Denney - The girl who ate everything : easy family recipes from a girl who has tried them all

To the greatest taste testers in the world:

My husband, John, and my kids, Austin, Brock, Weston, Grace, and Bailey.

Introduction

When I was newly married, I remember looking over at my six-foot-six, 260-pound husband and thinking, "How am I going to feed this man?" I hadn't cooked much up to that point, and I realized that I needed to learn quicklyreally quickly. I started buying recipe books and trying out the recipes on my friends and family. There were many learning curves and a lot of epic fails, but I discovered along the way how much I relish cooking, especially because of the way it brings people together. I always knew I enjoyed eating food, but I learned then that I loved cooking just as much.

In 2008, my sister Sandra passed away unexpectedly at the age of 35. I was heartbroken. Most of my family lives in Arizona, and I struggled to cope with this trial on my own in Florida. I was in my kitchen one day, making a cherry cheese piea family favoriteand my pain eased a little as I remembered my sisters and I eating an entire cherry pie with no platesjust forks. We even promised to keep the pie a secret from our brothers, because we knew they wouldn't appreciate it like we did. For some reason, making family recipes proved to be my own kind of therapy; not to mention that it was a whole lot cheaper than buying premade food.

A few months later I started my blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything . I started by posting tried-and-true recipes from my family and friends. It was important to me to not only share stellar recipes, but also to tell the stories that went along with them. Every recipe has a story, and some are more intriguing than others. Whether it's how your grandma made her famous chocolate chip cookies, or how you covered yourself in flour the first time using your stand mixer, EVERY recipe has a story. At first, only my family read my blog, but slowly my readers grew in number. I am still in awe that so many people want to hear what I have to say, and actually make my recipes.

In 2010, General Mills asked me to write and develop recipes for them, and I agreed. I grew a lot working for them, and although I'm not a trained chef, there are certain tips and tricks that I learned along the way. Over time I learned skills like the basics of a roux and what flavors complement each other. I also discovered that I have a love for food photography and spent a lot of time researching and improving my knowledge in the area.

Over time, I developed a relationship with my readers; as much as I shared about my life, they shared back. I've met many people that I now consider great friends. Some I've met in person and some I have yet to meet. I get a lot of emails from readers saying that they never thought they could cook, but because of my blog, they've become passionate about cooking and have been successful at making delicious food. Those stories always make my day!

So many people ask me how I have time to cook, blog, and raise a family. My answer is: we all find time for things we love. Above all, my family comes first. My kids are always helping me in the kitchen and have actually become quite the little chefs. And although it does take some planning, I believe in sitting down every night for dinner as a family.

I've always tried to make our home a safe havenwarm and inviting, filled with people who love and care about each other. Half the neighborhood lives at our houseprobably due to the overwhelming amount of baked goods available at all times. At dinner I like to go around the table and have everyone share their favorite part of the day. It keeps things positive and gives us a chance to talk about what's going on in each others lives. Family dinners don't have to be complicated. I'm all about easy dinners, but if I have a recipe that takes a little more time, I will tell you up front. You can bet that it will be worth your time.

Tips and Tricks

Always use real butter.

Real butter makes all the difference, and I personally can tell in a recipe if something else was used. I always use unsalted butter in cookingespecially bakingso I can control the amount of salt in a recipe.

Parchment paper, parchment paper, parchment paper.

I use parchment paper for almost all of my baked goods. Cookies bake so much more evenly on it, and it prevents any kind of sticking.

Garlic.

I love garlic in everything. I don't always have fresh garlic cloves on hand, but the next best thing is a jar of minced garlicit makes things so much easier.

Use fresh lemon and lime juice.

This is one situation where there are no shortcuts.
Fresh lemon and lime juice is so much better.

Eggs.

All my recipes that call for eggs refer to large eggs. It's remarkable how using extra-large eggs instead of large eggs can immensely alter the outcome of a recipe.

Keep a well-stocked kitchen.

I always have chicken breasts, beef, chicken broth, canned beans, and diced tomatoes on hand for quick and easy dinners.

Antipasto Cups

My father-in-law has a salami sandwich almost every day for lunch, so I immediately thought of him when I came up with these. The salami gets crisp when baking, and is the perfect edible container to hold individual portions of this antipasto.

Ingredients

16 thin slices salami deli meat

1 (6-oz.) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1 (6-oz.) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

1 (4-oz.) can olives, drained

4 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

2 Tbsp. fresh basil, sliced into ribbons

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place a slice of salami in the cup of each muffin tin. Bake for 810 minutes or until the salami is slightly crisp. Remove from the oven and let it cool. The salami might fold slightly when baking, but can be reformed once it is cool.

To assemble the cups: Place about a tablespoon each of the artichoke hearts, red peppers, olives, and mozzarella in each cup. Top with a ribbon of basil.

Makes 16 servings

Slow Cooker Creamy Bean Dip