CORA COOKS

Chasing The Flavors of The Sun - Seasonal Citrus Salads

2010-03-14T15:42:00.024-05:00

SEASON TO TASTE (my monthly food column for Heartland Women) March 2010 I’d had enough. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get away. My plan was to get in the car and just drive until I found what I needed. Alas, it was not meant to be. I was trapped, before I could even get out of town. I wasn’t going anywhere. The news was all over the television. Right there on The Weather Channel.

Oh! Blood Oranges - Can Spring Be Far Behind?

2010-03-07T14:25:00.002-06:00

Gorgeous on the outside . . . Stunning on the inside . . . Perfect in a winter salad. One of the truly bright spots in an otherwise dreary winter is the appearance of seasonal citrus in the market -- especially my favorite, blood oranges. The uncharacteristic deep red blush on the outside of this amazing orange is a giveaway that there is something unusual and delightful on the inside.

Pizza Get-Away

2010-02-25T12:52:00.002-06:00

Rain, snow, sleet, repeat! Enough already with the unrelenting weekly blast of winter. I've been on a bit of a citrus fruit kick for a couple of weeks -- craving salads with bright, cheerful colors and fresh, tart flavors. Kind of like a really cheap escape to more temperate climes for those of us who don't follow the sun to its winter retreat. But for dinner, I had to move on to the next

Brussels Sprouts - A Four Hundred Degree Change in My Thinking

2010-02-21T12:27:00.003-06:00

Remember brussels sprouts? Cute little cabbage-like things that turn ugly on you the instant they are subjected to water? I'm talking about those slimy stinkballs, boiled to an unholy color of gray-green and offered alongside other foods, as if they were actually edible. My family usually served them on holidays, like they were vegetable royalty or something. I could only imagine the faulty

Just Under The Wire!

2010-02-14T22:54:00.003-06:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL THE READERS AND FACEBOOK FANS OF CORA COOKS! Love,"She Cooks"

Food Is Life and Life Is Good!

2010-02-09T09:32:00.014-06:00

SEASON TO TASTE(my monthly column for HEARTLAND WOMEN) February 2010 I’m back in the kitchen and cooking up a storm! Oh, dear. I forgot. You probably didn’t know that I was ever out of my kitchen. I was. Well, not so much out of the kitchen, as out of cooking. It happened before I really realized it. Ever so gradually, over the past several years, I’ve spent less and less time cooking. I didn’

First Things First - Working Out and Eating A Healthy Breakfast

2010-02-07T15:19:00.030-06:00

SEASON TO TASTE (my monthly food column for Heartland Women) January 2010 Working Out Last January I did something shocking and totally unexpected. I made a commitment to add some healthy activity to my life – as in workout! – at least three times a week. It wasn’t really a New Year’s resolution so much as a life-changing experience. I’d put it off as long as I could, believe me. Sure, there

Andalusian Pilaf - Special Guest Recipe

2010-01-30T15:34:00.020-06:00

Andalusian Pilaf - recipe and photo by Charles Larry One of the joys of moving back to my hometown a few years ago is being here to help plan our class reunion for later this year. We've only had two previous reunions, but we've been out of high school long enough to have had a few more, and everyone is really looking forward to this one. I don't have to say how many do I? You can just look

Mashed Sweet Potatoes With Orange Zest and Spices

2010-01-28T15:00:00.014-06:00

Kristin, one of the trainers where I work out, asked if I had any good sweet potato recipes . . . that were vegetarian . . . and that could be made in a microwave. Living in a sorority house -- the same one I was in btw, at the same university, just a few years ago, or so it seems -- limits her personal cooking to the microwave. But between school and work, she sometimes has to come up with her

Kids In The Kitchen - Buffalo Hot Wing Dip & Buffalo Hot Wing Pizza

2010-01-26T16:00:00.010-06:00

Steve and Grant vs. Kristen and Emily Way back in November, Grant and Kristen brought their friends, Steve and Emily, to our house for a little rest and relaxation visit. The big plan: Make homemade pizza in the brick oven. One of four! I assembled the ingredients to make the dough and gathered the kids in the kitchen. Each of them made a batch of dough and we set it out to rise. Kristen and

Spur-of-the-Moment Roasted Fennel - Crazy Good!

2010-01-23T19:13:00.006-06:00

Inspired by the Saturday morning Food Network shows and a well-stocked refrigerator, I decided today was the day to roast some fennel for the first time. I'm one of those people who actually likes fennel, especially in salads with sliced oranges and a light vinaigrette. The two flavors have a similar note on my palate and together they sing perfect harmony. Of course, life is never as simple as

Soup Weather

2010-01-17T15:01:00.007-06:00

“Soup is the song of the hearth... and the home.” - Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949) Well into the morning, there was nothing comforting about the view through my windows. A gloomy gray haze had stalled and settled over the fields just beyond the naked trees. It was a cozy-up-to-the-fire day. Alas, no fire. It was a curl-up-with-a-good-book-on-the-couch day. Deadlines loomed. It

Rosemary Dijon Roasted Potatoes - Healthy Eating

2010-01-12T00:09:00.009-06:00

Here's the best part about beginning a "healthy eating plan" vs. a diet. A healthy eating plan is a lot like a vacation resort -- all-inclusive. And that's a very good thing. Nothing is off-limits. Including potatoes with the occasional splash of good olive oil, seasoned and roasted to a golden, crispy turn. A small dice on the potatoes helps them sprawl out over the plate and fool the eye into

Maximum Rib Roast From A Minimum Kitchen

2010-01-08T01:52:00.059-06:00

Look what I found in my long neglected blog email -- just a month late! Cora, My family and I spent Thanksgiving in a small rental cottage in Venice Beach. Despite the minimally stocked kitchen, my children and I decided to make your beef roast, which has become a family favorite. We had to skip the puree and used chopped vegetables instead, and we roasted the beef in a foil disposable pan. The

Savory Bean Soup From A Humble Pot of Beans

2010-01-02T16:55:00.011-06:00

Happy New Year Savory Bean Soup It has always been a tradition in my family to serve beans and cornbread for dinner on New Year's Day. When I was growing up, it was no problem for the eight of us to lay waste to the entire pot in one meal. However, once I was cooking for just two of us, a pot of beans could last forever, prompting me to learn to make bean soup. Well, not so much learn to make

Baked Ziti - Take It Easy, Make It Easy

2009-12-18T19:12:00.023-06:00

We're down to the wire with holiday preparations around here. Everything is in the works, but nothing is completely done. Not to worry though! I used to panic about this time every year. Now I'm much more likely to pick up a book, watch a Christmas movie, go to lunch with a friend or bake something. It took me way too long to learn to enjoy the Christmas season, so I guess I learned to make up

Season’s Eatings – Cookbooks Make Perfect Gifts

2009-12-16T21:47:00.021-06:00

SEASON TO TASTE (my monthly food column for Heartland Women) December 2009 I have a dream. It’s a dream about a cookbook. Not just another cookbook to add to the hundreds already in my collection though. A special cookbook. My own cookbook. I want to write my own cookbook . . . see my name in big letters across the cover. . . admire it on local bookstore shelves . . . and yes, click it on

Sunny Orange Maramalade Mornings

2009-12-13T20:54:00.039-06:00

Several years ago, I stumbled upon a can of Seville oranges cut for making orange marmalade. The notion of making my own orange marmalade had never occurred to me, but reading the fine print at the bottom of the can, I discovered just how easy it could be. I dearly love the sunny flavor of orange marmalade and have purchased many an expensive imported jar over the years. So, although I didn't

Can't Get Enough Cheese Wafers

2009-12-09T12:34:00.009-06:00

There are a great many names and variations for this recipe. My recipe is called Cheese Wafers -- cheesey little shortbread-esque rounds. Plain or crunchy. Savory. Satisfying. Addictive. The recipe is from my friend Gayle, in Mississippi. Southern girls seem to come into marriage armed with a box of handy little recipes to suit every occasion, and this is one of Gayle's. I've been baking them

I Could Go For A Turkey Sandwich, How About You?

2009-11-26T17:45:00.003-06:00

The kitchen is finally cleaned up and everything is put away from dinner. Must be time for a turkey sandwich! I love turkey sandwiches as much as Thanksgiving itself. It's the reason for the whole turkey thing , as far as I'm concerned. It's all about the sandwiches. This is an updated list of last year's turkey sandwiches I have known and loved -- and still do. Ham is an acceptable substitute

From Cora Cooks to You!

2009-11-25T23:59:00.006-06:00

Sweet Potato Pudding - A Twist on Tradition

2009-11-25T00:43:00.009-06:00

Sweet Potato Pudding is the one dish that makes my Thanksgiving just right. The benchmark for the real and true holiday dinner. While many families enjoy some form of sweet potatoes as part of their Thanksgiving meal, mine is the only family I've ever come across that prepares them with a twist. We are not typical brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, coconut, pecan or marshmallow people when it

The Cranberry Chronicles

2009-11-22T13:21:00.006-06:00

Like so many of my fellow food bloggers, I guess, visions of cookbooks dance in my head. But not just any cookbook. I want my very own cookbook. Just like my friends who've had their first cookbooks published just this fall. In the last few days, I may have seen my future as a cookbook author, and maybe as a blogger too. A cookbook title has come to me -- in a vision -- from Google Analytics

Baked Pineapple Casserole - A New Tradition

2009-11-21T13:00:00.004-06:00

T-minus 5 days and counting. Thanksgiving planning is requiring an unusually high degree of flexibility on my part this year. I'm still coordinating scheduling conflicts to determine who will be here, and when we will eat. The guest list has undergone a number of changes. As it stands now, we have four tables in three rooms, with plenty of room to add another. And goodness knows we'll have

The Harvest Table - A Work of Art

2009-11-20T13:48:00.006-06:00

My friend, Sally, who lives in New Hampshire, sent this picture of her autumn harvest table arrangement -- a little something she just threw together. Simple and beautiful. I think the big leaves of whatever kind of greens they are and the pale green colors of the squashes make it. I'm going out to the garage to root around in the big plastic tub of fall decorations to see if I have what I