This is a great tip for peeling potatoes.  Thanks to Dawn Wells for this great tip.

When I heard about the movie Julie and Julia, I thought, “Oh my gosh, that is me!”  This movie interested me so much that I purchased it for my own Christmas stocking.  You see, I love cooking so much that I started a blog sharing recipes about 6 years ago and have been going strong ever since.  I was having so much fun with it that I was inspired to write and publish a cookbook for families that had very little time to put together gourmet meals called Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen.

My focus was to write a cookbook that was helpful, easy to understand and with quick and easy recipes that will bring the family back to the dinner table for 30 quality minutes a day.  So you can only imagine how excited I was to learn of this movie.  I could not wait to see it, but I forced myself to wait until Christmas, after all “Santa” had put it in my Christmas stocking.

I am a member of a couple of email groups and they all know me as the group’s “foodie.”   I love cooking home cooked meals for family and friends and am always looking for new ways to help busy families create home-cooked meals in an effort to bring families together. My newest addition to assisting families in the kitchen is my cooking group on Facebook.

I had often thought about purchasing Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but thought it would have too many exotic ingredients that I would not like or that I could not find.  To my surprise I received the cookbook from a friend this year Christmas!  You can image how excited I was because I knew I had the movie in my Christmas stocking!

Looking through the cookbook, there are many recipes that I will never try because I do not like seafood.  However, there will be many recipes that I will try.  Even for the seasoned cook like me, there are pages of information that I cannot wait to sit down and read.

I will never attend Le Cordon Blue in Paris, nor will I be a professional chef, but my love of cooking will continue to shine through my blog and my cookbooks.  I will be able to cook meals for family and friends that will make them happy.  My motto, “No one will leave my table hungry” will continue to hold true.

My simple advice while trying something new: Have fun cooking.  It does not matter if the dish turns out or if you throw it in the trash.  If you have the attitude of “I am experimenting.  I am a grand scientist in my lab. This is FUN!” you will enjoy every minute.

Betty Lynch, author of Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen, and owner of My Country Kitchen, Easy Answers to Bring Your Family Together. My Country Kitchen prides itself in helping family’s cook easy, convenient meals so that the family can save money in today’s economy. Recipes, tips and ideas for easy and nutritious meals are only a click away. You may visit her website at http://www.mycountrykitchen.com; Email at: blynch1490@gmail.com

Have you watched the movie Julie & Julia yet?  I honestly didn’t know if I would enjoy it because I am kind of domestically challenged.  Instead of inducing visions of sugarplums, my culinary arts created more of a Nightmare on Emerson Street. Hand me a word processor and I tear it up, but put me in front of a pot of boiling water and I break into a cold sweat.  It’s a case of PTSD, I’m sure of it.

Oh don’t get me wrong, I owned Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  A gift from a loving friend to assist me in my homemaking challenges.  It had a revered place on my bookshelf.  I was mortally afraid of opening the darn thing.  My husband was fond of teasing me about the aftermath of my holiday baking spree, likening me to Lucille Ball more often than Julia Child.  The fact of the matter is he was more likely to be mistaken for the master of the kitchen than I was.  That was until I received an assignment to edit a cookbook.

“What?  Me?  You have got to be kidding!” I said.  “To me, a’ blanc sounds like a great name for a character in a French mystery novel.”

I don’t enjoy writing about subjects that I don’t understand or know very little about, hence my hesitation in taking this job.  I knew I could get all the words to line up in a nice pattern and make sense, but I wasn’t “feeling” it.  I’m proud to say that I donned my big girl panties and took the assignment with the resolution I would make the recipes as I worked on the book, therefore “becoming the book” as I edited it.

Oh my God!  Talk about a living nightmare.  The kitchen exploded in a “flour covered delirium”.  No one came near me for fear I would fling a stick of butter at them.  I found myself calling the author, Betty Lynch, on a daily basis, not to discuss the edits, but to receive instructions on how to clean petrified egg white off the ceiling. I feared she would belittle me or laugh at my mistakes, but I found that she was a warm and delightful human who never made me feel like a complete moron, although I heard her catch her breath a time or two (I mean, who could blame her).  We had such fun during those conversations that we decided to include them in the cookbook itself.

I am sure there are thousands of women around the world who learned to cook watching and reading Julia Child.  As for me, I learned to cook from Betty Lynch, author of My Country Kitchen.  You can get to know Betty at her website www.mycountrykitchen.com

Kim is an author, public speaker and mentor of the Law of Attraction, relationships, and marketing. She is the owner of several successful businesses. You can find her at http://www.thebigfatgiveaway.com

1 pound ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.  Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

A friend shared this recipe with me.  It is quick and easy and one that your family will ask for every year.  Enjoy!

1 pkg Rold Gold Tiny Twists pretzels

3 oz pkg foil Rolos (unwrapped)
60 pecan halves

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Line two cookie sheets with foil.  Place 30 pretzels on the first sheet.
Place a Rolo on each pretzel (center each).   Bake for 4 minutes at 250 degrees (or a little less).
Remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo, until it spreads.  Let cool for 15 minutes, and then set in the refrigerator to set up.  Repeat procedure with the second cookie sheet.
Store in a sealed container.
Makes 5 dozen

1 lg. can pineapple chunks drained, (use juice only if needed in mixing)
1 lg. can fruit cocktail, drained
2 sm. cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 pkg. strawberry instant pudding (mix dry from pkg.)

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese room temperature
1 (9 oz.) Cool Whip
1/2 c. pecans
1/2 c. flaked coconut

Mix first 5 ingredients together well. Add Cool Whip. Pour into deep dish. Sprinkle with coconut and nuts. Makes 8-10 servings.

I will be trying this recipe this coming week.  This just may be the perfect cranberry bread recipe.  Although I have to admit, I don’t care for nuts in bread and will be leaving those out.  I will also be trying this bread with Splenda instead of sugar.

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda

1 Cup Fresh Cranberries, chopped (sometimes I add 1 ½ Cups)

1/2 Cup Pecans or Walnuts, chopped 1 Egg

2 Tab. Canola or vegetable oil

3/4 Cup Freshly squeezed Orange Juice

Orange zest, minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Combine (whisk) the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the cranberries and pecans and stir to coat with flour mixture. In a medium bowl, mix together the egg, oil, orange juice, and orange zest. Pour this egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

I just developed a taste for Cranberries and have been looking high and low for a Cranberry Bread.  I am not sure this is the perfect recipe, but decided to share it for those who love to cook with Bisquick. 

1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. milk
3 c. Bisquick
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. cranberries, chopped
3/4 c. nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine brown sugar, egg and milk. With spoon beat in Bisquick, cinnamon and nutmeg until mixture is very thick and almost smooth. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon mixture into well greased loaf pan. Bake 1 hour. Remove from pan, cool, and wrap and store.

3 c. granulated sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 lb. canned pumpkin
3-1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. water
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt (scant)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. EACH: cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg Mix sugar, oil and eggs together. Add pumpkin. Then add dry ingredient and finally water, stirring just until mixed. Pour batter into two (2) greased and floured 9×5 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for one (1) hour.

Especially good spread with cream cheese.

I get lots of compliments when I made this pudding.  I hope you will enjoy it this Thanksgiving.

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup all?purpose flour

Dash of salt

4 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

5 to 6 bananas, sliced

35 to 45 Vanilla Wavers

(Reserve 1 banana and 10 to 12 wafers for garnish)

Combine 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler. Stir in 4 egg yolks and milk.  Blend well. Cook, uncovered over boiling water, stirring constantly until thickened. Reduce heat, cook, and stir occasionally for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add Vanilla. Spread small amount on bottom of 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Cover with sliced bananas and wafers. Repeat ending with custard.

Beat egg whites until stiff gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Spoon on top of pudding. Cover surface sealing edges. Bake at 435 degrees for 5 minutes or lightly brown. Chill. Before serving, garnish with banana slices and wafers upright around edge of dish. Yield: 8 servings