The Kitchen — The Happiest Home

Pancetta-fried brown rice with mixed veggies

by Meagan Francis November 14, 2013

Once in a while, a family favorite comes about by accident. This one was born a couple of weeks ago. We’d had a family gathering over the weekend that wiped out most of our groceries. Then that Monday, Jon and I both came down with a bad cold. By Wednesday we were feeling better, but […]

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5 Ways To Save Time In The Kitchen

by Meagan Francis November 11, 2013

Between family gatherings and a birthday party (my son turned 16 yesterday!) it was a busy weekend around here – so I’m re-publishing the post from a few years back. Even though I’ve gotten a lot more skilled in the kitchen since I wrote this, and have added plenty of new techniques to my repertoire, […]

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Quick and Easy Apple Hand Pies with Salted Caramel

by Meagan Francis November 6, 2013

This post is sponsored by Marzetti. Is there anything better in the autumn than an apple pie? No? How about a portable pocket of pie goodness with a creamy-sweet-and-slightly-salty surprise? I came up with this idea because I was looking for an easy-to-make fall dessert that incorporated the flavor of salted caramel, but I didn’t want […]

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Discovering my food culture

by Meagan Francis October 31, 2013

For most of my adult life I’ve struggled to identify my food culture. My ethnic background is mostly a mix of hardy Scandinavian/Nordic and European stock: Irish, English, Finnish, German, possibly Norwegian, with some who-knows-what-else thrown in for good measure. But it’s not like I grew up eating traditional ethnic dishes that had been passed […]

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Eat that candy, kids. (On high-fructose corn syrup, special occasions, and life).

by Meagan Francis October 28, 2013

I wrote this post a couple of years ago, and it generated some great conversation. As we approach trick-or-treating this year, I thought I’d re-publish and keep the discussion going.-Meagan A couple of Halloweens ago, my brother-in-law Scott and my husband Jon decided to build a spectacular Pirates of the Caribbean-themed display for our yard. […]

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Recipe: Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Vegetables

by Sarah Powers October 25, 2013

This post is by Sarah Powers, Happiest Home contributor and Managing Editor, and blogger at Powers of Mine. I love to make soup, but I have a hard time following soup recipes for some reason. They often seem more complicated than they really are (lots of ingredients broken out into many steps, but really in the […]

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5 great podcasts to do the dishes by

by Meagan Francis September 17, 2013

I’m in my kitchen a LOT. Besides the bedroom, it’s probably the room I spend the most time in. And honestly, I used to find it pretty boring a lot of the time…until I discovered podcasts. Now, great podcasts keep me entertained from the time I drizzle olive oil in the pan until the last […]

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What’s For Lunch? Roasted tomatoes with garlic and mozzarella

by Meagan Francis August 14, 2013

Is there anything better than a fresh, sweet, riper-than-ripe tomato? I say this as somebody who thought I didn’t like tomatoes for the first 25 years of my life. I thought that because, up until then, I’d only ever had bland, mealy and out-of-season tomatoes. The first time I had a fresh, ripe tomato on a […]

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Foil pack grilled chicken, Southwest style

by Meagan Francis August 8, 2013

This post and video are part of a series sponsored by ConAgra Foods. I shared a while back that I’m trying to get more confident with grilling (instead of always passing the job off to my husband.) But I also admit that sometimes, family and kid duties make it difficult for me to hang around […]

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How to make fresh lemon curd (it’s easier than it looks!)

by Meagan Francis July 18, 2013

Every now and then I get an itch to try to make something that sounds exotic and difficult, only to learn that it’s not nearly as tricky to make as I’d thought. I’ve decided to turn those discoveries into a semi-regular series here at The Happiest Home called “Easier than it looks.” Because it’s satisfying […]

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