Community Cooks Central

Community Cooks’ Newest Recipes

These brand-new dishes are fresh from Community Cooks’ kitchens. Which one will you try first?

Skillet Pork Chops in Pineapple-Soy Sauce from Donna Gribbins

Arugula Pesto from Courtney Stultz

Spicy Roasted Carrot Hummus from Anne Ormond

Sausage and Bean Skillet with Crispy Plantains from Elisabeth Larsen

Sheet-Pan Salmon with Simple Bread Salad from Laura Wilhelm

Sicilian Pizza from Susan Falk

Caraway Brussels Sprouts from Ann Sheehy

Orange-Maple Cranberry Sauce from Nancy Murphy

Holiday Hominy, Texas Style from Joan Hallford

Sourdough, Sausage and Blueberry Dressing from Teri Rasey

Make the recipes Community Cooks are raving about right now.

Community Cook of the Month

TMB Studio, Courtesy Susan Bickta

Susan Bickta from Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Susan is a retired office manager and an avid baker and cook. Within the past 12 years, she has become interested in competitive cooking and won numerous contests including Fisher Nuts’ “My Fresh Twist” Contest. She won the grand prize and her recipe was chosen by Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. Susan was also named a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-off in 2019 for her Tropical Sweet Hawaiian Sticky Biscuits recipe. In addition to perfecting her skills in the kitchen, she and her husband of 43 years also enjoy traveling and gardening.

TOH: How long have you been a fan of Taste of Home?

SB: Oh my! [I’ve been a fan] for as long as I can remember, but my interest intensified when I got married and started cooking our meals. My mother was always an experimental cook and I learned a lot from her. She got the magazine from the beginning and we’d both look at it—cover to cover. Then, when I married, I got my own subscription. Best cooking magazine there is!

TOH: How did you learn to cook?

SB: Basically, [I learned to cook] from my mother. As a child, I’d sit at the kitchen table and watch her cook after I did my homework. Watching her like that was like having my own personal cooking show! When I was old enough, she’d let me help—usually by peeling potatoes!

TOH: What is your favorite TOH recipe?

SB: I don’t think I can pick just one! I’ve tried so many and really liked them all. The one that stands out, though, is the Slow-Cooker Chicken Thighs. The chicken has such a beautiful teriyaki flavor and is fall-apart tender. I usually serve it with rice and steamed asparagus. A close second is a recipe I just tried: Spinach Souffle Side Dish. It tastes like the spinach that they have at our local Chinese buffet. So ooey-gooey good!

TOH: What types of recipes are you known for?

SB: Mostly comfort food. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania Dutch Country and comfort food rules around here! My favorite regional dishes include my mother’s bread filling, as well as my husband’s grandmother’s potato filling.

TOH: Who do you love to cook for most?

SB: My husband, of course. He’s always willing to try new recipes and he always gives me his honest opinion. That goes for Taste of Home recipes as well as my own recipes that I create for recipe/cooking contests. I also like to cook for friends and family gatherings, although I have had to cut back some due to the brain surgery I had a few years ago that destroyed my balance and left me deaf on the left side.

TOH: What’s the next cooking skill you want to master?

SB: I’d love to learn how to make French macarons, as well as making a cake roll, French croissants and Beef Wellington. I learned how to make sushi for the World Food Championships, as well as a couple molecular gastronomy techniques.

TOH: What’s your favorite kitchen hack that you now live by?

SB: I love to make homemade bread and I have learned the best place to let the dough rise is in the oven with the light turned on. I turn on the light when I start making the dough and when it’s time to let it rise, the oven is at just the right temperature to let the dough rise—in a covered bowl, of course!

TOH: What is something you no longer buy from the store or at restaurants because you know you can make it better at home?

SB: My husband likes my homemade barbecue sauces. I created a recipe for a mustard-based sauce and a tomato-based sauce. We both prefer those homemade sauces to the ones in the grocery store.

See Some of Susan’s Best Recipes:

Creamy Pizza Soup

taste of home

Turkey, Bacon and Corn Chowder

Polynesian-Inspired Macaroni Salad

Carrot Spice Thumbprint Cookies

Our Whole Team

Community Cooks come from neighborhoods across the U.S. and Canada. Find one in your neck of the woods.