At the Table :: 2025 Rainy Day Bites September to December

This September through December, our Rainy Day Bites Cookbook Club continued with a #budgetbakesandbites theme. Part of leaning into budget cooking was using resources we already had on hand. Our focus has also been on using cookbooks already in our library that we had never made a recipe from. I often choose a cookbook and made more than one recipe from it before moving on to another. Below are the tasty results.

September

Featured book: Colu Cooks Easy Fancy Food by Colu Henry @coluhenry

A Pot of Beans

Weekday Cassoulet

My Cec

Soupy Beans with 'Nduja and Torn Radicchio

Roasted Carrots & Fennel with Toasted Almonds, Olives, and Feta

Cauliflower with Anchovy Oil and Crispy Capers

October

Broccoli Rabe Toast with Melted Provolone from Colu Cooks Easy Fancy Food by Colu Henry @coluhenry

Sopa Campesina from The Bean Book by Steve Sando of @ranchogordo

Curried Butternut Squash and Pear Bisque from The Paley's Place Cookbook by Vitaly Paley @vit0bike and Kimberly Paley

Black Bean Soup with Lots of Fritos from I Dream of Dinner (so you don't have to) by Ali Slagle @itsalislagle

November

Squash with Herby Salsa Verde from To the Last Bite by Alexis deBoschnek @alexisdeboschnek

December

Herby Swiss Dutch Baby from Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy, Savory Recipes for 24/7 Deliciousness by Jessie Sheehan

Straight-Up Gruyère Gougères also from Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy, Savory Recipes for 24/7 Deliciousness by Jessie Sheehan

White Bean Soup with Fresh Sage from Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes from the Pacific Northwest by Kurt Beecher Dammeier @beecherscheese and Laura Holmes Haddad

End-of-the-Month Baking Challenges:

September 9/30: Apple

Apple, Walnut, and Honey Upside-Down Cake by Lidey Heuck @lideylikes in Colu Cooks Easy Fancy Food by Colu Henry @coluhenry

October 10/31: Pumpkin

Pumpkin Muffins from Muffin Mania by Cathy Prange and Joan Pauli

November 11/30: Caramel

Caramel Slices from Scandinavian from Scratch by Nichole Accettola @nicholeate

December 12/31: Winter Spices

Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies from Sweet Tooth @bromabakery

Whew! It was great to crack open some of my never-used cookbooks and try some new recipes. Heading into the new year, our theme will be Deep Dive, with just one savory and one baking book for the first third of the year. Gotta say, I'm anxious to see what our first challenges are.