Jolene's Recipe Journal

It's vacation week here in NH.  For my son, that means no school, sleepovers, day trips.  For me, it usually means catching up on all the things that need doing, plus cooking.   I try to balance all the new recipes I want to try alongside quick and easy meals on the days I have lots of non-cooking things to do. Where I struggle the most with that is side dishes.   Steam in bag veggies are a go-to.  Texas toast from the freezer case.  I made a quick dinner of store bought meatballs, jarred sauce and angel hair and realized that my family was not going to be satisfied with that.   Looking through the pantry and fridge, I found 1/2 a container of garlic butter spread and a tube of Pillsbury crescent rolls (the full sheet kind). I've done the kind that are rolled the traditional way with some cheese in them before, and wanted something a little different.    I rolled the sheet out, spread the garlic butter spread on, and the...

I have a problem-  whenever I make mashed potatoes, I make enough for an army. That would be ok, if anyone ate them in leftover form besides me.   To reel the guys back in, I do what I do with anything I want them to eat without complaint- bread it and fry it! I searched the Taste of Home site and found this recipe for Loaded Stuffed Potato Pancakes.  I omitted the salt from the potato mixture, I'd rather sprinkle it on after frying.  I used a small cookie scoop for the cream cheese, then molded the potatoes around by hand and flattened them in the crumbs.      The only thing I'd do next time would be add some bacon to the potato mixture, because what isn't better with bacon?  I served them with some sour cream on the side, but it was totally unnecessary.   Crispy crunchy coating, delicious mashed potato and then that surprise cream cheese inside.   Thank you so much to Jane W for this awesome recipe! Print With Image...

When in doubt, go with the classics, right?   For the dessert portion of our Easter meal, I chose this gorgeous carrot cake.   Sadly, my food processor went to appliance heaven a while back, and the thought of hand grating carrots wasn't putting me in a festive mood.    Then I remembered that I had a Salad Shooter stashed away in the basement, anyone else remember those?   It made super short work of those carrots! I made no changes to the cake recipe itself.  For the frosting, I used whole milk, omitted walnuts, and used 8oz of cream cheese.   Though I"m not the best decorator, I piped on the carrots and stems. I loved this cake.  It had such great texture and flavor on its own, then that cream cheese frosting.   My son isn't a huge cream cheese fan, but he ate all the cake and most of the frosting and gave it a thumbs up.    My husband?  He said it was good, but he doesn't really think ...

We always have the same old side dishes, usually corn or green beans.   I had sent my husband to the store for carrots and he came home with a gigantic bag, so I went in search of a recipe to use them.   This recipe looked so colorful and perfect for Easter! To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of peas except the first of the year straight from the farm, but I had some in the freezer to use up.    The recipe called for being made in the slow cooker and mine was otherwise occupied with ham.    It was simple enough to convert it to the stove top.   In a large saucepan of boiling water, I cooked the carrots until tender. I drained them and set them aside.  I wiped the pan dry and then sauteed the onion and garlic in a teaspoon of butter.    I added the remaining butter, honey, salt, marjoram and pepper as well as the peas.    I cooked it over medium heat until the peas were cooked through. I loved the not-too-swee...

I've mentioned it a few times, but in 2015, I was chosen to be a Community Cook for Taste of Home magazine.   I've got binders full of the magazines, plus cookbooks, and I've tried over 150 recipes from their site and publications.   Part of my duties as a Community Cook is to submit original recipes, and I admit, I originally found this daunting.   I've pecked away at it, remaking some family favorites, recreating restaurant dishes, etc.   Some things I hesitate to submit..  are they too simple?  Too specific to our family? Then I got the "Congratulations" email- one of my recipes had been chosen for publication!   I was so excited, even more so after my issue arrived.   The Test Kitchen and photography team took that simple salad and made it so elegant and beautiful. You can get the April/May issue of Taste of Home in stores now, or you can visit www.TasteofHome.com for subscription deals. Would you like to...