Fresh Pumpkin, Apple and Oat Muffins... It’s time for gourds and squash to fill up the produce markets! This year I decided to make my own pumpkin puree.  I was inspired by a whole brigade of fellow bloggers who have been posting yummy looking recipes with their fresh pumpkin.  Who am I to buck the trend?  If they could, so could I!  It is really easy, and the flavor is amazing.  If you have never done it before, may I recommend it?  You will...

Four Cheese Potato Gratin... Sometimes you just need potatoes. We eat a fair amount of potatoes in my house.  They are versatile, easy to prepare and really the best starchy comfort food going, aside from macaroni and cheese which is the king of comfort food as far as I am concerned. All that said, I do get a little tired of the same old baked potatoes and mashed potatoes.  Yes, they are easy, and they are good, but I knew I could do more with...

Triple Citrus Skirt Steak... I love a good juicy steak.   One of my favorite cuts of beef is the skirt steak.  It is so flavorful, and if prepared properly it is very tender and juicy.  For the most part I use skirt steak for fajitas, and it does make some spectacular fajitas, but when I came across a pack of skirt steak at the grocery store last week I decided to do something different.    In the produce department they have some fantastic...

Butterscotch Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce... I’ve discussed inspiration here a few times, and I admit mine comes from the strangest places. This bit of inspiration hit in my local grocery store’s rather dismal bakery section.  Let’s be honest, grocery store bakeries are bleak places stuffed with pre-fab cakes smothered with greasy icing, cookie pucks, and pies with what can best be described as watery crusts.  So, right about now I bet your...

Pancetta Risotto Cakes and Some Exciting News... I have some VERY exciting news!! A few weeks ago FoodBuzz and Bertolli Sauce had a contest.  They wanted two menu items, an appetizer and a main dish, that used Bertolli Sauce products.  The winners would have their travel and hotel accommodations paid for to the First Annual FoodBuzz Festival.   How awesome is that? The chef’s at Bertolli Sauce selected eight winners, and I am so pleased to let you know that...

Pasta with Gruyere and Butternut Squash... I’ve said before that butternut squash and I were not always such good friends. Once I discovered that I did not hate butternut squash – I liked it quite a lot in fact – I began to try new recipes so that I could add this tasty squash into my Fall recipe rotation.  This recipe was one that I was positive would fail.  I was so sure, in fact, I had dug through the junk drawer to find a pizza coupon. ...

Caramel Cake with Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Cream Chee... So, the recipe for Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie Cookies contains a recipe that yields well over a cup of caramel sauce.    That is a lot more caramel than you really need.  Never fear, I have an elegant solution for what to do with the extra caramel that does not require two pints of ice cream and a marathon of my favorite Marilyn Monroe movies.  (How to Marry a Millionaire is my number 1 favorite!) Use the...

Roasted Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Maple S... I was not really a big fan of butternut squash until last winter.     Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I had only ever had it baked or steamed with some butter.  BORING!  So, I decided to try adding butternut squash into different recipes.  I figured out pretty early on I liked butternut squash best in creamy applications, and that is when I discovered a whole universe of butternut squash soups.   Many...

Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie Cookies... Here in North Texas we have had something of a cold snap.  By cold I mean temps that range from upper 40’s to mid-60’s.  I know there are those who snicker at my definition of cold snap, but here in my neck of the woods this is December weather. All this cool weather has put me in in the mood for all my cold weather food favorites.  In particular, apple pie.  One of the best apple pies I have ever had...

Orange Cheesecake Cookies... There is something of a joke in my family about cream cheese.   You see, my father loves the stuff.  I’ve seen him eat it on crackers, with salsa, on chips, or even plain.  Whenever he tries a new recipe, inevitably, his first comment is that it does not have enough cream cheese.  (Most of the time he is joking … we think.)  He was the reason, last holiday season, I tried to find a cookie that featured...

Creamy Parmesan, Mushroom and Chicken Pasta... Before we get to the food, and we shall, I have some exciting news! Evil Shenanigans has been nominated for the first annual Foodbuzz Awards for Best Recipe Blog!  You can see the other nominees, and vote if you like, here.   Voting is open until October 29th.  I want to thank everyone who nominated me.  You have no idea what a surprise this was and how much I appreciate it!  Ok, back to the food.    This...

Chocolate Chip Coconut Brown Butter Cookies...  I’m on something of a brown butter kick at the moment.  It is a really tasty kick, if I don’t mind saying.    After the Chocolate Spice Cake with Brown Butter Frosting I was looking for another way to use brown butter in sweets.  I decided on cookies, since they are my favorite thing to eat, and I decided to use some coconut because I had some in the pantry.  Really, these cookies were created simply...