Roasted Pepper Crostini with Olives, Capers & Caramelized Onions

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with The California Olive Committee.

Oh my. You know a recipe hits it out of the park when a certain family octogenarian (my dad) comes over mid-party prep and can’t stop eating it.

That’s the problem with appetizers, right? If they’re good, only half of them make it to your guests! (LOL I’m passing the blame on my father, but let’s be truthful here, I’m just as guilty. Just make more. Problem solved.)

These Roasted Pepper Crostini are made with sweet mini peppers that have been halved, stuffed with salty capers, sweet cherry tomatoes, and buttery California Ripe Olives, and roasted on a bed of balsamic-tossed sliced red onions.

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Basque-Style Chicken with Peppers and Olives

I thought it would be easy to duplicate the Basque chicken I had several times on the French side of the Basque region (the area straddles the border between France and Spain). But the versions I tried were all so different!

While they always include hot or mild peppers, tomatoes, and something meaty like ham or sausage, it was hard to pin down the mildly spicy sauce I prefer.

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Our 25 Best Holiday Cookies for Your Dessert Table

Cookie season is here! Are you ready to roll, drop, shape and cut out to your heart’s—and belly’s—content? Here are some of our favorites for the holiday cookie tray.

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Snowman Chocolate Icebox Cake

This chocolate icebox cake was a standby at my grandmother’s house. She made hers in a loaf pan, turned it out, and covered it in icing. Then she served it sliced paper-thin, on the diagonal, which showed off all the delicious layers.

It is no surprise that later in life, with a family of my own, I started making this same cake as a holiday treat.

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from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8174097 http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/snowman_chocolate_icebox_cake/

Candy Cane Cookies

Practically everyone has lived through one of those crazy roommate situations — the kind that provides fodder for endless cocktail stories. These stories that are amusing in retrospect, but never fun when they are actually happening. (One of mine actually involved a missing python snake in our apartment.)

But every now and then, something decent comes from all the insanity. One of my favorite memories from an otherwise mismatched roommate situation is learning how to make candy cane cookies.

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Meal Plan for November Week 5

I don’t know about you, but here in Central Texas it’s getting cold. With the cold and the hustle-and-bustle of the holidays, I always feel like everyone gets really short tempered. Better to stay indoors!

Since I’m trying to keep the number of times I have to venture outside to a minimum, that means making sure my pantry is stocked and my recipes are versatile enough to handle a change of plans. I’m also doubling up several dishes so we have plenty of leftovers.

Alas, I’m saying “See you later” to my grill until warmer months, but it also means having more time with my toasty oven!

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8 Best Recipes for Using Up Leftover Turkey

My mother always used to say that she enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner better the next day, once it was just the four of us and the stress of the meal prep was behind us.

I tend to agree. And when we get tired of reheating plates of turkey and gravy, there are plenty of ways to turn the rest of the turkey into something else altogether.

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