If you like the combination of sweet and savory in your side dishes, then you’d probably appreciate having a friend like Courtney’s, who has a knack for coming up with comfort-food side dishes the are warm and flavorful. Plus, she shares these recipes with her pals, what could better?

In Cooking up a Family, Courtney gives credit to a friend of hers for putting together a Hondo Corn Casserole that fools tastebuds. Sure, her pal (whose nickname just so happens to be ‘Martha Stewart’) might create casseroles that taste as if they take all day to prepare, but they’re really the kind of recipes that are perfect for anyone.

Whether you’re a stay at home dad or a working mom, you’ll find yourself coming back for seconds after making this Hondo Corn Casserole. It’s cheesy, savory from the onion, perfectly salted and buttery (from the Ritz crackers). Plus, everything comes together in one big bowl, and bakes up in a good-sized casserole dish, so you know there will be enough to go around for the whole family…that is, if you don’t gobble it up before it hits the dinner table :).

Courtney calls this a ’simple dish’; it’s a far from intimidating casserole that works for holiday parties, family gatherings, and even Sunday night dinners. It’s so good, you might forget that you’re getting a good amount of calcium (from the dairy) and even veggies in every creamy spoonful!

Summer is definitely grilling season, and when Paul’s dinner club decided to do an “everything grilled” edition he knew if would be fun and delicious. Paul and his grilling buddies got creative and grilled up everything from traditional ribs to pound cake. He and his wife were assigned salad and settled on a recipe by Stefanie Paganini for Grilled Peach, Almond and Arugula Salad.

On his blog, The Journeyman Cook, Paul says this about the salad: “The spicy bitterness of the arugula, the sweetness of the grilled peaches, and toasted almonds and ginger topped with balsamic vinaigrette just sounded really terrific.” This recipe calls for freestone peaches, and Paul gives several tips for selection, preparation, and storage of the peaches on his blog. He also gives careful instructions on how to properly grill fruit and vegetables. Paul is a wealth of information, and his blog is definitely worth stopping by.

What first attracted me to Madelaine’s Turkey Meatballs with Farfalle, Swiss Chard, and Asparagus was her decision to use ground turkey instead of ground beef. Sure, pork is ‘the other white meat’, but let’s not forget about ground turkey! I’ve cooked with it enough times to know that it holds flavors quite well, because the turkey flavor itself is mild. It’s also lean and can be seasoned similar to ground beef. Though I love a good, juicy burger made with the finest grass-fed ground beef, I usually opt for ground turkey when making meatballs.

Madelaine’s recipe is also fun! She uses farfalle instead of spaghetti or fettucini. So if you’re really hungry, choosing noodles like farfalle is the way to go; the noodles not only cook faster because they’re smaller, but their unique shape also makes them more likely to be gobbled up by every member of the family, including the kiddos…and that brings me to the second thing that attracted me to Madelaine’s meaty but fresh meal: it’s kid friendly!

Even the pickiest eaters will find Turkey Meatballs with Farfalle, Swiss Chard, and Asparagus good to the last bite. Also, like Madelaine mentions in her blog Cook Like Mad, you can easily substitute a few of the veggies or even throw in a few of your favorites. Whatever you choose to add, you’ll find you that end up with great results and a filling meal that hits the spot!

Cupcakes are just one of those desserts that never gets old and never stops being fun. In the past cupcakes seemed to be a fun, pink treat just for little girls, but the popularity of these fairy cakes is increasing. Specialty cupcake shops seem to be opening on every corner, and bakers are becoming more and more creative with these personal treats.

A few weeks ago Ivy caught herself drooling over a batch of cupcakes she was reading about on a friend’s blog, so she decided to make a batch of her own the next day. Not having all of the necessary ingredients, and wanting to avoid the grocery store, Ivy, being the creative baker that she is, decided to improvise and produced a beautiful batch of banana cupcakes with coconut and cherries! Her kids loved them! You can check out more of Ivy’s delicious recipes on her blog, Kopiaste!

Quick wasn’t exactly the word that came to mind when I first laid eyes on Kim’s Quick Lemon Lavender Fruit Turnovers. Sure, I can definitely see myself consuming this flakey, fruit-filled pastry very quickly, but I can’t imagine spending less than an hour in the kitchen preparing a batch of these. But it can be done, Kim made it happen!

How did she do it? By using some puff pastry sheets she had left over in the freezer! It’s a tasty trick that works. This way, she didn’t have to cut back on time to create a fresh and fruity filling, it’s what you see oozing out of the turnovers! Instead of using just one fruit to fill her turnovers, Kim adds color and pizzaz by combining apricots, cherries, blueberries and even a ‘pinch of lavender’, as she explains it.

In her blog My Plate, My World, Kim provides step-by-step instructions using photos, take a look at how she assembles the turnovers. I especially like the part when she says that they freeze well! Some days I don’t feel like baking, but my craving for sweets is always there, you know how it is! Thankfully, I can count on Kim’s turnovers to save the day; just thaw them out, then warm them up, and they’re good to go!

The winter season is creeping up on us whether we would like to admit it or not, so we better start preparing for hibernation. Rita has already begun storing away enough berries to get her through the winter; freezing strawberry puree so she can enjoy milkshakes and ice creams when they aren’t in season anymore.

After storing away her puree Rita had just enough left over to whip herself up a tasty treat, but what could she make that would be fast, cold, and most importantly bikini friendly?! Glancing over at her milk frother she was suddenly hit with a stroke of creativity, and the rest is history. On her blog, Clumbsy Cookie, Rita claims that she “loves cappuccinos and was spoiled with the best ones in Italy. But she is sure even the most purist Italians would love her strawberry version of their classic.”

Remember hearing this fable as a kid:

One summer day a grasshopper was singing and chirping and hopping about. He was having a wonderful time. He saw an ant who was busy gathering and storing grain for the winter.
“Stop and talk to me,” said the grasshopper. “We can sing some songs and dance a while.”
“Oh no,” said the ant. “Winter is coming. I am storing up food for the winter. I think you should do the same.”
“Oh, I can’t be bothered,” said the grasshopper. “Winter is a long time off. There is plenty of food.”
So the grasshopper continued to dance and sing and chip and the ant continued to work. When winter came the grasshopper had no food and was starving. He went to the ant’s house and asked, “Can I have some wheat or maybe a few kernels of corn. Without it I will starve,” whined the grasshopper.
“You danced last summer,” said the ants in disgust. “You can continue to dance.” And they gave him no food.

If you haven’t started your hibernation preparation you’d better get started! Maybe Rita will share will all of us though :)

Giving a recipe a healthy make-over is something that’s always smiled upon in my book…or cookbook! A great way to sneak in whole grains is to incorporate them into a recipe for baked goods. You’ll be surprised to find that a cup to half a cup of whole grain flour mixed into a batch of cookies actually enhances their flavor, especially when combined with all-purpose. Jen understands this idea. In fact, she substituted some of the bleached all purpose flour with whole wheat flour in her Scallion Pancakes.

Jen even took the extra step and brought the amount of oil down to 3 tablespoons from over half a cup! If you’re worried about the pancakes not having enough flavor because some of the oil was removed, no need to worry! This isn’t the case, Jen explains that the flavor of the scallions comes out quite nicely, in her blog Real Good Taste. She even posted the recipe for a dipping sauce that’s sure to wake up your taste buds, in fact, it looks like it would even work as a marinade!

It’s summer, it’s hot, and the less the oven is turned on the better. This tasty shrimp and crab cocktail dish is perfect for keeping you out of that hot kitchen and in the good company of friends and family at all of your summer cookouts. Johnna Knows Good Food, and she knows that “crab and shrimp are the perfect summer foods. They are light and healthy and when combined with the right ingredients, they add just enough flavor and meatiness to a dish.” Make ahead of time and pack this up for a quick and refreshing lunch all week. There is not much left of summer, so enjoy all of its tasty benefits while it lasts!

If my college kibble were anything like Lucia’s College Kibble, I definitely wouldn’t have minded the dorm food. But my college kibble consisted of way too many traumatizing cafeteria meals that contained ingredients far too frightening to mention on The Back Burner. With meals consisting of warm, filling breakfasts like her Fried Eggs over Savory Compote, Lucia’s blog would make any dorm food (or Ramen :) consuming college kid hungry!

Lucia’s right when she says this meal is packed full of protein, which is perfect for young minds that constantly need refueling. Fried Eggs over Savory Compote will help keep you focused on your studies more than a cup of coffee will! Plus, it’s a delicious way to use up dinner leftovers like chicken.

So, instead of going out to breakfast this weekend, why not save up the extra cash for next semester and make Lucia’s Fried Eggs over Savory Compote! Plus, cooking is always a fun and affordable activity to do with friends, and eating is a necessity, so why not put the two together?!

When Jeanette and her husband fell into a cooking rut, she knew she had to do something to get them back on track… not only to get them eating healthy again, but to use up those vegetables that were pleading to be cooked. After scrounging through the freezer she opted for the pork and got to work. Jeanette complimented the dish with sautéed green beans and yard long beans.

This spicy pork dinner is quick and easy. With simple and basic ingredients you may find that you have everything you need for a delicious dinner without having to make a run to the grocery store. That’s always a plus! With plenty of vegetables and tons of flavor this healthy meal was truly something Cooked From the Heart.