Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies

This is a delicious slightly tangy cookie.  It is not too sweet and stands up to decorating well.  Make sure the dough is still chilled before you put them in the oven or they tend to spread and make you shapes look a little mutated. Great with Royal Icing!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Since I no longer eat hamburgers on rolls, I make a big deal about dressing them up. During the summer, my husband loves to grill and loves to grow a garden full of herbs and veggies.  That gives me a great opportunity to make a southern favorite, Fried Green Tomatoes.  While I pretty much abhor fully ripened tomatoes, unless they are finely pureed in a sauce, green tomatoes have a wonderful tangy taste and a firm texture that I really enjoy.
Here, the fried green tomatoes are paired with thick cut bacon, a cheddar cheese sauce, and homemade ranch dressing, which suits them best!

French Onion Soup

This classically fancy soup is most impressive served in a traditional crock. If you are crockless, any oven proof bowl with a rim that is smaller than your cheese slices is acceptable. In a pinch, cheese slices can be replaced with shredded cheese and broiling can be skipped all together.

Key Lime Pie

This just happens to be gluten-free thanks to the rice check cereal crust.  And furthermore it is delicious.
It makes a BIG pie, so you can easily half the recipe and make it in an 8" pie pan.

L & L Style Macaroni Salad

Ever since I first tried the macaroni salad at L& L Hawaiian Barbecue, I have wanted more.  And I am not a fan of macaroni salad.  Unfortunately, I had it when visiting my sister in San Diego, CA and I haven't been anywhere, since, that had one.  I finally, after years of looking, found a lead, and from that information, created a recipe that approximates the salad pretty well.

Of course, if you are not trying to clone L & L's recipe, you can always add diced ham, finely chopped shallots, or anything else you fancy. 

Ginger Lemon Cremes

This is one of my favorite cookies.  They are the perfect combination of spicy, sweet, and tart.  They can be made without the ammonium bicarbonate, which can be bought from specialty cooking stores, or the internet, but they will not be as snappy and you need to roll them quite thin.  You can also substitute baking powder if you handle it well.

A note about ammonium bicarbonate:  It smells awful… terrible! Like ammonia, because it is… but it dissipates once it is baked and makes a wonderful crispy cookie.  This means you should not taste your dough before it is cooked, even though it is totally food safe, it just doesn’t taste very good.  Also, you have to make sure it is tightly covered when stored or it will literally just evaporate into the air.

Chicken Française

This is another of my favorites dishes growing up.  It originally had white wine added, however, since wine is made with yeast, this recipe forgoes the wine for sparkling cider. It is still just as tasty! I made this one with a cranberry apple cider and it had a great wine-like flavor.
Wonderful served with pasta of any sort and a fresh salad.