August 23, 2011
Peach Semifreddo with Blackberry Glaze

I am officially putting summer on notice. Seriously. Start packing up. Time to go. There’s only a week and half left in August and then it’ll finally be September. Even though fall doesn’t technically start for a full month, I consider September 1st the first unofficial day of fall. It’s like how they start putting out all the Christmas stuff right after Halloween. I am ready for fall and I don’t care what the calendar (or the weather) says. Here’s what you can expect in the coming months: lots of soup and pumpkin and cinnamon and apples. If you were with me right now, you would see I am laughing like an evil villain. Can you tell I love fall?
But …
August 11, 2011
Chili-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

It’s still pretty hot out, but I can’t put off posting this recipe anymore. It’s worth heating up your kitchen on a hot summer day to make this for dinner. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you may remember last year when I posted a recipe for thyme-roasted chicken and I said it was the best roast chicken I’ve ever had. I’m not going back on that, in fact I still stand by that statement and I still make it regularly. But. Even the best recipes can get stale if you make them over and over again. That’s where this chili-roasted chicken comes in to save the day. Now I alternate between the two recipes so we …
August 4, 2011
Lemon-glazed Blueberry Donut Muffins

I go back and forth a lot on what my favorite food is, but donuts are definitely in the top five and likely to be in the top spot most days. Despite that, I don’t buy them very much. I’m just not the kind of person who can eat one donut and be satisfied. And ultimately, I don’t mind staying away from donuts because then when I do eat them they taste pretty magical.
But sometimes you just get a craving that won’t go away. I’ve made homemade donuts before but was not in the mood for the hassle of cutting and frying dough and I don’t have one of those donut pans to make cake donuts in. Then I …
July 28, 2011
Watermelon Lemonade Sorbet and Popsicles

Are you tired of hearing people complain about the heat yet? Well, sorry, but I live in Virginia and it’s hot here. I am literally counting down the days until Fall because I HATE this heat with a passion. No wonder I was so miserable when I lived in Florida! Fortunately, the fact that I have a real Fall and Winter to look forward to makes Virginia much more bearable, even when it’s 100 degrees outside. I had a whole different recipe prepared to post, but it involved chile powder and a 400 degree oven and I just couldn’t post it. It’s too damn hot outside to even think about turning on the oven that high.
Instead, I …
July 11, 2011
Peach Dumplings with Vanilla Cream Sauce

Summer will never be my favorite season due to the 90 degree temperature and humidity around here, but I can’t deny that summer produce is my favorite. Since I joined a CSA my kitchen has been overflowing with peaches, nectarines, plums, watermelon, cherries, blackberries and blueberries. I had to admit defeat last week and freeze the rest of my berries and cherries since I knew we weren’t going to be able to use them up before they went bad. But that still left me with a bunch of peaches that needed to be used ASAP.
When I mentioned that on twitter I got lots of suggestions for making a cobbler or pie. A cobbler would definitely be …
June 30, 2011
Cherry-Peach Yogurt Parfaits with Maple Granola Brittle

I have a confession: I don’t really like yogurt. I’ve tried so many times over the years to make myself like it, but it always ends with me having to throw out a bunch of expired yogurt containers. But then I made that Cherry-Rhubarb Fool last month and I realized that yogurt can be good as long as it’s the base for something else. So yogurt by itself = meh, but yogurt + fruit + whipped cream = yum.
Last week I got some absolutely gorgeous peaches and cherries from my CSA and I had big container of yogurt that was close to expiring, so I decided combining them would be a great way to use …






















