Local Shout Out: Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2014

We try not to spend too much time hocking products on the blog. After all, that's not why you're here. Right?

But, every now and again we want to give a shout-out to a local company like Taste of Home.

Did you know they were in Wisconsin?

Yup -- they've got a cooking school and test kitchen right here in Greendale, Wisconsin. In fact, Reiman, the original publisher, founded the magazine right here just minutes outside of Milwaukee. The publication has since been taken over by Readers' Digest, but the headquarters remains intact.

Now, Taste of Home is unique because it's based on recipes created by regular old human beings. People with kids. Families. Day jobs... at least I think some of them have day jobs.

But, all of the recipes have been tested. In fact, the expert staff in Taste of Home's Test Kitchen test 8,000+ recipes every year. Can you even imagine?

Of that 8,000 just over 500 made the cut for this year's annual recipe collection. So, my guess is that you can be pretty certain that the recipes are tasty, accurate, and easy to pull together.

They're running a promo right now through which you can preview the book for 30 days for free before buying it (for $19.95 plus s/h), which doesn't seem like such a bad deal. After all, maybe you want to check it out to see if it would be the perfect Christmas gift for your mother-in-law, your sister... or... yourself!  We won't judge.

Here's the link.

And here's a bit more about the book.

The book is diverse in its offerings -- including selections of appetizers, main dishes, sides, soups, salads, and desserts. There are also special chapters for quick fixes, mom's best meals, weeknight solutions, holiday celebrations, cooking lighter and potluck pleasers.

Here's just a sample of what you'll find.

Black Bean 'n' Pumpkin Chili

Chocolate Spice Cake with Caramel Icing

And there are more in the book that you can't just find online... like Tuscan Roasted Asparagus and Mango Pork Roast.

Yeah, I'm drooling now too.
It's a little close to dinner time.

©BURP!

Spirited Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal

Peef is generally in charge of breakfast at our house. He makes a pretty mean pancake, loves bacon, and knows his way around a pot of oatmeal. So, he can generally pull off a pretty good morning meal.

But, some mornings he pulls out all the stops. This past Saturday was one of those days.

I was sitting in the other room pulling together an article for OnMilwaukee.com and Paul was shuffling around in the kitchen.

I heard the clatter of a few dishes, the rubbery vaccuum sound of the refrigerator door, and the metallic tinging of spoon against stainless steel saucepan.

It wouldn't have been difficult to guess that he was making oatmeal. But, without a drop of milk in the house, I wasn't exactly sure how he was going about it.

Turns out he was getting creative with the quart of Sassy Cow Pumpkin Spice eggnog we bought at the co-op the other day (we have this inane compulsion with eggnog that means we buy it from the very first moment we see it available in the store until the mysterious moment in January when it disappears).

But, I didn't know that until he brought me a bowl of the most ultra-creamy deliciously spicy oatmeal I've ever eaten.  On top of everything, he'd finished it off with a glug of pumpkin spirits from our own local Great Lakes Distillery.

Some people drink bloody Marys in the morning... we just eat spiked oatmeal ;)

In case you can't find the Sassy Cow Pumpkin eggnog where you live, here's a version of the recipe using a bit of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices. And yes, it's just as good.

Spirited Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal

©BURP!