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Last weekend, we gathered for our first Christmas celebration of the season. Admittedly, the day snuck up on me - as Christmas always does - but there was just enough time to whip up a holiday classic: peppermint bark. The candy was a hit, and the most audible raves were from my seven-year-old cousin who took more than half of it home with her. I altered this recipe, omitting the oil, adding more peppermints, and melting the chocolate in the microwave for about two minutes, stirring halfway through.

Not sure what to buy the outdoorsman in your life? Check out the gift guide here!

{ recipe } apple crisp

Once the thermometer dips, spending hours in the kitchen no longer seems like work - and with an abundance of apples at the grocery store, a rustic apple crisp seemed like the perfect way to welcome autumn. Delicious on its own for dessert, it was also incredible swirled into a hearty bowl of oatmeal the next morning, leaving the pan empty less than 12 hours later.

Z is for Zucchini

We've been enjoying a bit of an Indian Summer here in Wisconsin with temperatures in the 80s.I know I should appreciate the last few days of sleeveless blouses, but I'm ready for weekends of cozy knits and comfort food. (Yes, I'm certain to regret this statement in January.) I compromised with Mother Nature and tried this recipe that pairs stick-to-your-ribs appeal with the season's last zucchinis.*

*The recipe calls for two pounds of pasta, then instructs you to save half of the cooked noodles for Mac 'n Cheese later. You've been warned.

Eat Fresh

Summertime calls for easy recipes with fresh ingredients, like this one for chicken paillards with lemon-butter sauce. Martha Stewart outdid herself with this one, which is more than I can say for her in the past. The domestic diva first let me down with ham and cheese crepes (I know, I know, it even sounds bad), then with a questionable shrimp salad. Thank goodness she redeemed herself and made my monthly subscription to Martha Stewart Living worthwhile. Serve the chicken on a bed of fresh baby spinach, which wilts perfectly from the heat of the sauce.

Easy Bake Oven

Rain clouds blanketed Southern Wisconsin on Saturday, leaving me with only one option: take stock of the kitchen cupboards, then take to the stove.

With mountains of sugar and lumps of butter, oatmeal cookies were just the "healthy" treat I was looking for.

I did add raisins as a healthy complement to the oatmeal - just before offsetting the cookie's redeeming attributes with chocolate chips in both milk chocolate and white chocolate.

The lumps of cookie dough tasted just as good as they look. Raw eggs be damned; nothing comes between me and a morsel of brown sugary, creamy batter.

Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 pound butter (leave at room temperature until softened)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose baking flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
3 cups oatmeal
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)
3/4 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well then add to batter.

Stir in oatmeal, raisins and chocolate chips. Mix well.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Recipe: Beer Bread

We've had a couple of soggy, overcast days that left me aching for comfort food. I didn't have much ambition for an intricate recipe, so I opted for a warm loaf of fresh beer bread (a.k.a. one of the easiest recipes in my arsenal). This hearty bread is best right out of the oven, especially paired with a bowl of thick, creamy soup.

Beer Bread
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients
3 cups flour (sifted - this is the key to keeping the loaf soft and fluffy)
3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using self-rising flour)
1 teaspoon salt (omit if using self-rising flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 (12 ounce) can of beer*
1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup is plenty)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix dry ingredients and beer.
3. Pour into a greased loaf pan. (I grease and flour the pan.)
4. Pour melted butter over mixture
5. Bake 1 hour. Remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

*I used New Glarus Brewery's Spotted Cow beer which is - unofficially - Wisconsin's favorite beer. Next time you're in the state, I'll buy you one.

Recipe: Blueberry Tart

Few things are as quintessentially summer as buckets full of berries - and this weekend I dumped piles of blueberries (5 cups to be exact) into what has now become my favorite summer dessert: a Blueberry Tart.

My mom gushed about the recipe she found in Woman's Day for no less than 20 minutes on the phone last weekend - and a few days later, I found the recipe waiting in my mailbox with a note saying, "If you find a good sale on blueberries, you should try this."

Well, I didn't find blueberries on sale. But after such rave reviews from my mom, I was game for dropping my hard-earned cash on full-price berries.

And you know what? She was right. But it didn't get such verbal accolades from my boyfriend and me - just the scrape of forks against the china, moans of delight and clutching our too-full bellies later.

Blueberry Tart
(serves 12 - or just one blueberry-loving couple)

Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut up
1 tbsp white vinegar
5 cups blueberries
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla extract instead.)
confectioners' sugar

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a 9-inch square or round tart pan with a removable bottom with nonstick spray. (If you don't have a pan with a removable bottom, don't worry. The tart is easy to remove.)
2. Pulse 1 cup flour, 2 tbsp sugar and the salt in food processor until blended. Add butter; pulse just until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle with vinegar; pulse just until blended. Turn out dough and bring together with fingers. (I didn't use a food processor; just a fork to blend - much like making the crust for a pan of lemon bars.)
   
3. Press dough into bottom of tart pan. Top with 3 cups of berries. Mix remaining 2 tbsp flour, 2/3 cup sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Evenly sprinkle over berries; drizzle with almond extract.
4. Bake tart 50 to 60 minutes until bubbly. Remove from oven and top with remaining 2 cups of berries. Let cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
   

Per serving: 200 cal, 2 g pro, 32 g car, 2 g fiber, 8 g fat (5 g sat fat), 20 mg chol, 99 mg sod