Over at Art and Aioli, Nicole shares her family recipe for a Chinese Chicken Salad the never gets turned down! Even on the second day, it still has a crisp freshness that’ll make everyone think you’ve just made it! Nicole says the secret’s in the cabbage. She claims it’ll keep even after you’ve drizzled it with your favorite dressing. This Grilled Chicken with Asian Slaw and Avocados is based on her family’s favorite salad.

The slaw itself is crunchy and light, it then gets taken to another level when Nicole’s unique dressing is poured on top. What makes this dressing different from the rest? You’ll still get the oil and vinegar flavor you’re looking for, but Nicole adds a little extra something special to spice it up! You’d never guess! Top Ramen Seasoning! She used the noodles in the salad and created an extraordinary dressing with the spice packet!

Nicole serves her slaw with grilled chicken and avocados, two unarguably healthy and delicious ingredients that complete this simple but flavorful dish. Nicole likes to serve her salad at family potlucks, she suggests you do the same; we can’t argue with her tasty suggestion :)!

I can always count on a quickbread to work out right! I don’t have to worry about whether I let the dough rise long enough so that the yeast could work its magic. I don’t have to be staring through the little window of my oven door with my fingers crossed, praying that the bread rises the way it should!

Beginning bread bakers like myself will find that the quickbread Solange of Pebble Soup shares with us is the answer to their carby prayers! Straight from Leanne Kitchen’s The Baker, and beautifully executed and blogged about (with permission, mind you!) by Sonlange, this quickbread recipe delivers the perfect sweet and fragrant loaf! The only reason why you’ll be hanging out in front of the oven while it bakes won’t be to stare at a loaf of yeasty bread in fear; your senses will draw you in to the kitchen, your mouth will water at the delicious aroma of vanilla bread with currants baking in the oven!

You’ll enjoy Leanne Kitchen’s Vanilla Currant Loaf any time of the day, says Solange. She says it’s the best treat morning, noon, or night! Nibble on it with a cup of tea before bedtime or devour it for breakfast while you’re running out the door, just make sure you leave a slice to snack on later! But even if you don’t, Solange says it isn’t too difficult to whip up, so you can make yourself another loaf in no time!

We all have one, maybe you are one…. a forward friend. You know what I mean, the friend that forwards you fifteen emails a day promising a year of good luck or eternal friendship if you “forward this message on to ten friends in the next five minutes.” Instead of marking them as spam why not give them something else to forward, something much less annoying and much more appreciated.

Sharmi, from Neivedyam, uses Amish Friendship Bread to spread her love and friendship. She describes the exchange to be similar to a chain letter (remember those? :) ) The concept is quite simple and extremely fun! Sharmi describes it like this: “A friend gives you a cup of yeast culture (also known as “starter”) and a copy of instructions. Following the instructions, you add sugar, flour and milk and it rises. Eventually, you end up with 4 cups of the starter. You use one cup to make bread (the instructions provide you with the recipe), keep one cup to start a new cycle and give two cups to your friends. Each of your friends also gets a copy of the instructions for what to do with the yeast starter.”

Fun right?! We have talked a lot about giving baked goods as gifts, but this is like the food gift that keeps on giving!

Creamy and comforting is how I’d best describe risotto. If you’re looking for something a bit heartier than rice, and want a side dish with a different texture than you’d expect from other carbs, go with risotto. What if you need an appetizer to hold you over, or maybe even a light lunch to keep you satisfied?

Helen from Hel’s Kitchen knows just what to make, Mushroom Risotto. With just a few ingredients on hand, Helen concocted a creamy and veggie packed risotto that hit the spot. She literally didn’t have very many ingredients to choose from, but instead of turning to a not so healthy quick snack to hold her over, she put something nutritious together.

What gives Helen’s Mushroom Risotto its delicious flavor are the fresh ingredients. You won’t find anything prepacked in her dish. In fact, she even used the basil that was growing near her very own kitchen window! What a great way to use up leftover ingredients from home, too! Instead of throwing away the few remaining vegetables in the fridge, she threw them into this risotto and created a delicious vegetarian mini meal that’s sure to please!

I dont know about you, but these stuffed shells just look fun to me! They remind me of being dragged to the grocery store by my mom when I was a kid, and picking out every item that we passed that was “gaint-sized.” It didn’t matter what the product was, jumbo apples, goldfish, pasta, cookies, marshmallows… if it was big I wanted it! These shells look exactly like something I would have pointed out!

Lysha is a busy mom, so when she needs to whip up something fast and easy, she turns to recipes like this that can be ready in just an hour. I’m sure her kids enjoy digging into giant pasta shells, but I guarantee the taste is what keeps them asking for more! Stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and ground beef this pasta dish incorporates everything that is good and cheesy!

Lysha is constantly adding tasty family recipes to her blog, Cooking with Magnolia Mom, so if you are looking for a fast, easy recipe look no farther!

Dumplings are savory bundles of deliciousness. However you stuff them, they’re impossible to resist. Serve dumplings as an appetizer or drop them into your favorite broth–devour these wonton bundles in a soup, you can enjoy them in so many ways. You won’t have to place an order at your favorite Chinese restaurant the next time the craving for dumplings kicks in.

In fact, Jenny’s recipe is so easy to follow, you’ll probably have these dumplings lightly fried and cooked, just how you like ‘em, before the delivery guy even leaves the restaurant! She stuffs her dumplings with a combination of roughly chopped pork and shrimp. Jenny’s homemade soy sauce marinade makes the hearty dumpling filling extra delectable.

In her blog Tastes of Home, Jenny provides an example photo that shows us how these dumplings should look before they’re wrapped in a wonton. She also shows us how to enjoy ‘em, with chopsticks, of course! But even if you’re still learning how to use chopsticks (like me!) you can still make Jenny’s Shanghai Shrimp and Pork Crystal Dumplings like a real dumpling master!

Dishes like Chicken Parmesan are what you might order at a nice Italian restaurant when you go out on the weekends. It’s something you’ve thought about making before, but you really don’t want to use the wrong recipe that fails in its promise to deliver a delicious and authentic Italian dinner. I’ve been there!

Ali from Divine Domesticity did all of the hard work for us. Her Chicken Parmesan tastes as scrumptious as it looks. She even swears that she hasn’t had chicken parmesan “that good before!”. So what are we still doing trying to figure out which recipe to use? It’s right here! One of the best things about this recipe is that you don’t have to worry about fancy ingredients, just a few staples you probably already have at home.

The recipe comes down to this: Chicken breast, croutons, cheese, eggs, oil, pasta, and spaghetti sauce! Ingredients that you can pronounce and, thanks to Ali’s easty-to-follow recipe, put together without falling apart in the process :)! Use her recipe when you want to cook to impress! This is also a no-fuss dish, so you don’t have to wait until the weekend to cook it…you probably won’t even be able to, now that we’ve told you about Ali’s Chicken Parmesan!

What is more sweet than baking for someone you love? After reflecting on 5 years of marriage and recounting how she and her husband met, Pea decided to create something savory for her sweetie. Although garlic cheese twists may not be the first item to come to mind when baking for an anniversary, I think Pea’s savory choice proves how much she and her husband really love each other…. garlic breath and all :)

Garlic aside, Pea’ choice to work with a yeast dough is an act of love. Although this bread is fairly simple, it is time consuming, and Pea reports that the twisting is the hardest part, or at least the part that takes the most time. These twists are flavored with cheddar cheese and fresh minced garlic, but you can substitute garlic powder just as easily. After allowing the twists to ferment for about an hour they bake up fairly quick (about 12 to 15 minutes).

Pea’s garlic cheese twists would be a tasty addition to your holiday menu, or any random day you just feel like saying “I love you” through food. Be sure to stop by Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for more ideas on how to send your love through food (like her marshmallow panna cotta with peppermint :)

As the cold Winter months roll in, we begin to see less and less of our favorite warm weather fruity treats being replaced by pumpkin pies and gingerbreads. Our mouths water even more than they did before at the thought of a sweet crate of berries or a juicy selection of freshly picked peaches.

If you’re like Sarah of Life is Still Sweet, then you’re glad that you decided to can those fruits when you had the chance, especially since you’ll be able to enjoy them any time of the year! Sarah shares her fond childhood memories of her mother canning peaches; Sarah even remembers how happy she’d be to hear the sound of a jar of peaches sealing! The best part of the canning process is getting to savor their contents in sweet baked goods!

Sarah’s Peach Bread will fill your home with the inviting smells of late Summer days, even in the dead of Winter. Once you sink your teeth into a slice, you’ll really get to appreciate all of the tasty ingredients she added, like walnuts for crunch and cinnamon for that bit of extra delicious depth. Sarah offers us a tip, make sure you remove the skins of the peaches, it makes for a much more aesthetically appealing loaf of bread :).

When Emily first made these scones it was nearing Valentines Day, and the most obvious shape to form these into were hearts. Not being the biggest fan of this Hallmark holiday, she simply cut them into the traditional wedge. No matter the shape, her scones were a hit with her friends! Emily says, “As for the taste, the scones were the perfect medium between light and dense and were positively bursting with the tart dried cherries and rich chocolate chips.”

Much like Valentines, many people gift chocolates for Christmas. Instead of grabbing that box of cheap chocolate covered cherries in the check out line, why not bake these delicious scones to serve at a holiday brunch or give as a gift? How cute would it be to serve these scones shaped as little Christmas trees, stockings, gingerbread men, or stars??

Emily’s blog, SuperSpark, is a great resource for fantastic recipes! Tasty, homemade dishes sprinkled with love.