{Food Dish} Fall Comfort Foods

Hooray! Today is the first day of autumn, and that means it’s time to whip out all of your favorite fall comfort foods. (Swimsuit season is over so it’s okay to eat pumpkin cookies and caramel apple cider, right?) Enjoy these delicious fall time recipes, or comment below on your own favorites.

Photo from Crumpets and Cakes.
French Apple Tart

Photo from The Fig Tree.
Pumpkin Maple Macaroni & Cheese

Photo from Beyond the Plate.
Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Chanterelles, Sage

{Food Dish} Recipe Hoarders: It's Time to End the Insanity

For me, food is all about sharing happiness and joy, so I'm starting a crusade to end the existence of "secret" recipes.

The other day, my sister came out to me as a recipe hoarder. I was shocked. These cooking groupies have always dumbfounded me.

Now, to be clear, I’m not talking about “hoarding” in the TLC sense. (Can you imagine a house stuffed with recipes in every nook and cranny? It’s like a glimpse into my future.) No, I’m talking about a much more devious offense—people who don’t share their recipes.

To me the foremost principle of food and cooking is bringing joy and comfort to people. Whenever people enjoy something I cook, I almost always follow up with, “I’ll e-mail you the recipe!” I feel an obligation to share the recipe—the love—with them. I want them to be able to find joy from it whenever the whim strikes them.

So why would anyone hoard something that brings joy to others?

I learned from my sister that her habit springs more from laziness than anything else, so I’m exonerating her of guilt—after all, we all get lazy. But there are other, more purposeful examples of recipe hoarding. (You can tell I’m gearing up for an anecdote, can’t you?)

You see, there’s this honey butter. But it’s not just honey butter. It’s our family’s drug. It's the kind of honey butter you would dump Nutella for, and could make you imagine finally settling down and learning how to bake bread for. Every Christmas, a family friend generously makes this honey butter for all her friends and gives it out for Christmas cheer. We put it on my mom’s rolls (I’m happy to share the recipe with you), and it’s like crack. We can’t get enough of it.

{Food Dish} Are You a Better Cook Than Your Mom? + Poll

Modern women might generally feel less domestic than our mothers, but a new study says we shouldn't - at least not when it comes to cooking. I think we can safely say that all of us have felt less domestic than our moms at one time or another. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been out with my own mother and looked at a cute outfit, only to have her say, “Oh, I could sew that in a second!” Well, for a woman who lived in a time when people basically made their own clothes, that’s fine and dandy. But I didn’t. And I can’t.

Women today generally feel less domestic than their moms, it’s true—but one area in which we shouldn’t is cooking. According to a new study (on British women, so it may be different in the U.S.), women of today know more recipes by heart than their mothers: 21 versus 17. (Lest you be intimidated, recipes women listed as knowing by heart include fajitas, spaghetti, sausage and mashed potatoes, etc.) Women today are also more willing to be adventurous in the kitchen—they think it’s important to expose their children to lots of different foods.

I’ve definitely noticed a trend toward foodie-ism, or at the very least a general public who appreciates and really enjoys good food. With so many cooking shows, the explosion of online recipe forums, and more diverse eating out options, it’s not surprising that home cooking has become a decidedly more exciting prospect for women.

{Food Dish} Contest: LDS Living's Best Soup Contest

Send us your best soup recipes for the chance to win LDS Living's Best Soup Contest and a $100 gift certificate! It's that time again.

LDS Living has set its sights on finding another best recipe – but instead of sweets, our craving has taken a slightly more savory turn. We're out to find the best soup recipes. We know you've got them. (True story: a few years ago, we asked LDS Living readers to submit soup recipes for a special recipe section. We received over 60 pages worth of recipes.) It's time to share that comfort-food love.

Here are the rules (you must abide by each for your recipe to be considered):

1) Recipes must be original. We cannot accept your submission of soups by Rachael Ray, Bobbie Flay, or Doris Day. And don’t simply change the name—just as you wouldn’t want someone else to claim work that is yours, please do not claim someone else’s as your own. (If you found a recipe and tweaked it beyond recognition, you can submit that as your own. Family recipes are also acceptable.)

2) Submit a picture of the completed recipe, so we know what we’re aiming for.

3) Submit the recipe with your full name, e-mail address, home city and state, and a valid daytime phone number by Saturday, September 17. (LDS Living will use this information only to get a hold of you in the event that you win; we will not use it for marketing or other purposes.)

E-mail recipes to editor@ldsliving.com. (E-mail the editor.)

{Food Dish} Awesome Dutch Oven Recipes

You may have thought about getting your family accustomed to eating your food storage before disaster strikes, but have you ever thought of getting accustomed to emergency cooking with a Dutch oven? Did you know that Dutch ovens have been used to cook food for hundreds of years? Many cultures have their own version of the Dutch oven, and the American colonists loved the Dutch oven for its versaility and durability.

The Dutch oven was a popoular means of cooking back when power was not a reality, and it only makes sense that, if we're preparing for an emergency, we should prepare to cook with something that doesn't require power. Try these Dutch oven recipes, which include food storage items, to make the most of this versatile vessel and really prepare to meet any challenge.



Au Gratin Potatoes

12” Dutch oven with 9” glass, 2 qt. casserole dish. You can also use 10” oven without dish.
24 briquettes: 8 bottom, 16 top
Serves 8

Good:
    5 cups dried potato slices
    ½ tsp. salt