Holiday

  • Easy Christmas cookies decorated on a platter.

    100 Easy Christmas Cookies

    This holiday season make a few of these easy Christmas cookies to give as gifts and to enjoy at home! It can be argued that the tradition of giving Christmas cookies started in Medieval times, as winter solstice rituals transformed into holiday celebrations.  Just like today, food was an integral part of gatherings in those days. With a shift into celebrations instead of ritual, the parties became grander — less about sustenance before a bleak winter and more about feasting together to ring in the season. Back in those days, sugar was considered a delicacy reserved for important occasions, and Christmas was one of the *most* important. Unlike pies and cakes,…

  • Slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top.

    Easy Pumpkin Pie

    This easy pumpkin pie only takes fifteen minutes to prep before baking. Use store-bought pie dough or make your own simple homemade pie crust in advance (recipe below) — either will produce a yummy homemade pumpkin pie that’s perfect to cap off any Thanksgiving feast! Even though I don’t do much baking (e.g., cake, bread, rolls, etc.), I love making pie. Apple pie is my go-to, everything from the traditional with notes of cinnamon and thinly sliced apples, to a more robust apple pie with cardamom and a crumble topping. And during the cold weather holidays through New Year’s Eve, the variety of pies I can’t help but make goes…

  • 15 Fun Star Wars Themed Recipes

    15 Easy and Impressive Star Wars Recipes

    Whether you’re gearing up for a premiere, preparing a pre-movie-viewing soirée, or you’d just like to schmooze your Jedi-obsessed co-workers, here are fifteen Star Wars recipes you can make to impress! In case you didn’t already know, I’m kind of a geek when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy stories. Like, seen every episode, multiple times, of Star Trek: The Next Generation, watched and read copious amounts of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings (as well as listened to their corresponding podcasts), and obsessed over series like Outlander. And then in recent years, we’ve gotten to look forward to a new edition to the Star Wars franchise every December…

  • This easy slow-roasted beef rump roast will become a favorite for Sunday dinner.

    Slow-Roasted Beef Rump Roast

    This easy slow-roasted beef rump roast will become a favorite for Sunday dinner. For a number of years my in-laws gave us a quarter cow as a “family” Christmas present. We’d get freshly butchered beef — ground, steaks, roasts, cubed, you name it — the deep freezer is stocked, and for the most part we’re able to eat off of it all year long. Most of the roasts do well in the slow cooker, which I love. There’s nothing easier than throwing everything into one pot, setting the timer for eight hours, and then forgetting about it. But sometimes I have a weekend that’s not so busy. One where I…