Xmas Smashed Pea Pasta

Dear Turkey,

It's Christmas. You haven't gone outside all day. You just ate an entire box of Russell Stover Candies (oh, that was just me?), and then you took a nap. You want to eat something simple/light/seasonal-but-also festive (oh, that was just me? you made a goose [you know who you are]?).

My mom had this recipe on her "must make" mountain organized pile since...well, I just checked the date and it was published in 2006. Anyway.

Seriously, this recipe was worth saving. I made just a few changes to the recipe (My mom: do it exactly like it says. Then she went outside). I am going to make it again asap.

Festive Cranberry Cupcakes

Dear Turkey,

Holiday party food: I want something easy to make (I have a toddler), something that I don't have to mess around with/warm up/wash dishes when I get there, something that looks festive, and something that can be an appetizer/bread/dessert/whatever it is I'm supposed to bring.

Also, I had a bag of cranberries in my freezer and I wanted to make something like a pound cake, but I didn't want to have to worry about bringing a whole cake somewhere, and I had two parties to go to this weekend (yup, two, I'm popular). I found this recipe and I was pleased that it met all of my holiday party food criteria, plus the cupcakes (or muffins, if that's what I'm supposed to bring!) are really festively beautiful in a kind of cool and different way, and the whole cranberries counterbalance the sweet buttery cake.

Another Ethiopian Stew! (Sorry!)

Dear World,

If you don't like Ethiopian food as much as I do, just stop reading and tune in next time (or the time after, whenever I just give up and go to the Ethiopian restaurant).

This is a stew that we found in the awesome, awesome, Sundays at Moosewood. It doesn't taste exactly like anything I've had at Ethiopian restaurants, but the tomato base and smoked paprika does make me feel like I'm almost there. And it's just really easy/healthy/delicious, even if you're not going to go all out with the whole nine yards.

I Want to Make Good Ethiopian Food

Dear Ethiopians,

You are probably sick and tired of listening to me talk about how I wish I could cook your national cuisine. You could solve this problem by writing many helpful comments on this post.

In the meantime, here is an update since my last Ethiopian adventure.

Leek PR

Dear Turkey,

I think that leeks are my favorite vegetable. But I have a certain neighbor that I needed to get on board.

Typical neighbor CSA stress rant: "I pretend to like leeks! I make leek soup, I make potato leek soup, I make potato leek broccoli soup, but I just don't like them!"

Me: "maybe it's time to get away from soup."

Easy Lunch Curry

Dear Turkey,

It's lunchtime. You just went running. Your mom wants you to make something with the random stuff in her fridge, like leftover couscous and expired kale that your sister-rabbit bought on Thanksgiving. You have 20 minutes before nap time.

I saw this curry in one of my favorite blogs and I was saving it for such an occasion. It turned out so healthy and tasty. But not tasty in a healthy way. Tasty in an I'm-hungry-and-this-is-full-of-flavor way. Excuse the cliche, but this is way more than the sum of its parts.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Dear Turkey,

Remember when we used to eat cookie dough out of the package when we were kids? This is kind of like that, and just as awesome (plus, you don't have to worry about salmonella). I can't wait to take these to every holiday party I'm going to this year (which, at the time of this posting, is two -- maybe I'll be invited to more now).

The Best Vegetarian Stuffing

Dear Turkey,

After this, I will be done telling you about Thanksgiving. But the world needs to know about my mom's vegetarian stuffing. Especially since (after 4 iterations) she finally wrote down the actual recipe that someone who isn't my mom can follow.

You may accuse me of not knowing anything about stuffing. Fine. But then why did I have to keep the meat-eaters from eating all of it?

Mushroom Gravy

Dear Turkey,

Thanksgiving. The one time of year that I get to eat mushroom gravy see you. It's always delicious, creamy, better than the real gravy (I'm told), liked by people who "don't like mushrooms" a really special time when you and I get together.

Like corn pudding, mushroom gravy isn't a Thanksgiving staple for most people. But it should be. Hence my dream that this post will go viral.

Pumpkin Chocolate Breakfast Cupcakes

Dear Turkey,

Remember these cupcakes? Yeah, those are good. And that's the problem, since my toddler wants to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And dessert.

I have made cupcakes that you can eat for breakfast before, and they were pretty good. However, I received a flash of inspiration at a party the other day, when I tasted this amazing pumpkin cream cheese dip (and I don't really like cream cheese). It was really good with big salty pretzels, but I wanted to try it as a not-too-unhealthy frosting that we could eat for breakfast.