Phew! The holidays kicked my butt this year. How did my parents do this? Better yet, WHY did they do it??

Although I try to post only the best of my kitchen attempts, here are some of my absolute favorites from last year. I mean the ones I crave & want to make again & again.

Happy New Year to you!!

1. Gardener’s Pie (vegetarian version of Shepherd’s Pie): This is always a huge hit. I took it to a Christmas pot luck this year and got so many compliments from vegetarian & non vegetarians alike. 

2. Best Coffee Cake in the World There are no surprising ingredients in this but it’s simply delicious. Perfect for a special brunch or to warm up a chilly Sunday morning.

3. Kermit Smoothie (green smoothie) Want to sneak a handful of spinach into your family’s gullets? Try this! So yummy, easy & fun.

4. Blueberry Lara Bars. A healthy, yummy & portable snack. Perfect for hiking or just to carry in your purse (or man purse) to keep the munchies at bay.

5. No Knead Bread. If you’ve never made bread before I strongly encourage you try this one! It takes less than 5 minutes to prep and is so rewarding! There’s something wonderful about the smell of bread baking in your home.

6. Glory Bowl. After the holidays many people (ahem, THIS person) feel compelled to eat a little, shall we say, “lighter?” Although this dish contains many light elements the rice & dressing make it so satisfying. I had serious doubts about it when my dear friend Kinga recommended it but now it’s one of my favorites. Try it!! I mean it, really! I wouldn’t put it up here if it weren’t super yummy.

7. Red Velvet Cupcakes. Make these for Valentine’s Day! Or use green food coloring and make them for St. Patrick’s Day.

8. Simple Caesar Salad. This is a cheater’s version of caesar salad. Oh garsh sometimes I crave caesar salad so much but don’t want to get involved with raw eggs & anchovies etc. This is a satisfying remedy when you’re short on time. Now that I make this I find most restaurant salads disappointing. Totally reminds me of an ex boyfriend’s mom (who happened to be an excellent cook) answering the waiter’s “How is everything?” with a tragic look followed by her New York accented, “Mine’s bettah.”

9. Chocolate & Butterscotch Chip Cookies. After trying many recipes, I have to say that these are my favorites for both simplicity & results. Because of the cornstarch they end up a bit pale and can trick you into thinking they aren’t done but they are soooooo sooooooo sooooooo (sooooo) good. Every time I make them I have to double the recipe b/c of all the greedy hands snitching them off the cooling racks (G!!!).

10. Vegetable Pot Pie. I just realized I have a few “best _____ in the WORLD” recipes. Do I exaggerate? Or am I just hungry? Anyway, this pot pie was a sleeper hit! I always loved pot pies. From the nastiest to the high end restaurant ones. But I was tired of paying $5.00 for a tiny Amy’s vegetable pot pie, plus I thought I could feed more than 1 person with a lot less packaging. This recipe takes almost 3 hours to make but is TOTALLY worth it! YUM.

11. Broccoli Gribiche. Last year I started making some dishes from Heidi Swanson’s “Super Natural Every Day” and this was one of the hits. I seriously didn’t make ONE bad dish from that cookbook and still use it every week. This is a surprisingly hearty, satisfying yet tasty meal that can be a main or side. The simple ingredients make it a no-brainer!

12. Moscow Mule. Alcohol is a good way to end a list/night/year so here is a simple, tasty drink that we enjoyed time & again mostly during the summer. Our friend Trish introduced us to them last June when we stayed at her house in Denver. We drank them all summer. Not all day but you know what I mean.

I hope you enjoy these recipes & for all the best to you in 2013!

What do you do with leftover cranberries once you’ve made cranberry simple syrup for mojitos? Or cranberry sauce? It seems like a heee-uge waste to toss them so I scanned the internet(s) for recipes.

Originally I said I was going to make scones but then I found this coffee cake recipe on the King Arthur Flour page that looked better!

You need:

INGREDIENTS:

There are 3 parts to this coffee cake: streusel, filling & batter.

Streusel
5 TBSP cold butter
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
big pinch of salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c + 2 TBSP all purpose flour

Filling
1 c whole-berry cranberry sauce (this time I used the remaining cranberries/sugar mixture I made my simple syrup with but you can use cranberry sauce as well)

Batter
1/2 c butter
1 c + 2 TBSP brown sugar
2 large eggs (not pictured)
1 c plain yogurt (not pictured!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 c all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 & lightly grease a 9×13″ baking pan.

Make the streusel first:
Using a large bowl, cream all but the flour together.

Add flour and beat until even crumbs form.

Note: my crumbs were sort of small/fine for my taste. Next time I might cut out the extra 2 TBSP flour to see if it clumps up more.

Now move the streusel aside to a small bowl. You can use this big bowl again for the batter. I appreciated this note in the original recipe! Love saving me some dishes.

Cream together the butter & sugar until smooth.

Add the eggs.

Note: For the past 6 months or so I’ve been experimenting with using egg replacer or other substitutes but have had a few kitchen FAILS. Stay tuned as I continue in my quest to bake without eggs!

Keep beating! Add the yogurt, vanilla & almond extracts, baking powder & soda, salt & flour.

The batter will be THICK.

Spread into a lightly grease 9×13″ pan or whatever molded cake pan you prefer!

Sprinkle the cranberry sauce/cranberries atop the batter.

Next time I think I’ll use a spoon to semi combine the cranberries with the batter.

Sprinkle the streusel atop.

Bake for about 40 minutes.

Without glaze.

With glaze.

Source: very slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour