These are the newest recipes I’ve tried lately. Oddly enough, they all contain alcohol, which was mostly cooked out:

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, following this recipe. We used Guinness Extra Stout, and the flavor was strong but very good. Our only variation was to use Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey instead of Jameson Irish Whiskey. This is the part where the alcohol was not cooked out, hah, since the whiskey and Irish Cream Liqueur was mixed in the icing.  I will definitely keep this recipe, because they were absolutely deee-vine.

Whole Wheat Beer Bread for Mark’s birthday, made with an Amber Bock beer, which was very tasty. I made another loaf with Guinness Extra Stout for my Dad for Father’s day, and this was decidedly not tasty. There was a hint of bitterness at the end of each bite, and I’m glad we had the below banana bread to console our taste buds. Oh, and we had Pineapple Cool Whip Cake, my sister-in-law Tonya’s recipe, which he loves for good reason! It’s a light and tangy-sweet cake, yummm.

Finally, I made 2 loaves of my Mom’s Banana Nut Bread recipe: one for my father-in-law Dean and one for Dad. My alteration was that I soaked the raisins in 1/2 c. brandy for about an hour before tossing in both raisins and brandy. Rich smells of cinnamon and banana encircled the kitchen as the loaves baked for about 45 minutes. It turned out delicious, moist, and packed with goodness! It dawned on me that soaking the raisins in spiced rum would be heavenly next time.

And my next recipe endeavors will be homemade canned pickles and canned salsa. My cousin has a bountiful vegetable garden, and he picked out a huge bag of hot peppers, squash, and cucumber. I’ll save the canning process for another post…

I am a pretty decent cook and thoroughly enjoy exploring new recipes that aren’t necessarily tried and true.  Something I’ve never cooked is lamb, and someday, when I have more time, I want to make this:

http://www.thefoodinmybeard.com/2009/10/herb-roasted-leg-of-lamb.html

How scrumptious and delectable that looks!  Nom nom nom!  I like to check out that website, too, because pictures are provided and they’re always stepping outside the box with recipes.

I’ve also had pumpkin cheesecakes with gingersnap cookie crusts on the brain, probably because of the Fall weather.  I absolutely love this time of year with smells of cinnamon and cloves wafting through the air.  Cinnamon is one of my top 5 favorite spices in the kitchen, and it goes in my coffee every chance I get.  Some other recipes that come to mind are bread pudding, whole wheat muffins, and canned apple butter!  I mastered the apple butter last year and want to do that again…

It’s all in moderation!  As my Dad always says, you can have cake, just make it one forkful!    hah (or a reasonable slice).

Bring on the lovely, chilly weather and cozy get-togethers with friends and family – and having more time to play in the kitchen!