a long lead time when preparing this cake. I usually make it the day before so it can chill overnight. Expect 3 - 4 hours to prepare and bake it and then another 8 hours to fully chill it, about 12 hours all told. 

Apple Pie

Growing up, my younger sister, Lacey Beth, was the pie master. Apple pie, specifically. My mom taught her how to make it and she seemed to be able to magically manipulate the pie crust to do as she wished.

I remember the first time she made biscuits. My Grammy was at our house and she watched carefully as mom taught Lace how to make them. When the biscuits came out of the oven, Mom and Grammy declared that they were the best, fluffiest biscuits they had ever tasted. She just had the touch.

How-To: Applesauce or My Heritage

At the age of fourteen, I loudly declared that I hated to cook. My mom had been teaching me a few things about the art of cooking and I had made the family meatloaf recipe one too many times. Cooking meant work and that was something that my self-absorbed, teenage brain wasn't going to welcome with open arms.

Six years later, the summer Brad asked me to marry him, I realized that if I didn't learn to cook these family recipes, then I wasn't going to be eating them. My mom had spoiled me: pies with homemade crust, dill pickles in canning jars, strawberry jam, and yes, the family meatloaf. Mom goes all out for the family, even down to making salad and homemade crescent rolls to take on a family trip out west. If I didn't learn from her, then these family recipes would be gone forever.