Feeling hefty after Thanksgiving feasting? Got leftover cranberries?

Make these light Cranberry Lemon Muffins. I originally found a recipe for Cranberry Lemon Muffins online, but it called for a whole lot of oil, sugar and unhealthy white flour. Unable to justify making these muffins for a healthy post-Thanksgiving breakfast, I tweaked the recipe to make them healthier and tastier.

In place of the 2 cups of white flour, I replaced one of those cups with whole wheat pastry flour. Instead of using a full 1/2 cup vegetable oil, I filled the 1/2 cup measuring cup mostly with applesauce and topped it off with oil. And because the applesauce provided a lot of natural sweetness, I was able to cut down the 1 cup of sugar too. The original recipe called for lemon extract, but to amp up the flavor, I subbed in a tablespoon of fresh lemon zest. I also added an extra handful of cranberries for good measure. And to add a final touch, I made a mixture of lemon zest and sugar to sprinkle on the tops of the muffins.

The results were so fantastic, my family asked me to make another double batch the next day.

Cranberry Lemon Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup, minus about 4 or 5 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil and applesauce (fill up measuring cup mostly with applesauce and then top off last tablespoon or so with oil)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries, halved

For topping:

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk, oil/applesauce and lemon zest. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries.

2. Mix together topping ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Fill paper-lined muffin cups almost full; sprinkle with topping. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

I had never heard of Chicken and Dumplings until I moved down south a few years ago. Boy, was I missing out. The creamy stew of chicken, veggies, and broth topped with hearty fluffy biscuits made of cream and flour is the ultimate comfort food for a cold winter day.

This recipe takes only one hour and you get great results. Though you don't make your own chicken broth here, this is the real deal, no short-cuts like using cans of globby cream of chicken. There's no need to cheat by using canned biscuits either – these drop biscuits are easy to put together. You can even use shredded leftover Thanksgiving turkey in place of the chicken (just skip to step 2).

Chicken and Dumplings

Stew:

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed

5 Tbs unsalted butter

4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 large onion, chopped fine

1 tsp salt

3 garlic cloves

6 Tbs all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dry sherry

1/3 cup heavy cream

Dumplings:

2 cups flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/3 cups heavy cream

Directions for the stew

1. Bring broth to a simmer in Dutch oven over high heat. Add chicken and return to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is just cooked through (about 10 min). Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with aluminum foil. Transfer broth into large bowl.

2. Return empty Dutch oven to medium-high heat and melt butter. Add carrots, onion, and salt and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir in four and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Stir in sherry, scraping up browned bits. Stir in reserved broth, cream, thyme, bay leaves, and pepper and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until stew thickens, about 20 minutes.

Directions for dumplings

Stir flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Stir in cream until incorporated (dough will be very thick and shaggy).

To finish

Discard bay leaves and return stew to rapid simmer. Shred reserved chicken and add to stew along with any accumulated juices, peas, 3 tablespoons parsley. Using 2 large soup spoons or small ice cream scoop, drop golf ball-sized dumpling onto stew about 1/4 inch apart (you should have 16 - 18 dumplings). Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until dumplings have doubled in size, 15 - 18 minutes. Garnish with remaining parsley. Serve.

Now that it's cooler outside, my ice cream maker is working so much better. It has finally decided to cooperate. During the hot summer months, I could churn and churn without results because the frozen canister would defrost so quickly in the 80 degree weather. Now, it works like a charm – I can get ice cream in 20 minutes. Luckily, I appreciate ice cream year 'round, so eating massive amounts of ice cream now makes me just as happy as eating it during the summer.

So now I've started churning out batch after batch of ice cream. The most current flavor is pumpkin pie ice cream with molasses cookie crumbles.

As you can see, this ice cream makes for great ginger molasses and pumpkin pie ice cream sandwiches. For the cookies, follow this recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

4 egg yolks

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 splash bourbon

A handful of gingersnap crumbs or ginger molasses cookie crumbs.

Directions:

1. Heat the cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a sauce pan until it almost boils, about 5 minutes.

2. Reduce the heat to low.

3. Add one tablespoon of the cream mixture to the egg to temper it.

4. Add the egg to the sauce pan.

5. Cook at low heat without boiling, until it is slightly thickened and coats the back of a spoon.

6. Strain mixture with a sieve to remove clumps.

7. Add pumpkin puree and stir.

8. Chill the mixture in the fridge.

9. Freeze according to the instructions for your ice cream machine. (Add crumbs when the ice cream begins to become the texture of soft serve.)

There's nothing that says "celebration" like a few dozen cupcakes. Cupcakes are cute, festive, whimsical, and bite-size (well, that depends on the size of your mouth I guess). And they don't require plates and utensils.

So to celebrate my friend landing a new job in Atlanta, we made her a cupcake buffet. For my cupcake contribution, I decided to go with a crowd-pleasing flavor combo of peanut butter and chocolate. It's win-win. These rich, thick chocolate cupcakes are filled with a Reese's-esque peanut butter filling and topped with a creamy peanut butter frosting made of cream cheese, whipped cream, and peanut butter.

So how good are the treats? These cupcake cuties are profanity-proclaiming good. Explicatives spewed from friends' mouths as soon as their teeth sunk into the filling. Just check out this photo:

To make them, just plop some of the thicky thick sour cream chocolate batter on the bottom of the cupcake liner, then place a peanut butter filling ball on top, and then cover with more batter. The cupcake batter is very dense – bakes up really well and holds also up the heavy peanut butter filling balls.

For the frosting, I used a size 1M Wilton frosting tip to get the big swirls on top of the cupcakes. No professional pastry bag is needed here – use a large Zip-Lock bag and snip off one end to accommodate a large coupler and the 1M tip, then fill with the marshmallowy frosting. (Be sure to lick the frosting bowl.)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 cup confectioners' sugar

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the cake:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 cup sour cream

2 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ cups sugar

2 large eggs

For the frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

½ cup creamy peanut butter

3¼ cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

To make the filling, combine the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla extract in a bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined.  Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls (at least 24) and set aside on a baking sheet.

To make the cake batter, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; whisk together and set aside.  In a liquid measuring cup, stir together the sour cream, milk and vanilla extract.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix just until incorporated.

Spoon a tablespoon or two of batter into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  Place a ball of the peanut butter filling in each cupcake well and top with the remaining batter so that all the cups are filled.  Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter and peanut butter until smooth. Slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth and well blended.  Mix in the whipped topping until smooth and fluffy.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Do you appreciate a fun guy?

I hope so. This recipe for stuffed fungi (hardy har har), aka. Stuffed Mushrooms, is fabulous. Even those people who don't like the slimy, mushy texture of cooked mushrooms might enjoy this appetizer recipe -- the mushroom caps are only sauteed and still hold their crunch. You just fill them up with a mixture of cheeses and pop them in the oven. I served them up at my dinner club last night and they were quite the hit ... as fun guys usually are at parties. (Stop rolling your eyes. I can see you.)

To make these, you only need six ingredients. Which is a good thing because recipes with ingredient lists over 10 items scare me. I used Gorgonzola cheese here and I halved the recipe easily. You can assemble the dish in advance and store it in the fridge until you are ready to broil them.

• The ingredients: (clockwise) Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms, green onions, Gorgonzola, cream cheese and butter.

• Decapitate the bad boys.

• Mix up the stuffing goodies.

• Stuff 'em good.

Stuffed Mushrooms

2 lbs medium mushrooms

6 tablespoons butter

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 tablespoons chopped green onions

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

1. Remove stems from mushrooms; chop enough stems to equal 1/2 cup.

2. Cook 1 pound of the mushroom caps in 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat for 5 minutes; drain off fat.

3. Repeat with remaining 1 pound of mushroom caps and 3 tablespoons butter.

4. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and blue cheese, mixing until well blended.

5. Stir in chopped stems and green onions; fill mushroom caps.

6. Place on cookie sheet and broil until warm and tops are golden brown.

Yes, I know, ice cream is for the summer! But this is a special fall edition flavor of ice cream – Maple Pecan.

And they're not just any regular plain pecans in this ice cream, they are buttery toasted, candied pecans.

This custard-based ice cream is sweetened with maple syrup (the real stuff – none of that Aunt Jemima gunk). Oh yes, and it has a splash of bourbon. The recipe says it is optional, but I demand that it is mandatory.

Maple Pecan Ice Cream

Recipe courtesy of Closet Cooking

3/4 cup pecans (roughly chopped)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

4 egg yolks

1 splash bourbon (optional)

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a pan.

2. Add the pecans, toss to coat, sprinkle on the sugar and heat until the pecans are nice and toasted, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Remove the pecans from the heat and let cool completely.

4. Heat the maple syrup, cream and milk in a sauce pan until it almost boils, about 5 minutes.

5. Reduce the heat to low.

6. Temper the eggs and stir them into the cream.

7. Cook at low heat until it thickens and can coat the back of a spoon.

8. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon.

9. Strain the mixture at this point to remove any bits that may have formed while warming.

10. Chill the mixture in the fridge.

11. Freeze the maple custard and toasted pecans according to the instructions for your ice cream machine.

For some reason I am feeling generous today and I am going to share the recipe for one of my favorite cookies with you, my faithful reader. It must be the upcoming holiday season...

These Ginger Molasses Cookies have an amazing soft and chewy texture. The trick is to refrigerate the dough 24 hours before baking. I'm thinking this has something to do with achieving the chewiness of the cookies.

Because the balls of dough are rolled in a mixture of granulated and demerara sugar before baking, they have a sugary crunch when you bite into them. What's demerara sugar? Demerara is a type of unrefined sugar with a large grain. When sugar cane syrup is dehydrated, it forms the large golden brown crystals. Using demerara gives the cookies a bigger crunch than just using granulated sugar alone.

• The cookies will puff up while they bake. To ensure a chewy texture, be careful not to overbake.

• Sparkley! This picture doesn't show how pretty and glittery these cookies really are.

• If you want to go overboard (like I always do), serve them with homemade Maple Pecan Ice Cream.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

1 stick butter, softened

1/3 cup cup dark molasses

1/8 cup water

1/4 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

3 1/4 cups unsifted flour

1/2 tablespoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 heaping teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup mixed sugars (demerara and granulated sugar)

Cream butter, molasses, water, salt and brown sugar together. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Sift dry ingredients together and add gradually to the creamed mixture. Mix well (dough will be stiff). Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into 1.5-inch balls and roll each ball in the sugar mix to cover. Bake for 13 to 16 minutes.

The recipe for the Maple Pecan Ice Cream to come...