Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Chocolate, almonds, and marshmallows are one of my all time favorite combinations.  Thus, I love, love, love a “rocky road” anything. My kids also love this combo. As well as anything with caramel, blueberry muffins, a fruit tart, any kind of cookie and  s’more.  S’mores = Summer. They could care less if it is made over a camp fire or on the stove.  It is the all time favorite summer dessert and I am embarrassed to say that they eat way more than I care to admit.

A couple of years ago I came up with way to combine the two.  Sometimes, I add a bit of chocolate chunks right into the ganache.  I have been known to make some homemade marshmallows and last year I made a marshmallow meringue top – torched it and made a group of 12 year old boys very, very happy.

Last month, I had made some homemade graham crackers.  A few of them got a bit over done so I stuck them in the freezer (I think you all know by now, I hate wasting anything). Instead of using store bought, I made my crust using the “not so perfect” graham crackers and no one knew the difference.

A rocky road tart gives us the perfect combo of a s’more and a rocky road candy bar. One cannot really go wrong with graham crackers, creamy chocolate ganache wtth a bit of marcona almonds and marshmallows on top!

A bit of a cold spell finally hit the Pacific Northwest this past week. The rain was so nice, except it rained while we were harvesting our vineyard, not cool mother nature, not cool. We have had such an unusually hot summer so the rain was a nice change for the most part.

During the rainstorm, all I could think about was making soup. As soon as I had a free moment, I did just that.

Have you ever had creamy chicken noodle as opposed to the clear, broth kind? It's so good. The consistency is not thick like potato soup, but the creamy part adds mouthfeel. With homemade bread, it's amazing. In fact the whole family asked for seconds.

I think if you are not going to make your own stock/broth, creamy is the way to go when it comes to chicken soup. This recipe is really something you can throw together on a weeknight. In fact, the chicken can go into the broth totally frozen. And is fully cooked within 15 minutes. That is the beauty of using tenderloins. Who can beat that for a mid-week dinner? 

You might be looking at this pot of soup and wondering where are the carrots? While I love carrots, the creamy version of chicken noodle tastes so much better with parsnips. They are just as sweet, if not sweeter and my family loves them.

Comfort food with a crust. Need I say more? Thanksgiving, for me, is all about the sides. I do love my gravy, but I prefer it over my rustic herb stuffing. Forget the turkey and save it for a big batch of turkey potpie or a morning hash.

This recipe has been part of my repertoire for the past 20 years. It has evolved over the years but one thing has remained constant; there is very little fat and no cream in the recipe. And in making this dish, over and over again, the cream is not even missed. The filling is delicious but what really makes this dish is the crust. And this gluten free crust is a winner (thanks to Shauna).

In doing all of my planning, marketing, and organizing on Sunday’s, I always find a lot of inspiration in cleaning out my vegetable bin. Soups, stir fry’s, salads, stratas, and frittatas, are dishes created from neglected or almost “not edible to eat” veggies. Food rarely gets wasted in our home and it gives me great joy to not see money thrown into the compost bin.

To all of my friends and readers who have supported me over the years, I am grateful to you for your support, questions, advice, and friendship. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

I love parfaits. They are such pretty things to make, with all kinds of possibilities from what ingredients you are going to layer to what glasses you will serve them in.

For these, I used our small stemless champagne flutes. I thought they made a perfect parfait, because they are just 4 ounce glasses and so the desserts were not huge, they were just right.

This parfait is made up of two creamy puddings – one chocolate, one peanut butter. It's topped off with whipped cream.

You can make the puddings early in the day and refrigerate them and then assemble the parfaits later. Or you can even make the parfaits a day ahead.