The Feastie Blog

Squashes are $1.49 EACH at Trader Joe's right now - each! They're that much per pound in most stores near me. So I picked up one of each - delicata, acorn, white acorn, carnival, spaghetti, and butternut. The spaghetti squash found its way into spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs, the butternut squash ended up in quesadillas, and the acorn squash ended up roasted, drizzled in brown butter and topped with crispy sage. Yum. I love winter squash and this recipe did not disappoint - the browned butter is nutty and sweet and savory all at once and the crispy sage against the creamy soft squash is a great texture. I didn't think I could eat half of a large squash all on my own, but with this recipe, it was easy to do - I seriously couldn't stop eating this. I made this alongside some grilled fish, but it would be delish with roast chicken or even some pasta if you're going the vegetarian route. Whatever you eat it with, just eat it - it's an easy, impressive recipe that you'll be sure to make again. 

Only 18 days until Christmas - do you know what kind of Christmas cookies you'll be making this year? Perhaps you have some family favorites, or you like to try something new each year - either way, there are sure to be cookies in your future this holiday season. Between cookie exchanges, gifted cookie tins, plates of cookies in the break room at work, and those cookies you'll need to leave for Santa - you've got a lot of cookies to make/eat. So find a new version of an old favorite or try something completely new this year! We've rounded up the top 5 cookie recipes on the web this week to help get you started with your holiday cookie baking. Not that you need a holiday to bake any of these cookies - they're good year-round!

Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Meringues from Rachel Cooks
Photo from Rachel Cooks

Butternut squash is probably my favorite winter fruit. Yes, fruit! It's a fruit! It's good in just about everything - macaroni & cheese, soups, salads, desserts, or just on its own. I was making thin crust pizza and thought that a butternut pizza sounded pretty good - I decided to pair it with caramelized onions, fresh mozzarella, and sage. SO GOOD. Very different from your typical pizza, but it had such great flavors! And butternut squash is healthy - full of fiber and vitamins - healthy pizza! The Mr. dove right into the pesto pizza and I could tell he wasn't as stoked to try the butternut (to be fair, pesto is one of his all-time favorite foods), but once he did he really liked it. I loved it - I'll definitely be making this again soon. If you're looking for something new for pizza-and-a-movie night, try this out - it's definitely a departure from the usual tomato/cheese pizza, but in a good way!

When I was a freshman in college, I ate pizza pretty much every day for lunch (I'm not proud, trust me - I'm just coming clean). Our dining hall (and no, it did not look like that when I went there, unfortunately) had the best cheese pizza - they kept it nice and hot, and of course there was all that ranch dressing for dippage action. But even better than the dining hall pizza was Woodstock's!! So flippin' good! They had (and still have) this awesome invention called "wildebread" - it's basically pizza dough topped with seasonings, garlic and cheese and cut into little breadstick-sized pieces, served with ranch and marinara dipping sauces. The stuff dreams are made of, I tell you. At least my college freshman dreams. I'd like to think my tastes are a bit more refined now, but um, just thinking about the wildebread has me craving it all over again. In terms of pizza though I do have a preference for thinner crusts these days, and I try to abstain from the ranch dipping (not all the time, but most of the time). I was craving pizza last week (who am I kidding - I'm pretty much always craving pizza) and came across this thin crust recipe from The Kitchn - brilliant. My favorite thin crust pizza dough (which I don't think I've ever posted here - I need to fix that) requires a few nights in the fridge, so the idea of a thin crust pizza dough that I could enjoy the same night I'd slapped it together was pretty appealing. In an effort to clean out the fridge I made two varieties of pizza that night - a butternut squash puree topped with caramelized onions and sage (recipe coming soon) and a simple pesto pizza with tomatoes. Both were insanely delicious. I was surprised, but this crust is really very good - not quite as thin and crispy/chewy as my favorite crust, but quick, easy to work with, and a great texture. Luckily it's a bit more refined than greasy cheese pizza dipped in ranch dressing, so I can tell myself that I've grown up and my palate has matured, but I'm fully aware that's just self-delusion. 

For anyone mourning the loss of the Hostess brand and their treats, we offer up our shoulder(s) to cry on. And while Twinkies may yet survive this whole ordeal, you may find the shelves a bit bare in your local grocery store for a while. But fear not! You can make your own Hostess style treats at home! And while they may not come in a shiny, crinkly wrapper, we're willing to bet they'll taste just as good as (possibly even better than!) the real deal. We've rounded up a few classic Hostess-style treat recipes for you this week - so if you find yourself Twinkie-less, don't despair - get baking!

Homemade Hostess Sno Balls from From Away
Photo from From Away

We're so excited to announce an awesome new feature at Feastie for food bloggers - the Blogger Dashboard! If you have a Feastie gallery for your blog (and if you're a blog owner who doesn't currently have a Feastie gallery but would like one, just submit your blog via the online form or email us), you'll now be able to claim your blog, which will allow you access to your Blogger Dashboard. "But what is this Blogger Dashboard you speak of?" you may ask. 

The most exciting feature of the blogger dashboard is the ability to see how many times each of your recipes has been pinned, Facebook liked or Tweeted. The "Feastie Score" shows you the overall popularity of each post and how influential your blog is as a whole. Remember our post about the most-pinned recipes on Pinterest? Many bloggers asked us, "How did you get the pin counts? Where can I find that information?" Now you can find it in your dashboard! 

Brussels sprouts. Loved by some, hated by others, and avoided by many. They get a bad rap. Maybe your mom over-steamed them when you were a kid (gag), or the smell turned you off - I think everyone has an "Ewwww Brussels sprouts!" story. My mom cooked them in the pressure cooker when I was a kid, and I wasn't a huge fan - I think the smell turned me off. For The Mr., he had a similar experience with these guys as a kid - he does not have good memories of Brussels sprouts in his youth. Eventually I came around and gave in to the magic that is Brussels sprouts - of course, only when they're cooked properly - and now I love them. Can't get enough of them. Want to eat them every day. My all-time favorite way to eat them is roasted until blackened and crispy, but this spicy shrimp and Brussels sprouts stir fry from Martha Stewart is running a close second. It's a super healthy, veggie-packed, quick-and-easy dinner that's perfect for weeknights. It's rather impressive-looking, too - it would work just as well for a casual dinner party. One thing to note here: It's spicy. I use a little green Thai chile, seeds and all, and it's really, really spicy. Like burn your lips and make your nose run spicy! If you want a little less heat just remove the seeds from your chile, or use a milder chile - but don't skip the chile, as it really makes this dish. Leftovers reheat beautifully, and they're great for lunch. The Mr. has officially requested that this be put into our regular rotation for dinner, and I'm happy to comply - I don't think we'll be getting tired of this one for a while.

Although Halloween and Thanksgiving are over, pumpkin is still all the rage. I still can't get enough of it. I made pumpkin pie last night (and proceeded to eat about a third of it, ugh), I've been eating pumpkin butter like it's going out of style, and I'm addicted to these pumpkin cookies. They're so soft and cakey and light - which is both good and bad. Good because they're delicious and have a great texture, but bad because I could literally eat a dozen at a time, they feel so light! And you don't need to bust out the Kitchenaid mixer for these, either - a whisk and some enthusiasm (or a hand mixer) will get the job done. I seem to always have leftover pureed pumpkin in my fridge, and these cookies are the perfect way to use up leftover pumpkin. 

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! While not everyone does the huge traditional dinner with all the sides and desserts, at some point, most of us find ourselves with Thanksgiving leftovers. Whether it's from our own feast or you were sent home with a stack of stuffed Tupperware, you probably have a surplus of turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy - hopefully even pie! And while leftovers are great just the way they are (re-live that beautiful meal!), sometimes turkey and green beans get a bit tired after a few days. So we've rounded up the top 5 Thanksgiving leftovers recipes on the web this week. These recipes are a great way to stretch those leftovers and ease the monotony of turkey and gravy. So dig into those leftovers and get creative - try out some of these fun recipes!

Leftover Turkey (or Chicken) Salad with Indian Spices, Lemon, and Cilantro from Kalyn's Kitchen
Photo from Kalyn's Kitchen

Just so no one feels misled - the "mac & cheese" bit of the title is in quotations for a reason. This isn't a regular mac & cheese - which I love - this is a bit healthier, and it's made with quinoa and a dose of veggies instead of pasta. That doesn't mean this isn't stellar - it is - it's just that if you're looking for real mac & cheese (or even a healthier version), you're barking up the wrong tree. I just LOVE that phrase - isn't it great?! The visual is just amazing. Someone standing under a tree, looking up into the leaves, barking. Then realizing, "Ooops. Wrong tree." This quinoa mac & cheese was adapted from Eat, Live, Run's Spinach and Cheese Quinoa Casserole. I changed a few things here and there, making it a bit healthier as well as vegetarian. But you'd never know it was lightened up from the taste - or from the way your house will smell as this casserole bakes, i.e. AMAZING. It's one of those happy compromise dishes - it's full of veggies and healthy protein, but still has enough cheese to make it delicious. It would make a great vegetarian side dish for your Thanksgiving dinner - something that everyone can enjoy, vegetarians and carnivores alike.