Category: Recipes

Fig Black Olive Walnut Tapenade

Fig, Black Olive &Walnut Tapenade Ingredients (c) jfhaugen

Healthful & Delicious Holiday Hors d’Oeuvres

“May the Calendar Keep Bringing
Happy Holidays To You.”

As the calendar brings us closer to Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, so it also brings happy holidays with an increase in parties and gatherings from now until New Year’s Day. With more and more of us eating cleaner and healthier diets, there also comes a quandary around the holidays—what to prepare and what to eat that is both healthful and delicious Continue reading Fig Black Olive Walnut Tapenade

Gluten-Free Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Maple Pecan Shortbread (c) jfhaugen

Cookies for the Holidays

“Cookies are made with Butter and Love.”

This lovely Norwegian saying most certainly refers to shortbread cookies—and you’ve got to love these, filled as they are with lots of toasted pecans and real maple syrup. Continue reading Gluten-Free Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Cranberry Apple Crostata

Cranberry Apple Crostata Ready for the Oven (c) jfhaugen

A Perfect Holiday Dessert

Not too tart and not too sweet,
A most delicious tea-time treat.
Easy to please and quick to depart,
A rustic, holiday open-faced tart.

I’ve wanted to prepare a Cranberry Apple Crostata (“a rustic, holiday open-faced tart”) Continue reading Cranberry Apple Crostata

Country-Style Leek & Potato Soup

Leek & Potato Soup (c) jfhaugen

Soup, Beautiful Soup

Warm and comforting soup really is beautiful, especially now that the weather has become cooler (and as I look out my office window, snowy as well). Soup can also be extremely healthy as it is so easy to digest and almost all the nutrients stay in the broth. Continue reading Country-Style Leek & Potato Soup

Watercress, Belgian Endive & Pear Salad with Goat Cheese, Shallot-Mustard Vinaigrette & Maple-Glazed Walnuts

Watercress, Endive, Pear Glazed Walnut Salad w/ Shallot Mustard Vinaigrette “There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.”      ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, maybe 15 minutes, but those are sacred minutes for eating a pear. Its texture becomes velvety, moist and glistens in the light. And its luscious, heavenly fragrance and  flavor are the essence of “pearness.” Continue reading Watercress, Belgian Endive & Pear Salad with Goat Cheese, Shallot-Mustard Vinaigrette & Maple-Glazed Walnuts

Once-A-Year Turkey Soup

Thanksgiving Leftovers Transformed

Vintage Greeting A girl serving the turkey with wishes for A Peaceful ThanksgivingThanksgiving 2011 is already behind us except for the memories and any leftovers still in the fridge. Though now that we’ve enjoyed those fabulous leftovers for at least a couple of meals, it’s time to get creative Continue reading Once-A-Year Turkey Soup

A Thanksgiving Guide to Minimize the Stress

Braised Turkey w Fresh Herbs, Wild Mushrooms, Veggies (c) jfhaugen

An Action Plan for Preparing the Thanksgiving Meal

There’s much to do and make and prepare for the Thanksgiving meal—so here’s a guide and action plan I’ve prepared with tips and ideas to minimize the stress Continue reading A Thanksgiving Guide to Minimize the Stress