In my first piece in this column I quickly got into some of the things I’d learned — so far — from tending honeybees at home. Now let’s talk about the chickens.

Have you ever had free-range chicken eggs? I mean REALLY free-range, not the stuff labeled that way from a grocery store, where the “free-range” term merely means the chickens aren’t kept in a cage, yet are still fed mass-produced feed. I’m talking chickens likely from your local farm that are let loose upon the grass, allowed to eat it and are fed healthy feed to supplement what they eat from the yard. Even before you eat one of these eggs, with just the sight of the orange — not yellow — yolk, you know it’s gonna be good. And oh man is it. It’s just in a different league than what you get out of cartons at the grocers.

We’d been buying eggs from our CSA farm for years now, but she can’t always meet the demand. We want more! We hold the CSA eggs so precious that we only use them for non-baking needs; baking’s for the grocery eggs. So how to get more? “Get your own chickens. They’re easy,” said our CSA farmer. Seriously? Those fluttery things that you can never catch are easy? Well, onto the research!

When I started at my current full-time job last year, I learned from my boss that he at one point had taken up beekeeping several years ago. Since I was still in the investigation phase and definitely interested in beekeeping, there were few days between those when I’d be asking about his experiences and for tips. One interesting tidbit I’d picked up: he also kept chickens at one point. I’ve met a few people who have both bees and chickens in their backyards since then; as it turns out, it appears beekeeping and chicken-keeping go hand-in-hand. For some, the next step is goat-keeping … but let’s not go there just yet.

Once I’d installed my bees earlier this month, I had a sudden stroke of confidence and decided, screw it, I’m going right to chickens. Now. I started to check Craigslist for cheap chicken coops and putting together plans and cost for building my own. Before I knew it, I found someone relatively close by who was selling an already-made chicken cook and attached run, and four one-year-old, laying chickens! And I got ‘em!

So, in less than a month’s time, we’ve gone from a farm of two small vegetable gardens to one including bees and chickens. And you know what? So far it’s been mostly easy and mostly great. Just as I did last time with the beekeeping side of things, I’ll give you a few initial thoughts and tips from what I’ve learned in the little time I’ve had with our four hens:

Say goodbye to your lawn. For us, we have an attached run to the henhouse. It’s big enough for four hens to have plenty of room, but I wouldn’t add more. However, that entire area they run in will be wiped out of almost all grass after a day in place. The chickens are eating it and scratching at it all day. I try to make a point to move the henhouse truck (the entire house and run is movable) every day, to give the hens fresh grass to eat; you can see an almost-perfect rectangular patch of grassless earth where the truck was last.

Some people are able to allow their hens the run of the yard, but we’ve got a severe hawk problem around our house, and they were well onto us the day we got our hens; I don’t think they’d last a couple of hours outside the fenced run. The plus side of allowing them to eat the grass, though, is fewer ticks and other insects, as well as yummy grass-fed chicken eggs.

Watering is necessary and problematic; get a chicken nipple. See that red-and-white watering trough in the picture above? Toss that right out — worthless. The chickens get that full of dirt and shit quicker than they can take a second sip out of the thing. Then you’re left cleaning the damn thing out several times a day. That metal bowl was worse. Our solution was to get a “chicken nipple” that basically works like a hamster cage bottle for chickens. I was amazed that, just as advertised, the chickens learned to drink from it within maybe an hour of it being installed. No more mess, and you can throw a huge bucket of water up and away from the chicken mess, making sure they won’t be without water for days.

Egg laying is inconsistent. Sometimes we would see four eggs a day, sometimes only one. All sorts of things affect the hens’ laying, from a change in food to a change in location or other kinds of stress. Sometimes we’ll have more eggs than we can eat sitting in the fridge, while other times we’re hoping for more. So far, though, it’s been a perfect pace.

Chickens are dumb. It was raining out, so I put their food in the henhouse; they couldn’t find it. They wonder why they are getting wet when it rains and try to dodge the drops. They think golfballs in their nesting box are eggs. Don’t expect them to figure out even the easiest thing you expect them to understand, which is why it still amazes me they learned how to drink from that nipple. They also get pretty antsy and loud if they’re not let out of their house early enough in the morning, so either look into some sort of automatic door or risk leaving their coop open all night, otherwise plan for an early morning.

All in all, it’s been worthwhile having these dirty, loud, dumb creatures. They may not be cuddly, but they’re making our cats come in with fewer ticks, making us great fertilizer for our gardens, giving us awesome eggs and making it unnecessary to mow my backyard. And you know what? It really is easy! I’ll update along the way and let you know if our opinion still stands.

Are you a backyard hen-raiser? Got other early tips you can provide? Let’s hear ‘em!

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Perhaps we’ve gone a bit over the deep end here, or maybe it’s in preparation for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Over at the McDuffee household, within about two months time, we’ve gone from being a household of five males (myself, Owen, two cats and a hamster) and one female (Deb) to a household of a few hundred males and about 10,000 females. The new additions come in the form of four hens and a newly-established hive of bees.

Let’s start things out with the bees, and I can talk about the chickens in another post. What I’d like to do is make this column a sort of how-to for my experiences with beekeeping, chicken keeping and more, as well as some tips here and there for what I’ve discovered along the way. You do not need to have acres of land and live in the middle of the woods or pastures to do these things!

For a few years now I’ve been interested in the possibility of beekeeping. I didn’t know anyone who did it, and I thought getting my own honey would be pretty cool, along with having my own bees helping pollenate my gardens. Win win! So, last month, I finally took the plunge and started taking beekeeping classes held by the Worcester County Beekeepers Association. I thought maybe I’d be in a class of ten people or so; it turns out I was in an auditorium of over 250 people! Crazy.

Two classes into the course (which cost a measly $30 for seven weeks of 2.5-hour classes), I knew I was going to do this. On April 1, I had my first package of bees and installed them in the hive box myself. A few weeks later and I’ve got brood larvae present and will probably have newborn bees in my hive this week. Seems like only yesterday I saw them each as a teeny rice-grain of an egg. Out of the whole experience so far, only one sting, but it was totally my own stupid fault.

Alright, that was my experience up to this point, put succinctly. There’s a bit more to it than that, but, honestly, not very much …yet. As it turns out, if you want to start out beekeeping, and you’ve got the drive to succeed at it, it’s easy to get started. Here are some of my main tips I can share with you for starting out:

Take a class. The beekeeping class I took was invaluable. There are things I’ve learned in this class that I have yet to see mentioned even with simple web searches. There’s a chance you may learn quite a bit from an experienced beekeeper, should you know one who has the time to mentor you through your endeavor, but even the most seasoned pro is likely to miss something. In the class I’ve been taking, there are multiple teachers throughout the course, each having a varying level of expertise and varying approaches and opinions to traditional and not-so-traditional ways of doing things. In only two weeks I was convinced I was going to learn most of what I needed to know to get started, and so far I’d say I was right … to get started, at least.

Do not be afraid. You have to go into the whole affair without a fear of being stung. It’s not that you should simply accept you’ll be stung; in fact, it’s unlikely you will be, in most cases, when you’re doing things right. Believe it or not, bees can sense fear and may very well react to the expulsion of more CO₂ and adrenaline from your freaking out, so you have to be cool. When I installed my package bees, I admit there was some uneasiness on my end, but it was more for me being afraid I’d screw up than of being stung. Overall, if the bees aren’t irritated from something — illness, recent animal intrusion, overheating — they’ll pretty much pay no attention to you. I’ll stand right in front of the hive for quite some time, the bees passing back and forth and paying me no attention. Remember, these aren’t those asshole wasps or hornets; they’re fuzzy, cute honeybees, making honey … honey you’ll steal from them later. Well, some of it.

You need a veil — the rest is optional. During the course we watched a video of folks in Georgia who basically funnel bees into boxes (packages) for people like me to install. The guy in the video was a well-seasoned pro, and the only bit of protection he had on besides regular clothing was a hat and veil. Hell, he even had a short-sleeved t-shirt on! No gloves. Like a boss. No stings that I could see. Know why? He wasn’t afraid. I’m not balsy enough to go without gloves, and I wear a long-sleeved sweatshirt and jeans when opening my hive. The veil is simply not optional. When you’re lifting frames and messing around with moving hive pieces around, the last thing you want to deal with when your hands are full is a bee stinging your face, or crawling up your nose, ears or mouth; you’ll drop what you’re doing in a hurry when that happens, and things only get worse from there.

Those are the main tips I can share for getting started out beekeeping. There’s more I will share as we go along, but, this being the first post in the series, I’ll start off small.

Are you a beekeeper yourself or are you looking to get started out? Let’s hear from you! Ask questions, too, and hopefully we can share things in this column as we go along.

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Like everybody else on the face of the earth, I’m ridiculously obsessed with Pinterest. Sure, I could do without the proliferation of twee inspirational quotes in interesting typefaces and living rooms that I’ll never be able to afford, but there is no better website out there right now for random dinner inspiration.

I saw this pin for baked spaghetti, and immediately knew that I wanted to try it. Cooper, like most three-year-olds, loves pasta, so I’m always looking for new recipes. This particular baked spaghetti recipe involves ground beef, which I don’t eat, and canned tomato sauce, which I don’t have. However, the best thing about pasta is that it’s infinitely customizable, so I took the basic idea and just went with it.

Baked Spaghetti

• 8 oz. Spaghetti
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 diced onion
• 1 tbs Italian seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups mozzarella
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cook your spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, quarter your onion and dice it along with the garlic in the food processor. Put diced onion in a large bowl. Put diced tomatoes and italian seasoning in food processor and process until you get most of the chunks out. Add the tomato and spice mixture to the diced onion. Add tomato sauce and mix everything together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked spaghetti to sauce and stir, making sure to coat spaghetti evenly.

Transfer mixture into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle mozzarella on top and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

Kid Tip: Since you’re using a food processor, this is a great opportunity to get some extra veggies into your kid without them noticing. Throw some baby spinach, zucchini, and/or broccoli in the food processor along with the diced tomatoes for some extra nutrition.

Paula Deen told Today that she doesn’t plan on changing the way she does her show just because she has Type 2 diabetes, and I for one applaud that.

I don’t watch any of Deen’s shows to find out how I can lose weight and look like a Men’s Health cover model. I tune in to see how she cooks rich foods. I could stand to lose a few pounds and I take high blood pressure medication, but eating some of what Paula Deen cooks on her TV shows isn’t going to harm me unless I eat them all of the time.

Did Deen preach “moderation” like she’s been saying in recent interviews? I don’t know. I didn’t watch her show that closely and I’m not going to do a Lexis-Nexus search for the keywords “Paula Deen” and “moderation.” But I am sure she didn’t say “eat this stuff for every single day of your life.” I think that television creates this illusion of steadiness and consistency that really doesn’t exist. Meaning, because Deen is on our televisions every single day that means that she eats this stuff every single day and she’s hoping we do too. But if she had a monthly show or quarterly specials we probably wouldn’t say that she’s “pushing” this lifestyle and this type of diet.

I can’t say that the food that Deen cooks on the show didn’t contribute to her diabetes, but no one can honestly say that she ate the stuff morning, noon, and night and that’s why she’s overweight and that’s why she has diabetes, no doubt whatsoever. Diabetes is a complex thing, and heredity and a sedentary lifestyle contribute to it just as much as being overweight (good thing Wikipedia is back so I can look this stuff up!). I know three people with Type 2 diabetes, and all three of them are skinnier and in better shape than I am. I know about a dozen really, really fat people, and none of them have diabetes and their blood pressure is fine. Anecdotal evidence? Maybe. But like I said, diabetes is a complex thing.

Anthony Bourdain has been on Deen’s case way before her diabetes reveal, calling her “the most dangerous woman in America” because of the way she cooks. I could name 37 females on reality TV that are more dangerous, but that’s beside the point. A lot has been made of the infamous episode where Deen put a burger between two glazed doughnuts. Yes, she was saying that you should eat this every single day. People are so stupid.

I contend that if you hate the way that Paula Deen cooks, in a way you hate America.

Being preached a healthy life style from someone who goes around the world eating warthog rectums and sheep testicles is something I never thought I’d experience. Bourdain is making a cottage industry out of insulting other people who cook stuff he doesn’t approve of. First Rachael Ray, then Sandra Lee, now Deen (he insulted Emeril Lagasse and Guy Fieri somewhere along the way too, so you can’t say he’s a sexist). I’d rather eat at the home of either Lee or Deen than Bourdain’s home (though he’s a better writer than either of them). As the old saying goes, diabetes is better for you than sheep testicles.

I mean, does the guy even cook anymore?

If Paula Deen wants to use the word moderation more and tweak her show a little bit to make things healthier, that’s great. If her sons want to come out with cookbooks that preach a healthy lifestyle, that’s great too. If she wants to take a diabetes medication and exercise more, no one’s going to say that’s a bad thing. But to say that she’s a hypocrite or scheming if she continues to make high-fat meals on her show and at the same time push a diabetes drug just doesn’t make any sense. And the fact that she waited three years to reveal it to her fans doesn’t bother me a bit. A lot of people have secrets in their lives that they hold on to tightly because they’re not ready to reveal it, for personal and yes (gasp!) professional reasons. I don’t know if she didn’t tell anyone because it would somehow interfere with her career, but even if she did, so what? It would be weird if she didn’t keep it secret, wouldn’t it?

Should an alcoholic be barred from being a bartender? Maybe for his personal physical and mental health, but just because an alcoholic is a bartender doesn’t mean he’s preaching alcoholism or even potential alcoholism to the customers who come into the bar. That’s up to them (and this is where people accuse me of comparing alcoholism with diabetes, which both misses and confuses the point all at the same time — congratulations!).

Every single cook on television, from Julia Child to Graham Kerr to Guy Fieri, has cooked food that one could call “unhealthy.” But I contend that they’re aren’t any “unhealthy” foods if you don’t eat them all the time.

Except warthog rectums. That stuff will kill you.

Bea’s radish salad with apple, egg, avocado, egg and shaved Manchego is the most delectable combination. With a light honey-mustard vinaigrette, it’s the perfect healthy summer treat.

I love everything about raw fennel in a salad, but you pair it with arugula and you’ve won me over tenfold. Thinly sliced zucchini, honey, pine nuts and feta and I’m swooning.

Celery, apple and fennel slaw might just be the perfect medium for celery … other than potato salad and soups of course. It’s fairly simple but would accompany many main dishes well.

I enjoyed the sugar snap peas from our CSA Farm so much that they didn’t even last long enough to make them into this sugar snap salad (and we had plenty!). It still tempts me, though, with its radishes, feta, mint and sumac (a lemony Middle Eastern spice).

As much as I love Heidi Swanson, I’m just not sure about this raw corn salad. Raw corn and shallots, tossed with a lemonade vinaigrette and fresh oregano and seeds. I just don’t have much more to say beyond I’m not so sure about that. However she more than makes up for the questionable-ness of that one with her to-die-for sounding macaroni salad. You had me at arugula, Heidi, but the apples and parmesan sealed the deal. Add this sesame yogurt pasta salad and Heidi’s back on track!

With just a few alterations, this salmon cakes recipe could become a stand-by for me, using what we have hanging around in the pantry and fridge. I’d just throw in a 16-oz. ounce can of wild-caught salmon with skin and bones — so healthy and sitting on the second-to-top shelf of my pantry closet at any given time. There are capers right in the cakes, which is pretty close to a perfect idea. You all probably know me well enough by now to know that the sauce will be made with plain goat’s milk yogurt and no mayonnaise. Throw these babies down on a bed of greens and you’ve just prepared a dinner I’d be happy to eat.

These low and slow oven-baked ribs I have made, and don’t let the simplicity fool you — this recipe has everything you could want in a non-smoked rib recipe. We served them with lots of BBQ sauce and this coleslaw and some oven-roasted fries.

The reason this recipe for sea salt-baked potatoes intrigues me is not just because it’s Heidi Swanson’s. It’s because the potatoes are stuffed with arugula and then slathered in a dressing-like sauce and I just think that’s a fine way to serve a baked potato. The only thing missing for me would be a ton of fresh chopped chives.

Every spring/summer I seem to become obsessed with grape tomatoes. I put them in everything, whether they’re called for or not. So naturally, when I see a recipe that actually calls for them, my interest is immediately piqued. So that’s why when friend of CliqueClack and noted vegetarian Wil Wheaton tweeted a recipe for Quinoa-stuffed portobellos and the picture showed delicious grape tomatoes, I immediately hit the grocery store.

In addition to my grape tomato obsession, I’m also always looking for new uses for quinoa. In fact, I took some of the left over cream sauce from last week’s recipe and replaced the pasta with quinoa. It was pretty delightful. I modified this recipe as well, because I do not enjoy fruit in non-fruit or dessert dishes, so putting raisins in this would have really bummed me out. However, if that’s your bag, then follow the original recipe as she has it.

This recipe is both vegan and gluten-free, but I made it non-vegan by adding delicious, delicious cheese. With that said, I do not recommend what I did with the first one, which was add gorgonzola. As much as I love it, it was just too overpowering for this dish. For the second, I added goat cheese and baked that on, which was 100% perfect.

She also says to add either basil, mint or parsley. I chose basil, which again, went wonderfully with the grape tomatoes. I also added more garlic than is called for, but I do that with everything I cook. I also left out the scallions, because they’re gross. With or without the recipe modifications, this is a delicious, light summer dinner.

I don’t remember if it was on Facebook or on Twitter, but I came across The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for pasta with pesto cream sauce and I was inspired. I’m a total brown thumb, but each year I try to convince myself that this year’s the year I’m going to grow something awesome. I bought some basil plants from the farmer’s market a few months ago, and lo and behold: they’re not dead yet. In fact they’re thriving so much, that I need to start using some of it before I’m overwhelmed by a basil forest.

The thing is, I’m also in the middle of a Sons of Anarchy marathon on Netflix Instant, so I didn’t want to go to the grocery store. That meant that actually making her cream sauce was out, since I don’t have heavy cream on hand. So I searched around and after many weird and unappetizing recipes, found this one for a low-fat cream sauce. It’s great because the ingredients are pretty common, but it’s also hilarious because I’m not entirely sure you can count anything that has flour, butter, Parmesan cheese and an egg as “low fat.”

My pesto recipe was similarly ad-hoc. Although it’s close to Deb’s classic pesto recipe, I didn’t actually measure anything. I also added some spinach instead of parsley, which I never really use for anything. The key though, is the lemon. I used an entire half — I love the tang it adds.

I also toasted the pine nuts first, which gave it a delightfully nutty flavor.

The spinach also makes the pesto a little bit milder and obviously gives it the added benefit of all of those spinachy nutrients.

After you’re finished with the pesto, try to restrain yourself from digging out a loaf of bread and eating it all right there. It’ll be hard, because it’s SO GOOD. Instead, boil a pot of water for the pasta. and follow the directions for the cream sauce — I was impressed with how thick it actually got.

While you’re waiting for that to thicken, slice some grape tomatoes in half and saute them. They’ll add a little burst of sweetness to the finished product.

Once the cream sauce is finished, add the tomatoes and the pesto and mix together.

Toss with your choice of pasta. I used ziti because short pasta is easy for a toddler (Cooper loved this, by the way), but if it were just me, I’d use angel hair.

Word of warning: this recipe yields a crapload of cream sauce. Either be prepared to make a lot of pasta, or dust off those math skills and halve the recipe.

I can’t tell you how delicious this recipe for honeyed prawns and polenta sounds to me. It’s really a mystery to me why I haven’t cooked it yet. The polenta has corn, currants, honey, butter and thyme mixed in. The prawns are marinated in honey, lemon and hot sauce (along with this and that) and then crumbled over the top of everything is feta, capers and fresh parsley. Sometimes the creative combinations in recipes just blows me away, and this is definitely one of those recipes.

Now we move on to simpler, yet still there are capers … must be my mood. Heidi Swanson’s quesadillas use a technique that basically adheres and egg to the tortilla, which she stuffs with cheese and tops with lemoned yogurt. I’m certain I couldn’t make anything with absolutely no vegetables in it, but I’m dying to try that egg thing. It needs some baby spinach or something, though.

Let’s transition to another tortilla dish, this time steak picadillo soft tacos (I’m so impressed with my not-theme theme … just humor me). Someone please make these and tell me how good they are, because with Keith’s aversion to olives, a recipe with not only olives, but the brine from the jar, is asking a bit too much of my husband to bear. I won’t even let mayonnaise in the house, so I’ve got to show a little respect with my olive recipes. But I will say this — olives straight from the jar just aren’t as much fun as when incorporated into a recipe. Almost though. On second thought, forget I said anything.

Writing this column while hungry is not an easy task. Any potential themes get tossed out the window and whatever would satisfy my appetite gets written down. Instead of a lovely brunch menu, which definitely could have happened, I ended up with this mish-mash of recipes … and I’m still hungry.

Believe it or not, our green bean harvest was so good this year that we still have a couple of bags left in the freezer. That’s with about several thousand batches of my minestrone soup too! I’ve been looking for other things to do with the green beans, and I came across this recipe for sweet potato soup with green beans and cilantro. So simple, but a really interesting combination of flavors that I think will taste fabulous with something grilled … I’m thinking sausages or pork tenderloin.

Get a load of the cutest little gluten-free tartelettes in all the world! Zucchini, coriander, leeks and cheese stuff these egg-y babies.

I love frittatas … I love them because I can basically throw whatever I have in my fridge into them and they taste fabulous. This salmon and asparagus frittata sounds like a good one for this time of year, as the asparagus comes into season and is plentiful locally.

Is it weird that this rather unappealing crock pot recipe for a Cantonese dinner makes me want to cook it? There’s nothing special in it and I don’t like how a lot of meats even come out in the slow cooker, so why would I be attracted to this recipe? I’ll try it, though, because the kid loves Chinese food and it sounds easy. My, how my standards have regressed as this column progresses.

Now here’s another curious recipe for me, because I’m trying to stay away from excessive carbs and baked goods, yet scones come across my screen. Better yet, ginger pecan scones, with lots of crystalized ginger and butter … maybe it’s time for a brunch with the frittata and scones. …

No, I don’t have any time to be posting. None. But if I don’t I’ll lose track of all the wonderful recipes I’ve been collecting over the weeks … I’ve got to close those browser windows at some point. …

I love potatoes gratin. I love fennel. Every ounce of my being has been crying out, begging for this fennel gratin to make it to my plate. It’s got pecorino romano and lemon — c’mon! I’m thinking with rack of lamb …

… or maybe these braised lamb shanks with Swiss chard. Garlic, golden raisins and saffron make this recipe extra-special.

Speaking of braised (one of my favorite ways to cook in the cold weather), these braised short ribs with potatoes and apples, risotto style, may be just the dish for a cozy weekend staying in by the fire.

Am I ever going to make this recipe for Scottish salmon with Shallot-Truffle Honey Glaze, Lump Crab and Green Apple Risotto, and Quince Jam? Yeah, probably not, but it sounds so perfect that I need to stock it away for a day I’m feeling ambitious, just in case. So. Many. Steps.

Ditto for this crispy tilapia fillet with fennel-mint tzatziki. I’ve cooked tilapia many times, but I think I may have to defer to the sister who married the Greek to prepare any and all tzatziki sauces in the family. I don’t know, I just looked again and it’s a farily straightforward recipe. Maybe on a weekend night when I can rope Keith into helping. …

This Portuguese chicken I’ll definitely make. It’s rare these days that we’ll make anything that’s skinless boneless. I love the flavors the bones and skin impart to any chicken dish … and it’s much cheaper too. Stewing the chicken pieces in the tomato, with prosciutto, wine, garlic, roasted red peppers, port and mustard — how good does that sound?

I cannot tell a lie: I think I’ve had a Sloppy Joe maybe twice in my lifetime, vague childhood memories of my mother trying out something from a jar (which almost never happened, must have been a very busy day!). However, these Jamie Oliver Sloppy Joes, complete with their tortilla wraps, look absolutely scrumptious. With lettuce, beans, honey and mustard added to the standard ground beef and tomato (amongst other ingredients), he’s got something very special going on here.

Really? Black sesame Otsu is sure a fancy name for noodles with sesame paste, but with pine nuts, sunflower seeds and Heidi Swanson, they’re sure to be better than your average noodle.

I eat a little bit of dark, dark chocolate almost every day. I’m almost sure it keeps the blood flowing in my veins and the antioxidants keep me immortal healthy. No, I am not full of it — I’m like a chocolate vampire. Really. Except the only effect the sunlight has is to sometimes melt the chocolate. …

Each year for Valentine’s Day, Keith and I like to cook up something yummy together and top it off with a spectacular dessert, usually of the chocolate variety. Last year, I had a hard time choosing between these desserts, but it was the falling chocolate cake with raspberry sauce that ultimately won us over. Here are this year’s contenders:

I know, we’ve made Bea’s chocolate tahini gooey cakes about a thousand times (including just last week) but it remains one of our favorites. If we make these, we know that we’re guaranteed the perfect dessert.

Now, if it turns out that we’re in a comfort food kind of mood, I’m definitely making Heidi Swanson’s chocolate chip skillet cookies. Instead of whole wheat flour, I’d use spelt and I’d definitely cut down the amount of sugar. This would satisfy the lazy in me as well, since I wouldn’t have to make individual cookies. So, so lazy. …

Perhaps I’ll want to satisfy the one-bite dessert lover in me; in that case, I’ll be making these chocolate Chambord truffles, but I’ll be using coconut milk instead of heavy cream.

Yeah, I found yet another recipe for molten chocolate cake (I really should do a roundup of those someday), this one spiked with the liquor of your choice. They are nearly flourless, but I’m thinking that the bit that is in there will give these cakes just enough texture to be perfect. And spelt ought to work. …

The radical choice would be these chocolate-orange pots de creme with candied orange peel. Radical, because I’d have to suspend all laziness to attend to the details of this recipe and also because I’d have to take a huge leap of faith in assuming that my bizarre substitutions for dairy will work in this recipe. Can I pull off a food-snob pudding with goat yogurt and coconut milk? If I can make custards and flan with coconut milk and truffles with goat yogurt (which I can), I’m thinking yes.

Time will tell which one it will be … which one would you make?

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I don’t think I’ve ever had chicken paprikash, but it combines every delicious comforting ingredient I can think of: onion, garlic, tomato, mushrooms and thick and creamy broth. I’d definitely serve this over brown rice with a salad.

When I make meatloaf it’s often with ground turkey, but I’ve never tried anything like this turkey and apricot meatloaf. Lest you think it too sweet, it’s spiked with a goodly amount of ancho chili powder, soy sauce and garlic.

How very weird that these apricot glazed chicken drummies are also swathed in apricot … what does that say about my cravings? We adore cooking chicken drumsticks and this overnight marinade sounds so easy — I’ll definitely be giving this recipe a try.

Try this one on for size: Turkish-spiced chicken kebabs with pomegranate relish and tahini yogurt. Yeah, I know, right? The only problem with this recipe is that I’m really going to have to be in the mood for cooking if I attempt it, as I just have a feeling it takes more time than the hour-and-a-half it estimates.

My lovely friend Meredith (of Zephaniah Wine) made this amazing black bean and corn salad/dip thing one weekend, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. It’s super-easy to make, and ridiculously good. Sure, it’s all veggies, with nary a meat or cheese in sight, but I stand by its deliciousness enough to confidently say that you can bring it to a Super Bowl party this weekend and you won’t get thrown out of the building.

Generally canned vegetables freak me out, but it’s winter, so good corn on the cob is going to be hard to come by. Plus, frozen corn really won’t work for this unless you want to put a lot more time in it that is required. This dip should be served room temperature or cold, so you’d have to cook the corn and cool it before you’re ready to put it in — and that’s just crazy talk.

I also didn’t get the recipe from Meredith, I basically recreated it from the dreams I had about this dip every night since she made it. I asked her later, and it turns out I got pretty close. So without further ado. …

Black Bean Corn Salad/Dip

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Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans (I use the reduced sodium kind)
• 1 can corn (I use the kind without salt. There’s certainly a theme here)
• 1 large avocado
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 lime
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (don’t pack it down or anything ridiculous like that — you don’t need a ton.)
• 2 tbs malt vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

The reason I love this recipe so much is because it’s ridiculously quick and easy. Drain the black beans and the corn and  put them in a large salad bowl. Chop up the avocado and the tomatoes and add them to the bowl. I actually only used 1/4 of the onion because I don’t really like them. I also chopped them as finely as I could, but that’s really dependent on your own personal onion groove.

At this point, you have the base of the dip in place:

Now you’re just bringing it all together. Squeeze your 1/2 lime into the bowl, add the cilantro and the vinegar. You’ll probably have to play around with the vinegar and salt and pepper to get it to the exact taste you want. It also serves as a nice excuse to eat a bunch of it before you relinquish it to your guests. Stir it all up, and you’re ready to go!

Like Nathan Fillion’s bean dip, you’re going to need a sturdy chip for this bad boy. Mission Rounds are good, as are the Archer Farms blue corn tortilla chips that I grabbed from Target.

Let’s just get this out of the way right now — you know you’re going to make chili for the Superbowl, so why fight it? Buffalo wings and nachos, however appealing, will be gone before halftime and you’re going to need something hearty to make it through.

Jamie Oliver’s green chili, made with pork and green peppers and sage has fast become one of our favorites. A couple of unique twists, like fresh mint and chopped lettuce, make this a healthy, crunchy chili with a delicate yet hearty flavor.

Apparently this is the best chili you will ever taste. I’ve got to admit I fell for it, what with the coffee, beer, cocoa and sirloin.

Jeff will tell you that vegetarian chili is really just vegetable soup. The ingredients in this vegetarian chili are pure and wholesome and flavorful — it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s worth eating.

Spicy pork and black bean chili is definitely spicy (what with the chipotle chili powder and all), but served over rice with some sour cream and it’s perfect.

It took me a long time to perfect this crock pot chili recipe, but I’m so glad that I did. I’ve really got quite a love affair going with my slow cooker and most chili recipes before this one were mushy and wet and fairly flavorless. In fact, I’m making this one tonight … no need to wait for the big game!

We’ve made this recipe for chicken and corn chili several times now and it always come out great. It’s another slow cooker recipe, with lots of cumin, white beans and cheesy goodness. Sometimes we sprinkle on fresh cilantro too.

Katie’s almost from scratch chili uses salsa as a base, with diced green chiles and brown sugar … imagine the flavor infused into that chili!

If it’s meat and meat alone that you crave, chili con carne is your answer to the perfect bowl of chili. This recipe has cubed meat (not ground), beer, allspice, cinnamon, cumin and cloves to lend it its unique flair.

Alright, ‘fess up — which chili recipe will you be making?

Cooking a special dinner and eating at home is one of our favorite ways to celebrate. One of our New Year’s resolutions is to stop being so selfish about it — it’s time to entertain more and share the wonderful spreads we enjoy creating. Now that Owen’s getting older and most of our friends have kids his age, there’s no excuse.

Last year on New Year’s Eve (which we’re still celebrating just the three of us), Keith and I made rack of lamb with a berry pomegranate balsamic sauce, edamame and fresh basil risotto and roasted Brussels sprouts. This year, we’ve decided to stick with the theme: rack of lamb with lamb sausage crust and fresh grape pan sauce, our favorite drunken risotto, and probably just some mesclun salad or roasted green beans. We’re weird about the rack of lamb. I promise we’ll branch out soon.

The point of this post is actually to give you some ideas of interesting side dishes to serve for your celebrations … I really beat around that bush, didn’t I? Oh, and to give myself a place to remember all of these side dishes I’ve been wanting to try and haven’t yet.

Try the heirloom squash farrotto — yeah, they made risotto with farro … brilliant! With yogurt, chick peas and fresh cilantro, there’s a Middle Eastern vibe combining with the Italian farro and the wholesome squash that is so unique and tempting. This would be the perfect accompaniment to grilled marinated chicken breasts.

It’s easy to class up green beans, and I often do them with shallots, some pancetta or prosciutto and fresh herbs and lemon juice. This recipe for scrumptious green beans has got to be bursting with flavor — ginger, mustard seeds, cumin, fresh cilantro and lemon juice all see to that. I’d love to have these alongside beef tenderloin.

So simple, with only five ingredients, yet so elegant, this roasted beet and feta gratin with fresh mint is spiked with garlic and suggested to be served with lamb. Maybe this recipe should be calling to us lamb-a-philes….

This stuffed pumpkin could really be a vegetarian main dish, as the wild rice, mushrooms, tofu and cubed bread make it hearty. As a side dish, I’m feeling roasted chicken would be the perfect pairing. A bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and you’ve just served a speactacular meal.

These vegetable galettes with millet and tarragon could also be a lovely vegetarian lunch with a mesclun salad, but they’d be wonderful with wild salmon.

It’s no secret I love muffins. I’ve shared my recipes for blueberry coconut muffins, oatmeal strawberry muffins, berry muffins sweetened with agave, Halloween orange muffins, banana coconut muffins, chocolate chip mini muffins, apple cinnamon muffins, raspberry oatmeal chocolate chip muffins, peachy flax molasses muffins and lemon poppy seed muffins.

Hmmmm … I wonder how all those chocolate chips got into the recipes? I guess it’s also no secret that I love chocolate….

Many of my muffin recipes are borne from us being completely sick of Keith’s pancakes … delicious, but tiresome every weekend. So as Owen and I were brainstorming ideas for muffins this morning, this is what “won.” The result is a fluffy, moist, flavorful muffin that you could easily make with cranberries instead of chocolate chips if you swing that way. I was thinking they’d taste great with both, but I was vetoed.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cups spelt flour (or flour of your choice)
• 1/3 cup palm sugar (or sugar of your choice)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup oil (I used rice bran oil) or melted butter
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used grain-sweetened)

Blend all dry ingredients in a large bowl, and mix all wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Add wet to dry and stir until just blended, then fold in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. Serve warm, because you can, and why would you miss the opportunity for gooey chocolate chips?

Alternate version: Either substitute frozen or fresh cranberries for the chocolate chips and sprinkle Turbinado sugar on top of the muffin before baking, or use half chocolate chips / half cranberries.

I’m really not obsessed with carrot soup. I really love it and it’s easy to make, so win-win. But it’s kind of weird (or maybe it’s the stars aligning….) that more than one recipe for a unique carrot soup — really, not your run-of-the-mill carrot soups — crossed my path recently. We’re currently snowed in — maybe a carrot soup for lunch tomorrow?

It’s embarrassing to admit that this recipe for creamy carrot soup has been sitting open in a browser window on my laptop for months. I love that it has miso and tahini in it, as well as fresh herbs and garlic.

Spiced carrot apple soup with fresh mint couldn’t appeal to me more right now. The ginger, allspice and nutmeg will balance out perfectly with the fresh mint … what a well-written recipe.

This recipe for curried carrot soup has coconut milk and fresh ginger … oh yeah.

Now who’s going to help me decide which recipe turns into tomorrow’s lunch?

If I do get lazy, I’ll just bring a cheese platter or an easy dip (or 22) and be done with it, but you’ve got to be tempted by some of these one-bite appetizers. Some are deceivingly easy to make and are guaranteed to impress … so stop emulating me and put in a little bit of effort.

Bob’s prosciutto-wrapped dates are yummy and a cinch to make. I like to make these with figs instead of dates for a change of pace. You could also wrap melon or asparagus.

On to bacon … wrap it around scallops, apricots, water chestnuts, shrimp, dates stuffed with cream cheese and chorizo, or mushrooms brushed with BBQ sauce.

I made these cherry tomatoes stuffed with marinated feta a while back … so delicious and simple. At our family’s Christmas Eve celebration, someone made cherry tomatoes stuffed with fresh mozzarella and a basil leaf, all wrapped in prosciutto and sealed with a toothpick. Pretty, simple and delicious.

You could possibly love the prosciutto filled with happiness as much as I did — so make them! — which is as much as I adore the name of the recipe. How could anything with a name that cute not be tasty?

Portobella mushrooms stuffed with crab and mozzarella … OK, I’m in.

These salmon canapes sound so good to me … and they are carb-less, since the “cracker” part of a traditional canape is replace with a slice of daikon radish. I always think of the one-bites as being a bit more labor intensive to prepare, but these couldn’t be easier.

In the spirit of the daikon radish above, this recipe uses cucumber cups, stuffed with cheese and topped with smoked salmon or a number of other choices. They are so, so pretty!

Check it out — apple slices with goat cheese and pistachios. Easy!

These mini brie and arugula sandwiches sound delicious, but they don’t look very impressive. The same ingredients on top of a pretty cracker or a slice of baguette would be attractive and delicious.

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If you’re not bringing a dessert tray everywhere you go this season, then maybe you’re the designated appetizer bringer. Sometimes, it’s really fun to make one-bite appetizers that impress — and a post on those will follow. This time of year, I admit that I get lazy and opt for a dip.

I love a traditional hummus (I’ve even got my perfect recipe for hummus, though I suspect I add more lemon now than I did when I wrote that recipe) but this recipe for Moroccan bean dip caught my eye. It’s chick peas and yogurt, with spices and seasonings (like cumin) that sound scrumptious to me.

Back to hummus for a moment — if it’s too passe for you, try dressing it up with these ideas for hummus to impress, or make my favorite recipe for black bean hummus.

It doesn’t get a lot easier than this herbed goat cheese dip — fresh herbs and sun-dried tomatoes stirred into goat chevre … that’s it.

Sometimes, I don’t want a brown rice cracker or vegetables as my dipper … I crave a corn chip. That’s how I discovered Nigella Lawson’s red kidney bean dip, which I love and make often. I’ve yet to make this chipotle black bean dip, but they even give a recipe for your own (healthier!) corn chips as an accompaniment. It’s on my list for sure.

Or if you want to scoop up some dip with potato chips, try this caramelized onion dip (thank you, Heidi Swanson) that my brother made this weekend. The amount of dairy in it nearly sent me to the hospital, but it was so delicious. Why would anyone use a packet of onion soup mix when this four-ingredient recipe tastes so much better?

The layered Mexican dip has been done to death (um … ’cause it’s delicious), so in the interest of a new twist on a classic, this eight-layer Mediterranean dip will shake things up. Hummus, artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, yogurt, spinach, feta, roasted red peppers and green onions … yes, I’m drooling just a little.

Sweet pea guacamole is not a healthy substitute for the gift from the gods that is an avocado guacamole, as some may try to convince you. It is a different dip altogether, but it is addictingly delicious and you’ll not want to cease scooping this into your mouth.

White beans can become anything — a white bean roasted red pepper dip, a white bean dip with garlic and fresh herbs, even six easier than sin white bean dips, including pesto white bean dip and Caesar white bean dip. Please tell me a can of white beans (or two … or seven) is a staple in your pantry.

Black-eyed peas aren’t a common dip ingredient, which is why this black-eyed pea pate with pickled onions caught my eye. It’s suggested that you serve it on flatbreads, but I’d present it as a dip with crackers and veggie rounds and let my guests have at it.

I love this mayo-free recipe for shrimp dip — Neufchatel cheese, plain yogurt, scallions and a few other easy ingredients make the dip appealing to mayophobes like me.

If you didn’t find a recipe here, well, you’ve got a problem … but you could always check these nineteen easy and festive appetizer ideas to secure your position in the dip-obsessed fan club. I’m a charter member.

Cooper is obsessed with fruit, so we basically weigh him down with an orchard’s-worth every time we pack his lunch. However, we forgot to take into account the fact that he wouldn’t be in school for four days due to Thanksgiving, so we ended up with some extra bananas that were rapidly turning brown.

Banana bread is one of those things that I always say I’m going to make, but the bananas invariably get thrown away, because I never actually do. I just have some sort of mental block against banana bread– I always think it’s going to be way more complicated than it actually is, I guess.

In any case, I had a few days off (and the previously mentioned browning bananas), and muffins seemed to be the thing to do with both. I went on to my Big Oven iPhone app (I mention them a lot, but I’m not shilling, I swear!) and tried to find an easy banana muffin recipe. I certainly succeeded. With only six ingredients, it took just a couple of minutes to whip up.

Now, this isn’t a healthy recipe, by any means. I’m sure I could have modified it, but I just stuck with what it said, which includes an entire stick of butter. However, I did do a half cup of brown sugar and a half cup of white sugar instead of a full cup of white sugar. Okay, just typing this out makes it sound really bad, which it is, but they’re quite delicious.

It is a very basic recipe, so if you’d like, you can certainly dress it up a little bit. I just added some cinnamon, but I’m sure some nutmeg, etc. would have been nice as well. If you’re really pressed for time, I recommend mini-muffins– it cut the baking time down to about 15 minutes.

Since I’m working from home again, I’m making an effort to find new things to cook and to figure out ways for Cooper to eat vegetables (2-year-olds apparently don’t like to do that. Who knew?). So last week, I made a trip to the grocery store to find new and exciting dishes to make.

Months before, I had downloaded a Simply Organic iPhone app, but hadn’t really used it. Now I have the time, so I decided to see what it had to offer. The first recipe I tested out was this Italian Egg Bake. They can call it whatever they want, but it’s basically a frittata. Regardless of the name, it screamed “EXCUSE TO USE LOTS OF VEGGIES” at me.

The best part about this recipe though is that it’s ridiculously quick to make. Granted, it has to cook for a long time, so it does require some forethought, but all you have to do is mix up a couple of ingredients in a bowl, stick it in a pie pan and put it in the oven. Done.

I had a few issues with the recipe: One is that the only seasoning called for is Italian dressing mix. That sounded kind of gross to me, but I decided to give it a whirl. It was actually pretty good! The other, was that it only called for 1/2 cup of veggies. That seemed to defeat the entire purpose for me, so I changed it to about 1/2 cup of each veggie: tomatoes, mushrooms, and asparagus.

It turned out great, and Cooper eventually ate it. I say eventually because when he first saw the triangle slice on his plate he went, “Pizza! Pizza!” As good as this egg bake was, when you’re a toddler who’s expecting pizza, it’s pretty much the worst thing ever. He had a couple of bites, but when we put a leftover slice in his lunch the next day for school, he ate most of it.

In any case, I certainly call this recipe a success. Plus, it’s a really good dish to make when you end up in a situation (as I so often do) of having leftover veggies that aren’t going to stay fresh much longer. Chop ‘em up and throw them in!

The weather is getting colder, so to me, that means baking. Last year, I got turned on to spicy desserts, including spicy hot chocolate and these spicy molasses cookies. This fall, I’m planning on expanding my spicy dessert repertoire, so I found some fun-looking recipes to try. I’ve never attempted lava cakes– to me, that’s a chain restaurant-type dessert and not anything that I thought you could make. I plan to test this theory with these spicy chocolate lava cakes.

I’m generally not a pudding person, but this Aztec hot chocolate pudding recipe involves not only chili powder, but rum, which sounds delightful.

Speaking of booze, this recipe for chocolate chile cake involves bourbon, which is awesome. Because in addition to baked goods, cold weather means heavy drinking. That’s a thing, right? Moving on.

I think I’d try something other than the maple syrup icing on this pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake, but I do love anything that involves pumpkin. However, pumpkin pie is by far my favorite pumpkin dessert, so this spicy pumpkin pie is probably going to be first on my list.

My dad took me out to lunch a few weeks ago, which was awesome because he paid, but also because I had an amazing polenta dish. It was a creamy polenta with mixed wild mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, and balsamic vinegar. I could tell that there were only a few ingredients involved, so as soon as I took my first bite, I vowed to recreate it at home.

This also dovetails nicely with my goal of cooking more and finding a larger variety of foods for my toddler to reject (or eat! Which would be awesome!), and I thought polenta may be something he would actually dig. Polenta is also something that I’ve used a few times, but have been wanting to try to incorporate into more dishes. As a vegetarian, it’s really easy to fall into a pasta rut, especially when you’re trying to find something a meat eater will enjoy as well, so polenta seems like a nice alternative.

From what I understand, making polenta is pretty easy, but this was a new recipe as it was, and I was looking for something with very little prep time and dishes. That’s where my tube o’ polenta came in handy. Instead of a creamy polenta dish, I decided that polenta cakes were the way to go.

Polenta Mushroom Cakes

• One tube of original flavor polenta
• 8 0z. package of sliced mushrooms (a mix is good, but I just used baby bellas)
• 4 oz. sliced mozzarella
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• splash of red wine (optional)

Dice the garlic and heat up the olive oil in a saute pan. Add garlic, mushrooms and a splash of red wine if you’re feeling adventurous. Saute ingredients over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and most of the liquid has cooked down.

While the mushrooms are cooking, slice the polenta tube into rounds. Fry the polenta over medium to medium-high heat, using olive oil or cooking spray. Cook for approximately three minutes on each side.

Place polenta circles on a cookie sheet and cover with the mushroom mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese and put under the broiler for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Remove, drizzle on some balsamic and enjoy!

It’s pretty hard not to completely love someone who cleans your house for you. My cleaning lady is an awesome person … and I adore her even more since she shared this recipe with me.

In her subtle way, she inquired why I had bowls of green tomatoes all over my house. We’re talking heirlooms, Romas — both large and small — and cherries. Between our CSA farm harvest and our own plants, our tomato cups runneth over this year, and I was hoping the green ones would ripen up.

She then related to me how she used her green tomatoes — baked with garlic, oregano and olive oil — and I couldn’t wait to try it. It reminded me a bit of Scott Peacock’s slow-baked tomato recipe that we love here, but my cleaning lady said we’d end up with a much different flavor from the green ones, and she was right.

They are savory, slightly tangy and so rich and complex with flavor … very different from the sweet and syrupy slow-baked cherry tomatoes. I souped them up a bit and ended up with a new go-to recipe … as long as we have green tomatoes, that is.

Roasted Green Tomatoes with Garlic and Oregano

Ingredients:

• enough coarsely chopped green tomatoes to fill a 9X13 baking pan in a sort-of single layer (I use a bit more than that)
• about 8 cloves of garlic, sliced or quartered
• about 1/2 cup olive oil
• about 1/5 cup balsamic vinegar
• dried oregano to taste
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Arrange the garlic and chopped tomatoes in the pan, then pour olive oil over them and toss. There should be enough to coat the tomatoes and leave a coating on the bottom of the pan as well. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt and pepper and toss. Finally, drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and give everything a final mix.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until tomatoes are smushable. Then smush them so the juices mix with the oil and vinegar … yum.

We like to serve this over polenta with some salad and grilled sausages, but we’ve taken Kona’s suggestion and served it over quinoa with good results too.