Sparkle Kitchen
Explore a world of culinary delight with our Sparkle Kitchen category. Discover mouthwatering recipes, cooking tips, and kitchen adventures to satisfy your appetite and spark your creativity in the kitchen.
Sparkle Kitchen: Peach Pizza Pie
While I would gladly choose peach pie with neighbors over canning tomatoes or cleaning the basement, I must confess that my favorite kind of peach pie isn’t the sweet kind — it’s peach pizza pie.
Sparkle Kitchen: Turkey Burgers
To help our turkey burgers taste like more of a summer celebration, I begin by buying turkey with a little higher fat content. It varies, depending on what’s available at the store in a given week, but I don’t like to buy ground turkey any higher than 93% lean.
Sparkle Kitchen: Blueberry Jam
So named because it must be kept in cold storage, “fridge jam” leaves out the last step in traditional canning — the boiling water bath to seal the jar. Further, because you’re keeping the jam cold, you can also play a bit faster and looser with the ingredients without worrying about things like acidity and botulism.
Sparkle Kitchen: Cherry Icicles
Some of you will probably remember ice pops from childhood — you know, the kind that came in the little plastic tubes. They’re still great for a treat, but, as a grown-up now, I prefer something a little healthier for our family’s day-in, day-out popsicle needs.
Sparkle Kitchen: Infused Honey
Lavender infused honey is a good starting place, but the method below will work with any number of ingredients. Think herbs like thyme, camomile, anise, cloves, rosemary, or mint. Or go really wild and infuse your honey with chili peppers, lemon peel, or dried mushrooms.
Sparkle Kitchen: Purslane Pesto
Purslane is a low-growing, sprawling plant with succulent-like, deep green leaves. While it’s commonly thought of as a weed, it’s actually quite edible. Its slightly lemon-y flavor is delicious when mixed in salads or pesto.
Sparkle Kitchen: A Granola Formula
This granola formula is the perfect chance to do a little experimentation, try something new! You never know when you’ll happen upon a winning combination!
Martin & Sylvia's "Everything" Granola Bites
While I sometimes just make baked granola crumbles, I also enjoy the chewier texture of granola that’s been baked into bars. But, truly, by the time the smell of toasted granola hits my nose, I find that I don’t care much what shape it is. We call these “granola bites” and love them just the same.
Sparkle Kitchen: Peanut Butter Yogurt Drops for Dogs
Another treat we’ve found that works is these simple frozen yogurt drops. With just two ingredients, they make a great recipe for small chefs to whip together for their canine friends. And, if it’s summer in your part of the world, your pup will also appreciate cooling off with these icy cold treats.
Sparkle Kitchen: Crab Cakes
Frozen or canned, a few lumps of crab meat sprinkled over a salad or in a sauce can make even the most avowed land-lover think fondly of the sea. But our favorite use for crab is crab cakes!
Sparkle Kitchen: Cowboy Baked Beans
Not only do they have incredible flavor, with the no-soak method discussed below, you can make up a batch in an afternoon instead of having to remember to start the process the night before.
Sparkle Kitchen: Pickles
In tribute to forgiving Pickles for his transgressions — and in the spirit of being thankful for a good harvest, too — a recipe for quick, refrigerator pickles.
Sparkle Kitchen: Open-Faced Sandwiches
Let's make some playful open-faced sandwiches, inspired by the At Home with Martin and Sylvia story "Faces."
Sparkle Kitchen: Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad
While strawberries make wonderful desserts and are a favorite for freezer jam, they can also be mixed into a salad for a more dinner-appropriate option. With a simple homemade vinaigrette dressing, this salad is also a cool treat for the first summer night that you don’t feel like turning on your oven.
Superhero Smoothies
Let's make smoothies, inspired by the The Willowbee Tree story "What is No Longer Needed."
Sparkle Kitchen: Crepes Suzette
It's a crepe recipe, to go with the At Home with Martin and Sylvia story "Eating Out," in which the family meets a lovely French family and experiences a "proper" French meal!
Sparkle Kitchen: Mother's Day Egg Scramble
Every year I’d get up extra early to try to make my mom breakfast in bed. I’d even pick a little bouquet of flowers (hopefully not Mom’s prize roses) the night before, to make it extra special. And the meal? It was invariably scrambled eggs—at 8 or 9, it was the only breakfast recipe I knew how to make.
Sparkle Kitchen: Chicken Satay
In Southeast Asia, marinated meats are served on skewer sticks to make a dish called “satay." Satay was supposedly invented by street vendors in Indonesia as an imitation of the Indian kebabs brought to the area by migration in the early 19th century.
Sparkle Kitchen: Asparagus
If your family needs a little more persuasion to asparagus, my fool-proof method for introducing controversial vegetables is to add a little bacon, as I do in this super simple recipe.
Sparkle Kitchen: Deviled Eggs
One of our favorite ways to enjoy the spring bounty of our hens increased egg production is by making a batch of deviled eggs. This is a classic, nothing fancy recipe, but it’s our family’s favorite.
