Most Recent Articles...
12/24/05
- Christmas Memories
No matter where you live or how old you are, Christmases from your childhood have a special glow about them. Perhaps you remember a longed-for gift you finally received, or gave to someone special. Christmas ornaments and decorations, the songs you play and sing, and even when you open your presents all form lasting memories and traditions. Food always plays a part in these memories.
12/19/05
- Five Ingredient Holiday Recipes
For last minute entertaining, or just
to make the season easier on you, this great collection of five ingredient
holiday recipes comes to the rescue! All of these recipes use special
ingredients and ingredient combinations to give them a bit of sparkle. Try
Devils on Horseback, White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies, Mini Polenta
Sandwiches, and Bacon Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes.
12/12/05
- Top Ten Tips for Making the Best Christmas Cookies
With recipes from my
Cookie and Candy
Recipe Box and these tips, you'll make the best Christmas and holiday
cookies ever! Try Chocolate Peanut Butter Bonbons (pictured), Roll Out Sugar
Cookies, Treasure Chest Bars, and more now that you're armed with the science
behind tender, moist, and delicious cookies.
12/07/05
- The Weekend Cook - Make Christmas Gifts!
This weekend, make these
delicious, quick and easy menus and you'll have time to make Christmas gifts
that come from your kitchen. Everyone is trying to save money this holiday
season, so these delicious and unusual gifts are perfect.
11/30/05
- Gifts From Your Kitchen
There are many reasons to make Christmas gifts
of food. The gift is much more personal, you can save money and control
nutrition for those on specialized diets, and you really do give a bit of your
heart.
11/23/05
- My Family's Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
Looking over the site, I realized
I have never written about my family's Thanksgiving dinner menu! This is the
menu we have used for years; it changes very little. The combination of flavors,
textures, temperatures, and aromas is just perfect.
11/14/05
- Start With - Rice
The 'Start With...' Series continues this week
featuring rice as the main ingredient. These easy and inexpensive recipes all
feature white or brown rice and a few other ingredients to make delicious main
dishes, side dishes, and desserts, including Caramel Rice Pudding and Shrimp
Fried Rice.
11/10/05
- The Weekend Cook - Holiday Preview
The Weekend Cook returns! This is
one of the last weekends before the busy holiday season begins. So serve your
family some delicious meals and freeze desserts, bread, and salads at the same
time. Try Crockpot Pork with Cabbage, Cranberry Oatmeal Bread, Easy but Fancy
Cookies, Calypso Eggs, and Divinity Frozen Fruit Salad this weekend and get
started!
11/07/05
- My Grandmother Matha's Recipes
It's coming on Christmas, and
Thanksgiving is right around the corner. It's time for some secret family
treats! My Grandmother Matha was the best cook ever, and these are her recipes
that I treasure. From Parker House Rolls to Peanut Cakes and Chocolate Sundae
Pie, you'll find old fashioned, heirloom recipes that are worth every single
calorie. Start your own traditions!
11/01/05
- How to Cook a Turkey From the Frozen State
Since Thanksgiving is only a
few weeks away, it's time to start planning. And I have a fabulous tip for you!
Dr. Peter Snyder, Jr. sent me the results of a study conducted at the
Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management about cooking your turkey
from the frozen state. Because of the greater mass of the breast, it will cook
more slowly than the dark meat and will be more moist and tender when the bird
is safely cooked. This study is thorough and well documented, so you can be
assured it is safe and accurate. I plan to cook my turkey this way from now on.
10/27/05
- Top Ten Recipes of the Week
These were the most popular recipes last
week at Busy Cooks. You'll find lots of great and easy recipes for main dishes,
snacks, and desserts.
10/24/05
- Happy Halloween!
Halloween is next Monday! Are you ready? Don't worry -
just turn to my collection of easy and delicious Halloween recipes and your
house will be 'haunt'able in no time. Enjoy the Spidey Family, Hobgoblins, Candy
Corn Brownies, and Pumpkin Log and have a safe and happy Halloween.
10/20/05
- Top Ten Recipes of the Week
These were the most popular recipes last
week at Busy Cooks. You'll find lots of great and easy recipes for main dishes,
snacks, and desserts.
10/16/05
- More Healthy Crockpot Recipes
Since it's a crockpot time of year, I
thought that offering some more healthy slow cooker recipes would be prudent.
These nutrient dense recipes are also beautiful to look at and taste fabulous.
Try Madras Chicken, Crockpot Sweet and Sour Pork, and Vegetarian Crockpot
Spaghetti Sauce for dinner this week.
10/13/05
- Top Ten Recipes of the Week
New at Busy Cooks! I'm beginning a new
series that will list the 10 most popular recipes at the site each week. This
week, Fresh Pumpkin Pie, Hash Brown Casserole with Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes,
and Baked Apples are on the list.
10/03/05
- One Pan Roasted Dinners
One dish meals are taken to a new level with
these dinner recipes that are roasted in one pan all together in the oven. Try
Cheesy Hash Brown Pork Chops, Chicken and Rice Bake, or Roasted Pork Chops and
Vegetables for dinner this week.
09/25/05 -
Bundt Cakes
Bundt cakes aren't a flavor - they're a shape! Learn a bit
about the history of these ornately shaped cakes, find some fabulous new cake
pans, and get some great recipes to serve for dessert or tuck into lunchboxes.
09/18/05
- Start With - Zucchini
The 'Start With...' series continues with
zucchini as the subject. Almost anyone who has a garden has baskets overflowing
with zucchini at this time of year; find recipes using this garden giant.
09/12/05
- Food Safety
Food safety is the most important factor in cooking. It
doesn't matter how delicious or complicated your recipe is: if the food makes
people sick because of improper cooking or handling, all your efforts will be
wasted. You can't tell if a food is safe to eat by how it looks or tastes.
Proper storage, cooking and handling are the only ways to ensure safe food.
09/11/05
- Peach Recipes
Find wonderful and easy recipes using fresh peaches or
canned peaches, using peaches in recipes like Apple Peach Pie, Peach Creme
Brulee, Peach and Canadian Bacon Salad, and Peach Crisp.
09/05/05
- Batter Bread Recipes
Learn how to make yeast batter breads. Yeast
batter breads are an easy introduction to working with yeast; serve warm yeast
breads baked in loaf pans or casseroles with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
09/03/05
- The Weekend Cook: Katrina and Labor Day
The Weekend Cook deals with
Labor Day Weekend and Hurricane Katrina. Learn how you can help with relief
efforts, and get great recipes and menus for the last blast of summer.
09/01/05
- Disaster Meals and Recipes
Find a collection of quick and easy recipes
that you can make even in an emergency when you lose power. Learn how to stock
your pantry with staples that can feed your family in an emergency or natural
disaster like a hurricane, fire, flood, earthquake, or tornado.
08/27/05
- Start With - Tomatoes
The 'Start With' series continues using fresh
tomatoes. At the end of summer, anyone who has a garden usually has an abundance
of tomatoes; use them in these recipes, including Tomato Pie, Tomato Soup, and
Stuffed Tomatoes.
08/20/05
- Brown Bag Lunch Recipes
Back to school lunch tips, hints, and recipes
for brown bag lunches. Get recipes for sandwiches, soups, cookies, and snacks as
you pack your child's lunch box for the school year.
08/14/05
- Grilled Sandwiches
Hot grilled sandwiches are the perfect choice for
last minute suppers, lunches, and feeding hungry kids after school. You can
grill just about any bread and any filling, using waffle irons, dual contact
grills, ordinary skillets, or panini makers.
08/08/05
- Meat with Fruit Entrees
Recipes that combine savory meats with juicy,
sweet fresh fruits cooked on the grill, also in the oven, stovetop, and
microwave. Meats with fruit entree recipes.
08/01/05
- Once a Month Cooking
Learn how easy it is to cook once a month and
freeze batches of meals in this lesson on how to cook OAMC. Once a Month Cooking
helps you cook meals for a month and then freeze them, reheating as necessary.
07/31/05
- Hot and Cold Summer Salads
Recipes for summer main dish salads that are
easy to make ahead or at the last minute. Salad recipes that use meats and
vegetables cooked on the grill, or made ahead and served cold.
07/25/05
- Five Ingredient Main Dish Salad Recipes
Main dish salads are such a
nice choice for summer dining and entertaining. And when the ingredient list
uses just five products, you'll be in and out of the kitchen in no time!
07/20/05
- Make Ahead Sandwich Spreads
Make a few of these easy and delicious make
ahead sandwich spreads, including Olive Spread and Parmesan Tuna Spread, and
keep them in your refrigerator for quick snacks and anytime meals.
07/15/05
- More Too Hot to Cook
Our appetites tend to diminish in the hot summer
months. Who wants to eat a big dinner when it's 90 degrees outside? Cool, light
food is much more appealing. Luckily, I've collected more healthy and delicious
recipes that fill this need and don't need one bit of cooking. So you can stay
cool while preparing dinner and while eating it.
07/08/05
- Summer Food Safety Quiz
It's time for another quiz! Take this 10
question quiz and find out if you are prepared for summer picnics and cookouts.
And be sure to read Food Safety to make sure that your parties and gatherings
are as safe and wholesome as possible so you don't miss out on any summer fun.
07/03/05
- An Ode to Bing Cherries
Every summer, there are three things I
treasure. One is seeing my gardens bloom and thrive as bees hum among the
flowers and our fountains gurgle. The second is the lazy tempo and the feeling
that warm weather can go on forever. And the third is bing cherries.
06/30/05
- Holiday Weekend
For this long holiday weekend, The Weekend Cook
returns! Having meals planned and food in the house by Friday means you can
devote your weekend to having fun, whether it's at the lake, in a park, or just
in your own backyard.
06/19/05
- Disaster Meals
Are you prepared for a disaster? From tornadoes in the
summer to earthquakes anytime to hurricanes in the fall, Mother Nature can take
us by surprise. Take some time and think about your own emergency preparedness.
There are foods you can store, recipes to collect, and things to do that will
help keep you and your family safe even in the worst emergency.
06/12/05
- Father's Day Dinner on the Grill
For some reason, Father's Day just
doesn't get the same respect and attention as Mother's Day. Make things
different this year! Next Sunday, try serving Dad a one dish recipe cooked on
the grill or entrees and side dishes cooked on the grill.
06/05/05
- Summer Appetizer Party
June is the month for parties, and one of the
best and easiest ways to throw a party is to serve appetizers. Just appetizers!
You can introduce guests to something new, please many tastes, and really get
your party moving. Enjoy Bacon Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes, Banana Slush Punch, and
for dessert, Brownie Fudge (yum).
05/29/05
- My Favorite Summer Recipes
Now that it's summer, here's a collection of
my favorite summer recipes. Grilled entrees, main dish salads, and cool no cook
desserts featured, including Shrimp and Rice Salad and Beer Can Chicken.
05/22/05
- All About Couscous
Couscous is a tiny pasta that is delicious,
nutritious, and incredibly easy to prepare. Most couscous that you buy in the
grocery store is the tiny grained Moroccan couscous that has been pre-steamed,
so all you have to do is mix it with boiling water plus a little butter or olive
oil and let stand for a few minutes, fluff the grains with a fork, and serve.
05/15/05
- Start With - Black Beans
The Start With... series continues this week
with canned black beans as a focus. Every pantry should have at least one can of
black beans, those rich and deeply flavored legumes, for these quick and easy
recipes. Try Polenta with Black Bean Salsa, Shrimp and Black Bean Salad, or Tex
Mex Black Bean Wraps for lunch and dinner this week.
05/10/05
- 400 Five Ingredients or Less Recipes
Collection of more than 400 five
ingredient recipes, including appetizers, desserts, cookies, cakes, entrees,
salads, soups, side dishes, and sandwiches recipes.
05/07/05
- Dinner For the Week
Dinner for the week gives you a delicious and
efficient week of menus that lets you shop once and eat six times. These menus
use leftovers in creative ways and are varied and nutritious.
04/30/05
- The Weekend Cook: Cinco de Mayo
The Weekend Cook continues with these
easy recipes that celebrate spring and Cindo de Mayo, the Mexican celebration of
the fifth of May, including Stuffed Tex Mex Burgers, Breakfast Burritos, Mexican
Chocolate Cake, and more.
04/24/05
- Top Six Favorite Everyday Menus
My favorite Everyday Menus are the
menus I always have in mind for dinner in just a few minutes. Keep the
ingredients for these dinners in your pantry, fridge and freezer and you'll
never have to order takeout again.
04/17/05
- Passover Recipes
Recipes for Passover that are quick, easy and make
ahead, including Chicken Pizzuta, Charoses, Macaroons, a make-ahead Kugel,
sponge cake, and Beet Borscht.
04/14/05
- The Weekend Cook - Feels Like Spring
The Weekend Cook continues with
menus and recipes celebrating spring, including lunch, breakfast, and dinner
menus with recipes like Roasted Asparagus, Lemon Truffle Pie, and Curried
Chicken Salad.
04/10/05
- Start With - Canned Salmon
Canned salmon is a wonderful pantry staple
that's so good for you too. Learn a bit about the product and get great simple,
quick and easy recipes, including Salmon Nicoise Salad, Grilled Salmon
Sandwiches, Potato Salmon Salad, and Salmon Tacos.
04/03/05
- From Alfredo to Marco Polo ... and Beyond
Learn what named dishes mean.
From Florentine to Rockefeller, from Tetrazzini to Provencal, what do these food
names mean? When you see these names on a menu, what are they made of?
03/28/05
- Easter Leftover Recipes
After Easter, most of us have hard cooked eggs,
roast chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, roast beef, and/or candy sitting in the
refrigerator and cupboard. Ham sandwiches and deviled eggs, anyone? Leftover
recipes don't have to be boring if treated with imagination. Casseroles, soup
recipes, stratas, and stuffed pasta recipes are some favorite ways to transform
meats into delicious recipes.
03/15/05
- Healthy Five Ingredient Recipes
It's time for more five ingredient
recipes! These easy and delicious recipes are also nutrient dense. That means
that each serving gives you a good portion of the recommended daily value of
many nutrients like Vitamins A and C, calcium, and B vitamins. Try Red Snapper
with Yellow Summer Squash or Tomato Feta Chicken for dinner this week.
03/09/05
- The Weekend Cook: Observing Lent
Get recipes and menus perfect for
observing Lenten dietary restrictions in this issue of The Weekend Cook,
including Scrambled Eggs with Spinach, Fish Sandwiches, seasoned Roasted
Vegetables, and Grapefruit Avocado Salad.
03/07/05
- Convert Recipes for your Crockpot
It's easy to convert your favorite
oven and stovetop recipes to your crockpot. It just takes a little imagination
and some knowledge about how the crockpot works. Try Slow Cooker Wild Rice
Chowder or Vegetarian Enchiladas for dinner this week.
03/02/05
- The Weekend Cook: Pamper Yourself
The Weekend Cook focuses on pampering
yourself and your family. These recipes are all easy to make, very delicious,
and are nutrient dense. They will help you feel good inside and out.
02/28/05
- Start With - Wild Rice
The Start With ... series continues with wild
rice as the focus. If you're not familiar with wild rice, buy a small bag and
try one of the recipes. Wild rice adds a wonderfully nutty flavor and chewy
texture to any dish. Try Wild Rice Chowder, Chicken with Wild Rice Casserole, or
Wild Rice Quiche for dinner this week.
02/24/05
- The Weekend Cook - Five Ingredient Weekend
This weekend, make some
wonderful and delicious recipes, all using five ingredients or less, including
Apricot Fool, Ham and Egg Cups, and Gingered Chicken Crockpot Stew. You'll spend
less money and less time in the kitchen and still serve your family great meals.
02/21/05
- More Chicken in the Crockpot
A chicken and your crockpot make some of
the easiest main dish recipes around. These slow cooker entree recipes,
including Lemon Chicken, Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken Alfredo, and Apricot
Chicken.
02/18/05
- Quick Cooking Indian Cuisine
Indian cuisine is exotic and elegant, with
a wonderful combination of flavors and textures. Learn a bit about Indian food
and get some delicious recipes to try, including chapati, raita, and tandoori
chicken.
02/11/05
- The Weekend Cook - For Your Valentine
Make Valentine's Day last longer
by treating yourself and your family this weekend. Feed your heart by preparing
delicious recipes using ingredients that are good for your heart. And feed your
soul with recipes that are comforting, decadent, and so good. From Salmon with
Fruit Salsa to Molten Chocolate Cakes, these recipes and menus will see you
through the weekend with style.
02/07/05
- How to Cook Fish
Learn about the science of cooking fish fillets and
steaks, including how they should smell when you buy them, methods for cooking,
and doneness tests. Recipes include Spinach and Rice Fish Rollups and Grilled
Fish with California Sauce.
01/24/05
- Hot Grilled Sandwiches
love grilled sandwiches. There's something so
comforting about melted cheese, meat, and veggies wrapped in a crisp yet tender
crusted bread. They are very easy to make, and the only limit on the kinds of
sandwiches you can make is your imagination!
01/17/05
- Pantry Meals
With a well stocked pantry, you can make a hearty lunch or
dinner without having to run to the grocery store; a boon in frigid winter
weather. Try Florentine Bean and Crab Soup or Risotto this week.
01/09/05
- Crockpot Meatball Recipes
Find delicious crockpot recipes using frozen
precooked meatballs, including slow cooker meatball stew, crockpot spaghetti and
meatballs, crockpot meatball chili, and swiss crockpot meatballs.
01/03/05
- Long Cooking Slow Cooker Recipes
Long cooking slow cooker recipes may
sound strange, but many people want to find crockpot recipes with a very long
cooking time, to correspond with their hours away from home. These recipes all
need, at minimum, 10 hours of cooking time.
