We love lemons! I got a big bag of lemons at Costco and have been enjoying cooking and baking with them. (Fish recipes coming up next!) I don't always (or even usually) have fresh lemons in my fridge, so it's been fun to have them available for the past couple weeks. :)

I made these lemon scones with sour lemon glaze for a breakfast potluck recently, and they were a big hit! Joshua says they're his favorite of all the scone varieties I've made. (The pumpkin scones are my personal favorite...)

Ruth was my little scone helper. :) She likes to bring the foot stool into the kitchen and use it to check out what's going on up on the counters. ;) At nearly 22 months, Ruth doesn't miss out on much these days... :)

The appliance behind the mixing bowl is my grain mill, as I had just ground some wheat flour. We've had our grain mill for about 18 months now, and I still totally love having freshly ground flour for baking! :)

This week's in-season recipe theme is cranberries! :)

I recently created these Cranberry Almond Scones and they're delicious! Joshua says they're one of his favorite scone flavors (I've been making lots of scones lately!).

These scones have a fun festive flavor, and a lightly sweet glaze on top... which is achieved by brushing heavy cream over the scones and sprinkling with sugar before baking. Very easy and yummy! :)

Scones are quick to make and since they're not too sweet, they're a perfect mid-morning or afternoon snack (with hot tea!). :)

Now, a couple recipes from previous years:

If you have the time, these cranberry roll-up freezer cookies are pretty and tasty! They involve a lot more preparation than the scones, but in the end, they're a yummy slice-and-bake cookie! :)

This is an old picture, but these cranberry apple muffins are fabulous!! These muffins have a lovely dark color from the spices in them. :)

I created this Double Cranberry Crumb Cake recipe a few years ago for a recipe contest using tea. Very sweet, moist, and flavorful!

Joshua loves these cranberry orange muffins! (I'm not as fond of orange flavors in breads...)

To participate in this week's In-Season Recipe Swap:

Post your on-theme recipe, including your own photo of the food. Link to this post, and then come over here and let us know where to find YOU! Just leave your link in a comment and I will manually add them to this post throughout the day. :) Next week's recipe theme (November 18, 2009) is squash (any kind)!

1. Hot Cranberry Citrus Drink (Amy)
2. Acorn Squash with Orange-Cranberry Sauce (Debbie)
3. Cranberry Slush Punch (Martha)
4.
5.

I'm so glad Quinn requested a kitchen tip for this week. :)

We love and I mean LOVE your cheesecake recipes! However I have never once been able to get it so that there is no water between the foil and the bottom of the pan by the time it's done baking. Obviously, this makes for a soggy crust.

The last one I made I used extra wide heavy duty foil and had it curled up over the edges. There wasn't one crack or hole and it still leaked. I've tried layers, I've tried removing it from the water bath and wasn't as happy with the results with the actual cheesecake part.

So I'm desperately hoping that you have a trick up your sleeve.

We love water bath cheesecakes, but we've had the soggy crust outcome as well. We've found that it works best to use at least 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Actually, we usually use 3 just for peace of mind!

Joshua has found that it's helpful to lay the 2-3 layers of foil down flat on the table and then set the springform pan in the middle. Then carefully pull the sides up to cover the pan. Basically you want to wrap all 3 layers at the same time, for maximum smoothness.

Another thing Joshua does is use a small piece of a cereal box or other thin cardboard and place that between the springform pan's metal latch and the foil. This prevents the latch from puncturing the foil.

Hopefully these things will work to stop any leaks while your cheesecake is baking! (And if anyone else has tips to add along these lines, leave us a comment!) :)

More cheesecake tips:

The best way to cut a cheesecake

Removing a cheesecake from the pan to a serving platter

And because I love cheesecake... here are a few of our favorites! :)

Double Chocolate Italian Cheesecake -- my #1 favorite!

Orange Vanilla Dream Cheesecake -- Joshua's #1 favorite!

Basic cheesecake -- as easy as it gets!

Pumpkin Cheesecake -- add whipped cream and I love this! :)

Chocolate Vanilla Swirl cheesecake -- I wish I had a better picture because this one is delicious!!

Created by Joshua for me on our 5th wedding anniversary -- Chocolate Caramel Almond Cheesecake. As a chocolate lover, this is heavenly! :)

To Participate in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays:

Post a kitchen tip in your blog. Link to this post, and then leave your link here, so we know where to find YOU! :) No giveaways or non-tip posts, please!

In order to keep the kitchen tips more easily accessible, posts not adhering to these guidelines will be removed. We need to be able to easily find/see what your kitchen/cooking tip is. :) Thanks for your participation! :)

Leave your tip links in a comment. I'll manually add them to this post!

1. Iron skillet care
2. Dental floss in the kitchen (Kate)
3. Cooking chicken for casseroles (Nikki)
4. Kids in the kitchen
5. Leftover spaghetti tip (Alison)
6. Trash can tip (Kolfinna)
7. Ice cube tray uses (April)
8. Tools in the kitchen
9.

This week's in-season recipe theme was supposed to be beets! But, due to being sick and in bed for a good portion of the week, I was eating chicken soup and toast and stuff like that instead of experimenting with beets. :P

So I have never gotten very creative with red beets. Pickled beets (which my mom makes) aren't a favorite, by far. ;)

I do love cooked beets, drained and tossed with butter and salt. So yummy!!

How do you like to eat red beets??

To participate in this week's In-Season Recipe Swap:

Post your on-theme recipe, including your own photo of the food. Link to this post, and then come over here and let us know where to find YOU! Just leave your link in a comment and I will manually add them to this post throughout the day. :) Next week's recipe theme (November 11, 2009) is cranberries!

Fried beets, red beet cake, Russian Borscht, and salad (Martha)

The past week has seemed a blur. On the verge of fully recovering from colds, we caught the flu last Friday. It seems that "catching up" on anything, blog or email included, just hasn't been visible on the radar these past few weeks... or months!

In all, we're really doing just fine. :) As much as I haven't been available to do as much blogging as I'd like, I have been making myself available to my family. :) We're getting into a good groove with homeschooling. Dinner is on the table (usually 20 minutes late! heehee) every night, and by 9pm we're all snuggly tucked into our beds (usually). :)

I'm still waiting for that second-trimester burst of energy to kick in. I haven't posted any pregnancy updates this time (though I really should get a picture!) but if I had, they'd all be along the lines of "Just plugging along... not feeling the greatest... I was planning to do x, y, and z, but I'm falling into bed instead!" :) Joshua has stepped up to the challenge and helped with lots of meals and after-meal clean-up, and given me plenty of naps while he watched the children. Such a blessing!

This honey ginger chicken stir fry was beautiful and I liked it, though it didn't get rave reviews from the rest of the family. ;) I did save my notes and maybe eventually I'll try again with some tweaks!

I love fresh ginger, but don't have enough recipes that use it. What are your favorite ways to use fresh ginger root?

Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

This week's kitchen tip is for thin-sliced meats.

For a hot sandwich, fajitas, or a stir fry, it's best to use meat that's sliced really thin, making it tender, quick to prepare, and easy to blend with the other ingredients.

But if you've ever tried to thinly slice an uncooked roast or a chicken breast, you'll know how difficult it can be! The meat just doesn't want to lay there and be sliced thin. ;)

However, it's much easier to get paper-thin slices when the meat is partially frozen! You can even toss partially-frozen sliced meat into your pan when stir-frying. Since it's so thin, it'll still cook quickly.

Spicy Grilled Steak Stir Fry recipe

To Participate in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays:

Post a kitchen tip in your blog. Link to this post, and then leave your link here, so we know where to find YOU! :) No giveaways or non-tip posts, please!

In order to keep the kitchen tips more easily accessible, posts not adhering to these guidelines will be removed. We need to be able to easily find/see what your kitchen/cooking tip is. :) Thanks for your participation! :)

Leave your tip links in a comment. I'll manually add them to this post!

1. Washing cast iron (Donna)
2. Cinnamon roll tips (Amy)
3. Converting metric recipes to english (Alea)
4. Cleaning garbage disposal (Annie)
5. Kitchen cleaning (Kolfinna)
6.
7.

I love onions! I do lots of cooking with onions, but usually as a flavoring/seasoning rather than a vegetable. For today's recipe swap, however, I added my recipe for French Onion Soup!

This soup is actually very easy to make, and is fun to serve as an appetizer for a nice dinner! :)

The flavorful beef broth is loaded with tender onion slices. Garlic and thyme provide the perfect flavor for the soup. Yum!!

To participate in this week's In-Season Recipe Swap:

Post your on-theme recipe, including your own photo of the food. Link to this post, and then come over here and let us know where to find YOU! Just leave your link in a comment and I will manually add them to this post throughout the day. :) Recipe theme for next week (November 4, 2009) is beets!

1. Dried onions/onion powder (Angie)
2. Sweet Vidalia Pie (Chaya)
3. One-Pan Sage-and-Onion Chicken and Sausage (Chaya)
4.
5.

I know of a couple great ways for thickening soups, sauces, etc.

One method is to make a roux, which is melted fat (butter) stirred with flour and then added to a sauce/soup. This is easy and makes a delicious start for a soup or sauce, especially when onions, garlic, or celery is added as the butter sizzles! Yum!

Another method is to whisk (or shake in a sealed cup) flour and cold milk or water together until there are no lumps, and then pour that mixture into a hot soup or sauce and bring to a boil, stirring until thick.

However, neither of these methods are extremely convenient for when you have a soup or sauce that is basically finished, but you want to thicken it just a little more. Here are a couple ways to thicken soup last-minute without lumps:

Sprinkle in some instant potato flakes and stir.

Use a sifter to gently disperse a few sprinkles of flour over the hot soup, and stir or whisk rapidly to incorporate. Using a sifter (or fine mesh strainer) helps prevent lumps by spreading the flour very finely.

Anyone else have last-minute thickening tips?? :)

To Participate in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays:

Post a kitchen tip in your blog. Link to this post, and then leave your link here, so we know where to find YOU! :) No giveaways or non-tip posts, please!

In order to keep the kitchen tips more easily accessible, posts not adhering to these guidelines will be removed. We need to be able to easily find/see what your kitchen/cooking tip is. :) Thanks for your participation! :)

Leave your tip links in a comment. I'll manually add them to this post!

1. Keeping track of freezer stock (Becky)
2. Measuring cups (Kolfinna)
3. Kitchen toothbrush (Donna)
4. Help in the kitchen (Linda)
5. Speeding up spices (Rachel)
6. Easy egg cleanup (Tara)
7.

I've been busy baking! I've made these Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones with Cinnamon Icing 3 times this week. Don't worry, we didn't eat all of them! Some were for a breakfast potluck. :)

I love cooking and baking with pumpkin. I've tried lots of different pumpkin creations and wanted to try making scones with pumpkin. Since I've only made scones a handful of times, I'm certainly no expert... so I went to Nicole's blog Pinch My Salt and used her Pumpkin Spice Scone recipe to guide me. I made a few changes (when don't I?!) and the end result was AWESOME! Especially warm. Totally amazing!!

If you love pumpkin and hot tea, you must try these scones! Or come over to my house and I'll make some for both of us. :)

By the way, if you've never been to Pinch My Salt, you're missing out on some great food photography and seriously, everything she bakes makes me hungry just looking at it! :)

I love potatoes! They're affordable, easy to prepare, and so warm and comforting in the winter months! :)

Last week I created a new potato casserole recipe which we all loved, and I've already made it twice! Salmon Potato Casserole is easy (only 8 ingredients -- including salt and pepper -- which is probably a record for me!) and we love the flavor of onions, potatoes, salmon, and the creamy cheesy part that holds it all together. :)

This casserole makes a delicious breakfast or brunch dish. Filling and simple! :)

One of my very favorite potato recipes is Creamy Potato Soup.

And...

...seasoned baked potato wedges! Easier than French fries and just as yummy (Joshua would disagree and say French fries are better!). ;)

And lastly:

Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad, for my fellow cilantro lovers! This is a super-healthy potato salad recipe and when I make it I just can't stop eating it! It's SO yummy.

I have more potato recipes... but I can't link them all right here, so you'll have to head over to the potato page and browse through the photos over there. :)

To participate in this week's In-Season Recipe Swap:

Post your on-theme recipe, including your own photo of the food. Link to this post, and then come over here and let us know where to find YOU! Just leave your link in a comment and I will manually add them to this post throughout the day. :) Recipe theme for next week (October 28, 2009) is onions!

1. Twice-Baked Taco Potatoes (Heather)
2. Cheddar Chicken and Potatoes
3. Garlic Mashed Potatoes (dairy-free) (Alea)
4. Mustard Potatoes (Donna)
5. Scalloped Potato Gratin (Libby)
6. Baked Potato Casserole (Gina)
7. Mashed Potato Soup (Laura)
8. Eggs, Cheese, and Potatoes (Chaya)
9.