A Sunnier Version of Sweden

Here it is Labor Day weekend, and I'm going strong with my cooking one new recipe each week! I'm not sure anyone is more surprised than I am that I've been able to keep up with this resolution, but here we are in week 39 and I've definitely earned the title of "capable cook!" What I realized as I sat down to write about my last few weeks is that I've also developed the habit of assuming there is a recipe out there for whatever it is I'd like to make, and turning to cookbooks or a couple of my favorite internet sites to find it. New recipes and defaulting to homemade have become a way of thinking for me when it comes to food, and that has been fantastic! As I've made my way through the summer, I haven't kept up with all of the blog posts for my cooking escapades, but I have at least captured each of them on my New Year's Resolution list . With a little bit of extra time on my hands this Labor Day, here are the last three weeks' worth o...

While I'm on track for my New Year's Resolution to make one new recipe per week, I've fallen a bit behind in keeping my blog updated. As much as I love to write, there are so many things that demand my time, it tends to sit on the back burner until I either find a quick moment, or put it on my to do list and force the issue with myself! When it comes down to it, though, I write for fun and for enjoyment, and maybe to keep my family or friends up to date if/when the visit the blog. In the spirit of "this shouldn't be a task to dread," I'm going to catch up on all of my cooking in one fell swoop, with pictures and reviews galore! When I last left you, I had made main courses, desserts, and a couple of sides. There continues to be no rhyme or reason, no pattern to the recipes I choose, other than 1) they sound like something my family would enjoy and 2) they fit into the time available for the week at hand! Week 13 definitely came down to time availabl...

Oh man, I have been looking forward to this one - homemade cinnamon rolls! After Andy made them for us a couple of years ago, I realized that there is absolutely no substitute for made-from-scratch breakfast delights like these. Given my reluctance to work with yeast, though, I had mostly held out hope that he would make them again, and I would just be the recipient of his generosity. Then, of course, came this year's resolution and the breakthrough discovery that yeast is not, in fact, all that complicated. When I came across the recipe on the NY Times websit e, I saved it and knew I just needed to find the time to put these into the rotation! Time is the key piece - this was a two day endeavor, so I was determined to make it worth it! I had hoped to make them over a weekend, but had struggled with finding one with the right cadence of events that would allow the time to get through all of the steps. Being snowed in made it a pretty easy answer, so last weekend I got to work! ...