Beef and cheddar pasta bake.

So, if you’re looking for recipes that will jump-start your healthy eating habits in the new year … well, this is not that recipe. There’s nothing especially virtuous about this Beef and Cheddar Pasta Bake, dietarily speaking—its virtues are purely sensuous: cheesy, comforting goodness. If you recall that recurring menu item from your elementary school cafeteria days, you might think of this as a sort of upgraded version of Johnny Marzetti. I’ve adapted an old Pierre Franey recipe from the 1990s from the New York Times Cooking app—and it’s pretty much what you’re craving on these bitterly cold nights. Add a brightly dressed green salad and a glass of wine, and you’re good to go. Get the recipe on writes4food.com!

Christmas cookie palooza: Orange butter cookies, two ways.

So here you go: The last installment of 2017’s edition of Christmas Cooke Palooza: Grandma’s Frosted Lemon Cookie recipe reimagined with orange flavoring and chocolate. Make ’em either way: Orange Kiss Cookies or Glazed Orange Cookies. Happy holidays, folks! As a thank-you for your friendship, here’s a bonus for you: Between now and midnight, December 1, hop over to writes4food.com, comment on one of the Christmas Cookie Palooza recipes, and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a copy of The Findlay Market Cookbook. Cheers! Bryn

Christmas cookie palooza: Salty Marcona almond cookies.

These easy almond cookies are big on flavor, thanks to a salty Marcona almond decorating each one. This is one of my Grandma Dorothy’s old recipes, and its light texture and buttery-almond flavor is perfect for your Christmas cookie assortment. Get the recipe on writes4food.com.

The Dorothy Project: Overnight coffee cake.

Two things strike me about this recipe that I found in my grandma Dorothy’s old recipe file: one, the beautiful penmanship, and two, this line: “Can be made 2 days before, providing you have good refrigeration.” …

The Dorothy Project: Arizona Mountain Soup.

This recipe for Arizona Mountain Soup was tucked into my grandmother’s “Kitchen Klips” file of old-fashioned recipes. With hearty beans and rice, this almost chili-like soup is super easy to put together and hearty enough for these first cold nights of the season. Do as the recipe’s originator, Arizona mountain resident Bennie Bennet, does and serve it with cornbread. Get the recipe on writes4food.com.

Double carrot risotto.

In my kitchen, ingredients often give rise to recipes instead of the other way around. Recently, I had a bunch of leftover carrot juice from another dish. I had some garden carrots in the “rot drawer.” Carrot juice + carrots became Double Carrot Risotto. It was a hit! With its seasonal flavor and beautiful orange color, it’s the perfect recipe for this time of year. Get the recipe on writes4food.com!

The Dorothy Project: Spanish rice pilaf with zucchini and tomatoes.

As I’ve been browsing through my grandmother Dorothy’s “Kitchen Klips” recipe file, I’ve smiled as I discovered recipes that are very familiar to me. That’s because I sent them to her. Back in the 90s, Grandma published a cookbook, and she included many recipes from family and friends in addition to her own favorites. I sent her this recipe for Spanish Rice Pilaf with Zucchini and Tomatoes — it didn’t make the cut for her book, but Rob and I make it all. the. time. It’s the perfect summer-to-fall transitional dish. Get the recipe on writes4food.com!

‘Lost and found’ zucchini casserole.

When you’re going through a collection of vintage recipes, it’s fun to imagine what prompted the person who assembled the collection to include a particular recipe. This recipe for a simple, one-bowl zucchini casserole just seems so much like my grandmother: it’s good, and not at all fussy. Here’s the next installment in The Dorothy Project: Lost and Found Zucchini Casserole, which she clipped from Gourmet magazine in the 1980s. Get the recipe on writes4food.com.

The Dorothy Project: Poppy seed cake.

Welcome to installment No. 1 of The Dorothy Project, in which I’ll cook my way through many of the recipes in my grandma’s old recipe file. First up: one of my favorite desserts from growing up. I loved poppy seed cake so much it was the top layer of our wedding cake. Get my grandma’s old-fashioned recipe on writes4food.com — it’s really easy!

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recipes and wisdom from a Midwestern kitchen

Category: Ingredient