Calling all hot pepper sauce lovers! With a few tropical fruits to ease the heat, I also add something else to add sweetness.

These Poached Pork Meatballs with Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry are the perfect fresh take on a stir fry. Poached, not fried or baked.

Soaked and pureed ancho, pasilla and guajillo chiles, browned cubes of pork and is simmered to tender, fall apart goodness.

Bulgogi Korean BBQ Short Ribs my secret flavor weapon is apple sauce in the marinade. This adds a sweet and sour flavor, too.

It’s basically a blending of the powdered sugar and eggs which is then mixed with the melted chocolate and butter. The creamiest fudge ever!

These aren’t the kind of pop tarts you had as a kid. Nope, these are grown up Pineapple Ham and Cheese Hand Pies in puff pastry!

Crispy, crunchy Potato Latkes with Pineapple Sauce and Greek Yogurt are the perfect appetizer or brunch.

Bacon Fat Gingersnaps – “Did he just say bacon fat?” Why yes I did. This has to my new favorite cookie and that’s coming from a chocoholic.

Fresh homemade dough slathered with Nutella, peppermint chips and almonds gets cut and twisted into a loaf to bake and have with coffee!

These start with a tender chocolate cookie filled with a peppermint buttercream filling that gets crunch appeal from candy cane crumbs.

A great tip to keep your roasted turkey or chicken from drying out? Compound butter with mixed herbs and other flavor weapons.

Homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup is better than canned. Easy to make with milk, sautéed mushrooms, onions and garlic.

Rich, buttery candy made by caramelizing sugar with butter. Gets topped with dark chocolate & sea salt flakes for one addictive sweet snack.

Curried Beef Stir Fry – Seared, caramelized and crispy edges of curried flank steak all napped in a wonderful aromatic sauce.

Homemade Cranberry Relish starts with fresh cranberries, orange, celery, pecans and walnuts.

This has got to be one of the moistest cakes, it takes the best of banana bread, is filled with cream cheese, and tangy cranberry.

This Japanese Shrimp Ramen in Miso Beef Broth starts with homemade beef broth, fresh ramen noodles, shrimp and exotic, warm spices

Roasted pears get bumped up in flavor with the addition of shaved almond paste, slivered almonds and pomegranate arils.

This soup starts with a roux, steamed, puréed broccoli, onion, nutmeg, white pepper, half and half cream and a drizzle of good olive oil on top.

An over-the-top, wow-the-crowd, nirvana sensation treat. Oh, and it has a cookie base, malt balls, caramel and is no-bake.