My grandma lives in Pella, Iowa, a unique little town in the middle of the state. It was founded by Dutch immigrants and this little town has more than embraced their heritage. It is basically an old-fashioned, miniature Dutch village in the middle of the Iowa farmlands. The town square has all Dutch storefronts, many of the people in the town still speak Dutch and they even built a full-size working windmill a few years ago that grinds flour. Hundreds of thousands of people flock to Pella each year for tulip time in the Spring. You have to see it to believe it.

One of the most famous attractions in town is Jaarsma bakery. At tulip time, visitors line up around the block to buy sweet rolls, spice cookies and other Dutch pastries and breads. This past week during Thanksgiving, my trip to Jaarsma resulted in the immediate consumption of two donuts, a sweet roll and an almond cookie.

Many Dutch sweets (my favorites) are made with almond paste. It comes wrapped in flaky pastry dough in the form of Dutch letters, sandwiched inside buttery cookies or in bars. Below is an easy recipe from my sister. Give it a try or order Dutch sweets the easy way by visiting Jaarsma online. Heel Lekker!

Almond Bars
12 oz. almond paste
3 sticks butter, room temperature
3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
3 eggs,
1 1/2 t almond flavoring
1 small packet sliced almonds

Mix almond paste and butter together. Add eggs, flour, sugar & extract. Mix together. Put in greased 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan and sprinkle with extra sugar and sliced almonds. Press down slightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until edges turn light brown. Cool and cut into bars.

I hope that everyone enjoyed a bountiful Thanksgiving full of bursting waste bands, flavorful surprises and good company. I had a wonderful jaunt to Iowa to visit my grandma, aunt and sister. I have many food adventures to tell you about (including a visit to an amazing little goat cheese farm) and can’t wait to share them….. if ONLY I hadn’t left my laptop at Gram’s house. Darn that white imac for camouflaging itself against her white marble side table while it was charging. It is on its way back via FedEx - please help me think positive thoughts that it will arrive safely with all photos and documents intact!

In the meantime, you can ponder this….

Would you rather have the chance to chew a piece of the magical gum Violet Beauregarde enjoyed in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory (with all glitches corrected) OR visit a real life Candyland complete with gumdrop forest and all?

(Thank you to EB and Cakespy
who helped me with the name correction from the original post!)

This is the second pizza that came out of my hot oven last week. As far as my taste buds are concerned, it didn’t beat the Pizza with Truffle Oil with Mushrooms and Mozzarella but it was still a winner. Taking the time to caramelize the onions and using fresh sage makes all the difference.

Crank up your oven to 500 degrees and start flipping some pizza dough in the air. (I DID try flipping my pizza dough in the air, which which was going great until at one point, I dropped the dough on the floor. I went with the 5 second rule and moved forward with the pizza. shhh) Throw on some delicious toppings and enjoy a pizza night!

Sausage, Caramelized Red Onion and Fresh Sage

Bake in the oven at 500 degrees on a pizza stone until crust is lightly browned and cheese is bubbling.

Just looking at this photo again stimulates my salivary glands. Sometimes I honestly think about dabbing truffle oil behind my ears as perfume. My husband who is reading over my shoulder as I type just announced he would be all for it.

Some months ago, I received a gift of two little bottles of truffle oil - one white and the other dark. Before then, I had never bought any and probably would not have been brave enough to experiment with it in my own kitchen. It is one of those ingredients that I wasn’t exposed to growing up and I just wouldn’t have known what to do with it. But now, the precious little bottles beckoned to me from my cupboard. I opened them regularly inhaling the intoxicating, earthy scent. Someone once told me they thought eating oysters was like drinking in the sea. I think that truffle oil is like drinking in all the goodness from the rich earth.

Thanks to some inspiration from a local pizza restaurant, I now know JUST where truffle oil belongs - on a pizza under some wild mushrooms and delicious cheese. I am very serious about my lists of favorites and Top Tens and I think that a good pizza with truffle oil just may have made it onto my Top Ten Favorite Foods list.

Pizza with Truffle Oil, Mushrooms and Mozzarella

Make the pizza dough according to directions. Roll out the dough and rub it with truffle oil. (I used 2-3 Tablespoons for the pizza) Saute mushrooms slightly in some olive oil or butter. Spread them over the pizza. Top with rounds of fresh mozzarella and sprinkle with parmesan. Cook pizza in a 500 degree oven on a pizza stone, if possible, until crust is browned and cheese is bubbling.

This was only one of the two pizzas that came out of my oven this week. (followed by chocolate chip cookies - I mean, while the oven was hot….) Stay tuned for Pizza Part Deux.

It isn’t exactly the height of tomato season any more but the brisk air sure pairs well with a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Believe it or not, thanks to the bizarrely warm fall we had in Chicago, I just brought my basil plant indoors earlier this week and still have quite a harvest! I can’t bring myself to waste the fresh basil which seems such a precious gift at this time of year. On the other hand, there is only so much pesto you can make and freeze in ice cube trays.

Although it is not quite as yummy as using fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes with fresh basil still make a satisfying soup. I usually don’t follow an exact recipe each time, it depends on what I have in the house. Below is a recipe I found on the Food Network site that looks a lot like what happens in my kitchen. Try serving it with mini grilled cheese sandwiches that have different add-ins like bacon, avocado, fresh tomato…yum.

Homemade Tomato Soup
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello & Food Network
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream, optional
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

Each week, opening my weekly organic produce box is like Christmas. I bound up the three flights of stairs to my kitchen taking the steps two by two in order to flip open the box flaps and peer inside. Right on top of the goodies this week was a box of bright red, beautiful cranberries! Because it seems a bit early for cranberry relish and because I can’t STOP BAKING, I made my first ever Cranberry Orange Muffins. They were the best hot out of the oven with oozy, fragrant, tart cranberry pockets.

The delight of these fresh muffins repaired a broken bridge between cranberries and me. Have you walked past The Body Shop in the fall? A few years ago, they introduced a cranberry scent and had it heating in essential oils, burning in candles and perfuming lotions. It was so all encompassing it was completely offensive to my olfactory sensibilities. I hate to say that I actually become prejudice towards poor old fresh cranberries for awhile due to this sniff trauma.

Thank you organic produce box for reminding me why fresh cranberries are so special! I still have half a box of cranberries left. Anyone else have yummy cranberry recipe ideas?

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners. Combine flour, baking powder, baking sode and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together cooled melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange and buttermilk in a separate mixing bowl. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in cranberries. Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean (20-24 minutes). Let the pan sit for 5 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool.