Every year I vow to do better meal planning and this year was no exception. I busted out all the cookbooks in my cupboard and did a great job of trying new recipes…for about 3 months. It started to fall apart when the kids after school activities picked up and never quite recovered. That early year diligence did lead to some standard rotations in my meals, one of which was this green bean recipe. It comes out of Chrissy Teigan’s Cravings Vol. 1 cookbook and is so simple and delicious. Recipe and photo courtesy of Cravings.

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted, optional

In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, combine the water, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the green beans, cover, and cook over medium-high heat until the sugar water begins to reduce, 7 to 9 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, tossing the beans, until the sugar reduces to a very light syrup and the beans are no longer crisp but somehow miraculously aren’t mushy, making sure it doesn’t burn (add a splash of water if necessary), 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and top with the butter and pepper. Season with more salt to taste. If using, garnish with the almonds and serve.

This summer we tried our hand at gardening and on a whim I bought three tomato plants. They took root much better than I planned and I ended up with a wonderful tomato harvest. I have one other salsa recipe but it uses canned tomatoes so I knew I would need something different for fresh tomatoes. I first tried roasting the vegetables over direct flame, but I really didn’t like the way it turned out, so the second time I tried under a broiler in the oven and it worked beautifully. This recipe was so so good.

• 2 pounds Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 6 unpeeled garlic cloves
• 2 chiles, I used Anaheim, seeded and halved
• 1 large white onion, quartered and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• large handful of cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon lime juice

Preheat your broiler to high. Place all your veggies and the unpeeled garlic skin side up on a roasting pan or cookie sheet. Broil for 6-8 minutes, or until the tomatoes and chiles have blistered and blackened pretty thoroughly on top. Remove pan from the oven, and peel and discard the skin from the garlic cloves.  Transfer the tomatoes, garlic, onion and chiles to the bowl of a food processor or blender.  At this point (if you’re feeling impatient and hungry), you can either go ahead and add in the remaining ingredients and puree the salsa until it’s smooth while it’s warm.  Or you can transfer the roasted veggies to the refrigerator and let them chill until cooled, then proceed with adding in the remaining ingredients and pureeing the salsa until smooth. Taste, and season with extra salt or lime juice if needed.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

My sister made this recipe for Thanksgiving this year and they are crazy addicting. I made them for my open house and they were a big hit. I like to make my own homemade cranberry sauce but if time is an issue you can definitely used a pre-made whole berry cranberry sauce.

Cranberry Sauce

• 1/2 bag fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• zest from half an orange

Brie Bites

• 1 tube of original crescent rolls
• 1 wheel of Brie cheese
• cranberry sauce
• rosemary sprigs, optional

Start by combining all of the cranberry sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium to low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. You want the cranberries to burst and the sauce to reduce down to a pretty thick consistency. From here you can use the sauce immediately or, if you are making this in advance, put it in a container and store in the fridge.

When you are ready to assemble the bites, preheat the oven to 375. Roll out your crescent rolls on a piece of wax paper, pinching all the lines to make one smooth sheet. I like to take a quick rolling pin to the sheet to make it an even thickness. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the sheet into 24 pieces and fill each slot in an ungreased mini muffin pan. Put a piece of brie cheese (without wax) into each slot and top with cranberry sauce. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

This is another of my paternal grandmother’s favorite party appetizers. They are so easy and addicting, and come together so quickly.

• 12-16 oz plain oyster crackers
• 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk Recipe Salad Mix
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2-1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4-1 cup salad (vegetable) oil

Combine mix and oil, add in dill weed, garlic powder and lemon pepper. Pour over crackers, stir to coat. Place in warm oven (250) for 15-20 mins.