Good Dinner Mrs. Mellen

I love Christmas!  Christmas Magic, feeling filled with love and joy, spending time with family and friends, decorating, baking and cooking; and living in New England snow! Each year I promise that I will not go overboard -  curtain my decorating frenzy - embrace a minimalistic style -  each year I break my promise! I can't help myself as I begin opening my stored Christmas decorations-  how can I not use all my beautiful treasures lovingly collected over the years. And so it begins......  My tradition the day after Thanksgiving is not to rise early for Black Friday,(nothing wrong with a day of retail therapy) I start my day watching the sun rise and decorating for Christmas.  I begin in my dinning room with unpacking my Lenox Holiday china - gifts from my children - washing each piece I remember the Christmases when they were small their eyes filled with anticipation as I opened my special gift  - then I remove all my regular china replacing wi...

Massachusetts, abundant in cranberries  bogs, produces glorious fresh cranberries which are harvested in the fall coming to market just in time for Thanksgiving. You can get frozen cranberries all year long a wonderful alternative when fresh are out of season. I just love fresh cranberries and I buy copious quantities for making naturally fresh cranberry sauce along with breads, cakes, stuffing and with roasted vegetables. You could say I go cranberry crazy this time of year. And you have to be quick since fresh cranberries are gone from market right after the new year. As you might have guessed homemade cranberry sauce is a must, a favorite accompaniment to our Thanksgiving dinner. Each year I tweak the ingriendants for a different sauce; sometimes I add pecans for a crunch texture or lemons for a tangy sauce, this year I made cranberry sauce with chopped oranges. I like my cranberry sauce spirited adding a little liqueur; to this recipe I added Grand Marnier; a fr...

Following my blog you know that I love to bake! I baked my first cake from scratch when I was a young girl and my love of baking continues all these years later. If you have never baked a cake especially for a birthday I highly recommend you do it at least once. It is so rewarding to see the look on the recipient's face when you put a beautiful homemade cake with candles right in front of them. I think everyone needs a great chocolate cake for birthdays and this cake has a present inside, a rich, smooth, peanut butter mousse filling. Coffee adds extra flavor to the chocolate cake rather than using plain water. If you make this cake I'd love to see photos and hear from you! Ingredients 2 3/4 cups flour-  I like King Arthur's Flour   2 teaspoons baking power 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 6 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 large eggs 1 1/...

Brussels Sprouts that neglected and shy little bulbs have become trendy - the darling of the vegetable world. Healthy, tasty, versatile, a chameleon, changing depending the pairing - never boring or the same. Steamed, baked, roasted, raw in a salad your choices of preparation are endless. For a deliciously healthy autumn salad I love fresh raw Brussels Sprouts combined with apples, pistachios and shaved parmesan cheese- dressed with a light lemon vinaigrette.  Brussels Sprouts Salad with Pistachios and  Shaved Parmesan Cheese 4 cups thinly sliced Brussels Sprouts 2 Granny Smith Apples, chopped 1/2 cup chopped unsalted pistachios 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan Cheese Lemon Vinaigrette 3  tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh grounded black pepper 1/2 cup olive oil Combine Brussels Sprouts, apples...

I learned at a young age how to handle and prepare poultry from my mother, an outstanding cook - her turkey is far superior to any that I have tasted. My mother taught me to soak turkey over night in a bath of salt to tender and remove harmful bacteria. First my mother would freeze a fresh turkey, she believes it seals in the flavor. Then time to soak the frozen turkey over night. Next through rinsing, draining and patting dry of the bird. I love rituals so my mothers holds a special pace in my turkey preparation. I've bought fresh turkey from the farm, from high end and frozen from lower end grocery store. My only hard fast rule is all natural. How you dress and cook the turkey plays an import part in how good your turkey taste. A Simply Perfect Roast Turkey 1 (18 pound) whole turkey 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened salt and pepper to taste 1 1/2 quarts turkey stock 8 cups prepared homemade stuffing Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the ...

Autumn quietly arrives in New England -  crisp mornings turn into warm sunny afternoons with the glorious fall sun setting a few minutes earlier each day: Farmers markets stocked with the last of nature's bounty before the first frost ends harvesting. Beautiful plump eggplant beacons me as I fill my market basket with copious quantities perfect to make my Baked Eggplant Parmesan. Coming from a long line of Italian cooks I've eaten and made this southern Italian dish my entire life. Like my mother I don't fry my eggplant - I prefer to bake - forgoing the extra fat from frying. And I've updated the recipe using Panko bread crumbs for a lighter breading. I love to taste the eggplant, not the breading. One more item - I only use San Marzano tomatoes. I like my sauce sweeter with less acidity.  The San Marzano  variety of plum tomato grows in the rich volcanic soil of the Sarno River valley, near Mount Vesuvius, resulting in a sweet flesh with low acidity. Its thick ski...

In New England we celebrate Autumn with gusto like the strong winds creating falling leave whirlpools on front lawns then whisking the colorful leaves away to decompose in the woods.  Fall is a glorious season inviting all to partake in the cornucopia of scents and tastes indicative of the season. I love to bake aromatic cakes, pies and cookies filling my home with spicy fragrances; a perfect companion to falling temperatures complimenting the  change from summer to fall. On a brisk fall day what could be more appropriate than a piece of spice cake with a cup of tea sitting by the fire watching the changing jewel tone leaves float quietly to the ground.  For cake 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups canned soli...