I don’t put a recipe up on this site unless I think it’s worth making again, but I have to tell you — I love these pickled carrots. They’re fresh and refreshingly crunchy, sweet, sour, salty, with a little kick, and all that and healthy, too! I love to eat them as a quick pre- or post- workout snack, or as a side dish for sandwiches or salad. I even had a few on my way out the door this morning after breakfast. And before I start getting any questions – no, I’m not pregnant; they’re just that good.

Even better than how good they taste is how easy they are to make. Cutting the carrots into pieces is the most time-consuming part, and if you make a big batch, they’ll keep in the fridge for weeks.

If you like these, but aren’t so big on the spices, you might also want to try these marinated carrots from my grandmother Pat. They’re another great refrigerator staple to keep around in the summer.

Spicy Carrot Pickles
These quick pickles are a takeoff on this recipe from Bon Appetit, but with different spices. In terms of the spices, I really just used whatever I found in my cabinet, and encourage you to do the same. I think the carrots, garlic, lemon, and vinegar are about the only things essential for this recipe.

6-8 medium carrots (or about 5 large ones), cut into thin sticks, about 2″ long, or whatever shape you like, such as quarter or coins
peel from one lemon (removed in strips)
4 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
3″ piece of ginger, cut into thin sticks

1 cup water
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon chili flakes (or more if desired; with 1 teaspoon my pickles had a very mild kick, but the chili flakes I have on hand right now are pretty mild themselves)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon dried savory
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Pack carrots, lemon peel, garlic and ginger into a one quart jar.

Combine water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices in a microwave safe container. Bring to a boil in the microwave, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar and salt.

Pour the brine and all the spices over the carrots (they should be covered). Let cool, close tightly, and refrigerate at least overnight. Pickles will keep for several weeks in the fridge. However, they will get spicier with time.

Sorry for the long hiatus — hopefully I’ll be back around here a bit more!

This is another recipe that comes from the cookbook I made for Jessica.  It was sent to me by her friend Carrie Geddie, who found the original recipe at All Recipes. It’s a delicious vegetarian lasagna, and was one of Matt’s favorites of the recipes we sampled. I’m sure it would also be a great make-ahead and freeze to cook as needed type of meal. Thanks for sharing, Carrie!

Artichoke Spinach Lasagne

9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 (28 ounce) jar tomato marinara sauce
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 (4 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish with cooking spray or butter.

Boil a large pot of salted water. Cook noodles according to package directions or until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic for a few minutes, until onion is translucent. Add in broth and fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil. Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in jar of marinara sauce.

Spread 1/4 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with 3 cooked noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese over noodles. Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with tomato sauce mixture. Sprinkle crumbled feta on top.

Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake 15 minutes more, until hot and bubbly and the cheese is beginning to brown. Let it rest 10 minutes before serving.

I found out recently that David Lebovitz has an iPhone app that has different/additional recipes that the ones on his blog. I told my mom about it, too, and she started making these chocolate chip scones from one of his recipes. I’ve recently been making these cranberry scones from Smitten Kitchen, and they are delicious (and for Thanksgiving breakfast I made her apple cheddar scones, which are great, too). But one morning recently I found myself both egg-less and scone-less. So I decided to try a batch of these chocolate chip scones, which don’t require any eggs. The original recipe calls for a bit of cinnamon and orange zest, but I had neither, so I added some ground ginger instead. Having eaten the original version when my mom made them, I can advocate for either flavoring combination. I also added some cocoa nibs since I had some on hand. They add a nice crunch, but are certainly optional.

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• Rhubarb Meyer Lemon Scones

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1/4 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar since I had some on hand)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
8 Tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
2/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa nibs (optional)
1/2 cup buttermilk

For topping:
1/4 cup coarse sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 375 F. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour through ginger). Cut in butter until it’s the consistency of coarse meal. Stir in cherries, chocolate chips, and nibs, if using. Stir in buttermilk until sticky dough barely comes together; do not overwork.

Press into a circle about 1″ thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Combine coarse sugar and ground ginger. Press each wedge into the sugar topping before placing, sugar side up, on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375 F for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden.

I like them best warm, but Matt thought they were better later in the day. So either way you serve them should be good, as long as you make these scones!

Cranberry salad is another dish that we always have to have on our Thanksgiving table, and I encourage you to consider it for yours, too. It’s especially one of my mom’s favorites (and mine!). I love cranberries just about any way you can think to serve them, though this one is a little unusual since the cranberries are completely raw. It also has a whole chopped orange — and yes, that really does mean peel, seeds, and all! But there’s enough sugar in the jello, pineapple, and juice to nicely offset the bitter/tart from the orange and cranberries. This salad would probably have a nice retro look in one of those molded pans too, but we’ve always just made it in a pyrex dish instead.

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Cranberry Salad

Serves a crowd, at least 8-10

2 small packages cherry (if you want it sweeter) or cranberry Jello
1 cup hot water
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup pineapple syrup of juice
1 heaping cup of cranberries
1 whole orange
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup drained, crushed pineapple
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

1. Dissolve Jello in water. Add sugar, lemon juice, and pineapple syrup and put in refrigerator to thicken somewhat, but not long enough to congeal.
2. Chop cranberries and whole orange in food processor into very small pieces (until ground).
3. Mix all other ingredients together well and stir into thickened Jello.
4. Spread into a 13″ x 9″ or 11″ x 13″ glass dish and chill until firm.

I don’t know about you, but now that it’s November, I’ve got Thanksgiving on my mind. I usually don’t plan ahead enough to actually share my Thanksgiving recipes this early, but I have a few Thanksgiving recipes from last year that I never got around to sharing, so in a way, I’m so late that I’m actually ahead! Didn’t get a great picture of the corn pudding last year (and it’s not the most photogenic of dishes anyway), but it’s that dish front and center in this post of my plate from last year.

Corn pudding is always one of my very favorite parts of Thanksgiving. It is super easy, but for some reason we never fix it except at Thanksgiving, which makes it extra special. Last year, I doubled the original recipe for only the six of us, and there still wasn’t very much leftover, so it’s always a hit.

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