May 2013
3 posts
8 tags
Scandinavian Rye Bread
So as we all know, and will continue to learn and relearn, I love carbs in all its forms. But I have never been that big a fan of rye bread. It’s heavy and I hate caraway seeds and their licorice-esq flavor.
‘But wait,’ I hear you think as you look back up at the title, ‘isn’t this a rye bread recipe?’ Well yes it is. I bought some rye flour for another recipe (these divine gingerbread...
9 tags
Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge
I am a day late, a dollar short, and I have no excuses.
I had originally planned to put up the surprisingly simple and amazingly delicious Vodka Pasta I made for my husband when he got home from work Friday but alas I forgot my camera in West Virginia (the problem with driving back and forth every weekend - whatever you need is always in the other state.) Oh well that just means I’ll have to...
8 tags
Busy week
So its been a crazy busy weekend over here in my world.
My little sister graduated from college! Summa Cum Laude, thank you very much. And with a scholarship and a leadership award. She’s awesome!
And then today was my 30th Birthday. I’m old.
But the cake was good and my husband bought me the Hairy Bikers Big Book of Baking! So we will all be enjoying recipes from them in the...
April 2013
5 posts
7 tags
Lemon Blossoms
Shhh don’t tell anyone but these are super easy. They have a box lemon cake mix in them but no one would ever know. They are so so so good.
And classy
And did I mention delicious?
My little sister found this recipe for a fundraiser/jewelry party she threw for her 1000 Shillings trip and they were a huge hit. I might have consumed many… all by myself…
Lemon Blossoms
Adapted...
5 tags
My Sister
What did Mario say when he broke up with Princess Peach?
It’s not you, it’s a-me, Mario!
So this is my little sister. And she would love that joke.
She is super smart, and funny, and beautiful. If you knew her you would be her bff (she has about 30 million of them).
She loves Jason Mraz, and The Great Gatsby, Enjolras from Les Mis and and Christmas. Its actually a...
6 tags
Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns
These are amazing. These are a beautiful, delicious, savory answer to the cinnamon roll. And they make your house smell amazing!
I found these in my beautiful Smitten Kitchen cookbook and, although they are in the breakfast section, I have only made them for dinner.
They went beautifully with bar-b-que ribs.
Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns
From The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
For the...
10 tags
Lemon Cardamom Cookies
Well, after last week’s post, you all knew it was only a matter of time. And I did it. I found a bunch of Hairy Biker’s recipes on the BBC-Food website.
It is a slight problem. I love this show!
I chose the Cardamom and Lemon Stamped Cookies to make from the Bakeation series trip to Norway. Plus they are delicious, flavorful, and dead easy. While I don’t get to make them at a UNESCO...
9 tags
Olive Bread
I have been watching a new Baking show. It is not on in the United States, which is very, very sad. The show is called the Hairy Bikers Bakation. Apparently they have a regular baking show too, but this one is two middle-aged, ugly Scottish bikers riding around Europe and baking things. And it is hilarious.
This is not a Hairy Biker recipe. I want to buy their cookbook but the whole not-...
7 tags
Eggs Benedict (with homemade hollandaise sauce)
My husband loves breakfast. Seriously loves breakfast. Like no one I have ever met. I had been feeling under the weather all week last week and so on Saturday he made me eggs benedict, from scratch, even the hollandaise sauce. (Did I mention my husband is also very brave - I am usually fearless in the kitchen, but even I have never been so bold as to make homemade-from-scratch hollandaise...
March 2013
5 posts
5 tags
Stuffed Green Pepper Soup
It’s snowing outside my window. Happy Spring! Sigh. But in honor of the winter that will just not die I am giving you this amazingly delicious soup. I don’t even really like stuffed green peppers. At all. But this soup? It is so, so good, and surprisingly easy to make.
This Saturday was the annual Women’s Workshop at my mother’s church. It’s always a lot of fun with different...
9 tags
Slow Cooker Guinness Stew
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
This has been quite an eventful few weeks for my husband and me. He got a job working with the Discovery Channel! And so we got a place in Takoma Park and well… this happened:
I love my new kitchen though. It’s small but has everything you could possibly want, from pull-out drawers to a garbage disposal (I haven’t had one for years!) and we finally get...
10 tags
Banana Cream Pie
Wednesday was my husband’s birthday. We were also snowed in with the last (most likely) winter storm of the season. I offered to make him whatever he wanted: cake, cookie, pie, whatever. He chose a banana cream pie, complete with mounds of fluffy, glossy meringue topping.
I had never made one before so I turned to a wedding present: the 75th Anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking.
...
7 tags
Woven Challah Double Loaf
Every year my mother’s church holds a Women’s Workshop. And every year my mother makes homemade bread, both as demonstration and to be served with lunch. (Incidentally if you are here from the Women’s Workshop - Hi! I hope this will help you make this bread on your own!)
Some years it is a different type of bread, some years it is a different technique. This year it will be technique which...
February 2013
4 posts
6 tags
Chocolate Chip Shortbread cookies
Every year for the Academy Awards my brother and sister have a knock down, drag out, no holds barred contest for who can guess the most winners. The prize for this yearly battle? The winner gives the loser a smug look.
Even if they are miles and miles away - it can be sent over e-mail.
Over the years this contest has led to quite the epic Oscar party. Shrimp and buffalo wings and pizza...
7 tags
Red Beans and Rice
Tuesday was Mardi Gras. And I missed New Orleans. A lot. So I though I would try out the Arnaud’s Restaurant Red Beans and Rice recipe. It takes some time and has a few surprise ingredients, but it is delicious.
Is it better than the Blue Runner canned beans… well, yes. Was it more work?… yes and no. You have to plan out this meal at least three nights in advance, its no...
5 tags
Macaroni and Cheese
For me comfort food is warm and cheesy. Pizza, grilled cheese and tomato soup, and mac and cheese. Sometimes I just whip up some macaroni with Velveeta and milk on top of the stove, but sometimes we make this delicious baked Mac and Cheese. And it is very comforting and warm.
Macaroni and Cheese
From my mom’s old The Southern Living Cookbook
roughly 8 ounces of macaroni, uncooked
1/4 cup...
10 tags
World Nutella Day
Everyone is talking about some football game or something today but do you wanna know what big day I am waiting for? Tuesday, February 5th: World Nutella Day!!!
I first came across Nutella when I was in Corciano, Italy in the fall of 2003. I ate it on strawberries, I ate it on toast, I ate it on bananas, I ate it on digestive biscuits, I even ate it on Melba toast. My roommates and I went...
January 2013
4 posts
7 tags
Orange Olive Oil Cake (Or the Congratulations/I’m...
Growing up, when it would be my mother’s turn to pick a cake, she would always go for either strawberry with chocolate icing, or orange with chocolate icing. So I knew I had to make this cake for her. I just needed a good reason.
And the reason finally came. My mother has been selected to be the new District Superintendent of the Northern District of the West Virginia Annual Conference of the...
8 tags
Cinnamon Rolls
I love cinnamon rolls. Like: LOVE love cinnamon rolls. Like: screw dinner, let’s just make cinnamon rolls and eat the whole pan because I had a bad day love cinnamon rolls.
I might have a slight problem.
Every now and again my family does breakfast for dinner, where we make eggs and bacon and fried potatoes-the works. And, sometimes, cinnamon rolls! But you don’t have to wait for a...
6 tags
Moving Here Cookies (Dutch Cocoa Cookies)
I grew up a United Methodist preacher’s kid. And that means we moved around more than average. My mother also was a preacher’s kid and this recipe comes originally from her stories. When they would move, they would get a package of Dutch Cocoa Cookies. And really: only when they moved. Thus the cookies became Moving Here Cookies.
…though we don’t really keep to the...
7 tags
Best ever roasted chicken.
Day late, dollar short. Sorry, everyone.
Seriously though, this is the best roast chicken I have ever had. Ever. It is amazingly delicious and just writing this makes me want to get out my kitchen shears and make it again.
As I may have mentioned I love the Smitten Kitchen blog. So you can imaging how excited I was to get her cookbook for Christmas. We have already made three of the...
December 2012
6 posts
4 tags
New Year’s Eve
So Christmas is over and we have baked and baked and baked. And now it’s New Years and you may be looking for something else to bring to a party or heck, maybe you are even throwing a party, and the thought of pulling out another turkey or ham and doing the whole spread over again is just too much. Or maybe all this is just me.
So here are a few rounded-up recipes which will be quick, easy, and...
2 tags
7 tags
Star Cookies
This is, in my head, THE Christmas cookie. Once we have the star cookies it means people are home from school, presents are bought, and the Christmas baking is in full swing. It’s really is Christmas time.
I am not really sure why they are called star cookies. My Grandmother makes these cookies every year for Thanksgiving. Hers are always Christmas-tree shaped, perfect, and beautiful.
...
6 tags
Sweet Potato Casserole
This is a holiday staple at my house. Really, it should be more dessert than side dish but who is gonna be picky about that? It’s the Holidays!
We used to make sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top but really I only just picked off the gooey marshmallows, and left the yams. With this recipe there is no picking… there is licking the bowl.
Though my husband, I must admit, pines for...
8 tags
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
It is December. Very December. And for me that means cookies. Ever since I was an early teenager and my father realized I could make cookies and thus he could give the job to me, I have made cookies all through December.
Hundreds of cookies, thousands of cookies. Cookies of all shapes and sizes.
Today I made my first batch of December cookies for my mother’s church’s live nativity...
7 tags
Pumpkin pie
What, I hear you exclaiming, what on earth am I doing posting a pumpkin pie recipie after Thanksgiving?
Well this is my bid to get you to make and eat pumpkin pie all through the festive holiday season. After all, it’s in the Christmas song and thus cannon:
There’s a happy feeling
Nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the coffee
And the pumpkin pie
It’ll nearly be...
November 2012
4 posts
6 tags
Cranberry Salsa
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving - or Thursday, if you are not in the United States. I am still recovering from it all. Too! Much! Turkey! So my wonderful husband volunteered to write up his signature salsa. And it goes great with all your holiday entertaining and food. Enjoy!
Hey everyone! The Husband here!
I’ve been itching to share this with the world for years now, and I...
9 tags
Deadly Blobs
Don’t let the name fool you-these things are a delicious and wonderful yeasty and fragrant way to go. Deadly Blobs is what my grandmother called them, for they do tend to fill you up. But I have a well-known carb addiction and so tend to think if half your meal is a tasty roll or three, so what?
As Thanksgiving meals are being planned here, I humbly submit that these tasty and easy (no...
8 tags
Meringue Coffee Cake
At my mother’s house at least, the great march to holiday baking has begun. And I am excited. We have menus planned for various family get-togethers and I am already getting ready to make cookies. Lots of cookies.
And the best part about this year? No law school exams looming over my shoulder and no notecards to lay out at the table while everyone else is talking about sports or whatever....
4 tags
Bar Exam: Fin
I passed the Maryland Bar exam!
And what do you do after passing the Bar exam? You rejoice, and drink a little!
We had a lot of Asti left over from the wedding-take a bottle of this and some West Virginia wine.
I really like the West Virginia wines. The white wine is delicious and probably my favorite, though on cold nights there is a spice wine that I serve warm that in mugs…curled...
October 2012
5 posts
7 tags
How to Make a Braided Loaf
A while back I promised to describe how to make a braided loaf . I didn’t forget you all. See!
This works really well with that egg bread recipe (plus, it is my favorite homemade bread) but really this technique would work for any dough that has braiding as a presentation option.
If you know how to braid hair, rope, whatever, that will make this easier. But hopefully even if you don’t know...
5 tags
Spooky Mansion of Gingerbread
I went to Jo Ann Fabrics today to get yarn. Pink yarn. Very very not me yarn. I am learning to knit and so promised to make my friend a scarf and she loves pink. So I bought that. And well… a halloween gingerbread kit. They make such things! It evened out my shopping experience.
I spent way too long working on this. And I am probably way too happy about it. But today you get a...
5 tags
Sloppy Joes
So I don’t like most sloppy joes. Or really any sloppy joes.
Except for this recipe. I guess I am a sloppy joe snob? Seriously, no Manwiches please. But my grandmother’s sloppy joe recipe? I’ll take two… happily.
And it is so easy to make. A great home after work/class/what have you meal. Throw in some Fritos and fresh fruit and I am a happy girl. Really, the only thing that...
6 tags
Rice Pudding
I had a stomach bug this week. Ugh. My mother made me rice pudding, great comfort food for touchy stomachs. But you know what, it is just as sweet and delicious and comforting when you don’t have a touchy stomach, too. And it is easy to make.
The smell of this reminds me of my childhood: cinnamon and custard. It just makes your whole house feel a little more cozy.
Rice Pudding
From...
September 2012
4 posts
8 tags
Carmel Apple Hand Pies
Tomorrow is the premier of the second season of Once Upon A Time on ABC. And I am very excited!
To celebrate, my husband and I made this apple hand pie. Why, you ask? Well… if you haven’t seen the last season I am not gonna spoil it, but I will say poison apples are optional in this recipe…and these will definitely tempt anyone into taking a bite.
Even if you are not celebrating...
5 tags
Caramel Apple Muffins
Have you ever bought a magazine because of the picture on the cover? Because the picture of the cover you saw on tumblr?
Well I did… and thus we have this week’s blog. These apples called to me. With the caramel and the apple and the carbs and the fall goodness. And I am so enjoying fall this year. I have been in Louisiana for the past three falls, so this year everything is cool. ...
7 tags
Chicken Teriyaki
My sister loves this meal. Like loves loves loves this meal. To the point that for a while there we all groaned when this was what was on the menu because we ate it so often. But we are all much older now and my sister is away at college, so this has become a birthday/going-off-to-college-only meal and I have stopped groaning….so much.
This week’s entry is in honor of my sister (as it...
7 tags
Lemon Tea Bread
This was one of my Dad’s favorite breads. Even after he was diagnosed with diabetes, this was still on the top of his list for ways to cheat the diet. It’s a sweet and tart quick bread, really just full of lemon flavor.
Plus, it is super easy to make and keeps well for a few days. And I am always looking for something delicious to have with my tea!
Lemon Tea Bread
From The Southern Living...
6 tags
Apple Cider Caramels
I love caramel. No, I really love caramel. Especially homemade caramel. I love homemade caramel so much I am willing to forget just how much I dislike making the caramel and make more caramel.
Not that making caramel is super difficult. There is something fun about the bubbly Macbeth-witches nature of it all. I am just impatient, and getting things to heat to the correct temperature can...
August 2012
4 posts
4 tags
Stewed Callaloo
Ok, true confession time… I have not the slightest clue what Callaloo is. I use spinach. So pretend this is called Stewed Spinach Jamaican Style… maybe that is just a better name all around.
My mom found this recipe in the Relish magazine inserted into our Sunday newspaper forever ago. Seriously, the clipping is very crinkled and aged. And she has put her own spin on the recipe...
7 tags
Our Wedding
So this week is gonna be a little different. This week is gonna be all about the wedding. Picture-heavy and no recipes, but regular readers have heard so much of all this already that you might as well see the end results. I promise something tasty next weekend!
Our wedding
We did the first look pictures in the hotel a block away from the Gallery where the wedding was to be held. This was...
9 tags
Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
Red Velvet mini cupcakes
In the South, and it seems to be spreading to other parts of the country, there is the tradition of the groom’s cake. This is a second cake from the wedding cake everyone thinks of: you know, the big white thing drowning in butter cream and fondant. This is a smaller cake which can be anything at all, but which is supposed to reflect the groom’s personality, hobbies,...
July 2012
4 posts
8 tags
Chex Mix
Chex Mix
Sorry for the day late, I am living off hotel free wireless which is not always forgivng and I could not get it to cooperate for me last night.
Saturday my sister, who is also the Maid of Honor, threw me a wedding shower. She did an amazing job and it went off really, really well. Having my wedding in New Orleans means that it is too far for many friends and family to travel, and...
3 tags
The 8 Stages Of Grief While Studying For The Bar...
lawdegreefail:
Stage One: Regret. Typically Occurs When You Receive Your Study Material And Begin Studying For The Bar Exam.
Stage Two: Boredom. Happens After The First Few Weeks Of Studying. You May Experience Some Apathy, But Don’t Worry, This Quickly Disappears.
Stage Three: Depression. Happens 25-30 Days Before The Exam, Usually Coinciding With BarBri’s Midterm Practice Exam.
Stage...
6 tags
Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
My fiancé loves breakfast. Like whoa. I am not as big a fan. Heavy greasy things in the early morning and I just do not mix. I like eating my breakfast around 11, thank you. After sleeping in most of the morning… and being lazy… maybe reading a few chapters of my book… mmmm yeah that would be nice, but… hmmm… Yep, still in bar review mode. Lazy mornings are...
7 tags
Oven Baked S'mores
I love S’mores. When I was living in New Orleans we got a tiny grill, which we set out on our front porch to make hamburgers. Then, while the coals were still hot, we would get marshmallows, stick them on a fork, and roast them right then and there to make perfectly wonderful s’mores. (Soon my roommate got the S’more kit so we could move up from forks.)
Alas, now that I am home, we only have...
June 2012
5 posts
7 tags
Firework Fudge
What…you don’t think of fudge when you think of the 4th of July? Ok, I have never made fudge for the 4th of July before but it somehow seems perfect. I mean, first, when is fudge ever not a good idea? And second, fudge is very portable, so it would be great to take with you when you go out to wait for the fireworks; you know, sitting in the grass, getting a neck crick from looking up so...
5 tags
