August-September 2009 Issue

Everyone loves burgers. They are a favorite summer barbecue food, quick dinner meal and great for the pool party. Topping the burger with plain old mustard, ketchup and lettuce is out. Taste of Home Magazine’s August/September issue has put together some of really creative toppings for the lonely burger.

Beginning on page 58 of the August/September issue, the mouth-watering photos and delicious recipes of the mix and match recipes is just a small sampling of great toppings for your burger. They start with a recipe for Best Bet Burgers. Why have great toppings without a great tasting burger, right? Using lean ground beef, eggs, mustard, chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onions and spices, they then give you complete directions from mixing the ingredients and adding the crumbled beef mixture to shaping into patties and grilling to the perfect 160 degrees.

A great Grill It tip they offer is to handle the patties as little as possible to keep them moist and tender. Lightly shape the patties without compressing them. This lets the juices flow and to cook evenly.

For a different take on your burger why not try the Chicken Taco Burger? Adding taco seasoning to the ground chicken (or turkey) gives the moist burgers a Southwestern flair. Simply combine egg, chopped onion, your favorite taco seasoning, garlic and pepper with ground chicken for moist patties to grill.

Grill It tip: To prevent burgers from rounding in the center (causing them to cook unevenly), press you thumb in the center to make a well. They will still plump as they cook.

Taste of Home’s August/September recipes has something for everyone. The Greek Chickpeas and Walnut Burgers is a great vegetarian recipe. The flavor in this burger is so delicious you won’t even need a bun. This recipe combines eggs, bread crumbs, walnuts, carrots, feta cheese, chopped onion, Greek olives, parsley, lemon juice, cloves, chickpeas and spices to make moist burgers for a meatless meal.

Grill It tip: Try to avoid pressing down on your burgers with a spatula while they are cooking. The juices remain to keep the meat moist, tender and tasty.

Now you are ready to serve those moist, delicious burgers on a bun and top it one of their great topping recipes. How about a Buffalo Burger Topping? Blue cheese lovers will love this zippy topping so like Buffalo wings. Combining butter, brown sugar, mayonnaise, and Louisiana-style hot sauce until chilled. Top your burger with the mixture and a serving of celery ribs and crumbled blue cheese on top of that for one hot topping!

Top It tip: a Cobb salad topping of cooked bacon strips, crumbled blue cheese tomato and avocado slices is a simple way to add flavor to your burger toppings!

One favorite recipe of mine is the Southwest Burger Topping. It adds excitement to a chicken taco burger or a plain old-fashioned beef burger. This simple recipe calls for adding pepper Jack cheese to your burger until melted. Then simply top it with avocado slices and salsa. This is a quick spice-it-up topping you can do anytime.

How about a German-style topping? Top your burger with sauerkraut, aged cheddar cheese, mustard, caraway seed and serve on a rye roll.

Top It tip: Add a healthy Mediterranean flair to your burger with feta cheese, kalamata olives, tomato, cucumber, onion and fresh oregano.

With all these tantalizing recipes in one issue, you’ll want to have burgers every night so you can try them all.

.

.

Want to start enjoying delicious recipes just like these?

Then, get a Taste of Home Magazine Subscription today!

.

.

Disclosure:  Links to websites where you can order magazine subscriptions are affiliate links. I earn a small commission for sales referred to these websites. This helps me keep this website operational and to provide you with useful information.

June-July 2009 Issue

Tomatoes. You either love them or hate ‘em. Tomatoes are a summertime favorite for many. These big, juicy fruits add a fresh taste to everything from sandwiches to salads to sauces. Taste of Home Magazine’s July Issue has wonderful recipes making these delicious foods.

Beginning on page 39 of the June/July issue, the mouth-watering photos and delightful recipes featuring the summer favorite tomato will have you wanting to try a new dish every day. The section showcases prize-winning recipes from Taste of Home contest winners. The prize-winning recipe, South-of-the-Border Caprese Salad, uses plump heirloom tomatoes, topped with a sweet-tart Cilantro Vinaigrette dressing and cheese crumbles. The Cilantro Vinaigrette adds a spicy-tangy flavor that sets off the tomatoes. And the best part? It’s a breeze to make.

Serve this salad as a meal or along side one of the Budget Cut grilled recipes. These recipes, beginning on page 50, let you enjoy a great grilled main dish for under $2.50 a plate. The June/July issue provides a new Recipe Index on page 73 that includes a recipe’s cost for every recipe published in the magazine.

Tidbit:  If you have this issue, enter next month’s Taste of Home contest. The theme is “Lighten Up”. You’ll find the details on page 40.

Want to try a new appetizer? The Mediterranean Tomato bites are sure to please your taste buds. Make them with fresh herbs and garden fresh tomatoes for peak flavor. Made with frozen puff pastry, Gouda cheese, plum tomatoes, olives fresh basil and oregano and feta cheese, these little appetizers won’t last at any gathering.

A great way to preserve your tomato harvest is to make garden tomato relish. This relish is great to have on hand for hotdogs and hamburgers. Made with tomatoes, sweet onions, red and green peppers, and lots of spices, this relish is a hit no matter what time of the year!

One of my favorite recipes from the June/July issue of Taste of Home Magazine is the Summertime Spaghetti Sauce. Using tomatoes at their peak of freshness, they are combined with Italian sausage links, olive oil, onions, green pepper, and jalapeno pepper for a little kick, and Italian seasonings. Served over hot cooked pasta and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, I can’t wait to dig in.

Tidbit: Looking for budget friendly recipes? “30 recipes under a buck” in the Taste of Home Magazine June/July issue features everything from Italian cookies and Mexican salsa to Thai steak skewers! Check out the great budget friendly recipes on pages 4 and 5.

A great recipe for casual dining during those hot days of summer is the scrumptious Crab Toast entrée. It’s crunchy, creamy and delightful. It can also be served as a great appetizer when sliced thin. It begins with a loaf of French bread and filled with heated plum tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, garlic, cilantro, crabmeat and three cheeses, then baked for a delicious laid-back meal.

Tidbit: “Use Your Melon” section beginning on page 47 delivers cool and refreshing melon recipes to hit the spot when it’s hot.

With all these tempting recipes in one fresh packed issue, choosing your favorite might be difficult.

Want to start enjoying delicious recipes just like these?

Then, get a Taste of Home Magazine Subscription today!

Disclosure:  Links to websites where you can order magazine subscriptions are affiliate links. I earn a small commission for sales referred to these websites. This helps me keep this website operational and to provide you with useful information.

April-May 2009 Issue

Pizza. It is a favorite food of many people. Whether you crave a deep pie oozing in mozzarella cheese or are more of a fan of the thin, crispy crust covered in pepperoni or a totally new taste adventure, Taste of Home Magazine’s April/May issue has you covered with pizza recipes.

Beginning on page 57 of the April/May issue, the delectable photos and mouth-watering recipes of the big pizza pie will have you trying each one. They begin the section with the perfect pizza crust recipe. Using whole wheat flour, bread flour and other basic dough ingredients creates a healthy but savory crust for the foundation to any pizza. The recipe is complete, from the prep time to the bake time.

The average American man, woman and child eats an average of 46 slices or 23 pounds of pizza a year. So you definitely need a good recipe that will become a favorite to reach for over and over again. And young kids between the ages of three and eleven prefer pizza above all other foods for lunch or dinner. The section on Pizza even gives you a great idea on creating a kids’ herb planter box. Combining their love of pizza and playing in the dirt the kids can grow their own herbs to add spice to their own mini pizzas.

One favorite recipe of mine is the Pizza Shop Pizzas. Everything including the sauce is made from scratch so you know you are getting quality ingredients. The recipe includes instructions on making the crust, how to make the sauce from canned tomatoes and other ingredients and the toppings they used to make this delicious, good for you pie. Of course with any pizza recipe, you can substitute your own choice of toppings.

Looking for a savory appetizer? The Smoked Gouda Spinach Pizza is perfect. With a total prep and cook time of only 30 minutes, this recipe makes ten slices. Refrigerated pizza crust is used to save time. The crust bakes while the toppings are sautéed. The Alfredo sauce is added to the sautéed mushrooms, onions and garlic and spread onto the crust, then topped with sausage, baby spinach and the Gouda cheese and returned to the oven to bake for about fifteen minutes more. Delicious!

The Hot Wing Pizza is a favorite of men and women who love hot wings. This spicy pizza is made with skinless chicken breast halves, steak seasoning and Louisiana-style hot sauce with blue cheese salad dressing. Serve on game night for a quick flavorful alternative to the normal hot wings.

For those who love vegetables only on their pie, the Garden Pizza Supreme is a great choice. This delicious and colorful pizza is nutritious and any vegetables from your garden can be tossed on. The recipe calls for frozen bread dough for the crust, Mozzarella cheese and fresh vegetables such as cauliflowerets, mushrooms, broccoli florets, onions, red and green peppers and pickled pepper rings.

With all these tantalizing recipes in one issue, it might be hard to choose which one to try first!

Want to start enjoying delicious recipes just like these?

Then, get a subscription to Taste of Home Magazine today!

———-

Disclosure: Links to websites where you can order magazine subscriptions are affiliate links. I earn a small commission for sales referred to these websites. This helps me keep this website operational and to provide you with useful information.

February-March 2009 Issue

Like many, I often crave comfort food. When cooking comfort foods, I want recipes that are for the “real everyday cook”. I try to find magazines that cater to the normal lifestyle of everyday people, using ingredients that I normally have in my cupboard or can easily get at the local grocers. One magazine that provides consistent comfort food recipes is Taste of Home magazine. Published bi-monthly, this down home magazine is like a collection of your grandma’s favorite recipes.

Women sharing their passed down recipes and the ones their families enjoy often contribute the recipes. The Taste of Home cooks are often amateur chefs who create simple, delicious food. The recipes are easy to understand and follow and have been tested and tasted by the staff. The magazine offers a mix of old favorites, sometimes redone into a modern version as well as creations from contributors using old ingredients in a new way. Trying all the recipes is a fun way to spice up your cooking even for the new cook. Each recipe guides you through the simple steps.

The magazine’s glossy pages and full color photos of the beautiful, mouth-watering prepared dishes tempt you to want to make them now. Each issue provides special recipes for the time of year and the February/March issues is no exception. You’ll find dishes to warm you up for these last days of winter. Chili, spicy wings, sole and hot baked potatoes. In the Hot Potatoes section you’ll find potato bar chili, chipotle cheese sauce, easy blue cheese potato topper, quick hamburger topper and easy combinations to top your spuds with.

There are budget friendly meals such as chicken potpie to die for: cornmeal oven fried chicken, cornbread with a twist and lemon basil chicken. The Lunch menus turn boring sandwiches into a delight with chicken alphabet soup. There is the Close to Home section filled with comfort foods like peas a la francais, crown roast with wild rice stuffing and sour cream yeast rolls, all variations of favorite foods.

There are categories for Breakfast, for Breads, Snacks and Beverages and Main Dishes that use different types of meat or are meatless. There are Salad recipes, Side dishes, Crock-pot and Potluck dishes, Desserts, Soups and Kids cooking, as well as methods and tips. For instance, in the February/March issue, you will learn how to roast vegetables, from the types of veggies to use to the oven temperature to different suggestions on seasoning the veggies.

One section I really enjoyed in the February/March issue was dedicated to chocolate. Mmm…chocolate. With seven sinfully good recipes, you’re sure to find one that will become a favorite. There are chocolate-covered cherries for all the candy lovers and chocolate lover’s pizza for pizza lovers. There are recipes for chocolate nut bars, chocolate walnut tart and chocolate cookie cheesecake rich in chocolate. Raspberry chocolate cake that is sinful and dark chocolate pudding sundaes that are smooth and silky rich. I hope you’ll take the time to try some of the great recipes in the February/March issue of Taste of Home magazine.

Most magazines are filled with advertisements that often seem to outnumber the true material. This is a big turn-off to me. Tastes of Home magazine’s advertisements are for brand name foods but include recipes and tips. For example, in the February/March issue, Crisco pure olive oil’s ad gives a recipe for simple Italian grilled chicken with a beautiful photo of the prepared dish. Other advertisers might provide helpful information instead of a recipe. For instance, Idaho potato ads provide the nutritional value of potatoes.

Want to start enjoying delicious recipes just like these?

Then, get a subscription to Taste of Home Magazine today!

———-

Disclosure: Links to websites where you can order magazine subscriptions are affiliate links. I earn a small commission for sales referred to these websites. This helps me keep this website operational and to provide you with useful information.