Jolene's Recipe Journal

After discovering last month that I'm not the only ginger fan in the house I immediately went looking for a recipe using it to make for this month's Muffin Monday. I found Lisa V's Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins on the Taste of Home site.  I did make two changes to her recipe.  First, I substituted Greek yogurt for the fat free because it's what I always have on hand. I also used dried cranberries instead of fresh. Usually I would also sprinkle the tops with some raw sugar, but I was debating a glaze so I didn't.  The key to muffins is really not to over mix them.  I like to use an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough into the cups. Before baking I popped a few extra dried cranberries on because I like people to know what's in them.  These smell amazing while they're baking and they taste even better. They didn't need the sugar or a glaze, they are perfect as is.  Thank you so much to Stacy from Food Lust People Love for hosting #MuffinMonday! Be

If you're like me you always cook enough food for an army for holiday meals. We love leftovers in their original form, but we also like to change them up a bit. Here are our favorite ways to repurpose Thanksgiving leftovers! Spicy Turkey Quesadillas These come together quickly and they disappear even quicker.  Great for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack! Turkey Gnocchi Soup Ready in under 15 minutes, and works great with green beans instead of peas.     Stuffing Waffles  Brunch anyone? Crispy savory stuffing waffle topped with cranberry sauce and turkey. Serve with maple syrup or gravy.    Turkey Cranberry Bagels These are a big hit with kids.  Great open faced or as a mini sandwich.      Waffle Monte Cristos    The perfect breakfast before heading out to score Black Friday deals! Ham, turkey, bacon, apple jelly and cheese in between crispy waffles. Speedy Shepherd's Pie    I actually prep the meat mixture ahead and keep it in the freezer. On the day I want to serve it I

Today is the last day of #ChristmasCookies Week and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have! For my last recipe I decided I wanted to make ginger cookies, which are a favorite of mine. I typed what I was looking for into the search box and up popped Barbara G's Big Soft Ginger Cookies from Taste of Home. I made absolutely zero changes to the recipe. I was tempted at the end to roll the dough balls into turbinado sugar but I stuck with the granulated.  The resulting cookies are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, perfectly spiced. Thank you again to Ellen from Family Around the Table, Heather from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks and to Christie from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures for hosting #ChristmasCookies Week and to all of the other bloggers for sharing their recipes! Big Soft Ginger Cookies Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 1 large egg, room temperature 1/4 cup molasses 2 1/4 c

  Christmas Cookies Week continues and today I've got some beautiful Chocolate Linzer Cookies for you.  Traditionally these cookies are made with nuts, but Heather P's version from Taste of Home are not.  Since there are nut allergies in my family, I was excited to be able to make a version they could enjoy.  I did make a few small changes.  I swapped out the almond extract for vanilla, and the raspberry jam for strawberry. I chose the star pattern for the cut outs.  If you don't have a Linzer cutter you can use nested biscuit or cookie cutters. Since the holiday are always crazy for me, I take time savers anywhere I can.  I melted the chocolate in a measuring cup and then poured it into a pastry bag.  I snipped the end off and piped the chocolate onto the solid cookie halves.    I also did the jam the same way, it made it easier to precisely get it into the middle.  Then I used a wooden skewer to gently coax it into the points.    Wait til you see what all the other bakers

  Part of the life of a food blogger is thinking about holidays WAY before the average person does.  While most people are apple picking, I'm flipping through recipe books, checking out my Pinterest boards, and coming up with ideas for what I'm going to share with you for #ChristmasCookies Week.  My first choice is Salted Caramel Fudge Drops from Carole H, which I found on the Taste of Home site.   I love that they start with a sugar cookie mix and build from there. I like to use a cookie scoop to get consistent cookies.  The recipe calls for "caramel filled chocolate candies" and then sea salt.  I went the direct route and bought Dove Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Promises.  You could use Rolos, you could use caramel filled Hershey kisses or even Ghirardelli squares.  I did half the batch with the Promises, then I did half the batch with some semi sweet chocolate chips.  Again, you could really use any of the fun chip varieties that are out there, salted caramel,