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Start With The Meat: The base of any good Christmas themed charcuterie board is a good selection of quality meat. We typically always include: SopressataSalamiPepperoniHamProsciutto Add The Cheese: Your Christmas themed charcuterie board won’t be complete without plenty of cheese. You’ll want to include many different types, textures, and flavors to go along with the other ingredients. We like to use a range of hard, soft, and semi-soft options: Hard to firm: Cranberry cheddar, baked parmesan chips, Merlot cheddarSemi-soft: Horseradish Havarti, cranberry WensleydaleSoft: Different flavored goat cheese, brie, fresh mozzarella balls...

Everything you need to make this simple mix is probably in your pantry. If there is one item you may need to pick up, it’s probably non-fat powdered milk. Grab some the next time you’re at the grocery store, and you will be set for batches of these babies to come. Once you put it together, seal the bag and you’re ready for the next time you have a hankering for some flapjacks—weekend, weekday, or what have you!...

4 Basic Questions To Find the Right Ham for You: Do you want a fresh, cured or smoked ham? A fresh ham is raw. They are harder to find and usually have to be specially ordered at a butcher shop. A cured ham is fully cooked, and a smoked ham is cured and then smoked. A smoked ham will have a smoky flavor, so if you’re not a fan, best to stick to a cured ham....

Cuban bread has a nice crisp crust on the outside with a tender crumb on the inside. It’s like eating a loaf of french bread that has been crossed with a pastry. It is best enjoyed fresh to retain that crisp outer layer. Hands On Time: 15 to 20 minutesStart to Finish: 2 hours, 40 minutesYield: 1 really long loaf Ingredients 1 TB active dry yeast2 tsp white granulated sugar2 tsp salt1 1/4 cups warm water (100-110 degrees)1 1/2 cups bread flour1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1/4 cup lard, melted Instructions...

Step 1 – Make your dough just like in the recipe for soft pretzels and divide the dough into golf ball sized lumps. Roll each ball into a snake or rope. Step 2 – Flatten your snake with a rolling pin. Make it at least a few inches wide so you’ll have room for your filling. Step 3 – Place your desired filling down the middle of the flattened snake....

Have you heard about that Chicago restaurant that serves a hamburger on buns made of fried mac and cheese? Put Rockit Burger Bar on your list if you are heading to Chicago soon! But guess what? I’m not headed to Chicago any time soon. But sheer curiosity gave me the desire, nay, the need to try these for myself. My brothers were coming to town and I knew this would be right up their culinary allies....

“In January it’s so nice, while slipping on the sliding ice, to sip hot chicken soup with rice.” Maurice Sendak was really onto something with chicken and rice soup, and who are we to disagree? Chicken and rice soup is one of our favorite winter dinners. While it may be cold and snowy outside, our bellies are warm and filled with a delicious, hearty soup. Chicken and rice soup is filled with delicious shredded chicken, hearty veggies and rice, and the most delicious broth....

We love a good, hearty breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day, after all. Hash browns, eggs, bacon, toast, yum! Maybe throw in a banana for a little healthy sweetness. What we don’t love? Cold cereal. It never fills anyone up and the kids are always hungry within an hour or two. It is so important to have quick, easy breakfast recipes, especially in the winter when everyone is just a little bit more hungry....

Ingredients 1 lb penne pasta2 tablespoons olive oil1 red onion, sliced1 (8 oz) package mushrooms, sliced3 cloves garlic, minced1/4 cup red wine vinegar1/2 cup balsamic vinegar1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved3 cups fresh spinach, rinsed, stems removedsalt and pepper, to taste1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese for topping Instructions In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Cook penne pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat....

Time to Make It: 5 minutesYield: 1 serving Ingredients 1/2 cup almond milk1/4 cup greek yogurt3 TB peanut butter1-2 TB honey, to taste1 cup frozen strawberries Instructions Place almond milk, greek yogurt, peanut butter, honey, and strawberries into a blender. Blend until smooth. Δ Δ

Baking Pan Options: Angel food cake is traditionally made in a tube pan, but can be made in other pan shapes as well. To make an angel food cake loaf, use a loaf pan, but only fill the pan 2/3rds of the way full. Also be sure that you leave the pan un-greased. You will still need to cool the cake upside down so find something that will allow you to rest the edges of the pan on to keep the pan upside down....

Hands On Time: 30 to 45 minutes Ready In: 3 hoursYield: About 2 to 3 dozen truffles Ingredients 8 whole graham crackers1 cup pumpkin puree2 TB brown sugar6 oz. cream cheese1 tsp vanilla extract1 tsp ground cinnamon1/2 tsp ground ginger1/4 tsp ground nutmeg1/8 tsp ground cloves2 cups white chocolate chips24 blue, green, and brown M&M candies1 tube red writing icing Instructions Place graham crackers in a food processor and process until completely crushed....

Kitchen Hacks Lasagna Pasta Sheet Trick Boiling lasagna sheets is an extra step that we would all love to avoid. No-boil lasagna noodles, in our opinion, have an unpleasant texture and often turn out soggy. A hack to skip boiling is to place regular lasagna sheets in a 9×13 pan and pour hot water over them. Let them soak for 30 minutes, and they’ll be tender enough to use in the recipe....

What is buttermilk? Traditionally, buttermilk is the liquid leftover after churning butter. What is sold in most grocery stores is cultured buttermilk, which is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to regular milk. Buttermilk has a sour taste and can be drunk straight or used in cooking and baking. Where To Buy Buttermilk: Buttermilk is usually sold in small cartons or bottles. Find it in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, near other milk products like sour cream and heavy cream....

Gluten Free: We have not personally tested any variations of gluten free flours. It has been reported in comments that the gluten-free flour mix, Cup for Cup, works in this recipe; we cannot personally vouch for it. Can I make The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Ever without a stand mixer? You can knead it by hand! Start out by stirring with a spoon until you can’t do it anymore, and then knead it by hand....

Where do I find chipotle chili powder? Fresh vs. Bottled Lime Juice for Chipotle and Lime Chicken Thighs: Fresh lime juice is always best, and we highly recommend you stick to it. As always, feel free to make substitutes as necessary with bottled lime. The flavor won’t be quite as good as fresh, but it will work in a pinch. Storage and Reheating Instructions: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days....

Grilled watermelon. I’ve actually been wanting to play with it for a while now. When you grill watermelon something happens that changes both the flavor and the texture into a whole new fruit/vegetable. Yes, watermelon is one of those controversial fregetables like tomatoes. It is the developed ovary of a plant so it is a fruit, but the USDA has ruled it a vegetable because of how it is grown and cultivated....

It is still soup weather in the mid west, and we are loving it. This winter stormy weather keeps us inside, focusing on our family and creating memories together. Our favorite place to create memories is in the kitchen making and enjoying recipes like this one. Nothing goes together quite as well as family time and a hearty soup (with some crusty artisan bread on the side, of course). We love the delicate balance of the Italian sausage, pasta, fresh veggies, and herbs that come together quite beautifully in this recipe....

Chicken Options You can use chicken breasts or chicken tenders for this recipe. If you are using chicken breasts make sure to cut them into 1 inch strips. Egg Substitute: The egg in this recipe helps to bind the flour on the chicken to the bread crumbs. If needed, you can substitute with heavy cream or melted butter. Make sure to coat your chicken completely so the bread crumbs will stick....

Make Ahead Instructions: If you want to make your hot chocolate ahead of time, simply transfer the finished hot chocolate into a slow cooker set to warm. It will last for approximately 2 hours this way. Milk Options for Decadently Thick Italian Hot Chocolate: If you do not drink milk, you can use your favorite lactose-free or plant-based milk substitute. While you might be tempted to try using heavy cream to make it even thicker, we do not recommend it as it becomes more of a pudding-like consistency....