Kitchen Parade

05/16/2013 07:15 PM

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Easy Skinny Turkey Roll-ups with Fresh Veggies

You know how summer rolls are kinda sorta totally finicky to roll, those soft Asian rice papers and all? Enter deli turkey, the protein-packed easy-to-roll substitute. (And hey, deli ham works too!) I've rolled these with a mix of red pepper, cucumber, asparagus, avocado and mango but the choices are limited only by your imagination. Easy Skinny Turkey Roll-Ups are quick to make with easy

Kitchen Parade

05/08/2013 11:55 AM

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Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler: A Spring Classic

Strawberries and rhubarb are a classic spring pair, usually in pie, here in a rustic cobbler with a sweet and slightly crunchy topping that thanks to cornmeal, has slight heft, and to lemon zest, a pleasing brightness. Grown men have been known to, well, groan, over this addictive, easy dessert. First published in 2008, such a favorite, republished 2013

Kitchen Parade

05/01/2013 11:56 AM

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Mexican Mango Trifle (Ante de Mango)

Aw, creamy fruit desserts, who doesn't love 'em? This one's a conversation-stopper, layers of bread and a mango pudding studded with sherry-soaked raisins, much like an English Trifle but simpler. The recipe comes from Seasons of My Heart, the cooking school in Oaxaca, Mexico, where it's called "ante de mango" or "layered mango pudding" or "mango charlotte". That's a lot of names for a dish that

Kitchen Parade

04/24/2013 11:32 AM

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Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserole Make One for the Oven, One for the Freezer

What happens when you layer roasted fresh veggies, salsa verde, corn tortillas and spinach with a little cheese? For the poetic, call it pure deliciousness. For the technical, call it de-constructed enchiladas. Either way, you'll be happy to call it for "supper", one for now, another for the freezer. This is the latest "master recipe" for vegetables, a great choice for a fridge or garden full

Kitchen Parade

04/17/2013 05:30 PM

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Upside-Down Rhubarb Cheesecake

Layers of fresh or frozen rhubarb and cheesecake, that luscious combination of rhubarb-sour and cheesecake-creamy. Make it in a simple pie plate or in cute mini ramekins. Either way, it's spring! Time to break out the rhubarb!  We’re babying a tiny rhubarb plant, a much-prized Canadian red transported last summer from Minnesota-black dirt. It barely survi

Kitchen Parade

04/09/2013 05:30 PM

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Perfect Thick Pork Chops

Have you heard the news? The pork chop is getting a makeover, starting with a new name, four new names, to be exact. Whatever they're called now, I've got the recipe for cooking a thick pork chop, turning out juicy, perfectly cooked meat every time.  Pity the poor pork chop, it’s getting a makeover. Remember when prunes became “dried plums”? And th

Kitchen Parade

04/04/2013 07:15 PM

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Easy Turkey Chili

Ha! I laughed out loud when I recently re-read this 2004 column; it's being published online today for the first time, some nine years after written. I wrote then, "It's silly, perhaps, but only recently did I discover frozen vegetables." I'd forgotten this, coming late to frozen vegetables. It's no wonder that when I started writing A Veggie Venture about a year later that for the first month

Kitchen Parade

03/20/2013 09:21 AM

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Refrigerated Pickled Beets

So we all know that a "food desert" is a place without ready access to fresh vegetables, fruits and other healthy foods. But does -- you know, the "place" that is March -- ever feel like a food desert to you too? It's not really winter any more, at least not here in eastern Missouri, even if the forecast is for snow. And it's not really spring either, even if daffodils are blooming on the

Kitchen Parade

03/13/2013 06:30 AM

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Irish Spiced Fruitcake

Irish Spiced Fruitcake is definitely NOT your grandma's fruitcake. It's packed with dried fruit and warm spices, I like it simple and plain or with a smear of Brown Sugar Lemon Curd.  I just knew I’d love this fruitcake. It conjures memories of my English-born grandfather’s cousins Lyla and Vic who after six decades of marriage, still giggled about thei

Kitchen Parade

03/07/2013 07:30 AM

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Simple Cast Iron Southern Cornbread Recipe

Six tips for perfect Southern Cornbread, made in a hot-hot-hot cast iron skillet. The tips are in my latest "Kitchen Lesson" column – a series of occasional recipes with extra insider tips and ideas gained from long experience in the kitchen. Now truth be told, I'm a Yankee but when it comes to cornbread, this is my go-to recipe. The recipe starts with a big batch for a large cast iron skillet

Kitchen Parade

03/03/2013 10:02 AM

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Sausage & Kale Split Pea Soup

Back in 2004 when I first wrote this column, something called "kale" was the new green on the block, not the trendy green it is today. For this recipe, I modified a classic split pea soup, adding kale for healthiness and a touch of sweetness and a bit of sausage for richness and texture. Delicious, this stuff! It's easily converted to a vegetarian or vegan soup and perfect for the fickleness of

Kitchen Parade

02/19/2013 07:58 PM

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No-Big-Deal Homemade Chicken Stock

Who else has been thinking that homemade chicken stock is just too big a production? Not me, not anymore. For a long while now, I've been making chicken stock one small batch at a time because, well, making stock should be No Big Deal. Until you taste it, that is – rich but delicate, thick as jelly, tasting like the real chicken it’s made with – that’s when you know for sure that homemade

Kitchen Parade

02/13/2013 08:01 PM

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Hamburger Casserole: Weeknight Comfort Food

One-skillet weeknight comfort food, 'lightened up' and highly adaptable. Not a single can of mushroom soup in sight!  Okay, laugh. Even I think it's funny – albeit frustrating – that last week, I had two pounds of hamburger thawed for dinner and for the life of me, couldn't think what to make. So there I am, the woman with endless recipe inspiration, my

Kitchen Parade

02/07/2013 12:45 PM

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Raspberry-Red Wine Coulis (Reduction Sauce)

A sweet-but-tart raspberry sauce, a perfect added-touch for desserts, especially chocolate desserts like Chocolate Decadence, an almost-flourless chocolate cake. Just three ingredients! And Weight Watchers, you're going to l-o-v-e the points for this!  In my world, fresh raspberries are as precious and rare as jewels. Luckily, frozen raspberries are ea

Kitchen Parade

01/31/2013 06:43 PM

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DIY Homemade Foot Lotion

I call it the "Pinterest effect" – the sudden obsession, no that's not it, let's say, "fascination" to DIY, do-it-yourself. Not so ago, I'd have laughed out loud if someone suggested homemade foot lotion. Isn't that the stuff of companies with chemists and manufacturing facilities? And then it occurred to me. Everything that's made now in factories was first made in kitchens and garages and

Kitchen Parade

01/24/2013 10:00 PM

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How to Poach a Perfect Egg – The Cook's Illustrated Technique

If you're like me and l-i-v-e for a perfectly poached egg, you will also, like me, have tried all those egg-poaching shenanigans because honestly, you'd do almost anything, wouldn't you? just to figure out how to cook poached eggs to perfection, turning out firm whites and runny yolks each and every time. Tap your Dorothy heels twice while whistling for Toto? It doesn't work. Neither does Do

Kitchen Parade

01/16/2013 09:52 AM

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Hibiscus Tea with Ginger & Vanilla

THANK YOU! for all your stories and encouragement and commiseration from last week's post about switching from Weight Watchers to Medifast. It means the world to hear from you. In fact, it was just two years ago this month when Kitchen Parade readers named the "healthy habits" they wanted to develop during the coming year. So-so-so many of us wanted to drink more water. (Remember? Check the

Kitchen Parade

01/08/2013 10:01 PM

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Why I Switched from Weight Watchers to Medifast

There are three ways to start this story, even if it's not one easy to admit, even as I grapple with the compromises I make. I'm not entirely proud – except that I’ve taken charge of my body weight albeit AGAIN. In these words, I hope, is a story of Choice and Hope and Compromise.  INTRO NUMBER ONE: The Dr Phil Effect. Back before Dr Phil was Somebody

Kitchen Parade

01/03/2013 11:57 AM

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Tender Pork Tenderloin with Cumin Carrot Fries: A Quick Supper Recipe

Happy 2013, everyone! Who's ready to return to the "salad days" of January, food-wise, activity-wise, exercise-wise, work-wise, expense-wise? Wise it is, count me in ... Here's a good place to start, a fast 'n' easy Quick Supper meal that leaves us feeling satisfied and happy. It's an old-old favorite recipe, in fact, the recipe was first published in print in 2003, yikes, that was ten years

Kitchen Parade

12/30/2012 07:30 AM

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Best Recipes of 2012

My favorite recipes from 2012, just one "best" recipe per month. Made with "real food" (not processed food) and expressing that certain Kitchen Parade style, that means 'fresh' and 'easy' and 'healthy' and 'flavor-forward' and 'seasonal'. Weight Watchers, all Kitchen Parade recipes include Weight Watchers points and nutrition information!  "My grandma a

Kitchen Parade

12/27/2012 07:30 AM

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Mini Tiramisu Cups with Pralines Recipe (Cooked Eggs, No Raw Eggs)

A tiny serving of a decadent dessert, adding up to just a few calories, easy to make and perfect for New Years and other festive occasions. It's tiramisu – except that the eggs are cooked, not raw – served in little dessert cups, layered with ground pralines if you like or the more traditional cocoa powder if you prefer. Regular readers, remember how I promised a special dessert recipe based

Kitchen Parade

12/23/2012 11:59 AM

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Horseradish Whipped Cream for Beef Recipe

How to lift up beef from great to something extra-special? Mix up a quick mix of horseradish and whipped cream, it adds just a touch of rich bite. For readers who are following along, Horseradish Whipped Cream for Beef is the last recipe for a traditional English Christmas dinner menu that features Perfectly Cooked Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding and of course, the grand finale, Christmas Trifle

Kitchen Parade

12/19/2012 05:30 PM

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Yorkshire Pudding (Popover) Recipe

No traditional English Christmas dinner is complete without Yorkshire Pudding, what many Americans call "popovers". This is my mom's recipe, including her secret technique for tender, flavor-packed Yorkshire Pudding.  When hot bread first emerges from the oven, even the kids know to grab the butter, then we’ll tussle for the crusty heels, comfort food of th

Kitchen Parade

12/16/2012 05:30 AM

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Perfectly Cooked Roast Beef Recipe

Here’s the simple, easy-to-remember formula to cook a beef roast, the result is a perfectly cooked roast beef, whether you want it cooked rare or medium rare or medium or well done. The choice is yours, the formula takes all the guesswork out of how long to cook roast beef. Better still? The hands-on time is five minutes. Still better? There’s no added fat, really letting good meat take center

Kitchen Parade

12/12/2012 05:30 AM

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Bourbon Pralines Recipe

The famous praline recipe from the New Orleans School of Cooking, begged-and-borrowed from our friend Charlie but made "forever mine" by switching from vanilla to bourbon flavoring. The bourbon is a southern touch that just seems right. Another thing that seems "just right" during this busy holiday season? Making five dozen cookies (not cookies, really, candy, but still) in 35 minutes with just

Kitchen Parade

12/04/2012 07:30 PM

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Big Results, Small Effort: Slice 'n' Bake Coffee Cookies with Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Recipe

A crisp coffee-flavored cookie, a favorite for more than twenty years, ever since my friend Lisa won "best cookie of the year" with the recipe at our cookie swap way back forever ago. Don't they look like they'd take forever to make and be oh-so-fussy? But they're not. You'll make a batch with just 20 minutes hands-on time. Plus? I'll never call a cookie "diet food" but each cookie has just 50

Kitchen Parade

11/28/2012 07:30 AM

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Cranberry Linzer Tart Recipe

Isn't this Cranberry Linzer Tart just beautiful? You know, as if it came from a European bakery, the places where the pastries taste as good as they look? But I made it and you can too! The crust is made with toasted almonds and – get this – pressed into the tart pan. That's right, no rolling! The recipe comes from a brand-new European tart cookbook published by my friend Helen, a long-time

Kitchen Parade

11/18/2012 07:30 AM

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Easy Chicken or Turkey Tortilla Soup

It's crazy, isn't it, how all the food people are telling us how to cook our turkeys? tempting us with perfect sides? getting us to rethink dessert a dozen times? wondering whether you should offer an appetizer? Well here's my simple advice. Make soup. Yes, you read that right, MAKE SOUP. Not for Thanksgiving dinner itself but so that before you start cooking for the big day, there is somethin

Kitchen Parade

11/12/2012 07:53 PM

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Concept Recipe: Oven-Baked Whole-Grain Pilaf with Quinoa, Barley, Kamut and/or Other Grains, Rices & Lentils

Is your pantry overrun with bits of whole grains? Mine too. Here's a way to use them all at once. The "base" recipe uses what are likely two familiar grains, quinoa and barley, with one that may be new, kamut. But the great flexibility here is that the pilaf can be made with any blend of whole grains, rices and even lentils. It's all made in a single dish in the oven, so easy, so colorful, so

Kitchen Parade

10/31/2012 07:45 AM

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For Election Night Gatherings: Old-Fashioned Southern Brunswick Stew Recipe

We all collect recipes for special occasions. But who has special recipes for Election Day gatherings and Election Night parties? Old-Fashioned Southern Brunswick Stew is an old southern tradition to lure people to the polls. It's a simple stew, just layers of different meats and favorite southern vegetables like corn, okra and lima beans. And it's healthy too, great for parties but simple

Kitchen Parade

10/24/2012 10:54 AM

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Chicken with Creamy Apple Cider Gravy

A one-skillet chicken supper, full-flavored chicken thighs cradled in a creamy gravy made with apple cider. Plus I share my favorite technique for pulling all the flavor from chicken skins without adding all the calories. It's brilliant if I may say so myself! Republished in 2012, one of my favorite fall recipes, simple, savory, satisfying.  When we lose

Kitchen Parade

10/18/2012 05:30 AM

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Brown Rice & Quinoa Rice Pudding Recipe

A healthy rice pudding made with a mix of quinoa and brown rice, cooked on the stove or baked in the oven. The combination of quinoa and brown rice moves familiar rice pudding into intriguing new territory, still very much comfort food but with an appealing nuttiness and tender (not mushy) texture.  If rice is the world’s most-consumed food, no surprise

Kitchen Parade

10/10/2012 05:30 AM

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Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Grits Recipe or Pumpkin Grits or Butternut Squash Grits

Is mac 'n' cheese your downfall? It sure is mine. But now I've found an ally, a healthy substitute. It's a "skinny" pot of grits, conveniently cooked in the slow cooker with sweet potato (or pumpkin or butternut squash) and a little mik, with just a tablespoon of butter stirred in to finish. Good stuff this, really good stuff.  Homemade macaroni and cheese

Kitchen Parade

10/03/2012 05:30 AM

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Easy Baked Oatmeal with Apples & Walnuts

I didn't think anything could tempt me away from my daily bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter, cooked in the microwave. But there's a new breakfast in town and it's still full of healthy oats but gussied up with warm fruit and nuts. It's sweet enough to satisfy someone with a breakfast sweet-tooth but at least for me, not too sweet in the morning. Or you could call it a "flourless oatmeal cake"

Kitchen Parade

09/26/2012 07:30 PM

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Ribs & Sauerkraut (for Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven)

Ribs and sauerkraut cooked in either the slow cooker or in a "real" Dutch oven over coals or an open fire. The meat is moist and fall-off-the-bone tender, the sauerkraut amber-colored and apple-sweet. For Weight Watchers, just 4 PointsPlus or 3 Old Points.  When my parents returned from a short honeymoon at the family cottage in Manitoba’s Whiteshe

Kitchen Parade

09/17/2012 07:30 PM

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Ina Garten's Tabbouleh Salad Recipe

My latest summer salad recipe, a big batch of homemade tabbouleh salad using Ina Garten’s recipe, an easy combination of bulgur wheat, lemon juice and olive oil with cucumber, tomato, green onion, fresh parsley and fresh mint. (Recipe hint: Mint is the secret ingredient!)  TV’s been banished from my house, “Gone, I say, gone”. You see, my relation

Kitchen Parade

09/04/2012 07:30 PM

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Shakshuka (Eggs Nested in Summer Vegetables) Recipe

Such familiar ingredients, such a surprising – and surprisingly tasty – quick and easy breakfast or quick supper recipe. Shakshuka is a dish from North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria) that's become a mainstay healthy meal in Israel – and now at my house and with any luck, yours too!  This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a special collection o

Kitchen Parade

08/17/2012 08:39 AM

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Grape Salad with Almonds & Cilantro

An unusual fruit salad, savory and sweet at the same time. This salad recipe takes familiar ingredients and turns them upside down. Start with your favorite fruit – I've tried grapes, mango and apples – and then just stir in the rest, including a touch of salt, a key ingredient. There you go, fruit salad in a whole new way! (August 2012) We're taking a few "dog days of summer" off right

Kitchen Parade

08/07/2012 06:59 PM

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Light Tomato Basil Quiche Recipe

My favorite light quiche recipe, the one I make again and again in both summer and winter. Not only is it a healthy, vegetarian and light quiche recipe, it's a make-ahead quiche recipe too! Perfect for the busy family or a harried hostess.  Do you watch for recipes for meatless main-dish recipes? I bypassed meat for some years so have many in my collecti

Kitchen Parade

07/31/2012 06:30 PM

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Cold & Creamy Cantaloupe Soup

A simple concoction of puréed melon and milk, brightened with a little lemon zest. So simple and yet ... somehow so unusual, so comforting, so not-your-every-day cantaloupe.  This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes. Watch for new 'summer easy' recipes all summer long. With a free e-mail subs

Kitchen Parade

07/24/2012 09:30 PM

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Baked Chicken with Fresh Peaches

A simple summer supper, just quick-seared chicken breasts finished during a short stint in the oven surrounded by fresh and summer-juicy peaches.  This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes. Watch for new 'summer easy' recipes all summer long. With a free e-mail subscription, you'll never mi

Kitchen Parade

07/19/2012 11:29 AM

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Favorite Summer Soup Recipes

A collection of my Favorite Summer Soup Recipes, from gazpacho to chowder to fresh-vegetable soups, served chilled or warm, all light and refreshing. So may we please stop talking about the weather? Yes, it's hades hot. Yes, the grass is brown. (The upside? No mowing.) Yes, the herbs are fading. (The upside? Basil loves heat, pesto madness to come!) Yes, there is serious deva

Kitchen Parade

07/11/2012 09:32 AM

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Homemade Buttermilk: Thick & Tangy, Cold & Creamy and You Made It Yourself!

Have you ever heard that store-bought buttermilk isn't what it used to be? Me too. But take just milk, a little of that grocery store buttermilk as "starter", a sprinkle of salt and 24 hours later, what emerges is the thickest, creamiest and tangiest homemade buttermilk ever. Say hello to my latest obsession, making homemade buttermilk.  Talk about a Chr

Kitchen Parade

06/27/2012 10:56 AM

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Chocolate Raspberry Icebox Cake

It's an easy 4th of July cake, all decked out in red, white and blue – or for Canadian readers, if you're not into the Canadian Flag Cake with a maple leaf emblazoned in strawberries, then it's a Canada Day cake, all decked out in berry red and crisp white. But more than that, an icebox cake is an easy summer treat, so impressive sliced onto plates with twelve – yes, twelve! – layers and yet

Kitchen Parade

06/20/2012 11:04 AM

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Shrimp Salad Recipes

Do you love the lightness of shrimp salad during the summer? Me too! It tastes fresh and healthy but is still packed with protein. This is my "master" recipe for shrimp salad, a concept recipe, begging for your own adaptations and substitutions, with three different sauces. So easy, so versatile! First published in 2008, updated & republished in 2012

Kitchen Parade

06/13/2012 11:37 AM

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Quinoa & Black Bean Salad

My favorite taste-tester says that the first bite of this salad takes him straight back to Deep Mexico. The salad is hearty with high-protein quinoa, crunchy with vegetables and bright with lime. It's a real crowd pleaser! Updated & republished in 2012, I've also added several new recipes to Favorite Summer Salad Recipes too! Yes, it's summer salad season! <!-- .mainimage --&

Kitchen Parade

06/06/2012 11:41 AM

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Mint Julep Pork Chops with Sugar Snap Peas Plus The Kentucky Derby & Iconic American Experiences

It's a mint julep in a skillet! The pork chops are quickly cooked in a skillet, then drizzled with a bourbon-mint sauce. So simple, so satisfying, so summery! And why now, when the Kentucky Derby is already a month past? Well, the Derby is such an experience, it's got me thinking about other "iconic American experiences". I've listed my ideas and would love to know yours, too, especially the

Kitchen Parade

05/30/2012 07:57 AM

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Power Food Broccoli Salad

Introducing the new 'power food', a raw broccoli salad made sweet with fruit and nuts and tossed in a simple vinaigrette. It's a favorite with kids and grownups alike, light and fresh and fruity. This recipe was first published in 2007. It was such a hit over the long weekend that I'm sharing it again, it's a favorite not to be missed!  REVIEWS "W

Kitchen Parade

05/23/2012 08:49 AM

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Mini Porcupine Meatballs

Who else remembers Porcupine Meatballs, the meatballs with "quills" of rice sticking out? I mixed up a quick batch recently for the first time in years, decades probably, and was surprised how delicious they tasted with a just a few contemporary updates. Let's make it a retro revival ...  This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a specia

Kitchen Parade

05/10/2012 07:37 AM

27 views

Strawberry Salsa with Cinnamon-Sweet Baked Tortilla Chips

The story of Strawberry Bill, my great grandfather, an excuse to share a great low-calorie, low-point appetizer, snack or dessert.  This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes. Watch for new 'summer easy' recipes all summer long. With a free e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

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