Food & Stuff RETURNS
Recipes, cookie orders, and an EXCITING cooking/life update!
Well food friends, it has been a MINUTE* (* 16 months and 2 weeks) since I last wrote here at
, but do not fear: I have eaten since then! As the weather gets colder, the holidays approach, and excitement builds in my own life for all things baking-and-cooking, I decided to brush off the dust from this newsletter and get updatin’. Below, I’m going to share some links to recent recipes I’ve enjoyed making and eating, update you on Christmas cookies (you can order some!), and close by sharing an update that I’m super duper pumped about.Recent Recipe Round-up
I’ve been making some excellent recipes lately! Below I’ll share a cozy fall soup, a great basic salad dressing recipe, an easy sheet pan meal, and an impressive and tasty dessert combo just in time for your Thanksgiving table.
Pumpkin Turkey Soup
This soup is perfect for a cozy fall evening!
Ingredients
1-1.5 pounds ground turkey
1 can pumpkin
1 can white beans (or chickpeas)
2 cups bone broth or chicken broth
2 large carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 white onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (1-2 teaspoons dried)
1-2 tablespoons fresh sage (1-2 teaspoons dried)
1 can coconut milk
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
Heat olive oil in your Dutch oven and add garlic, carrots, celery and onions. Cook down for about 5 minutes. Add in ground turkey and spices, and cook until turkey is no longer pink. Add in can of white beans, pumpkin, and bone broth. Let soup simmer and cover for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut milk. Serve with fresh rosemary and salt and pepper to taste.
Simple Dressing Recipe
This time of year, I love making a “harvest” salad with roasted squash and a variety of other toppings (toasted nuts/seeds, dried cherries or fresh pomegranate, chopped apples, shredded kale and brussels sprouts, feta/goat cheese), and then finishing it with this basic but tasty dressing recipe. If you like a bit of spicy, add half of teaspoon of red chili flakes or use hot honey.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tablespoons freshly lemon juice
1.5 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Cabbage and Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner
I made this easy sheet pan meal a few weeks ago and it was such an easy and rewarding recipe! As the intro of the recipe says, “The flavors are classic—cabbage, sausage and mustard—with a fresh upgrade from a tangy herb sauce. This one pan dinner is easy to prep, easy to cook (the oven does all the heavy lifting) and quick to clean up.”
Big Apple Crumb Cake returns…with salted caramel ice cream!
I recently made Smitten Kitchen’s delicious Big Apple Crumb Cake, which has become a fall favorite of mine. But this time, I elevated it by also making a Salted Caramel Ice Cream which turned out to be an INCREDIBLE dessert duo. If you’re looking for a bit of a project bake, I’d recommend this one!
Cookie Orders
Last December, I decided to sell boxes of Christmas cookies and I’m doing it again this year! I’ll be doing local pickup in the Kent, Ohio area for one weekend only or I can ship if you cover the cost. If you’re interested in ordering cookies, you can fill out the order form here.
The cookies included this year are:
Chocolate peanut butter cup cookies: A chocolate cookie decorated with edible gold glitter encases a soft peanut butter center. Think if Reese's went glam!
Salted chocolate chunk shortbreads: Crisp-edged shortbread with decadent dark chocolate chunks makes for a delicious cookie!
Cranberry, orange, and white chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies: If the feeling of the holidays was a cookie, it would be this one. A little rustic with the addition of rolled oats!
Walnut brittle and chocolate chip cookies: Extra crunchy, caramel, crispy edges and slightly gooey centers. Not your average chocolate chip cookie!
Thick molasses spice cookies: Another moment of holiday flavor that has been taken to an extra level, these molasses spice cookies are rolled in crunchy turbinado sugar.
Christmas confetti cookies: A soft sugar cookie gets a festive finish with red and green sprinkles. Kids love them...but adults might be surprised to find how delicious this one is, too!
An Exciting Life/Cooking Update!
And lastly, I have a very exciting life/cooking update to share with you all that will certainly impact Food & Stuff going forward.
My big news is that I have enrolled in a culinary program based on the coast of Ireland that will run for 5 weeks in August 2025! I’d been thinking about it for quite a while, and when the spots for 2025 finally opened, I immediately registered. I will live and take the classes on an organic farm outside of Cork called Ballymaloe Cookery School, and I am SO excited! I’ll use my vacation at work (I get a lot) and my team is supportive of me being out that long. I’m really looking forward to it.
Some of the things I’ll get to learn according to the program description:
Make real butter, yogurt and cheese in our farm dairy
Make stocks and broths and a range of delicious soups
Learn to make an impressive range of breads
How to make the perfect shortcrust pastry for your quiche, tart or flan
Pies, pies, pies: both sweet and savory, meat and vegetarian
How to identify and fillet fresh fish
How to pickle, ferment and preserve
Learn to use herbs and spices to add magic to your cooking
How to forage for wild foods in the hedgerows and seashore
I’m also really excited about this update because I hope to blog/provide updates during my 5 weeks there to let you know what I’m learning, doing, and experiencing. I never got to study abroad in college, so this will be an adventure like I’ve never done before. I love cooking, baking, and hosting, and see this as a worthwhile investment in something that brings joy to my life and the lives of others I get to be in community with. I cannot wait!
Well friends, that’ll do it for this long-delayed installment to the Food & Stuff newsletter. I hope you enjoyed, and if you have any recipes you’ve liked lately, do share them in the comments here! I love getting to share in this way.
Happy eating,
Grace
Ummm. That culinary program sounds amazing! I can't wait to hear all about it!