Back Into It
Did a lot of cooking, didn't write about it, but had to mention these STANDOUT recipes...
“Finished off” the Magnolia cookbook journey last month (but I own it, so happily I get to continue my journey). It’s SUCH a solid cookbook choice, and volume 3 is far and away the best volume of them all. A did a few recipes from volume 1 (thanks, Robyn!) and of the four recipes I tried, only one salad stood out to me. I should have made more of the recipes that Robyn had marked as tried and true! But before the month was out I made one more recipe from volume 3 that was so amazing I want to eat it every day.
All ratings are on a scale from 1 - 6: 6 being perfection. WMA: Would Make Again
Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Taste: 6 Look: 6 Ease: 2 WMA: 5 Average: 4.75
THESE WERE AMAZING. The best spicy chicken sandwich I have ever had, and the best John has ever had! To be fair, I haven't had many spicy chicken sandwiches, but I think John has had a good number maybe? Nevertheless this is a must-make sandwich. SO SO tasty. The spice is just right, although I didn't dip the fried chicken in the spicy sauce (it seemed too thick for dipping, then I realized the next day I forgot to put the butter in when I found a bowl of butter in my microwave in the morning). I brushed the spicy sauce on and it was amazing! I did NOT add the called for amount of cayenne (I think she wanted a whole entire tablespoon????) I think I did maybe 1/2 a tsp, which is about what my family can handle. The cooling coleslaw was perfect and delicious. I would seriously make this every day if I had a convenient frying set up. As it is, frying anything makes my whole house stink for a few days, so I fry very sparingly. This is worth stinking the house up for though!! SOOOOOO good. I repeat: SOOOOOO good.
November is the month for the Food52 Cookbook. I can’t get it on my Libby App so I’m actually cooking out of the Food52 Genius Recipes Cookbook. It’s newer, so maybe it’s better? I made an apple crisp from Food52 (but not from the cookbook) that was absolutely DIVINE.
Best Apple Crisp
Taste: 6 Look: 6 Ease: 5 WMA: 6 Average: 5.75
That heading is a link that you should DEFINITELY click and make every fall every year for the rest of your life. This apple crisp is heavy on the crisp and with the addition of almonds to the flour and oats you get a delightful texture and flavor that cannot be beat. Shockingly I made the entire crisp topping in my blendtec? It worked great. I only ended up using about 2/3 of the crisp topping. John thought it was perfect, but I was wanting more apple, so I think next time I’ll up the apple and make it in a 9x13. No one is mad when there is more apple crisp. Hands down the best way to use up the weird apples your kids picked at the orchard.
My meal plan this week has me cooking a new recipe every day from Food52 Genius Recipes, so I should have a lot to report on! Stay tuned.

my kids are still talking about your apple crisp!