wow butter and jelly bars | peanut free baking

 

For the last several months, my kiddos have been taking a class called 'Books and Cooks' every Monday. The teacher reads a story and then the class makes some kind of snack or treat that goes along with the story. They absolutely love this class. 

And I fully admit that as a food blogger (with an education degree to boot) it is odd to send my kids to a class where they will essentially be doing just what we do at home everyday. Read and cook. But they love to read and cook, and I want them to continue to love both. And if it means letting them expand their horizons a bit in the kitchen with someone other than Mommy, then that is going to be worth it.

 

Plus, with the Buddy starting Kindergarten in the Fall, there is less and less time for the two of them to do things together during the week. And as they tell me on a daily basis, they're 'best friends'. It makes my heart squeeze every single time one of them says it.

rosemary lemon shortbread + a rosemary citrus spritzer

It's no secret that my favorite season is Fall, followed closely by Winter. There is something about crisp air and the whole 'Winter Wonderland' thing that I find irresistible. I love looking out the window and feeling like I'm in a giant snow globe, complete with a cup of steamy hot chocolate in my hands.

That being said, one if my favorite things about living in Ohio is the fact that we experience every season to its fullest. As much of a fanatic I am about Fall and Winter, I always get a burst of excitement when the seasons change. Yes, even the changes to Spring and Summer. Although my Summer excitement is extremely short lived and quickly replaced by sweaty, cranky annoyance. Fun, huh?

One if my favorite things about this later part of Winter is the abundance of incredible citrus.  Walls filled with ten pound bags of grapefruit as far as the eye can see. Lovely lemons all packaged up, ready to be squeezed and zested. Okay, that almost crossed the line of appropriateness. I apologize.

What I'm trying to get at is this: citrus rocks and it's nature's perfect way to help us transition from Winter to Spring. I have been surrounding myself with citrus for the last month or so and this post is no exception. My citrus kick has also collided with another of my current loves: simple syrups. And this time, things got a little herb-y.

roasted tomato and garlic whole grain bread

Well, it was bound to happen and finally has. I made a rather large 'oops' with a post schedule. You may be thinking, "hmm...this bread looks familiar". Let me back up explain why it may seem like you are having a serious case of deja vu, but in reality you are not; I just goofed.

One of my goals for the New Year was to carve out a working schedule for myself with everything from cooking days, to photography days and posting days; and for the most part, things have been going great. I get my posts all ready, click a little schedule button, and go about my day. Ahhh, serenity.

Until yesterday.

Yes, yesterday changed all of that. You see, yesterday morning I woke up to realize an incomplete post had posted and emailed out to my awesome email subscribers (I love you guys, by the way!) all because I couldn't tell my Mondays from Sundays.

Yikes.

Well, due to the events of the day, I wasn't able fix it post haste so I had to temporarily take it down. Ugh.

I momentarily succumbed to burst of panic for  letting down my loyal blog reading friends, but I quickly realized something that I often forget when it comes to my little corner of the web. The world will go on. It will keep on turning. Nothing really terrible has happened and I should just be grateful that I didn't include pictures of me with crazy bed head. Although I did do that on Instagram last week...

Anyway, back to the (not so big) problem at hand.

I am almost relieved (but still more than a touch embarrassed) that this has happened because this is what blogging is all about. Real people, real stories, and real lives. And trust me, my real life involves tripping and stumbling...often.

So, in celebration of my quirks (read: faults) I am bringing you this incredibly flavorful, wonderful and healthful bread. 

This is the last (at least so far) recipe that I whipped up using the slow-roasted tomatoes that I made a while back. It's packed full of roasted garlic and tomato and is a variation of my favorite, no knead bread. This particular variation makes out-of-this-world grilled cheese sandwiches and divine thick and crusty pieces of toast that are perfect for dunking in soup. Really, the roasted garlic and tomatoes are insanely good together; just floating around in the bread like old pals.

I halved the original recipe for you so you wouldn't feel like you had to make 4 whole loaves of bread. But with bread this good, you may want to anyway. 

Now, in hopes that I'm not the only one who is prone to errors, I invite you to please share any crazy little slip ups that you have experienced. You know, just to get them off your chest. Clearly, this is a judgement free zone.

Happy Monday!!

salted caramel chocolate biscotti

Happy Valentine's Day!

That being said, I have completely phoned in V-Day this year. No romantic gifts (sorry, honey for the spoiler alert) or dinners. My only hope is that we can eat some left over lasagna and catch up on Downton Abbey. We have the second half of last week's episode to watch and I'm dying to find out how things are going. But back to my phoning things in...

It's not that I dislike Valentine's Day. In fact, most years I'm all for it. We've done everything from going to dinner and a movie, to staying home and cooking up some incredible lobster risotto and steaks (man, that was a good year).

This year though, things just kind of snuck up on me. With my husband working the night shift for the past 2 1/2 weeks, and time just tending to fly by now that I'm all old and things, I just kept telling myself that I had time to make some plans. Well, the day is upon us and the plans include leftovers. Total epic Valentine's fail.

I did manage to unsuccessfully sneak a couple of Valentine's goodies for the kids at the store yesterday. I had the Baby with me and now that she's three, not a lot slips past her.

I tried to hide a little Strawberry Shortcake T-shirt under the gallon of milk, but as soon as I turned around she had her little fingers through the cart, trying to pull the shirt out of it's pathetic hiding spot, all the while yelling "Are you getting me this Strawberry Shortcake shirt?"

Awesome.

To make things worse, my quick thinking response went something like this:

'Uh, um...no. That's for something else. Stop talking about it.'

*sigh*

So now that I've bragged about all of my ninja-like gift buying moves, I do have something extra sweet to share. These Salted Caramel Chocolate Biscotti are everything a biscotti should be. The amazing crunchy texture is perfect for dipping in a hot cup of coffee (or tea if you'd prefer) and the chewy, sweet caramel and bitter sweet chocolate are set off with a whisper of sea salt. Total and utter perfection.

love potion | valentine's day cocktail

Two cocktail recipes in a row, I know. I have been obsessing a bit about cocktails and not only because they're fun and delicious, but they also present a wonderful photographic challenge. From styling to lighting there are elements to shooting cocktails that are both thrilling and completely frustrating. And yet I keep coming back for more.

So far, most of my cocktail photos have been dark and moody, with a bit of color here and there. I wanted to photograph something light and, well...girly. I figured since Valentine's Day is staring us right in the face, a cutie little pink cocktail would be a perfect fit.

We went back to the drawing board on this one several times until we perfected the vision of this sweet little drink. I saw 'we' because my resident cocktail tester was always a big help.

This cocktail is delightful and surprising; made with a mix of raspberry, creme de cocoa and creme de menthe. You can even add a touch of cream if you like; I know I did.

It's perfect for a sweet Valentine's celebration. Especially if you're staying in like we are.

Happy Monday!!

I'd love to hear from you! What are your favorite romantic cocktails?

smoked salmon dip + everything bagel chips | Food Fanatic

A bagel and cream cheese is one of those combinations that I will assuredly never tire of. And what’s funny is when it comes to combinations of bagels and cream cheese, people (at least in my world) can seem to be as particular about how they take their bagel as they are about how they take their coffee. They like it to be toasted, not toasted, buttered, extra cream cheese or 'egg bagel all the way'. People can get down-right funny about their bagels. 

Have you ever had lox and cream cheese on a bagel? I had never even heard of such a thing until I was in college and was introduced to the combo by my husband (then boyfriend). It seemed so odd to me (what can I say? I was 19 and I had yet to totally embrace my inner foodie) but after trying it, I was hooked. Not hooked enough to give up my beloved everything bagel with strawberry cream cheese, but enamored none the less.

Ever since then, I have been fascinated with anything having to do with smoked salmon. Including this incredibly addicting smoked salmon dip with everything bagel chips. This dip is such a delightful snack (and by delightful I mean a snack so good I found myself hunkered over the counter eating it by the spoonful) that it would fit perfectly into the menu for your next brunch or cocktail party.

 

It's my little marriage of my husband's and my own favorite bagel orders. A marriage of bagels, if you will. See? I can be romantic. Well, as romantic as talking about bagels can get, I guess.

Pop on over to Food Fanatic for the Smoked Salmon Dip Recipe! You can grab the Everything Bagel Chips recipe while you're there, too :)

Happy Weekend!!

key lime kiss martini

 

I told you I would be back with more key lime goodness, didn't I? A cocktail seemed like a great way to test out the true versatility of these little limes. They are so stinking cute and have such a lovely color, I figured they would work perfectly in a refreshing little cocktail.

And they totally did.

Lets just say that these went down a little too easily. Yes, they were that tasty.

I have been a simple syrup craze lately in that I have been throwing anything I can get my hands on into some water and sugar and boiling it for a bit. For some reason this process of infusing a simple syrup with the flavors of fruits and herbs fascinates me. I feel another kick coming on. Brace yourself for a parade of simple syrup recipes. And what better way to use a delicious and refreshing syrup than to put it in a lovely little beverage? 

I guess dousing a mini cheesecake in syrup is also a good way to use it up, too. You know, if you're into that sort of thing.

Also, with Valentine's Day coming up next week, it might be convenient to have a few new cocktails up your sleeve. This Key Lime Kiss Martini brings a kiss of tart key lime, the sweetness of pineapple and a soft aromatic note of vanilla. All in all, quite the satisfying little sip.

Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a bottle of key lime simple syrup burning a hole in my fridge that I must do something about.

mini key lime coconut cheesecakes

Okay, I'm on another kick. First it was roasted tomatoes: sauce, soup and meatballs; and then it was Meyer lemons in bread and preserves. This week I'm throwing key limes your way. Not actually throwing, mind you; I'm just not that aggressive. Plus, that could really hurt and it would be a waste of some perfectly good citrus. Key limes are much better put to use in yummy treats like these delightful little key lime coconut cheesecakes than to be thrown around like Wiffle balls.

Do kids still throw Wiffle balls these days? Also, I totally just Googled Wiffle ball to make sure I was spelling it correctly and it says I am. My spell check on the other hand is having a field day. Nothing new there. I am the reason spell check was invented. I had to Google the word 'sandwich' the other day to make sure it didn't have another 'h' in it.

I wish I was kidding. 

I'll just stick to my strengths and leave the spelling to the professionals. Man, that would be a weird job. A professional speller. I guess it starts young with the 'bees' and everything.

Hard core spellers. 

Now lets talk about what you really want to talk about: these little cheesecakes. 

These were a spur of the moment creation brought upon by the need to use up two bags of key limes that I impulse bought last week. I'm not sure why I was compelled to buy them, but they were just so stinkin' cute in their little 'Susie' bags (which is my sister's name so it made them even cuter). Three blood oranges and a pomelo also found their way into my cart so clearly I was seeking out unusual citrus fruits. Not a bad thing.

 

I figured these would make beautifully bright little cheesecakes paired with sweet and toasty coconut. And boy, did they ever. Think key lime pie meets coconut cream pie all wrapped up in these deliciously tangy goat cheese cheesecakes. The goat cheese adds an incredible depth of flavor and sophistication, but if you don't groove on goat cheese, these little beauties can be made all cheese of the cream variety. 

super bowl round up

Turkey Sliders with Caramelized Onions 

As you may have guessed, I am in the process of getting ready for the big game on Sunday. It's on Sunday, right? I tend to breeze over the details like 'what day is the Super Bowl?' and 'Who's playing in it, again?'

My focus is the food. The spread of delicious, messy, knock-your-socks-off food. If you're still browsing around for recipes or in need of inspiration, I truly hope that I can be of some assistance to you. I have collected a few of my favorite game day recipes here that will hopefully get your inspirations flowing: