With chunky flakes of hot smoked salmon and an addictive Yogurt Ranch Dressing, there’s a handful of components to this recipe but it’s easy – and it’s all the little details that makes this so special! Bonus: can be entirely prepped ahead, stays perky for over an hour even once dressed! Celebration Salmon Salad – it started as a joke Every year, we (the RecipeTin Family) get asked* to do the “catering*” for my mothers’ annual Christmas Lunch with 30 social club friends....

Blue cheese and celery is a classic combination and is especially good with the additions of dates (or dried cranberries) for sweetness and maple-glazed toasted hazelnuts. Yes, it’s a little fussy, but it’s the holidays! And so worth it. The recipe comes via my friend Peg’s glamorous friend Katie Sullivan (thank you Katie!). Slice the dates lengthwise first in half, then slice the halves lengthwise into 3 or four pieces....

If you are only hosting a few people for dinner and you don’t want weeks of leftovers, you can just roast a turkey breast! (You can also make it in less than half the time of a whole turkey.) This stuffed turkey breast is as delicious as it is beautiful, and easier to make than it looks. We’ve stuffed it like a roulade, a roll-up with minced chard, prosciutto, toasted pine nuts, and onions....

What’s not to love about a tender squash, creamy cheese, fresh sage, and red peppers? What Is Spaghetti Squash? Just to be clear, spaghetti squash is a vegetable! It looks a bit like a large, yellow melon, but when you cut it open, pale yellow spaghetti-like strands lurk under the seeds. You could say spaghetti squash is kind of cool. But let’s be perfectly honest. It’s also a bit on the bland side, in the way zucchini is bland, but with a totally different texture....

Good news, though! I’m an adult now and I can make my own cherry pies—ones that have a better balance of sweet and tart flavors. Use Puff Pastry for Easy Hand Pies While you could use a homemade pie crust, I like to take a shortcut and use frozen puff pastry for my hand pies. It’s easy to roll and shape, sturdy enough to hold the filling (so it doesn’t explode everywhere during baking!...

I don’t know about you, but lunchtime sandwiches always make me feel so lethargic. A biscuit (or three) usually follows soon after in an effort try to wake me back up again (like that’s actually gonna work!). So I’m on the hunt for energy boosting lunches! Food that makes you feel fantastic, but tastes amazing. Being able to make it ahead is a major bonus too - as I’m terrible for grabbing a sandwich or a slice of cake come midday because I can’t be bothered to make something....

The key ingredients to this ubiquitous Italian soup are beans, pasta, and tomatoes. Beyond that, you can add whatever vegetables are in season, leftover chicken from another meal, or any number of things. What’s fresh and in season? What do you have in your crisper drawer or pantry already? Take this recipe and make it your own! No bean in my cupboard escapes candidacy for the soup (except maybe black beans)....

To me, the ideal chocolate cupcake is moist with a deep chocolate flavor. The recipe also should produce exactly one dozen cupcakes in a standard muffin tin, no more and no less. The Secret to Moist, Rich Cupcakes I worked hard, trying a half dozen different versions. My original recipe called for sour cream in the batter, which produced a rich and slightly denser cupcake. But one day, I tried substituting buttermilk and it has now become my go-to....

Make chocolate pudding, of course! Pudding ingredients are basic and usually on-hand, and Aldie and I shared a wickedly good afternoon making this batch, based on a recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook. Alden loves to help in the kitchen, not only with the cooking but with the cleaning up of the pots and pans as well. An Easy Chocolate Pudding Recipe This homemade chocolate pudding is easy to quickly put together....

In my case, tres leches is a celebration cake we had on birthdays and for Christmas, and the cake I bake when I want to showcase my Colombian heritage. It’s the ultimate comfort food. Chocolate All Throughout A chocolate tres leches cake is a chocolate sponge cake moistened with three kinds of milk after it is baked. The cake doesn’t get soggy—it softens and becomes incredibly moist. This milk mixture is flavored with cocoa powder and ground cinnamon, reminiscent of hot chocolate....

Cinnamon Apple Bread I’ve been working on my Apple Pie Project (read: my perfect apple pie) and am convinced that this is the year we will crack it! But either way making apple pie is definitely a labour of love, so meanwhile I also want to share other sweet ways with apples that are faster and easier. Some favourites from my existing apple repertoire are Apple Muffins, Apple Bars, and Apple Crumble....

Is Italian Pasta Salad Really An Italian Dish? No, this isn’t an authentic Italian dish. It’s called Italian pasta salad thanks to the addition of Italian dressing. “Italian” pasta salad is very much an American dish, not traditional fare from Italy. What Other Pasta Shapes Can I Use? This classic pasta salad calls for rotini pasta. We love using this shape of noodle, but you can feel free to use:...

Two favorite food groups, merged together. I used to love these sandwiches as a kid, and was inspired by a Karen Tedesco recipe in Better Homes and Gardens to make this slightly more fancy version with tarragon. Do you like tuna melts? If so, how do you like yours? Please let us know in the comments. Video: How to Make Tuna Melts Likewise, if you can only find tuna canned in water, drain the liquid from the tuna and add a tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil....

This easy recipe is ready in about 45 minutes. Hands-on time is just 15 minutes - the rest is chilling the treats in the fridge. There are several classic food combinations. Chocolate and peanut butter come to mind (these peanut butter bars are so good!). Chocolate and coconut is definitely another perfect combination. I first tried coconut haystacks in a small artisan chocolate shop in Lake Tahoe, California. As someone who adores both coconut and dark chocolate, it’s no surprise that I thought they were amazing....

I first encountered colcannon potatoes while doing research on traditional Irish cooking. Not surprisingly the Irish have all sorts of ways of cooking potatoes, with festive names like champ, bruisy, pandy, boxty, and this one, colcannon. Irish Mashed Potatoes In the following colcannon recipe, we mix the mashed potatoes in with chopped cooked kale, green onions, milk or cream, and lots of butter. To serve, make a depression in the middle of the mashed potatoes and put a knob of butter in it....

Well it turns out the answer is yes. Quite a significant difference actually. I baked over 80 cookies for this cookie experiment - and I probably ate at least 10% of those cookies 🙂 This experiment took a fair bit of prep, and pretty much a whole day of baking. So I decided to combine it with my last week at work and get my office friends involved in this taste test as part of my goodbye....

There is one green beverage, however, that’s longed for by a cult of followers: the Shamrock Shake. Tall, minty, frosty, creamy goodness and only available for about a month at McDonald’s. But why limit this indulgence? With just a handful of quality ingredients, you can make your own Copycat Shamrock Shake at home any day of the year. What is a Shamrock Shake? Since the 1970’s, McDonald’s has offered this limited time shake with its recognizable green hue as a specialty treat to celebrate St....

Want the muffin version? Here it is! Cornbread recipe I don’t want to brag, but I am known for my cornbread. OK, it sounds like I’m totally bragging – but let me have just this one. Rarely do I say my recipes are the BEST version in the world! (Because who is to say one’s Chocolate Cake or one’s Meatloaf or Chili is the BEST in the world??). This cornbread regularly makes an appearance all year round for a variety of purposes....

For this version, I wanted something quick and simple. I also wanted it to look similar in color to the box of Kraft Mac and Cheese my children have grown to idolize. They are a little older now, so I’m ready to migrate to a more grownup version! Video: How to Make Baked Mac and Cheese What Is the Best Pasta for Mac and Cheese? You want something that is sturdy and will hold the sauce within the pasta....