November 22, 2008.   Categories Fabulous Side Dishes, Thanksgiving Dinner, Vegetarian.

Mashed Potatoes With Lavender and Honey The beauty of mashed potatoes is you can add almost any flavor to them to create a different spin on the classic recipe.  Lavender is one of my favorite scents and I believe I got this idea from an aromatherapy book about 10 years ago.  I haven’t made these in a long time.  I was reminded how good they are by a blogger on Twitter who mentioned having something similar in France. Lavender can be...

November 22, 2008.   Categories Christmas, Poultry, Roasting, Smoking / Grilling, Thanksgiving Dinner.

Carter’s Turkey Brine Submitted by: Carter Snead It’s been said by some that Carter’s Thanksgiving turkey is the best they’ve ever had.  I asked him to share his technique to brine the turkey. I’m so glad I did!  On Thanksgiving, I followed his recipe and it was the best turkey I’ve ever made.  When we were carving it, juice was literally squirting at us (even from the breast.) Brining is the process of...

November 15, 2008.   Categories Christmas, Comfort Food, Fabulous Side Dishes, Fall, Thanksgiving Dinner, Vegetarian.

Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar & Pecans This dish is another Thanksgiving tradition in our house.  It’s simple and can be flavored many ways. Sometimes I will use a splash of Grand Marnier or Bailey’s… other times I’ll use a bit of orange zest… just depends upon what I’m serving and what is on the counter next to me when I’m cooking! Ingredients 5-6 lbs of red-skinned sweet potatoes...

November 14, 2008.   Categories Cakes, Desserts, Peggy's Favorites.

Sachertorte  This cake is so wonderful and rich.  My mother has been making this since I was very little.   It takes some time – but is well worth the effort.  There are hundreds of recipes called Sachertorte – many have ingredients not considered authentic like marzipan and hazelnut.  The cake in this version is close to the original recipe, but I’ve been told by some bloggers that the glaze isn’t close to the...

November 14, 2008.   Categories Appetizers, Smoking / Grilling.

Grilled Lamb Chop Appetizers This is one of the easiest and most celebrated appetizer you will ever make for a party.  Simply buy a rack of lamb. Have the butcher french them, cleaning the bone.  You can then hold the chop easily. Have any fat cut off and leave it like a lollipop!   Cut it into chops approximately 1.5 inch wide.  Season with salt and pepper – only!  Why mask the great flavor of lamb on the grill? Every grill is...