Cooking On the Side

Introducing My New Cookbook: The 8×8 Cookbook!

Kathy Strahs — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 23:57:57 +0000

Well, hello!! Lots has happened since I last checked in — most notably, my family moved from San Diego up to the Silicon Valley, I started a publishing company, and I’ve got a new cookbook coming out in time for the holidays!

That last piece of new is what is keeping me up at night, but also excited to start the day each morning. It’s called The 8×8 Cookbook: Square Meals for Weeknight Family Dinners, Desserts and More–In One Perfect 8×8 Inch Dish and you can reserve copies Kickstarter until Oct. 30 (the project is already nearly 80% funded, and has been named a Kickstarter Staff Pick!). I would love your support! Signed copies are available and make special holiday gifts!

In the book, I show busy families how to turn their “brownie pan” into a dinnertime secret weapon, with recipes like Honey Glazed Chicken with Roasted Root Vegetables, Baked Tortellini Alfredo with Pancetta, Peas and Lemon and Shortcut Chicken Enchiladas. And, of course, there are plenty of desserts, sides and brunches in there too! It’s the perfect size for serving a family or small group of 4 to 6, and doubles easily to 13×9 for a larger crowd.

Not only did I write and photograph The 8×8 Cookbook (as I did with The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook), but this time around I am also the publisher. With Burnt Cheese Press, LLC I will take a fresh approach to food-related publishing, exploring new topics, giving voice to new authors and other creators, and connecting with food enthusiasts via new and emerging channels. It’s the entrepreneurial leap I’ve been looking to take for years, and so far it’s been rather intense but also incredibly fulfilling!

Pumpkin Love!

~ It's pumpkin season! This Mac & Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin from my friends Stephanie and Garrett's cookbook, Melt, is a true autumn showstopper.

~ I've tried many different recipes for pumpkin pie, but I always come back to the good ol' classic Libby's recipe.

About Cooking On the Side...

It’s the recipe collection I didn’t even realize I had – the one derived from the side of a bag of fresh vegetables, a box of sugar, a jar of mayonnaise. Cooking On the Side – as in on the side of food packaging – is all about “revealing” these on-the-package recipes, with photos of how they actually turn out, cooking notes and more descriptive directions than package space usually allows for. -- Kathy Strahs

Pinterest Join us on Facebook Follow me on Twitter

All-in-One Cake (with Edible Flowers!)

Kathy Strahs — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:04:15 +0000

As someone who is known for being a bit of a tornado in the kitchen (ask my husband how many dishes are teetering in the sink after I’ve been cooking!), I was drawn to a C&H Sugar recipe for an All-in-One Cake that I saw in a magazine ad. “One recipe makes cake and frosting”, it promised. That was all the encouragement I needed!

(...)
Continue reading "All-in-One Cake (with Edible Flowers!)" >>

Guinness Bread

Kathy Strahs — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 17:52:14 +0000

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, my eyes turned toward the random bottle of Guinness that’s been sitting in my fridge for…well, I’m not even sure how long it’s been there at this point. Long enough that I began contemplating ways I could cook with it, rather than drink it!

I found a terrific recipe for Guinness Bread on the Guinness website. It made a huge, sandwich-quality loaf of dark, lightly sweet bread that was far less cakey than other beer breads I’ve made. Warm brown bread with a good smear of soft Irish butter…definitely one of life’s simple pleasures.

(...)
Continue reading "Guinness Bread" >>

Spam Musubi …and Aloha from Hawaii!

Kathy Strahs — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 00:16:21 +0000

You can tell I really miss our vacation in Hawaii by the fact that I have SPAM in my house! And now on my blog!

Spam Musubi is a hugely popular treat in Hawaii and one of the few things my family and I didn’t eat while we were on Oahu earlier this month. Right after we got back, though, I came across this cute magazine ad for Spam which showed illustrations for how to make musubi:

That was all the nudge I needed — I ordered my little $6 musubi mold (very authentic — the entire packaging is written in Japanese, I have no idea what it says!) — and we’ve been continuing our enjoyment of the islands back at home.

Read on to see how to make Spam Musubi, plus some fun memories from our trip!

(...)
Continue reading "Spam Musubi …and Aloha from Hawaii!" >>

Vanilla Beignet Bites

Kathy Strahs — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 19:01:05 +0000

“Warm little pillows of love” is the best way I know to describe these Vanilla Beignet Bites with Vanilla-Lemon Raspberry Jam. Lots and lots of love to share…look at the state of my kitchen counter by the time I was through:

I’d never made beignets before — or any fried doughnuts, now that I think of it — but really it was as simple as making dough and frying it. Since the recipe comes from Nielsen-Massey, there’s vanilla throughout — in the beignets themselves, mixed in with the powdered sugar topping (vanilla powder, actually) and in the raspberry jam for dipping (along with lemon extract). You can easily omit the vanilla powder and lemon extract and these beignets will still be amazing, but I did appreciate the dimension they added.

(...)
Continue reading "Vanilla Beignet Bites" >>

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Lollipops

Kathy Strahs — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 20:20:30 +0000

I love making treats for people — it truly makes me happy, not only to see the delight on their faces but also to let them know that they are special to me. I had the chance to take a fun chocolate class last week where I learned how to make Valentine’s Day Chocolate Lollipops among a myriad of other confections (my family is still working through the second box of goodies I got to take home!). I’m, by no means, an expert at this yet, but I’m excited to share this easy technique I learned in case you’re looking for a special treat to make for your valentines!

(...)
Continue reading "Valentine’s Day Chocolate Lollipops" >>

Homemade Energy Bars

Kathy Strahs — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:28:21 +0000

Happy New Year! If you follow me on Instagram, you may recall I went a little Homemade Energy Bar crazy this past fall as I dove into my friend Camilla Saulsbury’s new book, Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook (she also writes the Power Hungry blog). The bars in this cookbook are not only healthy and nutrient-rich, but they’re also beautiful (which, honestly, isn’t a word I ever thought I’d ascribe to an energy bar!). But they really are little all-natural works of art.

I’m far from an endurance athlete (very, very far) but I do try to get to the gym semi-regularly. More importantly, I have two active kids who need to bring healthy snacks with them to school. The granola bars in Power Hungry have made perfect portable snacks. The recipes are also easy enough for my kids to even help making them — it’s mostly a matter of measuring and mixing. They’ve enjoyed choosing the different nuts, seeds and dried fruits to include — many of the bars are highly customizable, and Camilla offers a slew of variation options.

(...)
Continue reading "Homemade Energy Bars" >>

IDEA: Christmas Cookie Place Cards

Kathy Strahs — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 22:40:53 +0000

Looking for fun, festive (and edible!) place cards to set your holiday table? Allow me to suggest Christmas Cookie Place Cards!

I found this terrific idea — and so many more — in my friend Julie Hession’s new cookbook, 100 Best Decorated Cookies. All you need is a cookie shape that offers space to include a name. I also made some with a stocking cookie cutter, but these Santa hats offered more “name real estate”. Even a simple, iced circle with a name piped onto it would be a special addition to the table.

As you can see, I didn’t stop with just the cookie place cards. I’ve really gotten into cookie decorating this year, thanks to Julie’s book! I’ve dabbled in it a little in the past, but I was just kind of winging it. Now that I’ve learned some better techniques, I’m kind of feeling a little unstoppable.

These soccer balls were the first design I tried from Julie’s book, for my daughter’s end-of-season team party — I was still figuring things out with the royal icing consistency, but I was proud of the results anyway (and the soccer teammates enjoyed them!).

There are a slew of sugar cookie and royal icing recipes out there (I’ve got one on the blog), but if you’d really like to step up your decorating game, I highly suggest checking out 100 Best Decorated Cookies and also these resources from my favorite cookie bloggers:

Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe ~ The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle
Royal Icing Recipe ~ The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle
Cut-Out Cookie Techniques — Top 10 Tips ~ Sweetopia
Decorating Cookies with Kids ~ Bake at 350

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

Pear-Walnut Salad

Kathy Strahs — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:58:31 +0000

I must have changed my mind at least four times before deciding to bring this Pear-Walnut Salad to last night’s holiday potluck. What put me over the edge was the sight of perfectly ripe pears sitting on my kitchen counter. My in-laws sent us a box of Harry and David pears — if you’ve ever tried them, I’m sure a ripe Royal Riviera is one of your favorite bites of the year too. My paring knife slid straight through them effortlessly, their juice rushed to the surface. I had to share these pears at their peak!
(...)
Continue reading "Pear-Walnut Salad" >>

Mexican Chocolate Crackled Cookies

Kathy Strahs — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 07:01:10 +0000

I’ve come to look forward to the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap at this time every year. I get to decide on a great cookie recipe (this year, I went with Mexican Chocolate Crackled Cookies!), make a huge batch of them, and mail them around the country to three other food bloggers (usually people I haven’t met yet). My kids look forward to the swap, because we also receive three boxes of cookies at our house. Festive times.

The Mexican Chocolate Crackled Cookies have a bit of a kick to them — they’re not spicy per se, but they’ve got a little heat from ancho chile powder. I tore the recipe out of a McCormick ad in a magazine. Mexican hot chocolate meets brownie bites is the best way to describe these cookies — I love them!

Read on for the recipe and to see the terrific cookies we “swapped” for!

(...)
Continue reading "Mexican Chocolate Crackled Cookies" >>