Here in the United States, pie is the holiday dessert, and because it’s often served with ice cream, I thought I’d share my recipe for “Aussie Ice Cream Plum Pud.” You’ll love it with your favorite fruit pie or on its own with hot fudge sauce. Plus, it can be made with any vanilla ice cream — even the iced-over leftovers at the back of the freezer, and any leftover holiday dried fruits and nuts.

Aussie ice cream plum pudding
2 pints of vanilla ice cream
½ cup unsalted toasted almond slivers or toasted pecans
½ cup raisins or cranberries (or a mix of both)
½ cup candied orange and lemon peel
½ cup chopped candied ginger (or chocolate-coated candied ginger pieces)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
½ cup brandy

Soak raisins and cranberries, candied peel and ginger in brandy overnight. The following day, soften the ice cream, and empty into a large bowl. Add the soaked fruits, toasted nuts, spices and Bailey’s. Mix well so all ingredients are sufficiently blended. Then spoon mixture into a freezer tray and pop in freezer until solid.

— By Louise Ross
Ross, of Boulder, writes a recession-strategy food blog, www.markettomouth.blogspot.com. Here, she shares tips on grocery shopping on a budget and cooking healthy meals with no waste and no fuss. Contact her at markettomouth@gmail.com.

Turkey stuffed with sausage or savory stuffing — Pair with the exotic flavors of Gewürztraminer.
Oyster stuffing — Tangy sauvignon blanc, a flowery viognier or an off-dry riesling.
Roast beef, lamb or wild game — Cabernets and syrahs (aka shiraz) from the Grand Valley.
Vegetarian (butternut squash or dried-cherry sauce) — Soft fruity notes in merlot.
Pecan pie — Try with a port.
Pumpkin pie — Delicious with a muscat.

Source: Kuvy Ax with The Fresh Ideas Group.

In Australia, where I’m from, a “cuppa” tea is usually had with a small biscuit (cookie) on the side. It’s a British tradition we inherited. In fact, the tradition of a 15- to 30-minute break for a mid-morning and late afternoon cuppa with a biscuit or piece of cake or crackers with cheese is still common, more so in rural areas.

When I had afternoon tea with my grandmother, who liked to imagine an affinity with the now-deceased mother of Queen Elizabeth (Nana and the Queen Mother were born the same year and were both small in stature), it was quite a performance.

You see, afternoon tea was a ritual for her. It involved setting the table with fine tea china and silverware, boiling the kettle longer than need be (fortunately she’d remove the whistle), and warming the teapot by filling it with the boiled water.

While the teapot warmed, she’d lay several tea cookies on a doily on a plate, pour milk into a small silver jug and retrieve her Orange Pekoe Fortnum and Mason tea tin from the cupboard. Emptying the pot of warming water, she’d add a teaspoon of tea per person and one for the pot — that’s three teaspoons of loose-leaf tea for two people.

Nana kept a selection of knitted and hand-sewn tea cosies that neatly fitted her teapot. One of those cozies would go over the teapot now filled with tea and more hot water. Placing the pot on a trivet on the table, she’d insist it must sit and steep for at least five minutes.

At this point, I’d find myself frothing at the mouth with impatience!  But I guess in the manner of traditional Japanese tea ceremony, English-style afternoon tea is an exercise in patience and unhurriedly partaking in something as simple as a lovingly brewed “cuppa.”

My grandmother always poured a dash of milk into her cup first, after which she’d slowly pour her tea, stopping at the half-way-up-the-cup mark to return the pot to its upright position (to let the water in the pot swirl around the tea leaves one last time) before resuming filling her cup. I have no clue why, but adding tea to milk affords more tea flavor than adding milk to a cup of poured tea.

Once our cups were filled, Nana would stir hers with her silver teaspoon. (She wasn’t stirring in sugar because she didn’t have sugar in her tea. I think she just liked this final step in the ritual.) I’d follow protocol, offering my grandmother one of her cookies before helping myself, and then finally we’d sip our tea — but dunking one’s cookie was an absolute no-no!

Whatever your favorite tea, try brewing it with love and enjoying it in an unhurried fashion with a special someone.

And despite Nana’s rules, feel free to dunk your cookie.

– By Louise Ross
Ross, of Boulder, writes a recession-strategy food blog, www.markettomouth.blogspot.com. Here, she shares tips on grocery shopping on a budget and cooking healthy meals with no waste and no fuss. Contact her at markettomouth@gmail.com.

Lettuce wraps
In large fry pan, stir-fry 1 pound diced free range chicken, onions, garlic, carrots and basil. Season to taste. Add one can of drained black beans. Scoop mixture into lettuce leaves and serve.
– Ellen Mahoney, of Boulder

My fave standby for a crowd is my vegan pasta with pesto. Serves six.
1 pound spiral or any kind of noodles you prefer, cooked (99 cents)
1 bunch/bag/box fresh basil ($2.49)
1 handful fresh chopped parsley (50 cents)
1/2 to 2/3 cup olive oil ($1)
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes ($1)
4 large cloves garlic, chopped (33 cents)
3/4 teaspoon sea salt (pennies)
1/2 cup pine nuts (about $3, or to cut costs, use chopped walnuts instead)
Combine all ingredients except for pine nuts in a food processor or blender. Pour over hot, drained pasta. Add nuts and serve. I like to serve with roasted red peppers on the side. This freezes incredibly well and its always a crowd pleaser.
Total cost $9.31.
– Reba Sparrow, of Portland, formerly of Loveland

Tonight we are having French toast for dinner. That is certainly under $10, even if you have sausage or bacon with it.
Or grilled cheese with tomato soup.
– Karla Rinehart, of Richmond, VA, formerly of Loveland

Crock pot taco soup
Two chicken breasts
One can of black beans
One can of diced tomatoes
One can of corn
One can of diced green chills (4 ounces)
One packet of taco seasoning
Put everything in the crock pot in the morning and dinner’s ready when you get home from work. Fast, cheap and easy.
– Kirsta Britton, of Windsor

My favorite recipe is lentil soup with kielbasa (any sausage is possible, even that turkey kind but I’m from Pennsylvania and so partial to kielbasa).
2 cups water for every cup of lentils (This is a no-soak version. You can use half the water for a 4- to 8-hour pre-soak, drain, rinse and then cook in the remaining water.)
Bay leaf
Garlic (as much as you want)
Onion (as much as you want)
Salt
Cayenne (if desired)
White wine vinegar
Oil
In a big pot, warm a teaspoon of oil and then sauté the onion until clear. Cut the kielbasa into silver-dollar chunks and sauté until browned. Add the garlic, sauté one more minute. Add water, lentils, salt (about three pinches per cup of lentil), bay leaf. Add the kielbasa. Cook several hours, add water as needed. Top with a dash of white wine vinegar.
– Mary Casey II, of Boulder

Cheap, fast and easy to make without going to the store. Kids love it.
Spaghetti carbonara
1 pound spaghetti noodles. I use whole wheat. ($3.75)
6 slices of bacon, crumbled. Or you can use real bacon bits. No Bacos, please. ($1.50)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese. ($2 if you use fresh, even less if you use the kind in the canister.)
1/2 cup milk, cream or half and half (50 cents at most)
3 eggs (75 cents)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Boil noodles ’til al dente. In a large bowl, combine cheese, milk or cream, and eggs. Beat until well combined. When pasta is nearly finished cooking, remove the pasta from the water with tongs and place the pasta directly into the bowl with the egg, cheese and milk. Working quickly, mix well to combine. The heat from the hot pasta will cook the eggs and create a rich, creamy sauce. If it gets too thick, add 1/4 cup of the pasta water to loosen the sauce. Add bacon, salt and pepper, mix and serve.
This is also good with frozen peas added. Cook the peas with the pasta for about five minutes, Proceed as directed.
– Brooke Vander Wal, of Loveland

Not positive it’s under $10, but it’s close.
Easy Greek salad
Combine romaine lettuce, onions, grilled chicken breast, croutons. Then put Ken’s Italian Dressing on it and add feta cheese.
So freaking good. We eat it, like, three times a week. And once you have the ingredients, you can just eat it all week until it’s gone.
– Jessica Morgan, of Denver

This is my soon-to-be mother-in-law’s recipe. It sounds really weird, especially the name, but it is really good.
Ki-Si-Ming
Cut up:
1/2 cabbage
2 stalks celery
2 medium onions
2 carrots
1/4 pound green beans (may use frozen)
Toss and simmer in one ounce or more of butter
Add one pound of browned ground beef, then add:
1 tablespoon curry
1 packet chicken noodle soup mix
2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
Soy sauce to taste
Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Serves 6 to 8. Don’t know if it’s all under $10, but it’s close.
– Tevin Bookout, of Brighton

This is our favorite meal and it’s extremely healthy at the same time. I always make it with homemade whole wheat flax bread and I’ve included that recipe, as well.
Best damn butternut squash soup recipe known on Earth
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic (pressed or minced)
1 medium to large butternut squash
1 potato
1 sweet potato
2 to 4 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 apple
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 quart (or so) free-range chicken broth
2 to 3 tablespoons curry powder (your favorite kind, mine is the Frontier brand and can be found in the Fred Meyer bulk or at Whole Foods bulk)
1 to 2 teaspoons coriander (ground coriander seed)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Peel, core and chop all the vegetables. Using a large stock pot, over high/medium heat, sauté onion, garlic and celery in olive oil. Add remaining vegetables and butter. Grind salt over the pot and sauté until fragrant (about five minutes).
Pour in chicken broth (with water, if needed) to just barely cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until vegetables are extremely soft. Blend in batches in a blender or food processor. Return to stock pot and add seasoning. You can add the seasoning while it’s simmering but it turns your food processor blade orange. I usually add the seasoning after while the soup is still hot and let it rest on the stove for the afternoon.

Must have bread (in a bread machine)
In this order, add ingredients to your bread machine (makes a 1 1/2-pound loaf)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour (add extra 1/4 cup for high altitude)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (finer grind is best)
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (not required but makes bread even better)
Make a well in the flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast 1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Select the basic/white cycle as it’s faster. Use medium/light crust color. Remove baked bread from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack. Eat the bread within the first couple of days.

Not-so-healthy baked French toast with your leftover bread
4 to 6 slices of bread
2 to 4 tablespoons of butter (depending on how naughty you want to be)
3 tablespoons of honey
4 eggs
2/3 cup of apple or orange juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 banana (optional)
Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter and honey in 9-by-13 baking pan while the oven preheats. Mix eggs, juice, cinnamon and salt in a shallow dish.
Once the butter is melted, remove from oven, swirl around. Slice the banana into the pan. Soak both sides of bread until soggy in egg mixture. Arrange in the baking pan and pop in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Turn over French toast to serve (banana on the top!). We usually eat with vanilla yogurt instead of syrup but do what you wish with it.
– Katrina Yancey, of Golden

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is cheap and easy! Under $5.
I am also a fan of tacos ($1.99 for hamburger; 99 cents taco seasoning; $1.50 taco shells) and then you can sprinkle with cheese and sour cream, tomato and lettuce. Knorr’s taco rice is yummy ($1.30) and a can of black beans (99 cents). Total: $7.
Or if you want to work at it, try this recipe for meatloaf.
1 to 2 pounds hamburger
Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper, onion powder and Worcestershire
Add 1/2 chopped onion
Add 2 to 3 pieces of crumbled bread (can be day old)
Mix in one egg
Make sauce: ketchup, brown sugar (1 tablespoon) and 1 teaspoon dry mustard.
Top meatloaf with sauce and then add throughout cooking.
Put in bread pan and bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes.
Mashed potatoes: Either peel and boil 4 to 5 medium potatoes then add milk and butter and mix (a couple of tablespoons each).
Or a package of Betty Crocker seasoned mashed potatoes works just as well and costs less than $1.
Add a can of green beans: Less than $1.
And call it dinner!
– Tia Sauceda, of Erie

I do polenta (1 cup feeds at least four people and takes about five minutes to cook) topped with Boulder sausage (Italian), one jar of 365 pasta sauce and half a package of 365 frozen “stoplight” peppers.  This recipe also happens to be gluten-free.
– Christine Neff, of Boulder

I thought you might like my big pot recipe for chili pasta, a simple go-to standby that you can pack with vegetables, and just about anything you have in the house, including leftovers. Based on a Campbell’s soup recipe, it’s not the most elegant of dishes, but it’s inexpensive, easy-to-prepare and deliciously satisfying warmth and nutrition for winter nights.
Throw-it-all-in chili pasta
1-1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey (or beef, or chicken)
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups or 1 can cooked dark kidney beans
1 1/2 cups or 1 can cooked black beans
1 can low-sodium condensed tomato soup
1 can low-sodium diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons vinegar
Assorted chopped vegetables (such as 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 zucchini, 1 carrot, according to what you have on hand)
2 cups whole grain macaroni or other pasta
3 cups water
1. In a large pot coated with cooking spray, brown turkey. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir to separate meat.
2. Add next eight ingredients through assorted vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.
3. Bring to a boil and add pasta. Reduce heat and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.
If you prefer, sap cooked pasta for dry and eliminate water.
– Wendy McMillan, of Longmont

Next month: What is your favorite holiday memory? Send your stories to speakup@womensmag.com.

I love that: live richly on a budget. I think the definition of what it means to be rich has been distorted such that we wrongly identify living richly with accumulating and consuming stuff. To the extent that we have less to spend on stuff, there’s greater opportunity to realize a simple uncluttered life is, ironically, richer by virtue of it being spacious and thus potentially more spiritually fulfilling.

This way of thinking can be directly applied to the way we shop for food. Simplifying your grocery list so that it includes more whole foods from the peripheral of the store (such as fresh produce, inexpensive cuts of meat, fish, dairy, and bulk nuts, grains and cereals) and fewer items from the middle aisles (that is, packaged, boxed, bottled, frozen and prepared foods), will ensure thrift while not compromising quality.

Being thrifty or frugal is “in,” and underlying that trend is the adage: Necessity is the mother of invention. Taking that adage into the kitchen, I like to be as creative — as time and inclination permits — preparing the food I have on hand.

In that regard, every meal is an opportunity to create art — even if I’m making art out of the humble potato!

Potato pancake with salmon and apple
Cut up a couple of apples (either peeled or not) and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until apples are soft. Squish cooked apples with a fork. Set aside.

Boil 2 peeled potatoes. Once cooked, mash well, adding 2 or 3 eggs and enough flour to bind potatoes.

Bake a fillet of salmon in oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

While salmon is cooking, heat olive oil in a pan or skillet. Drop heaping spoons of potato/egg/flour mix into pan. Shape with spoon, patting the top and sides. Cook over medium heat, browning the pancakes on both sides. When sufficiently browned, put on a plate lined with paper towel (to soak up excess oil). Cover with foil until you’ve browned all the pancakes.

If you’re uncertain about whether the pancakes are cooked all the way through, cut one open and test it. If it’s not cooked, once you’ve pan-fried all the potato mix, you can continue to cook the pancakes in the oven.

To serve: Put one or two pancakes on a plate, top with pieces of baked salmon. Add a dollop of applesauce and to the side, parsley or green garnishes like chopped spring onions. A simple side salad would be a great accompaniment to this dish.

— By Louise Ross
Ross, of Boulder, writes a recession-strategy food blog, www.markettomouth.blogspot.com. Here, she shares tips on grocery shopping on a budget and cooking healthy meals with no waste and no fuss. Contact her at markettomouth@gmail.com.

California-based Lotus Vodka makes two different kinds of vodka packed with vitamins.
The White Lotus vodka contains vitamins B3, B5, B6, B12 and C, as well as ginseng extract, L cysteine and L-arginine.

The Blue Lotux vodka includes B3, B5, B6 and B12, plus guarana extract, taurine and caffeine.
The infusion is supposed to help prevent hangovers — and also make you feel less guilty about imbibing; “What? I’m just getting in my health drink of the day.”

As if that’s not enough, this gourmet vodka has a list of awards for its great taste, including honors at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2008. And it’s made with environmentally friendly packaging.

Think we’re making this up? Check out www.lotusvodka.com.

Order a bottle for $25.99 at www.klwines.com.

— By Aimee Heckel

All of the above are homey and yummy, but the French have a lock on creating wonderfully simple food at home — food that celebrates each element. Butter is browned, pans are deglazed, and all of it takes about as much time as heating up a can of condensed soup. This recipe uses sole; I’ve used tilapia and orange roughy with equal success.

— By Erika Stutzman

Sole meuneire
4 filets of sole
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons of flour
3-4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, 1 reserved
2 lemons, 1 juiced and 1 quartered

Directions:
1. Wash and dry the fish. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Dredge fish in flour.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan. When it’s foamy, add two filets and cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Add a little more butter if your pan looks dry (no need to scrape up the brown bits yet.)
4. Keep the cooked fish on a serving platter in a warm oven; cook the other two filets for 4 minutes on each side. Add those to the serving platter.
5. Add last tablespoon of butter to the pan and melt until it’s almost nut-brown; pour in the juice of one lemon and scrape up all the brown bits. Pour lemon-butter sauce over fish filets and serve each with a quarter of fresh lemon for squeezing.

Source: Inspired by “The Complete Robuchon.”

Flesh protein can easily add up to a third or more of your grocery bill, particularly in the winter when we hunger for heavier, warming and filling foods like red meat.

However, when the weather is hot, our bodies naturally desire cooling foods like salads, fruits and protein low in saturated fat, like fish and white meat.

It may sound like I’m suggesting saving money by becoming a summer vegetarian, but actually, I’m advocating rethinking your relationship with meat.
With that in mind, and inspired by an Australian food writer, Jill Dupleix, I came up with these tips:

1.  Make the most expensive ingredient, i.e. beef, chicken, fish, pork, a small side or a garnish, rather than the focus.

2. A meal of veggies or salad with a little bit of meat is a cheaper than a meal of meat with a few veggies — and it’s better for your health.

3. Stretch meat dishes by adding pulses (think: Indian and Mexican cuisines), such as lentils, chickpeas and black or pinto beans.

4. Use nuts and seeds for protein, fiber and crunch; drizzle olive oil over meals for richness.

5. The essential fatty acids in omega 3 eggs, and deep-sea tinned fish like sardines, tuna and salmon, are vital for heart and brain health; plus, eggs and tinned fish are inexpensive forms of protein.

6. And finally, instead of indulging in spendy steak-and-red-wine dinners several times a week, have them be your special-occasion or favorite date-night meal.

Summer is also a time for entertaining and celebrating, which is challenging if you’re on a budget. However, go light on meat and purchase in-season produce, like locally grown fruits and veggies. Produce that’s plentiful is priced right.

And instead of making the usual bowl of fruit salad, try fruit soup. Cooling and colorful, fruit soup looks fabulous and it can be served at the beginning of a meal or as a dessert. If you’re having guests over, wow them with this:

Watermelon-cucumber soup with vodka
Scoop flesh from a cold watermelon, toss into a blender.
Add a few sprigs of washed mint, and a peeled, pitted and chopped cucumber.
Pour in one shot of ice-cold vodka per person.
Whiz ingredients in blender until smooth.
Serve immediately (otherwise watermelon will separate), pouring soup into individual bowls. Top with plain yogurt, berries, thin slices of cucumber and a spring of mint.

— By Louise Ross
Ross, of Boulder, writes a recession-strategy food blog, www.markettomouth.blogspot.com. Here, she shares tips on grocery shopping on a budget and cooking healthy meals with no waste and no fuss. Contact her at markettomouth@gmail.com.

Pillsbury created slice-and-bake cookies in a roll in 1957.

Now Boulder has its own version — and they aren’t wads of hydrogenated shortening, various stabilizers, preservatives and artificial flavors, like the Doughboy’s version.

The local Ice Box Bakery cookies include ingredients you’d pull out of your own cabinet: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda and vanilla.

They’re created by two Boulder moms and pastry chefs: Allison Patterson, former owner of Allison’s Espresso, and Jennifer Bush, former owner of Blue Fine Pastries.

Ice Box Bakery cookies are available at Whole Foods Markets in Colorado. They come in five varieties: Deluxe Chocolate Chip, Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter, Classic Sugar Cookies, Chewy Ginger Spice and Farmers Market Cherry Pie, an oatmeal cookie with dried cherries.

Future plans:

The two moms are working on a double chocolate chunk cookie and an all-natural shelf-stable frosting, as well as getting their cookies into all 50 states.

On the Web:

www.iceboxbakery.com

— By Cindy Sutter

Based on real situations. Courtesy of DNutritionServices.

1. Which couple will have the hardest time sharing a meal?

A. A vegan and a meat-eater.

B. An 8 p.m. restaurant-eater and a 6 p.m. at-home-eater.

C. Low carb dieter and meat-and-potatoes athlete.

2. Your spouse loves to bake — cookies, pastries, cakes, pies, oh my! You want to avoid all of those tempting calories. What do you do?

A. Secretly throw them in the trash.

B. Eat them anyway and feel guilty or mad.

C. Ask your spouse to bake less often and in smaller batches.

3. Your spouse is overweight and has risk factors for heart disease, but isn’t interested in improving diet. You:

A. Complain, but go along with your spouse’s food choices yourself.

B. Critique your spouse’s food choices to his or her face, especially during meals.

C. Ask your spouse’s physician to recommend dietary changes.

D. None of the above.

4. While you both enjoy cooking and sharing meals, your extremely fit spouse likes junk food, and can eat anything without gaining weight. You can’t. You:

A. Encourage your spouse to eat those tempting treats and junk food between meals, away from you.

B. Stick to salads and low-fat foods to control calories, and let your spouse go his/her own way at mealtimes.

C. Find more time to exercise so you can eat whatever you want, too.

Answers

1 — B. Disrupted timing of eating is much more distressing to people than that actual food eaten. People become attached to eating schedules for various reasons, and resent having to inconvenience themselves and eat at a time that doesn’t fit their lifestyle.

2 — C. Secretly throwing them out is wasteful and disrespectful of the food and effort, and it could lead to confrontation. And eating excess food will throw off your own health efforts.

3 — D. Instead, set a good example, but not in a nagging, in-your-face manner. Note: Doctor-patient confidentiality eliminates C, although some family members try to intervene this way, anyway.

4 — A. This encourages communication and empathy between spouses and solves the problem. Most indulgence foods are in the snack category, anyway (chips, cookies, candy), and shouldn’t impact a menu. Answer C can place a huge additional time burden on the spouse and isn’t realistic for most couples. And worse, if it doesn’t work, it can lead to resentment and discord.