Want to know something? I prepared that dish in under half an hour! If you missed yesterday’s post, where I discussed Dr_Mom’s Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives and Lemons, then it’s a good thing you stopped by today. Everything I said about the recipe yesterday still holds true today: the aroma of this dish is heavenly!

If you don’t have time to stand in front of the stove all evening, think about preparing the sauce in advance then cooking the chicken in the crock pot with the sauce a little later. I was curious to see how the dish would come out if I baked it. So that’s exactly what I did. I snapped the photo before popping the cast iron pan in the oven, then I covered it with foil and baked it at 350 for about an hour and 15 minutes.

What else did I do differently? Not much, because this recipe works as is. I did add a little bit of honey and also thickened the sauce by reducing it and adding a bit of potato flour. The end result? A slightly sweet and savory dish with so much flavor, you can serve it over a bed of plain white rice and still feel like you’re enjoying a fancy meal… without the headache of having to prepare a complicated recipe. Simple and delicious!

Grilled cheese’s aren’t the only gooey warm sandwiches you can enjoy on a cold day with your favorite cup of soup. Cheese has it’s place in a sandwich, but it doesn’t always have to take center-stage ;), especially when ingredients like turkey and BACON are also in that sandwich.

Simply Yummy Goodness isn’t just the name of Katy’s blog, it’s also what you’ll say when you take a bite of her mom’s Turkey Devonshire Sandwich. After enjoying the sandwich while on vacation at an Inn about 20 years ago, Katy’s mom decided to recreate it at home. If they’ve been making it for 20 years, there’s no denying it’s worth trying at least once :).

Katy’s family loves to eat this around the holidays, she says it’s their tradition to enjoy a Turkey Devonshire dinner after Christmas tree shopping. You can count on turkey, bacon, tomatoes and melted cheese to warm you up after a cold day spent outdoors. Meals like this make me wish Christmas was every day! But Katy’s recipe is also great for busy working families. Just stick a turkey breast (or even chicken) in the slow cooker and, at the end of the day, you can prepare this tasty open-faced sandwich in minutes.

What kind of birthday gift do you get for the friend who puts you up to a pretty big challenge? Like telling you to take a gelato recipe and turn it into another kind of dessert, something made with crushed cookies and a chocolate drizzle! No, we’re not talking about a homemade cone served up with two scoops of ice cream… we’re talking about a homemade Ginger Ice Cream Pie.

It’s the ultimate birthday present for that friend who also happens to be a pie aficionado. Charmian’s Ginger Ice Cream Pie has everything you’d expect to find in an ice cream dessert, and more. Fresh ginger and crystallized ginger both show up in the homemade ice cream that sits on top of a spicy brown sugar ginger cookie crust. And ice cream isn’t complete without a drizzle of chocolate syrup, or a semi-sweet chocolate drizzle in Charmian’s case.

There are ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cakes, but the first ice cream pie we came across was on Charmian’s blog, Christie’s Corner. If you want to see a few more photos of a pie you’ll actually want to eat right out of the freezer, be sure to drop by and say hello to Charmian. If there’s a dessert out there you’d like to see transformed into some sort of pie, she’s the one to contact :)!

When the cat’s away, the mice will play…or bake up a fabulous batch of addicting brownies, of course :)! Chef Dennis of Beyond the Kitchen Wall invented a brownie recipe when he had the kitchen all to himself one afternoon. His Chestnut and Armagnac Brownies are a bit different from the ones you might find in grandma’s kitchen. Though the recipe includes some familiar ingredients, like chocolate, butter and flour, you’ll find there’s plenty more to sink your teeth into than just rich chocolatey goodness.

Chef Dennis says that chestnuts are quite the underrated nut. We sing about them, we like roasting them on an open fire around the holidays… but we just don’t bake enough with them. Dennis shows us how to use chestnuts in one of the tastiest ways possible, in a dessert. Not just any dessert, but in what he refers to as sophisticated brownies. He says that their amazing flavor will transport you to French Southwest. A top-notch brownie it is, with ingredients like tahitian vanilla and armagnac, also known as brandy with a French accent :).

Warm and gooey, these are heavenly when served fresh, right out of the oven… or, take Chef Dennis’ suggestion: let them cool for just a little bit then serve them with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream, for a sundae you can enjoy on any day of the week :).

I have a confession to make, whenever I type the word pumpkin, I always find myself typing pumpking. In fact, I did it just now, as I was typing in the name of today’s featured recipe! I won’t go into detail about my obsession with pumpkin, but it would probably be accurate to say that my typo is a big give-away! I can’t think of a better way to use pumpkin than in Sara’s Pumpkin White Chocolate Cheesecake with Pecan-Gingersnap Crust!

If the title hasn’t lured you in, then the photo well; who can resist? Pecan pie definitely has its place on the dessert table, but maybe not when this cheesecake is right next to it. Caramelized pecans finish off layers of sweet whipped cream and a creamy pumpkin cheesecake filling, both sitting atop a pie crust that’s delicious on its own. So what’s this crust all about? More pecans and gingersnaps!

If you want to impress; if you can’t decide between pumpkin and pecan pie, cheesecake, or gingersnaps, then roll out the red carpet for Sara’s Pumpking Cheesecake. Check out the rave reviews this cheesecake received on Sara’s blog, Our Best Bites!

Meaghan from The Decorated Cookie is our guest for this week’s first Tutorial Tuesday post! She’s the expert when it comes to making cute cookies that are great for giving away as gifts or enjoying for yourself. Tomorrow, we’ll be featuring her Piggies on a Stick tutorial, but we want to ask her a few questions first. Here’s all you wanted to know about Meaghan, blogger and author of Cookie Sensations!

What first inspired you to become a cookie decorator?

While I’ve always enjoyed drawing, crafts and baking, I did not set out to be a cookie decorator. I had been managing a paint-your-own-pottery store when a woman who was opening her own cookie business came in, saw my display pieces and asked if I wanted to work for her, as she needed an artist. I agreed, though I had never picked up a frosting bag, thinking it would be a temporary job until I figured out what I really wanted to do. I spent ten years at the shop, leaving only because I had my daughter. Not only did the flexibility of the job enable me to continue working through my graduate degrees, but I loved it. And I found I was good at it. Just about any object you name, I’ve put on a cookie: Elvis, popcorn, movie cameras, bulldozers, Dorothy’s ruby slippers, mac n’ cheese, cartoon characters, appliances, every animal from alligators to zebras, sneakers, beer, martinis, people’s dogs, human organs… I could go on for pages with both the common and bizarre requests. And as my other world is literature (I’d like to publish children’s books), cookie decorating allowed me to write my first book, “Cookie Sensations,” and gain entry into the tightly locked publishing world.

Some folks (myself included :) find cookie decorating challenging, would you say the key to making the perfectly decorated cookie is in the frosting?

Yes. Yes. And one more yes. More so than the cookie itself. Even misshapen cookies can be decorated. In fact, for cookies that have no cutter, such as a woman in a yoga pose, I would cut out imperfect shapes or fit the design on other shapes. Frosting consistency is key. I tend to use the outline and fill method. I use one frosting of medium stiffness to both pipe an outline and fill in, as opposed to flooding (piping a stiff outline and filling with runny icing). The former is not as smooth, but gives you total control to do intricate designs.

Aside from the frosting, practice is the other key to perfectly decorated cookies. I’ve trained many cookie decorators over the years, and their early cookies aren’t even sellable. Time will help you build some hand muscle, control the frosting, maintain consistency with piping and rid of shaky lines or holes.

What are your favorite sugar cookie and frosting recipes to work with?

I have an almond sugar cookie on my blog and in my book that I love. It bakes perfectly without losing shape, has a bit of softness, and people go nuts for the flavor (I’ve seen party-goers stuff them in their pockets. Really.) I also only use the frosting recipe from my blog, also in the book. It’s a version of royal icing with meringue powder in lieu of fresh egg whites and shortening added for an ideal consistency. It dries enough to handle and package, needs no refrigeration, takes color well, and lasts for several weeks.

As a mom who holds a Masters in Liberal Arts with a children’s literature focus, have any of the cookies featured in your book, Cookie Sensations, been created with children in mind?

In terms of gifts for children, yes…sports cookies, baby shower cookies, bugs, etc. In terms of having kids decorate themselves, not as much. The art can be pretty challenging. But that said, I’ve had readers contact me with pictures of cookies their kids have baked using the book with raves of how much fun they’ve had. And the cookies looked amazing, so I may be underestimating young bakers. I am working on a proposal for a second book with even more user-friendly designs, which will translate better for kids (that is, simpler designs, such as the piggies).

Cookies are a fun and popular treat to make around the holidays. Do you have any tips or shortcuts to share with families who enjoy making cookies during the busiest times of the year?

With all on my plate, I feel like it’s always holiday time! When working on the book, I had to make hundreds of cookies quickly in a Washington, DC rowhouse with about a foot of kitchen counterspace. Efficiency is key. When I have a lot to bake, I rarely do everything in one day. I’ll make several batches of cookie dough and freeze portions in plastic bags, then let it thaw for a couple hours at room temperature (you want your dough chilled to roll, so don’t let it thaw too much). And the beauty of the frosting is that it will keep for weeks. So I also make several batches of frosting, mix all my colors and prepare all the frosting bags in advance. Making the dough and frosting and preparing the frosting bags are by far the most time-consuming steps, so getting these done ahead of time is a huge help. Come cookie decorating day, all I have to do is roll out, bake and decorate with minimal prep time.

Why have there been no posts recently? Well, two reasons primarily. First, I rented an office that was a sublease. No revelation there, but there was a catch: the other tenants were architects and designers **who enforced a code of silence! No joke. I took one phone call and got a warning. After sitting in my car for two weeks, I decided I needed to move. And fortunately I found a nice office in the same cool office park. Artists, recording studios, Gibson guitar showroom. Cool.

But I said two reasons. The second is Yelp. Yelp is addicting because it is about places you know. And for me that means writing about restaurants. So I have been Yelping a good deal. And that has sapped some of my blogging mojo.

At the same time, I have been assembling our start-up quarters. As I was huffing in the toxic fumes of freshly made folding tables (from China), it got me to thinking that I need to create a checklist of things for you to buy for your startup (should you venture down that path). So I will do so shortly, and include some of my witty repartee that makes my writing so poorly structured. My writing is like one of those hidden pictures: if you read it out loud you can almost hear me saying it. And somehow it works! It’s how I speak normally, and you’ll see what I mean when I finally get those demo videos (remember that?) online.

Suffice it to say, none were produced in the “cone of silence”, but stay tuned!

As a little bonus for the tech crowd, I wanted to offer a little peek under the covers of our site to help the next bootstrapper facing a launch of a consumer facing site. One detail we all forget: we create these great sites and never teach anyone how to use them! Personally, I love screencast tours. Short of commentary and long on how-to, these little movies are worth 10,000 words. That said, how can you make them?

Well the short answer is buying some expensive tools. You can try to cobble a system together, but you will find some weird mis-matches. For example, most of the good capture tools are based on Macs. But if you want to address a consumer audience, you are stuck with Windows and IE. Face it! Okay, so we are stuck in Windows. The software I chose is Camtasia. It is basically an NLE-style movie program. Pretty basic and, as you would hope, they have great demos. A couple of rules of thumb:

• Keep them short! 3 minutes or less.
• Keep them focused. One thing at a time.
• Begin at the beginning.
• Use a real microphone!

Yes, sound is the #1 concern. It amazes me that amateur film makers and screencasters put so little effort here. If you can’t hear dialog, the whole experience is muddy. This does present a problem: how do you plug that microphone into a computer. Well for me on a Mac it was easy. But on a PC…well I’m still working on that. But I am hopeful I have a solution.

And if that works, you’ll be enjoying Key Ingredient screencasts very soon.