Alice Waters' Spicy Cauliflower Soup

This recipe comes from "The Art of Simple Food" which is a staple cookbook in my family. The soup itself is very filling and has a great punch to it. If you're not crazy about spicy food you will definitely need to tone this recipe down. Even with a dollop of plain yogurt the soup is spicy, hence the name.  This soup keep well so plan on having leftovers. If you do have leftovers, store the soup on its own and only top with the yogurt, lime and cilantro when ready to serve again.

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Roasted Delicata Squash

I had never cooked with delicata squash before this recipe and was a little bit skeptical during the whole process. Being unfamiliar with the squash, I though there wasn't enough flesh to merit roasting. I also worried the the skin would end up being too tough. Luckily I was proven wrong and this easy side dish was absolutely delicious.

The biggest benefit of delicata squash is how easy it is to prepare. It's a small squash and you don't need to peel it. The peel soften while roasting and is best left on the squash since you may end up with very little left to roast if you do peel them. I found these squash at our farmers market and have also seen them at a co-op. I have never seen them in our regular grocery stores so they may not be the easiest item to find. If you ever find them buy a few and try them out.

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Rombauer Jam Cake

I was searching for a jam cake recipe after I realized that I had a huge jam collection sitting in the pantry. I felt like baking and knew I wanted to use up some jam. I started looking for jam cake recipes and found many variations of this cake. This is one of the older recipes for the cake, which means the ingredients are less complicated and the recipe is likely to be closer to the original cake. The cake itself comes out moist and the spiciness of the cloves and nutmeg comes through wonderfully. The cake will continue to be remain moist for a few days if left covered at room temperature.

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Simple Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I was in a rush to make a few appetizers a few weeks ago. It was a cloudy day so I wanted to make something warm, but I didn't want to make anything too labor intensive. After scrolling through various collections of "easy appetizers" and "quick appetizers" I decided to check Fine Cooking for some inspiration. I saw this dip and knew it was perfect. All you need to do is chop and mix some ingredients together and then bake the final product. Try to time the dish so it comes out of the oven around when you expect your guests to arrive. You could always prepare the dip ahead of time and just bake it later when you need it. Make up to one day prior to using and allow the dip to come to room temperature as you preheat your oven.

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Apple Puff Pastry Galette

The other week I really wanted to have some dessert, but did not have the energy to get into full blown baking mode. I had some apples at home and a box of puff pastry in the freezer so I knew straight away I wanted to make something using those ingredients. In the past my sister has made savory galettes with puff pastry when she hasn't had time to make the dough from scratch, so I figured I'd do the same. I found an Ina Garten recipe for apple crostata and used that as a base for flavoring the galette. The result was delicious and this dessert got rave reviews from everyone who tried it. It goes great with a cup of coffee, tea, or cider.

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