With the economy in a bit of unrest, who doesn’t want budget-friendly besides Warren Buffet or the Hiltons?  Inexpensive doesn’t need to mean hard to swallow, though.  With a bit of planning you can turn out fabulous meals for a very low price tag. Here’s a favorite recipe that fits the criteria. More »

’Tis the season to be reading and I’m willing to bet there are a bunch of kids (or adults) preparing to read or re-read the Harry Potter books.  I was surprised when first reading the books to discover the huge role of food in the stories.  Pumpkin pasties, meat pies, sausages, potatoes, rock cakes, cider, licorice, butter beer.  Wait.  Um, butter beer?  Sounds good, but what is it? More »

Now that you’ve contemplated some brute squash mutilation, here’s another use: Place the mashed squash (without butter, bien sûr) in a strainer over a bowl for about 30 minutes. Take that resulting squash and make the world’s deadliest cake: Pumpkin Spice Cake with Grand Marnier Cream Cheese Icing and Dulce De Leche. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. More »

Squash get a bum rap for difficulty in the kitchen.  I think that’s owing to the fact that most people don’t think in terms of brute mutilation. They daintily jab at the big beasties with inadequately sized knives of dubious sharpness.  It’s not their fault that they’ve just never been taught the easy way around a squash.  I will now remedy that with the full set of instructions on how to open (and cook) a hard winter squash. More »

Editor’s Note: Starting with this post, we’ll be digging into Rebecca’s archives for the Cook’s Corner blog. To read the latest from Rebecca, don’t miss her Record-Eagle columns and her most recent posts at FoodieWithFamily.com.

Since the fall weather is rolling in (Can I get a big ‘Glory!  Hallelu!’ from someone out there who loves fall like me?), I decided to whip up some cinnamon rolls, and opt for flavors that scream autumn to me: pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. More »

I might’ve mentioned that I’m obsessed with Autumn.  (Here, here or here…)  At one point or another, I might have also mentioned that I’m obsessed with baked custard.  (See here for evidence.) These marvelous obsessions combine to result in the Pumpkin* Pots de Crème (baked pumpkin custards) that I made a couple days ago.  The Evil Genius likes them just like this.  Simple and lovely. More »

It’s finally fall.  I wait all year for this; pumpkins, scarlet maple leaves, blustery wind, butternut squash, grey clouds with bits of brilliant blue peeking through, hay bales, mega-bags of miniature chocolate bars (the best size for stashing in my apron pockets to cover ‘mommy-emergencies’), weather that justifies hours-long baking sessions, wool sock and scarf temperatures…  and braising.  More »

My mom recently visited her sisters (my aunties) and my Grandma. One night the Shaffer girls (because that’s what they become when they’re all together again) and Grandma gathered around the kitchen table to talk food and enjoy one another’s company.  That’s when Grandma brought out the game.  Boggle.  My grandmother looks sweet and kind and delicate because she normally is. But here’s a fact: Playing Boggle is the only time my Grandma talks smack.  She challenged my mom and aunties by saying, “Come on.  I’ll wallop the dang out of you!”  Seriously. More »

We don’t live in one of those mystical, magical places that can grow tomatoes all the live-long year.  We have about a month, maybe two in exceptional weather conditions, where local tomatoes are worth eating.  I tell you this to explain why, one cold March night a little over two years ago, I hit upon the best burger topping combination I’ve ever tasted. More »

[Editor’s Note: While Rebecca takes a break from blogging, we offer a post from her September 2008 archives.]

HOLY WUH!  In one week it seemed the entire garden had been taken over by monster heirloom cherry tomato plants.  I did some quick mental calculations and realized that there was no possible way we could manage to eat all the cherry tomatoes that were coming on.  It was also plain that even freezing the excess ripe fruit for use in soups and stews would leave us with more tomatoes than my non-wasteful heart could bear to ignore.  What to do?  Pickling to the rescue! More »