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  • in Recipes

    8 Ways to Virtually Share Thanksgiving With Your Family This Year

    From gratitude letters to a long-distance pie decorating contest, here are eight ways to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family this year, even if you’re not physically together.

    If there’s anything 2020 has taught us, it’s that plans change and we need to roll up our sleeves and get a little creative when it comes to connecting with our friends and family.
    And that’s exactly what I’m doing for Thanksgiving this year: making the best of the situation I’ve been dealt, and busting out some creative ways to involve my family members who live 800+ miles away!
    Sharing a Long-Distance Thanksgiving
    A nontraditional Thanksgiving? This is not an unusual concept for me.
    I grew up with my mom who worked night shifts as a nurse, so we never had traditional holidays. We’d often celebrate on a different day, or on the holiday itself, but then we’d eat hospital cafeteria food while she was on her break.
    Then, when I was a teenager, my youngest brother was diagnosed with cancer and life turned upside down. There were many times we couldn’t celebrate holidays or birthdays with family or friends, but my parents always taught us that no matter where we were, there were always ways we could connect.
    Wondering how you, too, can connect with your family this Thanksgiving, even over a long distance? Here are a few ideas!

    EXCHANGE FAVORITE FAMILY RECIPES
    Does Grandma have a sensational mashed potato recipe? Does Uncle Herman love to make cranberry sauce from scratch?
    Ask your faraway family members to share their favorite recipes, then use a site like Zazzle to make a mini family Thanksgiving cookbook. That way you can all make the same recipes and participate in a family meal together … even while apart!

    EXCHANGE GRATITUDE LETTERS
    There is nothing like receiving a hand-written note in the mail, and this is one way to make your family feel special across the miles.
    Draw names in your family, and have each person write a gratitude card to the person they drew. Or surprise your family and write little cards to each person!
    HAVE A PICTURE SCAVENGER HUNT
    Send a list of items that can be found around the house to your family members then, when they find the items, have them take a picture and send it to a group family text! Or FaceTime while doing the scavenger hunt and see who can find everything the fastest. For example, take a picture of:
    Being wrapped up in a cozy blanket
    Playing in leaves
    Smiling with a pumpkin
    Peeking out from behind a tree
    Enjoying a slice of pie
    Sipping on a fall drink
    A list of five things you’re grateful for
    Carving the turkey

    SEND YOUR FAMILY A THANKSGIVING TURKEY COOKIE KIT
    Send your family a box with cut out leaves from construction paper, some homemade cookies, a Sharpie, some tape, and googly eyes. Have them assemble the cookie turkeys when they get the package and write what they’re grateful for on the leaves.
    Then share what everyone wrote on Thanksgiving!
    SEND THANKSGIVING TABLE DECOR TO YOUR LOVED ONES
    My mom absolutely adores Thanksgiving, so I always try to get her something new to decorate her house with. I found this darling table runner and plan to get us each one so we can have a piece of each other on Thanksgiving Day!
    CREATE A THANKSGIVING PLAYLIST
    Gather favorite songs from family members and put them all on a playlist. You can either listen to it during Thanksgiving dinner or have a dance party while FaceTiming your family! If you need some ideas to get started, this is what I’ll be playing!

    HAVE A PIE DECORATING CONTEST
    Everyone could bake the same pie and decorate it in different ways, or you could let people really go wild and have them decorate a pie in any way they want. Then have a family vote on who had the best pie decoration!
    If you come from a competitive family, assign some family members to be judges, and have specific categories on how the pie needs to be decorated. Share your pies virtually via text, email, or video!
    TRY A NEW RECIPE TOGETHER
    Pick a recipe beforehand that you’d all like to try (Looking for some inspiration? We have a fabulous list of Thanksgiving recipes here!), then make the same recipe.
    However you connect with your family this Thanksgiving, I hope it’s a day filled with love, hope, laughter, and good food. Cheers to the many blessings we all have! LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    5 Easy Make Ahead Lunches for Family Home for the Holidays

    This post is written in partnership with Pure Leaf.
    The holiday season is nearing, and we spend a lot of time and energy focusing on the big holiday meal. And for good reason.
    But if you have family in town, there are other meals to consider, too. That said, who wants to feel like a short order cook? Not us!
    So we’re rounding up the best make-ahead lunches to have stocked in the fridge to ensure that family can go ahead and help themselves this season. Of course, grabbing a cold Pure Leaf Unsweetened Black Iced Tea completes any good meal, holiday or not, and compliments everything from soups and salads to wraps and sandwiches.
    And because Pure Leaf believes there’s no shortcut to making exceptional iced tea, you’re getting the real deal every time: no powders, artificial flavors or sweeteners or concentrates. Happy holidays, indeed. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    Creamed Spinach

    Creamed spinach is easy to make and comes together in minutes. A rich sauce gets a flavor boost from Dijon mustard. Serve this simple vegetable side dish alongside roast chicken, steak, or pork loin.

    Photography Credit: Sally Vargas

    Fresh spinach leaves, a little sautéed onion, mustard, and cream come together to make an old-fashioned classic new again.
    I confess this simple vegetarian side dish dropped below my radar in recent years until my cousin called me for my grandmother’s recipe. My grandmother’s holiday spinach was embraced by generous amounts of butter and cream with the occasional pinch of nutmeg, which let the vegetable shine.

    Modernizing Grandma’s Creamed Spinach
    Things have changed since Grandmother’s day. I suspect she used frozen spinach, but with pre-washed baby spinach leaves now ubiquitous in every supermarket, why not use those tender and sweet leaves?
    Soften them in a little butter along with finely chopped onion in a large skillet until they are wilted, transfer them to a bowl, and then make the sauce in the skillet.
    The spinach liquid and cream are thickened with beurre manie (butter and flour) and flavored with mustard. My grandmother only used nutmeg, but adding mustard to the sauce is a nice upgrade.
    Back into the pan goes the spinach and it’s done in mere minutes!

    HOW TO PREPARE SPINACH
    To Use Fresh Spinach: No squeezing, no chopping? That’s right! Simply rinse the baby spinach leaves (or not, if you use organic triple-washed spinach) and let them soften in the pan. Add a few tablespoons of water if the spinach seems dry.
    To Use Frozen Spinach: Defrost the spinach. You will use about three 10-ounce packages for this recipe. When the spinach is defrosted, squeeze out most of the water into a bowl. Proceed with the recipe as you would for fresh spinach. If the spinach seems dry, add a few tablespoons of the spinach water to the pan.
    HOW TO MAKE CREAMED SPINACH
    After the spinach cooks and is removed from the pan, pour the liquid that accumulates in the bowl back into the pan.
    Add the cream and a small amount of butter and flour mixed together and whisk over the heat until the sauce thickens. It will seem thick, but will loosen up when you add the spinach, since it still retains some water.
    Stir it all together, and if it seems too thick, you can add more cream or cooking water, and if it seems too thin, you can make a little more buerre manie and add it to the pan. It will melt into the sauce and thicken it.

    WHAT TO SERVE WITH CREAMED SPINACH
    Don’t wait until Thanksgiving or the winter holidays to make creamed spinach. It’s a sure way to give a boost to a meal of roast chicken, or to serve with pan-roasted steak on a cold winter’s night. You could use it as an omelet filling, or fill some store-bought crepes with it, stirring in a little grated cheese if you like.
    At the end of the day, creamed spinach is a classic you will want to revive!
    MORE SPINACH RECIPES

    Creamed Spinach Recipe

    Ingredients
    3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
    1 1/2 tablespoons flour
    1/4 cup finely chopped onion
    25 to 30 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
    1/2 cup heavy cream
    1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or to taste

    Method

    1 Make the beurre manie: In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of the butter with the flour until blended. Set aside.
    2 Cook the onions: In a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Add the onions, stir occasionally, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they soften.

    3 Cook the spinach: Add about 1/3 of the spinach leaves, or as many as you can pile into the skillet without overflowing. Add the salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons water to the pan.
    Cook, turning the spinach with tongs, until the leaves have wilted. Transfer them to a bowl, leaving some of their liquid in the pan and repeat with the remaining spinach in batches. Remove the pan from the heat.

    4 Make the cream sauce: Using a large spoon, hold back the spinach in the bowl, tilt the bowl, and drain the juices into the pan. Set the bowl aside.
    Whisk into the pan the cream, buerre manie, and mustard. Return the pan to medium heat and bring the sauce to a boil. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if you wish.

    5 Add the spinach to the sauce and serve: Fold in the spinach to coat in the sauce and reheat. Serve.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

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    This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    2020 Home Cook’s Holiday Gift Guide: Giftworthy Cookbooks

    If there’s one bright spot in this very bleak year, it’s that we cooked at home more than ever before.
    We did it out of necessity, with restaurants closed and budgets tightened. We did it because we needed a new hobby (sourdough) or to feel comforted (banana bread). We did it because we wanted to travel, but couldn’t. We did it because we needed to keep ourselves and our families safe.
    And yes, sometimes it was absolute drudgery, but other times it was an escape, a learning experience, a small win in a year when wins were hard to come by.
    All that said: if there was ever a year to give a cookbook to the home cook in your life, this is the year!
    Here are 10 wonderful options, from celebrated new releases to classic favorites. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

    1 Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, milk powder, salt, and baking soda and whisk to mix. Set aside.

    2 Beat the sugars and the butter: With an electric mixer or in a stand mixer with a beater attachment, beat together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and softened butter on medium speed until combined, 30 to 60 seconds. Pick out any large pebbles of hard brown sugar that you see. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters.

    3 Mix in the eggs and vanilla: Add the two eggs and vanilla to the butter-sugar mixture and beat at medium speed until no clumps or streaks remain, 10 to 20 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters.

    4 Mix in the flour mixture: Add the flour mixture all at once. Beat on low speed just until no more dry streaks of flour are visible, 20 to 40 seconds. You may still see some flecks of milk powder — this is fine.

    5 Mix in the chocolate chips: Add all of the chocolate chips and beat on low speed for just a few seconds until the chips are evenly incorporated.

    6 Chill the dough: Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to three days. (Or freeze in individual scoops for up to 3 months.)
    7 Heat the oven to 375F: Place a rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheet with silicon baking mats or parchment.
    I usually bake my cookies one sheet at a time to help them bake evenly. If you prefer, or are crunched for time, bake two sheets at a time with one sheet in the upper third of the oven and the other in the lower third of the oven.
    8 Scoop the dough: Use a medium cookie scoop (or a well-mounded tablespoon measure) to scoop the dough out onto one of the baking sheet. Space the cookies about 2 inches apart.

    9 Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes: While the first batch bakes, scoop the cookies for the next batch.
    The cookies are done when they look slightly puffed in the middle and are starting to turn toasty at the edges.
    10 Cool the cookies: Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, or until the puffed middles collapse and the cookies have firmed a little. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

    11 Continue baking cookies in batches until all the cookie dough has been used.
    12 Enjoy! These cookies are at their best on the day they are made. Store leftovers in an airtight container; they will soften a little overnight but are still very delicious. They keep for about a week before becoming crumbly (at which point, I recommend crumbling them over ice cream!). LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    5 Festive Cranberry Recipes to Make Your Holiday Shine

    This post is written in partnership with Ocean Spray®. 
    Our holiday gatherings may be smaller than usual this year, but they’ll be no less festive!
    And a good part of that is thanks to Ocean Spray® cranberry juice, cranberry sauce and Craisins® Dried Cranberries.
    From a beautiful holiday punch and a new sweet potato dish to a healthy veggie side, addictive chutney and a simple rustic dessert, cranberries are the star of the show. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Burrito Bowls

    Packed with roasted chicken, black beans, rice and all the fixings, this people-pleaser is sure to become a staple in your weekly rotation!

    This post is written in partnership with Perdue. 
    Would you like to make dinner tonight fast and stress free? We thought so!
    Our secret these days is PERDUE® SHORT CUTS®. A few packages of fully-cooked, seasoned and sliced chicken breasts in your refrigerator guarantee dinner’s on the table in mere minutes.
    And Burrito Bowls are often the answer when 5pm approaches and time is tight. The nice thing is they’re totally customizable: you can lay out all of the ingredients in separate containers and everyone can build their own bowl. Love tomatoes but hate corn? No problem? Extra chicken, hold the beans? Totally doable.

    How Do I Make a Chicken Black Bean Burrito Bowl?
    Burrito bowls are quick and simple to pull together. That said, there’s no compromising on flavor here: the chicken strips are tender and juicy with Southwestern flavors like tomato, garlic, pepper, and a just a faint hint of spice from jalapeño.
    Simply warm the chicken (they’re fully cooked so you’re just warming them to serve) in a pan and season your leftover rice with a little lime and cilantro.
    Then heat the beans and corn with red onions and cumin, add the warmed chicken strips, and garnish with cherry tomatoes and store-bought guacamole.
    Boom! Dinner is served.

    What’s the Best Way to Reheat Leftover Rice?
    Honestly, one of our favorite ways to reheat rice is in the microwave — it’s quick but it also heats it evenly without drying it out. Adding a few teaspoons of water before popping it in to reheat ensures the rice will remain tender.

    How Can I Dress Up My Burrito Bowl?
    Feeling inspired to take these one step further? Sour cream and cheddar cheese are certainly always delicious if you have them on hand.
    If you’re looking to eek in a few more veggies, some shredded red cabbage or chopped romaine would add color and crunch! Really, the sky is the limit in terms of how to build your burrito bowls – as long as you’ve got the backbone (rice, chicken, beans) the variations are endless!

    Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Burrito Bowls Recipe

    Ingredients
    3 cups cooked brown rice
    2 tablespoons lime juice
    2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
    1 (15-ounce can) black beans, rinsed and drained
    1 cup frozen corn
    2 tablespoons chopped red onion
    1 teaspoon ground cumin
    Pinch of salt (optional)
    2 (9-ounce) packages PERDUE® SHORT CUTS® CARVED CHICKEN BREAST, SOUTHWESTERN STYLE
    1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
    1/2 cup store-bought guacamole

    Method

    1 Season the rice: If your rice is not hot, reheat it in the microwave with a few teaspoons of water (this helps it to not dry out). Once warm, stir in the lime juice and chopped cilantro.

    2 Heat the beans and corn: In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir the beans, corn, onion, and cumin together until hot. Taste and add a pinch of salt, if you like. Alternatively, heat in the microwave, covered with a paper towel, for 2 minutes or until hot.

    3 Heat the chicken: Place the chicken in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with a paper towel, and microwave for 2 minutes, or until the chicken is hot.
    4 Assemble the bowls: In each of 4 bowls, spoon about 1/2 cup of the rice, 1/2 cup of the beans, and the chicken strips. Add 1/4 cup of the cherry tomatoes to each bowl, and top with 2 tablespoons guacamole. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

    This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    Black Forest Cake

    1 Preheat the oven and prepare the pans and bowls: Heat the oven to 350˚F. Place parchment paper circles in the bottoms of two 8-inch wide, 1 1/2-inch deep round cake pans; coat the pans with nonstick spray.
    Place the bowl and whisk (stand mixer, hand mixer, or stand-alone bowl and whisk) you’ll use for making whipped cream in the freezer.
    2 Make the cake: To a large bowl add both the granulated and brown sugars, breaking apart any large clumps of brown sugar with your fingers. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine.
    In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Gradually whisk in the hot coffee to form a fairly loose batter.

    3 Divide the batter and bake the cake: Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
    Let the cakes cool for 30 minutes in the pans before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes more.
    Note: If you don’t want to finish assembling the cake, let the cakes cool completely and wrap each cake round individually in plastic wrap, then foil and refrigerate for a few days or freeze the cakes for up to three months.

    4 Cook the cherries: While the cakes are cooling, put the cherries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fruit has softened and released a lot of its juice, 15 to 20 minutes.
    Strain the fruit. Reserve both the liquid and the cherries. You will use them at different stages. (You should have about 1 cup cherry juice.)

    5 Make the cherry syrup: Return the cherry juice to the saucepan over medium heat and reduce until thick and syrupy, 10 to 15 minutes. You should have about 1/3 cup once it’s reduced. Stir in the Kirschwasser.

    6 Cut the cake rounds and brush them syrup: The cakes could be slightly sticky or tacky. To prevent them from sticking once sliced, place them on a square of parchment or have a large cake lifter or metal spatula nearby to help with transferring the rounds.
    Cut the cakes in half horizontally so you have 4 circles. Using a pastry brush, brush the cut sides and the edges of the cakes with the cherry syrup, to prevent them from drying out. You should end up using all of the syrup, but it’s okay if there’s a little bit leftover. Let the liquid soak in and wait for the cakes to finish cooling, about 30 minutes.

    7 Make the whipped cream: Remove the bowl and whisk from the freezer. Using either a stand mixer, an electric hand mixer, or brute force, add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and extract to the bowl; gradually increase the speed to medium-high and whisk until the cream holds stiff peaks, but isn’t lumpy. If using a stand mixer this comes together within a couple of minutes so don’t walk away.
    If making stabilized whipped cream find instructions for that here.

    8 Assemble and decorate the cake: Place one cake round on a plate cut-side up and top with a quarter of the whipped cream. Spread within a half inch of the edge and then scatter with a third of the cooked cherries; place another cake round on top and repeat for two more layers. Place the last cake round cut-side down on top and spread with the remaining whipped cream.
    Decorate with the shaved chocolate and cherries as desired.

    9 Serve: This cake is best eaten the day it’s assembled or the following day. But you can still enjoy any leftovers for a day or two after that so nothing goes to waste. LEGGI TUTTO