Seasonal Sundays (Week 3) Staying In, Staying Warm

Bundle up, y'all ... because brrrr, chill, it feels like winter. So let's stay in, shall we? while staying warm, too? This week, I've collected seven recipes to warm our kitchens and warm our innards and maybe even our hearts, all without breaking the bank, healthy resolutions or even, really, a sweat. You gotta admit, January's just a great month for settling in and cooking up a (snow-free) storm ...

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

~ PIN This ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

Hey, y'all. THANK YOU for following Kitchen Parade, for checking in on these Sunday recipe collections. It means the world to be welcomed into your InBox and RSS readers and most of all, your kitchens. So thank you, thank you. And if you like this week's recipes, perhaps you'll share this newsletter with a friend or social circle? If you forward this message, others may subscribe for free right here. Thank you!

Seasonal Cooks respond to changing seasons. We also react to weather!

So with deep-freeze temps ahead for much of the U.S. and Canada this next week, well, I'm leaning into cold-weather recipes and invite you to do so too. It'll be spring again before we know it ... and perhaps before we've revisited our winter favorites.

Climate change spurs thinking about how our pantries, our menus, even our tastes may be changing over time, so slowly perhaps without our even noticing it.

It was kinda the same at Christmas: Christmas Eve was so warm, none of my usual ugly sweaters, sparkly tops or holiday fleece worked, they were just too warm. I mused out loud with my sister, who lives in Texas and is used to moderate temperatures except in summer. Her recommendation? Cotton tops with three-quarter length sleeves, cool but easy to add a light sweater to.

Flashback! I remembered moving from Dallas to St. Louis some (yikes) 30+ years ago now and soon realizing that all my "winter" cotton sweaters just wouldn't cut it here in the four-season Midwest and especially St. Louis. I needed wool! But those wool sweaters? Hmm. I haven't worn one yet this winter season.

And so here I am, 30 years later, realizing that climate change means not only re-thinking my winter clothing but re-thinking my winter cooking. What are the "cotton three-quarter length sleeve tops" of recipes?

I'll be pondering it all this week, as pots simmer away ...

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: Frost on the window as the sun rises, so lovely, yes?!

In Praise Of ...

• ... the "nibbles" basket in the cheese section at Whole Foods. It's small chunks of good cheese, perfect if you're cooking for one or two, perfect for just a little bite of cheese beside a salad, perfect for a charcuterie board, perfect for ... you too?


• ... "Buy Nothing January" which so far is working great, we managed to avoid a tv replacement and the bed we bought on consignment had been on our list for-ever and was 1/5 the price (and the risk) of what I was looking at elsewhere ... BUT ... this Bon Appetit review has me re-thinking getting a multi-pot (a combo slow cooker and pressure cooker primarily) from Our Place, the functional review is 100% positive and the design review? 200% positive because for real, all those Instant-Pots are downright ugly ... anyone have any insight into the Dream Cooker? And, um, which color??? And, um, is it ok to wait until February?!


• ... a St. Louis bird that's not a baseball Cardinal??? Alors! But yeah, this is such a fascinating story, bird people you'll be amazed too, see The Bird That Lives in St. Louis — and Pretty Much Only St. Louis

The Year That Will Be 2024

Just FYI, political ads are showing up on my sites. Odds are, we'll all be seeing lots of ads on lots of sites this year, mine included. Here's how online ads work in this day and age.

• I don't pick the ads.
• If you see an ad that offends/bothers you, it's not "my" ad and doesn't reflect "my" viewpoint.
• I don't even see the ads you see. The ads you see are different than the ads I see.
• Each of us will see different ads, based on what "the Internet" knows about us.
• I could turn off all political ads but really, I'm loathe to forgo the income.
• It's gonna be a looooong year ...

The Words of Wise Women

• "We can’t look away, we have to face it. I believe we need to make a lot of noise to stop Trump from being elected. We need to talk about it constantly, express our fears, bond over good."
• ~ cartoonist and writer for the New Yorker, Liza Donnelly on the third anniversary of the 2021 Insurrection, read the full piece Who Are We? on her Substack newsletter which I also recommend, especially for cartoon lovers.

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SEASONAL INSPIRATION: Seven Recipes for Staying In, Staying Warm

• THE RECIPE Manna Café Oatcakes (Oatmeal Pancakes) Famous pancakes from a much-missed restaurant. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Creamy Oatmeal Three tricks for the very best oatmeal, all easy! (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Easy Everyday Bread for the Stand Mixer Better bread, no kneading by hand! (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Best-Ever Oatmeal Bread Hearty and substantial, slightly sweetened with molasses. A family favorite! (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Cabbage & White Bean Stew Spartan and spare, a welcome reset for our bodies and tastebuds.
• ANOTHER TAKE Peasant Cabbage Tomato Soup Perfectly simple = simple and perfect.

• THE RECIPE Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Sloppy Joes A little bit spicy, many rave reviews.
• ANOTHER TAKE Sweet Potato Curry with Red Lentils, Roasted Peppers & Spinach Stovetop or slow cooker vegan supper or side, spiked with a touch of heat.

• THE RECIPE Squash & Carrot Stew Rich with world spices.
• ANOTHER TAKE Simple Lentil Salad with Seasonal Vegetables A concept recipe for a supper salad. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Chicken Cacciatore The classic Italian stew, chicken slow-cooked in a rich tomato sauce. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Spiced Chicken Tagine with Roasted Cauliflower A one-pot supper with warm spices. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Slow-Cooked or Slow Cooker Pot Roast Three easy tricks for tender, moist and flavorful pot roast. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Winter Stew A master recipe, cook with confidence, no recipe required. (PIN This)

What's New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• THE RECIPE Winter Pesto with Spinach Familiar pesto with a spinach twist. (PIN This)

Useful Links This Month

Let me just presume that if you're reading this, well, you're both a cook and a recipe collector. Don't the two kinda go together? And that means you tuck aside interesting recipe ideas all over the place and then, dang, where is that chicken recipe that looked so good anyway? Here's an idea. Start a folder on your phone, call it "Kitchen Parade" or "Alanna" or whatever makes best sense to you. Then save the recipes you're most interested in right there in one place. Easy Peasy.

January: Five Ways to Make Tomato Soup

• Slow-Roasted Tomato Soup, roast some tomatoes one day (even winter romas) to make a rich, luxuriant tomato soup the next.
• Winter Tomato Soup, roasting and slow-cooking draw out summer flavor from canned tomatoes.
• Summer's Tomato Soup, a completely different soup, for those in the southern hemisphere!
• Rustic Tomato Basil Soup, tomato basil with chunks of other vegetables.
• Two-Can Ten-Minute Homemade Tomato Soup, is it really homemade? I say yes, yes, yes.

January: Reader Favorites

• THE RECIPE Crockpot Chili with Spicy Sausage Brown the meat, dump and go. (PIN This)
• MORE IDEAS Chillin': Favorite Chili, Chowder & Cornbread Recipes (PIN This)

January: Lost Recipes

• THE RECIPE Broiled Grapefruit Three ways to broil winter's best fruit. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Orange Julius Drinks With extra protein, no refined sugar.

The Kitchen Parade Almanac: Looking Ahead ...

• Jan 15th (Monday) - MLK Day
• February 10th (Wednesday) - Lunar New Year
• February 11th (duh, Sunday) - Superbowl Sunday
• February 13th (Tuesday) - Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Night
• February 14th (Wednesday) - Valentine's
• February 14th (Wednesday) - Ash Wednesday / Beginning of Lent
• Fridays During Lent - Friday Fish
• February 19th (Monday) - President's Day
• February 29th (Thursday) - Leap Day 2024
• March 1st - Alanna's Unofficial First Day of Spring
• March 10th - "spring forward" time change
• March 14th (Thursday) - Pi Day
• March 16th (Saturday) - St. Urho's Day
• March 17th (Sunday) - St. Patrick's Day
• March 19th (Tuesday) - First Official Day of Spring
• March 28th (Thursday) - Baseball Opening Day!
• March 31st - Easter (yikes! soooo early!)

Looking Back ...

THIS WEEK, YEARS PAST
• 2020 Mid January (Week 3)
• 2021 Inauguration Week (Week 3)
• 2022 Mid January (Week 3, After a Months-Long Hiatus, How Alanna Got Her Groove Back)
• 2023 Winter Dinners (Week 3)

RECENT WEEKS
• Juicing Up on Vitamin C (PIN This)
• January Bucket List (PIN This)
• Best of 2023 (Week 52) (PIN This)
• Taking It Sloooow (Week 49) (PIN This)
• Sweet Potato Season (Week 45) (PIN This)
• Chickpeas (Week 43) (PIN This)
• Soups to Sustain the Spirit (Week 42) (PIN This)

A Quick Peek Into a Real-Life Kitchen

Just so you know, everything's not all pretty pictures around here, in the background is a pile of dirty dishes. And just like many (all?) of us, come five o'clock, I too draw a blank about what to make for supper, despite so many recipes I so dearly love. Here's a quick peek from the last week.

• THIS WEEK I've declared this month "Buy Nothing January" food-wise too and so far, so good. (The exceptions are fresh veggies, eggs, milk ...) Mostly, it's beans, lentils, rice, farro, couscous, etc. plus proteins from the freezer. This week I used a frozen ham bone and instead of a long day of slow cooking, cooked the beans in two stints. As expected, still so good!
• THE RECIPE Red Beans & Rice Slow cooked Creole comfort food. (PIN This)

• THIS WEEK Finally, the Christmas cookies are gone! So says me. "All gone. ♥♥♥" So read the sticky note left atop the last tin of Christmas cookies, in a most familiar handwriting. Who can ignore such a sweet, hopeful request? I got out the butter and the cookie tin was replenished. I must admit that I forget about this recipe, even though it was my mother's only real cookie recipe and she knew it by heart. I tried butterscotch chips with this batch, yumm, they were maybe a little too good. So good!
• THE RECIPE Mom's Everyday Oatmeal Cookies Make the basic base dough, then mix in fun additions! (PIN This)

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Mashed Cauliflower (Low-Carb Lighter Mashed "Potatoes") So close to mashed potatoes, your mouth will do a double-take. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Roasted Cauliflower One of three easy vegetable recipes.

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

• Any ideas for Seasonal Sundays? Share away!
• Who's kinda happy for a deep freeze? It's so good for the earth, the plants ...
• Who's dieting? Just cutting back? Just staying mindful?
• Who's still writing 2023 on checks? LOL who's still writing checks?
• Anything else? Chime in, chat away.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

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2024