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Baking, Friendsgiving, and 16 Recipes Later

December 01, 2024

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! 🦃 This past week, I continued bread-making, and I’m not stopping anytime soon. I made fluffy dinner rolls for our Friendsgiving last Friday and baked cinnamon rolls with my little cousin, Amelie, after school. She drives now (!) and came over to visit, so we spent the afternoon baking. We made Nutella-filled cookies, lemon caramel, and agua de pepino. While we baked, I made Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Butter Pasta—a quick and classic dinner here. 🍝

For Friday’s Friendsgiving, I made the rolls (as I mentioned), honey crisp salad, and a family classic and my friends’ favorite—my mom’s magic bars. For Saturday’s Friendsgiving, I made apple crisp, toasted marshmallow brown sugar cookie bars, and brussels sprouts.

I tested 16 new recipes this week and made some classics, too. It was another great week in the kitchen, filled with baking, cooking, and sharing it with loved ones. 💛

Recipes Made So Far This Year:

Goal: To try seven new recipes each week 🗓️, aiming for 365 this year!

 Number of Recipes Made this Week: 16 ✅ 

Number of New Recipes Tested as of 11/24: 406 🌟

Weeks Achieving Seven or More New Recipes: 45 out of 47

This Week’s Recipe Test Summary

Impress Someone🌟

Last year, I attempted dinner rolls for Friendsgiving, but they didn’t rise properly and turned out rock solid. 😅 The next day, I tried Chrissy Teigen’s Parm-Dusted Garlic-Butter Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls, and while they were impressive, they didn’t reach the “bake instead of buy” level. This year, I tried these rolls (with store-bought ones as a backup), and they were amazing! I was so, so happy—not one roll was left. This will now be my go-to recipe for dinner rolls, and I don’t think I need to search for another recipe!

Would Make Again 👍

My friend’s fiancé requested a salad for Friendsgiving, and salads haven’t always been my strong suit—but this one was delicious! I might replace the dressing next time since it’s heavy on apple cider vinegar, but the mix of candied walnuts and crisp apples was a hit.

My sister gifted me an extra cucumber, so I quickly made this with my cousin. It’s super refreshing and easy to make. Straining the juice keeps it smooth, unlike some chunky agua frescas.

My sister sent me this postpartum recipe, and it was so interesting! I’ve made it twice for her and the kids. The first time, they couldn’t wait and ate both trays before they were fully set. 😂 For the second batch, I added more gelatin to make the drops firmer.

The cookie dough is simple, but the Nutella filling takes it to another level. These are great basic cookies, perfect for using pantry staples.

My first attempt at cinnamon rolls! These are impressive for a quick bake, needing just one rise. Perfect for a morning brunch with family or friends—they’ll think you worked all day! I had leftovers for two days and continued to enjoy them.

I originally planned to make an apple salad for Friendsgiving, but I realized I was missing an ingredient two hours before. I quickly searched my Paprika app and found this recipe, which I had everything for and could finish in time. Our friend X enjoyed it!

Would Not Make Again 👎

These recipes didn’t live up to expectations or weren’t to my taste

This was a no-go. Sometimes, I find Half Baked Harvest’s instructions confusing—like this recipe, where the base is baked twice as long as the top layer. The combination sounded good but ended up messy.

These were too simple to live up to the name.

Banana Cottage Cheese Pancakes from Indulge [Cookbook] by Valerie Bertinelli 🍌🥞

My first time adding cottage cheese to a recipe. It was just okay—not something I’d make again.

Lemon Caramel from At Home in the Kitchen [Cookbook] by David Kinch with Devin Fuller 🍋🍯

The instructions didn’t include temperatures, and I couldn’t get the caramel to the right consistency.

Pizza Cracker from Jennifer Garner | Instagram Reel 🍕

While watching Be My Guest with Ina Garten on the plane home, I saw this. Jennifer Garner made it look exciting, but the crackers were okay, and waiting for the dough to rise didn’t feel worth it.

It's a classic dish, but this version didn’t impress.

It was simple, but it didn’t stand out.

Chicken Thigh Parm from Indulge [Cookbook] by Valerie Bertinelli 🐔

It's not a bad recipe, but I’ve had better versions.

Just okay.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or any recipe requests you might have. Just respond directly to this email.

See you next week. Keep cooking! 👋 

Vale from ValeCooks

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