Happy 1st Anniversary to My Pantry Shelf!
December 10, 2011
My Pantry Shelf celebrates its first anniversary this week. The year has absolutely flown by (as it probably would have with or without the blog), but 90+ posts later this blog has taken on a life of its own. This project began as an avenue to share my passion for cooking and preserving fresh seasonal ingredients. Eating homemade meals made with fresh ingredients is a core value in our family. Regardless of the time constraints of our busy lives, we make a strong effort to celebrate our family meals, expose our children to a wide array of seasonal foods, and utilize as much of our garden produce as possible. I firmly believe that the modern working family, with a little planning, can still eat homemade nutritious meals made with the bounty of the seasons. This is my little space in world to share my enthusiasm for fresh foods. It is full of ideas for how to prepare dishes to eat right away, as well as inspiration for how preserve the freshest foods to enjoy later in the year.
This site has proven to be more than I could ever have imagined. My life was full with two small kids and a full-time teaching job before I began writing these posts. Surprisingly though, instead of overwhelming an already busy woman, My Pantry Shelf fulfills a deep need that had gone unnurtured in recent years. It gives me a place to be creative and interact with others who share my passion for food. Through this space I have met so many wonderful cooks across the country who also seek to fill their days and their bellies with delicious foods. This space belongs to me and all of you who have come to share it with me.
Thank you to everyone who reads and cooks along with me. It is such a delight to know you are out there and trying my recipes. I truly appreciate those of you who have reported back after making these dishes in your own homes and to those of you who spread the word about this site and help it grow!
As a tribute to the year, here are some highlights…
The most popular posts of the year:
Peppered Peach and Rosemary Jam
Edible Gifts! Chocolate and Caramel Sauces
My family’s favorite recipes:
Biscuit-topped Chicken Pot Pie
Chipotle Black Bean and Butternut Squash Salad
Beets with Pistachios and Mint
Sweet and Spicy Zucchini Pickles
Food52 contest winners and Editor’s Picks:
Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart (winner Best Dirt Cheap Dinner)
Tequila Lime Tart (Editor’s Pick)
Orange Quinoa with Almonds, Olives, and Feta (Editor’s Pick)
Lemony Chicken Stew with Green Olives
December 8, 2011
Each year when the air turns cool, we start to crave hearty warm stews. This is invariably one of the first ones I make of the season. This year, I happen to have a huge bucket of olives from my first olive fermentation experiment (more on that later), so this was a natural to put in the rotation. Tender chicken and hearty potatoes tossed with artichoke hearts and bitter olives sit in a pool of garlic lemon sauce. This stew is at once bright and acidic, as well as hearty and nourishing. What is not to like? Many times this recipe has been a hit at our dinner table. It is also great for lunch or as a warm meal to bring to a friend in need. You can also make it a day ahead and reheat it when you are ready.
Read the rest of this entry »
Cranberry Cashew Granola Bars
December 1, 2011
The holidays are upon us. Anticipating a busy couple of weeks, we have transformed our home into a full-fledged Christmas scene. The tree is up, Santa Lucia is perched on the buffet, and the winter mugs in the morning coffee rotation. While trying to convince the over-eager children that it is too early to start hanging ornaments on the advent calendar (whose idea was it anyway to decorate for Christmas in November?), we have been brainstorming ideas for edible holiday gifts.
I love making edible gifts for just about any occasion. Cooking for others is a way to treat those we appreciate with a delicious treat and share a bit of ourselves in the process. It is best to plan ahead and start cooking early so that the making and giving does not become a stressful burden. Riding the food hangover following Thanksgiving, our first foodie gift to make was Cranberry Cashew Granola Bars.
These granola bars are just sweet enough to count as a treat, but full of wholesome ingredients so they are also right at home in your little one’s school lunch bag. The bars hold together pretty well, better than other granola bars I have tried. Any crumbly bits taste tremendous sprinkled atop yogurt and fruit for breakfast. Feel free to change up the types of nuts and dried fruit, just be sure to use equal quantities. If you are using roasted nuts or toasted wheat germ, do not toast them again in the oven, instead add those items to the bowl with the cranberries.
Read the rest of this entry »
Soft Ginger Cookies
November 26, 2011
Perhaps it is illogical to bake the day after Thanksgiving. Perhaps I should be following up a long run in the rain with salad and a nap. But on the other hand, it may be best to let oneself down easy after a big feast. No use going cold turkey (pun intended) on the rich food when the air is cool, and everyone is still lounging around the house enjoying the long weekend. Why not break out the butter that did not make its way in the mashed potatoes make up some delicious treats? When you really think about it, cookies seem to be an appropriate coda to the traditional Thanksgiving feast.
Soft Ginger Cookies are tender, buttery, intensely ginger flavored treats. Roll the chilled dough in balls and then spin through a dish of sugar to give each cookie a sparkly look. Slices of candied ginger add a decorative touch, as well a strong gingery spice.
This recipe makes a generous number of cookies, which provides a good excuse to drop in on your neighbors and friends. You can also form the cookies and freeze them to bake up later.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sweet Potato and Bacon Gratin
November 21, 2011
Sweet potatoes are not very popular at my family Thanksgiving gathering. There are a few of us that enjoy them, but by and large they are passed around the table and politely declined. Even I, a professed yam lover, took years to warm to this tuber. It was not until I had them roasted and unsweetened for the first time that I took a liking to them. I think the added sugar is what gives sweet potatoes a bad name in some circles. If you love those super-sweet marshmallow-covered casseroles, then more power to you, but I cannot stand them. In my opinion, the key to a delicious sweet potato dish is to let the sweetness of the potato itself shine through and season it in a savory way instead.
My Pantry Shelf 