Welcome to the weekend, friends! It’s been a nonstop week in the kitchen over here and it’s been fun. I can hardly wait to share all of these new recipes with you. I’m getting excited about the comfort foods, holiday sides, soups, breads, and Christmas treats too!

ON THE BLOG this week: Caramelized almonds are a deliciously nutty and easy salad topping with a hint of sweetness and tons of crunch.

Sweet bites of oranges are tossed with crisp lettuce and parsley and then topped with caramelized almonds to create this refreshing parsley salad. Sound weird? Don’t knock this ‘till you’ve tried it. It’s been one of my personal favorites for years now.

This Cauliflower Gratin with a sprinkling of cheese, a light cream sauce, and a crispy buttery bread crumb topping is so so good, I keep dreaming about making it again. (I’ve made it three times already!)

Chocolate Chip Blondies have the awesome texture of a brownie and are loaded with chocolate chips and pecans. They have become a favorite treat.

Crisp tortillas filled with tender bites of steak and plenty of melting cheese create this easy-as-can-be Steak Quesadilla.

Pumpkin Mousse is creamy, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth perfection and it is my family’s favorite pumpkin dessert. Every year, when I make it, another die-hard pumpkin-hater falls prey to its awesomeness.

Thinly sliced flank steak in a garlicky ginger sauce makes for a delicious weeknight steak and pepper stir fry. I love how easy stir fry dinners can be and they get bonus points for making a small amount of meat go a long way.

Cheese, bacon, and potatoes add up to side dish perfection. Make extra because these bacon roasted potatoes will go fast!

What I’m CRAVING: This Crispy Sesame Chicken by Savory Experiments caught my eye yesterday and it looks so good! There aren’t many things I like mo

Pumpkin Mousse is creamy, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth perfection and it is my family’s favorite pumpkin dessert. Every year, when I make it, another die-hard pumpkin-hater falls prey to its awesomeness.

Pumpkin Mousse

A co-worker gave me this recipe, more years ago than I feel like counting. I took one bite of the mousse she brought to the office and I was smitten.

Creamy, light and full of real pumpkin flavor lightly spiced by nutmeg and cinnamon had me convinced I needed to make this recipe right away. 

My husband liked the pumpkin mousse just as much, maybe even more. He has consistently chosen this as his dessert of choice every holiday season since then.

Nothing makes him happier, during the season of holiday baking than knowing I am going to make pumpkin mousse for dessert.

When I was getting ready to make this mousse for the first time, as a very young newlywed who had grown up with cool whip and instant pudding style desserts, I’d never bought a carton of heavy cream before in my life, let alone whipped it into peaks.

However, this mousse was a turning point. I discovered then, that quality ingredients can produce results at home that trump anything a restaurant could possibly serve.

Making pumpkin mousse was, in many ways, the dessert that pushed me to start baking and cooking more outside my comfort zone I’m so very glad I did!

This recipe starts by dissolving gelatin in a small amount of dark rum. The rum adds a rich deep flavor that I believe is what helps this pumpkin mousse stand out from the crowd.

Pumpkin Mousse Recipe

After mixing together pumpkin puree, eggs, sugar, spices, and vanilla, the gelatin mixture is added. Beat the heavy cream into stiff peaks then gently fold it into the pumpkin-gelatin mixture.

I’ve chilled this mousse both in individual ramekins and in a giant bowl for serving. Whichever way you c

Getting to Know Us

I do have a real name.
And a real family who also have names.
I just sometimes forget that we need to introduce ourselves.
It only takes a few people saying, “hey, oh sweet basil!” When we are out and about to remind me🤣
So hiiiiii! We love love love meeting you and what better chance than right here, right now!
So!

Cade is from all over but we claim #SouthCarolina since that was the last place he lived. He works as an administrator in #healthcare and loves the #gym, #sushi and #traveling with all of us.

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Crisp tortillas filled with tender bites of steak and plenty of melting cheese create this easy-as-can-be Steak Quesadilla.

Steak Quesadilla

My whole crew loves quesadillas so much, I tend to set aside a bit of whatever meat we are cooking for dinner, so we can make quesadillas the next day.

I made these with leftover buttered steak bites, just slice the cold steak bites as thin as possible and layer them into the quesadillas. (If you’re lucky enough to have mushrooms leftover, definitely add them too!)

Steak quesadillas are great made with Southwest steak bites, Cajun steak bites, and these Asian steak bites too.

Set aside some steak bites next time you make them. Then slice those leftover steak bites thin and pile the strips of beef onto the tortillas.

You only need a handful of ingredients to make these quesadillas:

• flour tortillas
• butter
• freshly shredded cheese Mozzarella, cheddar, Colby jack, Pepper jack all work well
• cooked steak sliced very thin and chopped bite-size
• sauteed bell peppers and onions OPTIONAL

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Chocolate Chip Blondies with the texture of a brownie and loaded with chocolate chips and pecans have become a favorite treat.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

These bars are my immediate thought when I haven’t planned dessert in advance or when we have unexpected company. The brownie-like bite with a soft chewy center and crispy browned edges are always a crowd-pleaser.

Brownies get their flavor from cocoa powder and chocolate. Their close cousin the blondie gets its flavor from brown sugar and vanilla. Brown sugar and butter are a rich backdrop to the chocolate chips and pecans.

I often find myself making blondies when I need a quick treat to take to an event or a snack when the kids have friends over. The easy batter mixes quickly and baking them in one pan instead of sheet after sheet of cookies is so handy.

Using this as your base recipe you can create all sorts of versions from what you have on hand. Dried fruit, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, other nuts, and coconut. The possibilities are endless.

I’ve been making this recipe for years now and we all love it. When I started adapting it for gluten-free flours, I played with a few different options. You could also use a store-bought gluten-free blend in a 1:1 scenario.

The combination of brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch works extremely well in this recipe. This is my favorite version and I’ve made these at least six times now. I made a triple batch for a recent trip and they were a huge hit.

Check out all of the Gluten Free Dessert Recipes on this website!

Chocolate Chip Blondie Recipe

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