Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Every year we make several Christmas give-aways—food treats to bring joy to our friends. Recently, I became allergic to tree nuts. Our usual biscotti recipe has almonds in it, so this year I am making a second batch of nut-free, spiced biscotti.
Karl’s Spiced Biscotti
Filed under Desserts & Treats, Holidays, italian, Treats, Vegetarian
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Every year we make several Christmas give-aways—food treats to bring joy to our friends. It really started to get serious about 15 years ago when we moved a house with orange, lemon and grapefruit trees. I could not stand that the trees produced far more fruit than we could deal with, so I started making marmalade in bulk and giving it away at Christmas.
Karl’s Almond Biscotti
Filed under Desserts & Treats, italian, Treats
My original plan for this year was to get a small turkey (10 pounds) and to spatchcock it. I was planning to lay the turkey over the dressing so that the turkey juices would drip onto the stuffing. However, for the second year in a row, Whole Foods got my Kosher turkey order wrong. I still got a turkey, but it was 16 pounds—way too big to lay over the pan if I opened it up. I would have to go with a more traditional approach.
Karl’s Thanksgiving Orange and Sage Roast Turkey
Filed under Holidays, Main Dishes, Poultry, Turkey
My Thanksgiving stuffing is based on my mother’ s dressing. I may play around with the other sides and how I cook the turkey, but this is something that I always make very close to the same way each year. I have made many improvements on my mother’s recipe over the years, but this—more than the turkey—says, “Thanksgiving” to me.
Karl’s Thanksgiving Stuffing II
Filed under bread, California Fusion, Side Dishes
When I left home I copied out my favorite recipes from my mother’s card file. These recipes were limited to what she could fit onto a 3×5 card. They were meant more to remind her how to make a dish, rather than to instruct someone else on how to make them. They were sometimes quite cryptic to the uninitiated. The Thanksgiving stuffing I make today is a direct descendant of Claudia’s dressing. Continue reading
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches, Vegetarian
Our Sunday paper has a supplement, the USA Weekend, which usually includes one of those recipes for people who do not really cook—you know the add “can A” to “can B” kind. This week they actually had a recipe for Thanksgiving that Jan thought looked pretty good. Not being one to follow any recipe, I had to make some changes.
Karl’s Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole
Filed under Potatoes, Side Dishes, Starches, Vegan, Vegetarian
Jan usually makes a cranberry Cumberland sauce for Thanksgiving. This year she thought she would mix it up. She had bought some frozen tart cherry juice for smoothies and she thought it would go well with the tart cranberries.
Jan’s Cherry Cranberry Sauce
Filed under California Fusion, Sauces and Spices, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian
It is crab season here in California and Jan really likes crab. Many seafood soups include potatoes and—with my diabetes—Jan is encouraging me to use starchy foods that are lower on the Glycemic index. Barley is only 25 on the GI—Russet potatoes are 111.
Karl’s Crab and Barley Bisque
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood, Soups
I work. A lot. I also cook a lot. Mostly what results are various states of compromise between attention, quality, availability of ingredients, and sheer tiredness. Occasionally though, 
Chris or I produce great results, sometimes quite by accident. I’m adding this as an occasional series on this blog, capturing particularly good gems from the weeknight cooking world. We tend to cook soft, vegetable-heavy, and paleo/paleo adjacent meals in our house.
See our first installment, which includes Miriam’s Stuffed Chicken and Miriam’s Balsamic Veggies.
Filed under Weeknight
Our garlic went bad, but this was alright without.
1/4 lbs harricot verts (fancy french green beans)
1 red pepper (sweet italian)
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup white wine
4 tbs balsamic vinegar
4 tbs olive oil
Filed under Side Dishes, Weeknight
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 