I *heart* cooking newsletters

This is going to be a half-arsed post, but I was going through my email inbox this morning and basking in the wealth of cooking newsletters that I've subscribed to over the past year. Along with the cookbooks that I have, the cooking magazines that I subscribe to and my beloved friends who share recipes with me - these newsletters are a main source of recipe ideas. And the best part? They are free.

Here are some of my favorites:

Taste of Home - This Greendale, Wisconsin-based company is responsible for publishing the Taste of Home, Simple & Delicious, Light & Tasty magazines along with others. What's interesting about the newsletter is that they'll take the best of all of their magazines and send them in one mailing. No separate newsletters for one magazine, etc. And whereas, I usually like structure - I find recipes that I wouldn't normally receive because of this type of mailing. If you have picky family members and your food taste are more basic than gourmet, this is a great newsletter to subscribe to.

Rachael Ray is the queen of self-promotion and her accessibility makes her the queen of my email inbox. This e-letter comes from her magazine and has the whole week's worth of meals, entertaining ideas, etc.

Kraft Kitchens - another goodie if you can get over the blatant advertising (which is probably why they offer a free newsletter.) You can also score coupons if you're bent and determined on using the real Kraft products.

And finally - I'm in love with the Food Network. As you can imagine, everything that comes out of these newsletters are winners.

Easy-schmeasy Cherry Cheese Pie

This is another creation of my mother's, although she always gives me credit for it. Maybe it's because this recipe is so simple that even I cannot screw it up (that happened a lot when I was younger, trust me). It's a good pie for darn near any occasion.

Cherry Cheese Pie

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 c. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 9-inch prepared graham cracker crust
1 can cherry pie filling (you could use whatever kind trips your fancy)

Mix the cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until smooth, pour into crust. Chill until set (that's usually 3 or 4 hours). Prior to serving, top with pie filling. Let people think you slaved over this dessert.

Fat Mama

Remember this one, Lindsey? I was first introduced to Fat Mama during my sophomore year at Luther. No, Fat Mama wasn't some benevolent figure on campus, it was what would occur if we ate too much of this decandent snack mix. Lindsey gave me the recipe from Kelly, who would make it in the (forbidden!) microwave hidden in her dorm room and I, in turn, gave this recipe to my mom who made it for Christmas this year. But Fat Mama (usually referred to as Snack Mix or Crispix Snack Mix in polite company) is good any time of the year. Your cardiologist will thank me.

Fat Mama
recipe adapted from Recipezaar.com

6 c. Crispix cereal
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Karo syrup, white
1/3 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Spread the cereal over a greased cookie sheet (my mom throws hers in a paper grocery bag). Bring the other ingredients to a boil and pour over the cereal. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Shake apart.

Fear Conquered! Leeks!

For some odd reason, leeks are one vegetable that has always intimidated me and no, I don't really have a good reason why. But when I made Russian Mushroom and Potato Soup, there it was - thinly sliced leeks. So I decided to conquer my fear of this vegetable and find out what all of the hooey was all about.


My friend Tara will be proud to know that when it came time to prepare said leeks, I turned to her favorite cookbook, "Joy of Cooking," which informed me that leeks are referred to in France as the "poor man's asparagus." Well - that's cool, I really like asparagus, but if this is the poor man's version of it, why do they smell like onions? Oh wait- thank you "Joy" - they are a member of the onion family!

OK - so if you're using leeks - one of the things you need to realize is that they are one dirty, gritty vegetable. You're gonna discard the green schtuff and use the white portion. Just make sure you rinse them thoroughly or you're going to get a bit more roughage than you bargained for. Another note - leeks are for cooking - they are pretty darn strong, you wouldn't want to just throw them in a salad for fun.

Leeks - you are a fear conquered.

Sauerkraut Hotdish - Not for the faint-hearted

Somewhere my German and Bavarian ancestors are smiling down upon me and are marveling at the lengths I will go to digest sauerkraut (not just for pizza anymore!).

This recipe comes from my dear friend Bryan who sent this as soon as I informed him I was starting a cooking blog. And although that was a few months ago, I can explain the delay: Ryan hates sauerkraut and if I dared make this and present it as an entree in our household, I would probably find myself signing a prenup promising I would never make this glorious casserole again. So I waited until he was at his parents' home for the weekend and basked in the awesomeness of this greatness. (As you can tell - I really liked this casserole.)

Two disclaimers: Given the amount of cheese in this dish and the delicious carb madness, I can't say this dish is healthy. This casserole is also huge and could probably feed about eight. More than this one kraut lover can handle. If I make it in the future (when my Future Husband is away), I'll be halving it.

Sauerkraut Hotdish
by Bryan Rieck

2 16 oz. cans of sauerkraut (otherwise, just get the 32 oz. glass jar of Frank's), drained and rinsed
8 oz. dried elbow macaroni
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/3 c. milk
1/2 onion, chopped
1 T. unprepared mustard (I just used some Dijon that I had on hand in the fridge)
1 lb. kielbasa sausage (I used a ring of turkey sausage because I'm healthy that way)
8 oz. shredded swiss cheese
2 T. butter, melted
3/4 c. rye bread crumbs (I just used regular)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. Rinse and drain the sauerkraut, spread evenly across the bottom of the pan. Spread the uncooked macaroni over the kraut.

In mixing bowl, mix soup, milk, onion and mustard. Pour mix over noodles. Slice the sausage into slices (you're going to want the sausage to cover the entire pan, so cut accordingly). Top with swiss cheese. Mix the butter with the bread crumbs and spread over the top of the cheese. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

I'm blurry but you want me ...

New additions to my kitchen

I must have been a good girl this year because Santa, my parents, Ryan and his parents damn near spoiled me with awesome gifts - a lot of which had to do with the kitchen.

My old colander was a nasty piece of white plastic that has been with me since I first started living on my own and is melted in some places where it had a close encounter with a hot stove. This one - picked out by Ryan - is so freakin' AWESOME.

The undercounter radio/CD player was Ryan's idea and was gifted to us by his folks, Ron and Gloria. It's very awesome - I made chicken soup to the sounds of Simon & Garfunkel and Ryan listens to public radio while he's cleaning in the kitchen. It is the coolest thing EVER.

I also got a ton of cookbooks this year - "Giada's Kitchen" by Giada DeLaurentiis and a bunch of Taste of Home speciality cookbooks. People must think that I'm obsessed with cooking or something. :)

1/3/09 - Update ... Ryan corrected me - the colander was picked out by his mom. She has fabulous taste as you can tell. :)

Little Chef

Hands down, one of my favorite parts of Christmas was when my nephew Joe opened up his present from my folks and it was a little kitchen.

"A KITCHEN! A KITCHEN! MOMMY LOOK! I GOT A KITCHEN!"

I'm so proud of you, buddy. You come from a long line of good cooks and we look forward to passing the torch. Even if you are a boy.