Sage and Shallot Roasted Turkey Breast with Apple Cider Gravy

I've mentioned before that I like to roast an extra turkey breast for Thanksgiving or Christmas so that I can guaranted we'll have leftovers, right? Right. Well, this one I actually made the day after Thanksgiving this year because we went to my mom's house and only came home with enough turkey for approximately one large sandwich.

Whole Roasted Duck

Aside from my love of cooking, do you want to know two things that inspire me in the kitchen? Beautiful ingredients and beautiful cookware. Today I'm sharing a recipe that is special enough to grace any holiday table, yet simple enough to prepare on any given Sunday. Plus, when it's in the oven, it fills your house with scents of warmth and comfort. I had to run to the store while it was in the oven and opening the door to the scent of this and freshly cut pine was intoxicating.

Let's start with the ingredients. I've been in the mood for duck lately. I used some duck sausage to make sausage rolls a few days ago, but I had a Maple Leaf Farms All-Natural duck raised without antibiotics just calling to me from the fridge. The duck, some sunny orange clementines and some fresh green herbs were just the ingredients that I needed to inspire me.

Garlicky Duck Sausage Rolls

I often hear people dismiss British food as boring, but I've always been fascinated by it. Of course, I'm fascinated by the food of all cultures, so maybe that's not very surprising. But with names like Toad in the Hole, Bubble and Squeak, Spotted Dick, Cullen Skink, and Welsh Rarebit, how could one not be intrigued? And it's not just the names, I've tried all but spotted dick...and each is tasty.

One thing that I hadn't tried making myself until yesterday was a simple sausage roll. The name may not be exciting, but I don't know why I waited so long to actually try them. How could sausage baked inside a pastry crust be anything but delicious? And while it's anything but boring, I did shake things up a bit and use duck sausage in place of pork sausage.

Poultry Roasting Chart = Less Holiday Cooking Stress!

It seems like Halloween just ended and people are already beginning to plan out the rest of the season. For those celebrating Thanksgiving, sometimes planning and decor start pretty early.

Should we cook more food this year since many folks brought plus ones last year? Shall we cut back on the beer since the wine was such a hit? And for many families Turkey is a given so the question is "how big of a bird do we need?"

A KitchenAid Stand Mixer Holiday Giveaway!

We have a super special treat for you just in time for the holidays! I've banded together with Angie over at My So-Called Chaos, her sponsors, and some other wonderful bloggers and people to offer all of you lucky readers a KitchenaAid Stand Mixer. Do you want to win a KitchenAid Mixer? I thought you might.

Angie asked the wonderful people participating in this giveaway with me to share their favorite holiday treats with you. Maybe our answers will inspire you, and if you win, you can make those treats in your brand new kitchen baby. Swoon!

Travel Safer this Holiday Season: BubbleBum and $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Can you believe that the holiday season is already upon us? It seems like just yesterday that the kids were splashing around in the pool while I soaked up some sun on the raft. But alas, it's the time of year when families are hitting the highways to visit family and friends to celebrate the season.

I grew up hopping into the car on Thanksgiving and Christmas to drive to my grandparent's houses. Some years we'd take turns visiting one side of the family, other years we'd make it to both in the same year. Let's just say that I've been roadtripping since a very young age. While this might sway some the other way, I actually love a good roadtrip. There's something satisfying about packing crates with food and arranging them in the trunk before tucking the gifts between them, the blankets, the jumper cables, and the jack.

I know a lot of you are gearing up to do the same, making sure that not only do you have everything you're bringing, but that the kids are snuggled safely into the back seat—with entertainment and snacks.

Win a $25 NOVICA Gift Card - it's holiday shopping time!

This post is sponsored by NOVICA in conjuntion with US Family Guide.

I'm very excited to once again be partnering with NOVICA, an online global marketplace that features handmade and fair trade products, to offer one of my readers a $25 online gift code just in time for holiday shopping season! NOVICA offers a beautiful site full of artisan-produced treasures that range from cocktail rings to table and glassware to clothing to chess sets and unique gifts for that hard-to-shop-for person in your life—all crafted loving by artists whose profiles you can actually read and get a feel for. They live by one simple (but all-important) mantra...SPREAD HAPPINESS.

In this world of mass produced products that we often have no clue of the conditions of their origin, NOVICA gives us the choice to choose products that we, as consumers, can feel good about. They operate a transparent system where artisans have control to raise or lower their own prices, put their own products on sale, or even remove their items at any time. Basically, it's like going to a local farmer's market (if we consider this beautiful world of ours as our neighborhood).

But NOVICA goes even further by offering 0% interest loans to artisans looking to expand their business and bring more income to their wider communities. If you'd like to read more about their mission, you can do so here.

I admit that I want more than I'll ever be able to buy when I visit their site. A few of the things I've purchased from NOVICA in the past are this Talavera Plate that these Carnitas are on...

...and the Confetti Festival Highball Glasses and Recycled Glass Pitcher that are featured in my tutorial for making Cheater's Horchata.

Enter to win a $25 Gift Code to NOVICA by visiting the NOVICA website, looking around, and then coming back and leave a comment on this post letting me know what you would buy first (although I won't hold you to it)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to check the box in the rafflecopter widget after you leave your comment for the mandatory entry - this will also open up more ways to enter. This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere - but please note that shipping charges (and any taxes or duties) are your responsibility if you are overseas. Submissions will be accepted through Tuesday November 24, 2015 at 11:59 pm. A winner will be chosen from qualified entries within 1 week of the close of this contest and the gift code will be sent to them electronically.

Can't wait? 

Save $7.00 off your first purchase at NOVICA right now using code: Save7Novica

Click HERE to start shopping!

Bacon Fat Spice Loaf (variation on a Lardy Cake)

This bread has been four years in the making. I swear, I feel like that's always something I'm saying. I collect recipes and ideas the way some people collect stamps. Tucked away in every imaginable place, filed away, sticking out of every nook and cranny, in books or folders—you name it and there's probably at least one recipe idea sticking out of it. Fortunately, I know I'm not the only one with this affliction.

Four years ago, I bought The River Cottage Bread Handbook. It's a great book—portable, inspiring, useable. It helped me start my very first sourdough starter. The first half of the books is an introduction, of sorts. It talks about why to bake bread yourself, and then moves into ingredients and step-by-step guides for every part of the process. The second half is all about the recipes, and putting the techniques you learned in the first half to use. There's even a tutorial on how to build your own clay oven tucked into the back of the book. I haven't used it yet, but oh, how I'd love to one day!

There are several pages that have had bookmarks marking their spot since day one. I've worked my way through a good amount of them, but one has been hanging out, patiently waiting its turn ever since. It's the recipe for Lardy Cake. Which is actually bread, not cake. You know how that goes sometimes.

Mandarin Spice Mulled Wine

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gallo Family Vineyards in conjunction with Sunday Supper. All opinions are my own.

Growing up, family holiday get-togethers meant three generations cozied into my grandparents' house. Coats jammed into the coat closet. Boots and shoes lined up by the doors. Women congregating in the kitchen, men congregating in front of a football game, kids running from the pool table to the play room or playing hide-and-seek; each person in their stocking-feet.

Warmth enveloped you at every turn. Magical scents wafting from the oven. A crockpot in the corner with spiced steam escaping. A candle on the corner table scented for the season. As a kid, I really looked forward to the familiarity and tradition that this time of year invoked.

As an adult, I still look forward to it, but it's not quite the same. We now have four generations running around. My grandparents are now in their mid to late 80's; it's not as easy for them to host everybody any more. And unfortunately, none of us have the same fantastic home that they have. A home large enough for everybody to fit. Comfortably.