Mardi Gras King Cake
In New Orleans, there's a cake, with a plastic baby and a party waiting to happen. Only at Mardi Gras would they shove a plastic baby inside a baked bread-like cake and make it acceptable. With Fat Tuesday a little more than a week away, I wanted to repost this recipe so you can get all the things you need in advance. The history of the King Cake, during Carnival Season (starts on the Epiphany- January 6th and ends on Fat Tuesday) is that it's lucky to find the baby hidden
Valentine's Cookies
Sick of this cold weather? How about baking some cookies for your valentine? If you don't have the jelly, any red jelly, even strawberry will work. Refrigerated sugar cookie dough will work also, just dust with flour when rolling out the dough. If you don't have a heart-shaped cookie cutter, use a small juice glass to cut out a circle and pinch the top downward to make the heart shape. If you're like me, every year you dread giving the same chocolate heart with what we cal
New Year, New Location
Welcome 2026 As the new year begins, Hometown Flavors finds itself at a new location. Same great information, recipes, and fun articles, just a different zip code. The time has come for this Grandma, recipe creator, and food blogger to slow down a little bit. Will I stop cooking/baking?? NEVER! I'll be the corpse asking the undertaker to slow the funeral down; my cake is almost baked in the oven. I need another 20 minutes for the perfect golden brown. Perhaps the solois
Thanksgiving Take 2
The best part of hosting Thanksgiving dinner is the leftovers the next day. Black Friday maybe known for shopping, but in my house it means " used food". That's what my hubby calls leftovers, used food because we've already had dinner from my cook-a-thon. The only time he doesn't mind used food is the day after Thanksgiving. We look forward to crisping the stuffing on a non-stick fry pan and heating the sliced turkey in the gravy for a sandwich. The mashed potatoes may t
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM HOMETOWN FLAVORS
May your Thanksgiving be as wonderful as your perfectly browned turkey! Thanks for following and enjoying the website. More fast, easy, and fun recipes for 2026!
Thanksgiving Wednesday
Need a short cut? This is my pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I used a store bought frozen pie crust (Yes, I do take short cuts when I can) and filled it with my homemade pumpkin pie filling. To make your pie look really impressive, cut out leaves and brush them with vodka and food coloring. No, you won't feel the effects of the vodka, but it evaporates quickly when baked and will not make your crust soggy. Pillsbury is my go-to pie crust when I don't make my own. Allow th
Pop Up Turkey Timers
How reliable are those pop up turkey timers that come with the turkey? They will pop when the internal temperature reaches 170-180 F which means a dry turkey . Your turkey needs to come out of the oven when the temperature is 160 because of carry over cooking. The bird maybe out of the oven but the internal heat will continue to cook the turkey and dry it out. Butterball turkey doesn’t use them because they will destroy their juicy turkey. This year I invested in a dig
Cranberry Chutney - Gluten Free
This is not your traditional cranberry sauce that makes that suction noise as you release it from the restraints of its tin can. This is a perfect combination of sour and sweet with a hint of orange. The amount of sugar you add to this is up to you and if you choose, can even make it sugar-free. Instead of that old, boring green bean casserole with crunchy onions on top, let's make something new. That was so 1950 and we're modern and exciting chefs of 2024, so let's cook
Welcome to Thanksgiving Tuesday
Today is the day to get organized and get your mise en place done, if it's not done already. Mise en place is defined as "getting everything in its place". I'll take the time today to chop the celery, onions, and carrots I will use in the stuffing. I'll also clean and cut all the veggies for the vegetable crudites. The fresh cranberries are cleaned and sorted (removing the bad ones) to prepare them for the orange cranberry chutney. It's time to update my lists and make a
Pumpkin Pie Martini
A perfect sip of pumpkin pie for all those who don't bake. You know who you are and no worries, I got you. Let me start by saying t his is in no way low in calories but neither is its sister dessert the pumpkin pie with whipped cream. After drinking these calories, you won't care about the caloric number, how many you've consumed, or who is washing the glasses. This drink should come with a warning, they go down extremely smooth and you don't taste the booze! You may want
