Carnival of the Recipes, #26

Welcome to Anywhere But Here and the 26th Carnival of the Recipes!

When I was a little girl, my grandmother would let me help her in the kitchen. She had graduated from college with a degree in Home Economics, and was (still is) brilliant in culinary and efficiency matters. One thing that stuck with me was that she always encouraged us to have colorful meals -- the plate should be appealing to look at as well as to the tastebuds. In light of this, and because I just don't always organize things the way everyone else does, I'm compiling this week's Carnival into categories by color. Enjoy!

The color spectrum begins with Red, so let's have a round of applause for Michele of Meanderings and her recipe for Red Beans & Rice!

Sporting red wine, red pepper AND red potatoes is this recipe for Beef Stew from Baggage & Blathering.

Displaying a lovely pinkish-red (dare I say "salmon") shade today is Booklore, bringing Broiled Salmon Steaks for your enjoyment. I'd swim upstream for some of this, I tell you.

Next up in the Reds, please give a Carnival welcome to Karen from Let's Play Restaurant!, who brings her recipe for Easy Cheesy Tomato Florentine Soup! It's actually rather red-orange-ish, I suppose, which brings us to the... [drum roll please]

Orange category! Let's welcome Songstress7 from News From The Great Beyond, whose Hash Brown Casserole contains some lovely orange-tinted Cheddar Cheese.

Next up, also with large quantities of Sharp Cheddar Cheese, would be Laura Bush's Baked Potato Soup, brought to you by --me-- and my little mother in Texas who loves George and Laura so much that she even borrows recipes from them.

A rich orange-yellow Cheese Sauce graces this recipe for Shrimp Newburg from Christina of Feisty Repartee. Unbelievable... not only are there shrimp in this recipe, there's also crabmeat. I can almost taste this one already.

Moving across the spectrum into shades of Yellow, please welcome blogdom's own Aussie Wife, Amanda, all the way from Sydney, Australia, who brings her tasty Banana Cake for all to enjoy. Folks, this one looks to be a taste sensation!

Beautiful yellow corn tortillas lend their flavor and texture to a dish brought to you by CalTechGirl; this one's from her CalTechMom. Let's give it up for Mom's Enchilada Casserole!!!

Sporting a delightful pale-yellow blog format is Prochein Amy, who shares with us her recipe for delicious, golden-brown, made-from-scratch Pancakes. We used to have pancakes on Saturday mornings when I was a kid, and this brought back lots of happy memories.

As we spin the color wheel further, we approach my favorite color, Green. Representing green today, please send up a round of applause for Punctilious, whose asparagus graces an entire meal known as Spring Supper around their house.

Dave from Arizona Perspective & Junk brings us his recipe entitled Uncle Dave's Green Chili Stew, guaranteed to blow your mind.

Want something that will make your neighbors green with envy that they didn't get invited to your dinner party? Serve your guests these Stuffed Chicken Rolls; you'll be the talk of the social set! Give it up for VW of One Happy Dog Speaks for this recipe.

Wrapped in succulent green grape leaves is the following recipe from The Redneck Gourmet. Please give a rousing round of applause to Byzantine Dolmathes and Spanakapita, otherwise known to non-Greeks as Stuffed Grape Leaves and Spinach Pie.

Fresh green baby spinach leaves are the main feature of Spinach Strawberry Salad, which also comes with a recipe for poppyseed dressing. (this one's from Anywhere But Here)

This seems to be the week for people to contribute their mom's recipes, and Oddybobo's mom sounds like she's a real whiz in the kitchen. Green permeates throughout Mama's Famous Eggrolls, found in green cabbage and green onions.

Be of Bebere needs some cheering up; she's have a rough couple of weeks and she is feeling a deep shade of Blue. Time for some comfort food -- let's welcome her Sweet Omelet recipe.

Once in a blue moon, I decide it's time to dispense with the store-bought tortillas and make my own. Thanks to Jay from Accidental Verbosity and his recipe for Flour Tortillas, I can do that more often now. Don't pass this one up or you'll be blue.

Deepening into Indigo, we have Jeff, who has designed his blog Trub in just that shade. He must have one terrific mother-in-law, because she has apparently entrusted him with this recipe, affectionately and creatively titled Mother-in-Law's Pot Roast. This one has one of my favorite things to cook a roast in: Coca-Cola!

Purple is the color of the Lent season, and Marybeth of Random Thoughts not only brings us a recipe for Soft Pretzels but shares the history of pretzels and their connection with the Lenten season.

Ranging from Blue to Purple to a lovely shade of Violet (doesn't that just sound sumptious? I love those colors), Triticale -- The Wheat And Rye Guy offers up his recipe for Fruit Vinegar. This would make an amazing ingredient in a salad dressing, folks, don't you think?

The aroma from this next recipe just makes me feel warm and deep-purply inside... Rae of A Likely Story shares something you're all wanting -- right now -- and that would be the REAL ACTUAL AUTHENTIC recipe for CINNABON cinnamon rolls. Told you that you wanted it, didn't I? By the way, you might want to wipe off the little bit of drool that just came from the corner of your mouth.

One of the most beautiful blogs I've seen is the deep purple Feisty Repartee, by the lovely and talented Christina. Today she brings us a recipe for Soft Coconut Macaroons that sound incredibly yummy.

I've gone all the way around the color wheel, but I've saved these three recipes for their own category, which they so richly (and I do mean richly) deserve. Drum roll please... let's give a shout out for CHOCOLATE!!!!

Jim from Snooze Button Dreams came up with his own cookie recipe, lovingly titled Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies. These can be created in 22 easy steps, which he spells out in great detail so you can re-create them precisely as he makes them himself.

Ladies, when you read this post from Dave at The Glittering Eye, you're going to want him to give Romance Lessons to your significant other. He's topping off his Valentine Dinner with Molten Chocolate Cakes. There are no words befitting this man's style and panache. All I can say is, "Wow."

Finally, I leave you with a recipe that not only satisfies your chocolate craving, it also displays every color of the rainbow AND it's even got something for all you people with serious thrill issues. A big round of applause for El Capitan of Baboon Pirates, who brings delight AND danger into your life with his Cathedral Window Cookies. Not for sissies, I tell you.

And that, folks, wraps up the 26th Carnival of the Recipes. I hope you enjoyed my colorful arrangement. Now, in the immortal words of Carol Burnett,

[cue the orchestra]
I'm so glad we had this time together
Just to have a laugh and sing a song
Seems we just get started and before you know it
Comes the time we have to say, "So long!"
[tugging at earlobe]












And in the immortal words of Ferris Bueller:

You're still here?
It's over!
Go home!