Welcome to the weekend, friends! I hope that your Thanksgiving was everything you wanted it to be this year. (And if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I’m wishing you a wonderful weekend too!) We had a great visit with family and I’m happily enjoying some couch time and games with my boys this weekend.

ON THE BLOG this week: Tangy cranberry pancakes topped with maple syrup make getting out of bed on the weekend a little bit easier. I’ll be making these a couple more times for certain before cranberry season comes to an end.

Speaking of syrup, brown sugar and butter can be simmered together to create a caramel toffee-flavored homemade syrup like nothing you’ve ever tasted. This sauce is no substitute for maple syrup, Brown Butter Homemade Syrup is awesome all by itself.

Crisp baby spinach, spring mix lettuces, tart apples, sweet raisins, crunchy almonds, and the ultimate honey cider salad dressing are combined to create this fantastic Spinach Apple Salad.

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls are for those of us who love traditional cabbage rolls almost as much as we hate the time it takes to roll and bake them. Bites of juicy ground beef with fluffy rice and tangy tomato sauce are made even better in this simple one-skillet meal.

Just in case you haven’t yet tried it, many of you went absolutely CRAZY over this Cranberry Jalapeno Dip for Thanksgiving. “The sweet heat that you can not stop eating” is the best way to describe this creamy cranberry jalapeno dip. I am snacking on some this afternoon as I write this and I’m willing to bet I’ll be making more this weekend.

Oven-roasted cabbage with balsamic and roasted onions is nothing short of a crazy obsession for me at this point. Try it once and you will understand.

Do you have leftover turkey? Try adding it to this potato and vegetable soup for a hearty meal that you’re certain to savor. With some rolls and jalapeno honey butter on the side, this is a dinner I’m already looking forward to eating tomorrow.

What I’m CRAVING: Truthfully? Not a whole lot. Funny how a day of feasting does that to us, doesn’t it? Though I’m likely to be polishing off the rest of the Strawberry Pretzel Salad with every meal until it’s done.

My FAVORITE THING this week is Bananagrams. I played this game all week with both the adults and the

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls are for those of us who love traditional cabbage rolls almost as much as we hate the time it takes to roll and bake them. Bites of juicy ground beef with fluffy rice and tangy tomato sauce are made even better in this simple one-skillet meal.

Sometimes (read: most of the time), as much as I love cabbage rolls, I just don’t have the time, energy, or patience to make them on a weeknight. If you’re like me, these Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls might be your newest favorite dinner.

Unstuffed Cabbage

For nearly as long as Sean and I have been married, I’ve been making Layered Cabbage Rolls as a timesaver option for a cabbage roll dinner. My whole family loves them and they’re requested often.

I remember the first time I served that easy variation on cabbage rolls to our friend Joe. Joe was born in Hungary and he was so happy with that dish that he kept smiling and telling stories all the way through the meal.

He told us it tasted exactly as he remembered his mother’s cooking. Joe passed away last year and remembering his happiness over that meal still brings a smile to my face.

A few years ago, I was thrilled to realize that I could get the cabbage roll flavors we love in a simple skillet meal, without even turning on the oven. The ground beef is browned along with plenty of seasonings before simmering in a rich tomato sauce with fresh cabbage and rice.

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

From start to finish, this meal comes together in under 20 minutes, making it pretty much perfect as far as I’m concerned. I like to serve the Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls with a simple salad and a crusty bread to sop up any juices on our plates. This would also be delicious served with Homemade Pierogies for a full Polish feast!

This is a dinner that checks all my boxes, a quick meal that manages to make everyone happy using simple and inexpensive ingredients. If you have never had the joy of tasting Cabbage Rolls before now, here is your chance.

Cabbage rolls are a classic European dish of cabbage leaves wrapped around seasoned ground meat and baked. Ground beef is a traditional filling for the cabbage but ground lamb and turkey are also popular in some areas.

These rolls

Brown sugar and butter simmer together and create a caramel toffee flavored homemade syrup like nothing you’ve ever tasted.

This sauce is no substitute for maple syrup, maple syrup is its own bit of wonderful that nothing can replace. Butter Sugar and Butter Homemade Syrup is awesome all by itself.

I drizzled this syrup over some Banana Nut Oatmeal last week and my boys liked it so much, they requested it on their oatmeal again the very next morning. I couldn’t resist making a batch of our favorite waffles for the last of the syrup.

This syrup is on par with our family’s beloved Waffle Sauce; it’s an entirely different kind of deliciousness and I already love it. If you enjoy homemade sauces and syrups as much as we do, you’ll want to try this awesome Buttermilk Syrup too, for another terrific homemade syrup option.

When my friend Rebecca told me about her recipe for Brown Sugar Butter Pancake and Waffle Syrup, I was immediately taken back to childhood when my mom used to make a simple sugar homemade syrup for our pancakes. This version, oh Mom forgive me, this version puts that one to shame times about 1000.

This is one instance where butter not only makes it better, but it transforms the recipe into something that will take your breath away with its deliciousness.

Your kitchen will smell amazing and you might even be left without words to describe it.

How To Make Homemade Syrup

1. Combine the sugar and water in a medium-size saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Lower the heat to medium and allow the mixture to boil for 4 minutes.
2. Add the butter and stir until the butter has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the extract if desired.
3. Let the syrup cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a pitcher or jar for storage. Serve immediately or store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Read more

Tangy cranberry pancakes sweetened with maple syrup make getting out of bed on the weekend a little bit easier.

Cranberry Pancakes

There is something almost magical about getting out of bed as a kid and going to the kitchen in your pajamas and smelling warm pancakes. It is a thought and smell that takes me right back to being a kid again.

It is such a warm cozy feeling to see and smell that stack of pancakes or waffles. So many fond memories are why I have such a love of making pancakes for my family. Not to mention you can create so many versions and flavors, from savory to sweet they never get boring.

In all my pancake-making years though I only recently learned that many people throw away the first pancake. Do you do that? I never have and I can’t recall my mom ever throwing it away.

At first, I thought it was surely a joke or maybe that was the “chef’s treat”. But apparently, it has something to do with the temperature of the pan, the oil temp, and the cold batter. The first pancake is never right, supposedly. There is an entire Reddit thread about it.

Let’s get back to making these awesome pancakes. Cranberry buttermilk pancakes will have a thicker batter than you might be accustomed to making.

After mixing the batter and adding your cranberries, let the batter rest for a few minutes while the griddle or pan heats. Resting allows the baking powder and buttermilk to work. When you start to see popped bubbles on the surface of the batter; then you are ready to cook.

Frozen or fresh cranberries work just fine for cranberry pancakes. If using frozen let them thaw a bit before mixing them in. If you don’t you will end up with little frozen batter balls. This could create raw batter spots in your pancakes around the cranberries.

To thaw the berries I suggest pouring them onto a pan or plate on the counter when you get started, before mixing up the rest of the ingredients. That way they’ll have a bit of time to warm before adding them to the batter. It is okay if they aren’t completely thawed when you add them. The goal is to avoid frozen batter chunks.

Read more

“The sweet heat that you can not stop eating” is the best way to describe this creamy cranberry jalapeno dip. Double it for a crowd so you don’t run out!

Cranberry Jalapeno Dip

My love of cranberries knows no bounds. So when my friend Margaret shared this recipe with me, I jumped at the chance for a new cranberry jalapeno combination.

Cranberry Pepper Jam with brie and crackers is my appetizer go-to anytime I have that jam stashed in the pantry. Sometimes I pour the jam over a simple block of cream cheese and serve it with Ritz crackers. My kids go nuts over that.

HOLY SMOKES! That is all I could say after I made it. I took it to a gathering with friends and everyone asked for the recipe. I made this for my boys and they licked the plate! No joke.

Sweetness with a little heat combined with the tart cranberries and the cool creaminess of cream cheese hits all the right notes. With salty crackers or pretzel chips on the side to dip or spread this on, it is nearly impossible to stop eating this.

Read more