A Year of Yum

2009 turned out to be a rather light blogging year for Cooking with Anne, but with good reason. With some of my duties stepped up at Family.com, A Thousand Soups doing fairly well and a new staff writing position at Half Hour Meals, there was a lot of food going on, just not all in one spot.

The year started of with a real high as I was featured in our local newspaper and the story then spread literally world-wide. There is no longer a link to the original story at The Morning Call, but there are links elsewhere. Two of those links are at The Seattle Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.


I was also fortunate enough to have some of my work for Family.com chosen to be displayed at The Princess and the Frog website. Click HERE for the site and when the site loads (I really love the background music!), click on 'Community' and then 'Cooking' to find seven of my favorite Cajun recipes (the ones tagged with 'Recipe provided by Disney Family.com') on site!

This is also the year that I started a Facebook Fan Page for Cooking with Anne - be sure to stop by!

I'm hoping this next year will be a bit fuller here at Cooking with Anne, and until then these are my favorite posts from this past year:

Homemade Hummus and Wheat Pita

Bacon Pie

St. Andrè Dessert Tart

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: There's No Place Like Home

Chocolate Crusted Chocolate Tarts

Wacky Cake: Frugal, Vegan, Delicious

To Pea or Not to Pea

Chicken Pot Pie

Part of a recipe developers job, beyond the creation of recipes for a specific client, is also sometimes the 'creation' of tried and true mainstays. A publisher wants their own versions of the recipes we all know and love to help fill out their database.

It was just such a circumstance that led to revamping my own chicken pot pie recipe. That, in turn, led to several funny and opinionated discussions via Twitter and Facebook about whether or not peas should be added to a pot pie.

Living in Pennsylvania, one must first get past the bounds of which pot pie you're cooking; the P.A. Dutch version, or the comfort food classic that we all know. My own recipe has always been the equivalent of a chicken stew cooked in a pie crust. No pomp and circumstance, no muss, no fuss. My own mother made hers the same way, lots of chicken and potatoes, no peas.

Every single pot pie I'd ever seen anywhere else, including within the grocer's freezer, contained those little green spheres, but not mom's. Search as I may, I couldn't find a single instance in a cookbook or online without the inclusion of peas. So, I thought I'd poll my corner of the world and ask which it was; Peas or No Peas.

Some of the answers I received were downright hysterical:

Patrick N: I've never known a CPP that didn't have peas

April Jean: peas!

Louise Lenner: sometimes with...sometimes without depends on the tastebuds..I like ANY chicken pot pie lol

Rhonda Jenkins: I don't always eat the peas but I've never seen one without them! If I were making it though, I'd probably leave them out since Stephen is allergic to them. Speaking of which, how about a good recipe? I have chicken out for dinner tonight! lol

Trinette Stowell: Yes, please! Or not. Either way is fine with me.

Dave Baun: YES! PEAS! PLEASE!

Ryan Boudreaux: Hello....peas and carrots are a must! lol

Krista Foster: That you would even contemplate not adding peas makes me question your culinary integrity (LOL!!!!)

Daniel East: I have to say it: Give peas a chance! (there, I said it)

Drheckle MrGibe: Only a neophyte wouldn't add peas to pot pie

Jennifer Koenig Wilson: peas.·

Cassidy Coleman: EWWWWW!!!! NO FREAKING PEAS!

Jenn DiPiazza: PEAS!

Reese Badman: Peas! If they're nice and fresh when you put 'em in, they're like little explosions of goodness when you bite into them. Peas all the way!

Joan Nova: peas pls

Duane Foster: You have to have peas.

Heather Cohen: YES! PEAS!

Audrey Michael-smith: Even though I do not like them they do add a little color.. my vote is YES

Bruce Sarte: Peas -- definitely!

Paul Landis: No Peas??? Epic fail.

Yvonne Freitas- Garcia: no peas............. blah! Was never a fan. Chicken Pot Pie. *drools

Kate Parker: Absolutely add peas, YES YES YES!!!!!!!!·

Morgana Kennedy: This is a very serious question. My kids hate peas and would get out of eating dinner if they were in there. You could always be a "sneaky chef" and puree the peas so no one will know they are there. Something I do a lot. Good luck!

Jason Sturdevant: Just tell them its peas or brussell sprouts...

Kerri Koch: oooh ~ no peas in my pot pie please!

Wendy Mikko-Wood: A pot pie without peas? No way!

Toontz Okara: Peas!!!!

Caroline Kahikina McCloud: Coming in late on this, but PEAS yes! Mushrooms are the debate in our household. I generally make one with mushrooms and without.

Paula Dancho-Moffo yes!

Mickie Connor Young: Peas, definitely.

Jennifer Buckner Atkinson: Peas!

Faith Bond: of course..always had it in that i knew

Rachel Zenhausern: No! No peas! It's the one reason I avoid chicken pot pies when other people make them. I hate the peas. I've always hated peas. Just the smell of them makes me gag! Please no peas. My chicken pot pie is a creamy mix of mushrooms and broccoli topped with a homemade biscuit crust.

Kristine Grampo McNerney: No Peas! Please: )

Jenn DiPiazza: PEAS!

Tom Pierce: whirled peas

Julie Pleiness Liedke: peas.... for sure:-)

Anok Kropotkin: Peas!

Hannah Rittenhouse: peas..sure and little diced carrots too..yummo! that other one with the broccoli sounds yummo but is not a traditional chicken pot pie..actually they're ALL chicken PIES..if it's made in a pot a "la pa dutch" THEN it's a pot pie! AHAHAHA!

Virginia Tadrzynski: peas, definitely, that is unless you go to put peas in the potpie and 'sob' and 'alas' (you toss your head back and cover your forehead with your arm) THERE ARE NO PEAS in the freezer. Then...no peas.

I had several answers on Twitter, as well - from simple 'yes' to 'No peas. Ick! Pa-tooey.' It does seem that the peas won out, so in re-doing my recipe, I added peas. I have to say, though - when making this for my own family, the peas are out.

You may also notice that I've done another controversial thing - added potatoes. I've never had a pot pie at home that didn't contain potatoes and I love the flavor and texture they add.

Whichever you choose, Peas or No Peas, one thing is for sure, pot pie is one of the best things going.

This is the pot pie as it looks when made in one pan.

Anne's Chicken Pot Pie
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced potato
1 cup diced carrot
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup frozen peas
4 cups cooked and cubed chicken
1 double pie crust rolled to 1/4" thick and cut into eight 4.5" circles

Melt butter in a large pot and add onion, celery, carrot and potato.
Cook over low heat until vegetables begin to soften - about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir well. Pour stock into the pot in a thin stream, stirring all the while until the sauce begins to thicken. Add thyme, salt and pepper. Stir in chicken and peas. Cook for another 10 minutes until bubbly and completely heated through.

Ladle filling into 1 cup capacity ramekins or other suitable vessel - even oven-proof coffee mugs work well for this! Top each cup with a round of pie dough and set on a baking sheet.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until pie crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling out the edges.

Lindsay Olives - Perfect for Any Party

I love olives. Next to tomatoes they are my very favorite food and I could eat every variety known to man every minute of every day. That's serious love, folks. What I don't enjoy too much is opening cans. I like black olives as much as the next person (although Nicoise are my favorite) but wrestling cans open (you have to know my can opener to understand) just isn't fun.

Lindsay Olives have come up with a brilliant solution; re-closeable containers. While I admit that I could finish off an entire can of olives myself, not everyone has such fortitude and the need to store the little black gems is necessary.

Pitted ripe olives (medium or large size) and Italian Seasoned are the three products that come in handy little resealable bowls. Eat what you want, pop the lid back on and stow them in the fridge until the next time you need them - which would be every 5 minutes for me, but may be longer for other individuals. The Italian Seasoned olives are my favorite of the bunch - they taste nearly identical to my favorite baked olive, but with the added bonus of being ready from the jar! Those were gone in 15 minutes flat.

Try them for yourself by checking out the Lindsay website for a store near you, a valuable coupon and a complete list of Lindsay olive products. See if you don't think these are the next best thing to sliced tomatoes, too.

Christmas Cake

The top of this year's snowflake cake.

I think the first year I started blogging, which was 2005, I went into great detail about our Christmas celebrations and food. Not much changes from year to year in the department, but there are differences. Usually it's something one of the kids has requested or a recipe I caught from a magazine that I had to try. This year one of the desserts was something I haven't made for about 12 years - a snowflake cake.

I can't remember what magazine I found this beauty in, but I thought it was one of the prettiest cakes I've ever seen and had to tackle it. Back then I had 3 children and lots more time, so it wasn't so taxing to get it done. Over the years, as we added 4 more kids and lost some time I let it slide and intended to make it, but never got 'a round tuit'.

This year I wanted to make that cake come Hell or high water, and I did. I was amazed at how easily it went together and quietly scolded myself for not having done it earlier. It was a show stopper - as it was meant to be - and the cake itself was so good that my mother-in-law called (on behalf of my brother-in-law) to ask if we had any left.

My first snowflake cake from 1997.

The cake itself is one of my newest favorites, Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake, which I first made with the Daring Bakers almost 2 years ago. I have since come to love that cake and use it as a base for many, many desserts. This time I made 4 layers of the cake and sandwiched ALDI's Fruits of the Forest Spread between the layers (this spread is to-die-for and you must find an ALDI and seek this out) and topped the cake with a basic buttercream icing.

Once assembled, I piped 'snowflakes' (which were really more star-like because they have more than 6 sides) out of melted white chips and added pearlized dragées to them. I usually use silver or gold dragées, but they were hard to find this year.

Once the snowflakes are set, I add them in a pile to the top of the cake and sprinkle the whole top with large crystal sugar to give it extra sparkle. Give it a try sometime - it's a good cake for all winter long, not just Christmas.

What are the food traditions your family can't live without? What is something new you've tried this year?

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

I got this recipe from a dear friend of mine, Hannah who I met over 10 years ago in an AOL chat room. No, it wasn't "Single and Looking", it was "Food Chat" where I met a ton of great people and talked about food (and silliness) all day. I met several of them face-to-face, but Hannah is the only one I've met up with more than once.

I haven't seen her for some time now (my fault), but I do get to talk to her just about daily on Facebook. This is a recipe she sent through to a few of us and the only change I made was to add white chips in with the cranberries and the kids devoured these in no time!

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Printable Recipe

Preheat oven to 350º and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (this may be reused for baking more than one batch and your cookie sheet stays clean). I mix all cookies by hand because I think it really makes a more tender dough.

1 stick margarine or butter at room temperature. If margarine make sure that it has at least 60% fat content.
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar NOT packed in a measuring cup
Cream above ingredients until well incorporated and fluffy then add and mix:

1 large egg (also at room temperature)
1/2 t. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients:
1/2 scant t. baking soda
3/4 c. all-purpose flour (Note: I made these on a humid day and needed 1 cup flour)
1 c. old fashioned oats (not instant - the ones that take about 5 minutes to cook)

Add to the 'liquid' mixture to form a fairly stiff dough.

Chop about 1/3 c. craisins (dried cranberries) and mix into the dough. There should be enough so that every cookie has a few pieces of the fruit.

Drop by rounded teaspoons on cookie sheet about 1 1/2 - 2 inches apart.

Bake for about 12 minutes until the bottom is lightly browned and you can smell the cookies ... if you time the first batch all batches will be consistently baked and not too dark.

Remove to cooling racks and cool completely. Keep well in a tin or plastic container.