Gingerbread

Gingerbread made with both powdered ginger and candied ginger

Gingerbread. It’s for more than making houses and teaching kids the dangers of hubris, overconfidence, and ignoring the advice of others. It also tastes good. At least when made like this. So, put away the royal icing, the gumdrops, the candy canes. Open up the spice rack instead, and wrap your taste buds in true holiday yum.

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Chipotle Chicken and Wild Rice Stoup

chipotle chicken and wild rice stoup (a soup as thick as stew)

Like most folks, we’re struggling a bit financially right now. But we also want to eat well, with some comforting winter food to tide us over the dark months. Stoups – thick, hearty one-dish meals that fall somewhere between a stew and soup – are among my favorite winter concoctions. They’re delicious, comforting, and fill the house with wonderful aromas while they cook. They also play well with improvisation. This time, I improvised a smokey, somewhat spicy, chipotle chicken and wild rice soup.

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Spicy Smokey Spatchcock Chicken

Dinner plate featuring spicy smokey spatchcock chicken

I’ve had a lot of pizza since I started the Pie of the Week project. While it has been rewarding and I’m nowhere near done with the project, I wanted to do something more creative with the Roccbox pizza oven. I also needed to clear space in the freezer for lambs headed to the butcher this week. There was a whole chicken from Jim and Peggy Metz at the Culver Farmers’ Market in there, taking up space. So, I decided to see how a spatchcock chicken would turn out in the Roccbox.

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Thanksgiving Pizza

Thanksgiving pizza with cranberry sauce, provolone, turkey breast, Brussels sprouts,  and onion marmalade

Pie of the Week #10, 11, and 12

I really miss the large family thanksgiving meals we used to have. Seriously – we rented a school so we could fit everyone in! In just a few short years, it shrunk enough to fit in the second floor community room at Grandma’s retirement/assisted living place. Then, suddenly, completely gone.

The last few years, though, have replaced it with a more intimate gathering. Just my wife and me, going to my Mom’s to make something fun. Occasionally we’ll add in a friend without other plans – this year we had a friend and her child join us. We’ve done a whole turkey and all the fixings, chicken and noodles (a tradition borrowed from my Dad’s side/great aunt), Detroit style pizza, and more. This year, I brought over the Roccbox, and we did Thanksgiving pizzas.

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