May 24, 2011
Cherry-Rhubarb Fool
After discovering my love for cherries late last summer, I was ecstatic last week when I went to my grocery store and they had cherries in the produce section for the first time this year. I’ll just tell you right now that you should be expecting lots of cherry recipes this summer. I wasted too many years turning my nose up at them and I gotta make up for it!
My grocery store also had some rhubarb in stock and I grabbed some since I’ve never tried it before and I’m all about trying new fruits and vegetables these days. I’m not going to make the same mistake I made with cherries! When I was looking through a new cookbook and saw this recipe, it seem like it would be a great use for the rhubarb.
May 10, 2011
Chocolate Covered Nutella-Mallow Cookies
I think I’m starting to look forward our Game Nights more for the baking, than for the actual, you know, playing games. Since 99% of the cooking I do is for me and my boyfriend it’s really fun to have an excuse to make something for other people. It’s also pushing me to challenge myself and try new techniques. These mallow cookies are a prime example. I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for a long time, but it always seemed like too much effort for cookies that only one other person would see. But making them for a group of people seemed much more worth it and even sounded like the process would be really fun. Plus, these cookies are seriously impressive looking. What can I say, I like to show off. Who doesn’t?
So, are these as big a pain in the ass to make as they look? I will honestly say I was surprised because they turned out to be easier than I imagined. That’s not to say that they don’t take some work, but in the end I …
May 5, 2011
Stuffed Poblanos
Most of the time I don’t have the forethought to plan recipes related to holidays that aren’t Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I happened to make this for dinner a few days ago and I knew it would be perfect to post on Cinco de Mayo. And in fact, this dish is sort of a celebration for me because it signifies that I’ve finally graduated from the realm of the picky eaters! Chile peppers were my last big food phobia and I’m very happy to say this recipe has put all my fears to rest. And, even crazier, as I was shoveling a stuffed poblano into my mouth my main thought was that I wanted it to be spicier. Five years ago, I wouldn’t even touch bell peppers, so eating a dish with not one, but two kinds of chile peppers in it would have been crazy talk.
This recipe is like a healthier version of chile rellenos. It uses poblano chiles that don’t need to be charred or peeled or anything fussy like that. They’re hollowed out and stuffed with a mixture of black beans and cheese and then …
April 29, 2011
Whole Grain Blueberry Buckle
In my last post, I talked about how I love decadent desserts, but that I’m also making an effort to be a healthier person. Well, sometimes I forget that you can be a healthier person and still bake lots of great treats. Case in point: this coffee cake and also the entire cookbook that this coffee cake is from, Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. 
This coffee cake is made with whole wheat pastry flour and spelt flour. I went on an online shopping spree …
April 19, 2011
Magic Peanut Butter Middles
In a perfect world, this would be purely a baking blog where I posted one decadent dessert after the other, but since this is not a perfect world I often struggle with my desire to make these decadent desserts and the reality of trying to be a healthier (and lighter) person. It’s especially hard in a two person household where a whole cake can be entirely too much…and entirely too tempting. So I’ve found the key is to make what I want, but try to give as much away as possible. This strategy has been working out well lately and Brandon’s coworkers seem to be quite happy to eat all of our extra sweets. We also regularly attend a Saturday game night and I’ve found that to be the perfect event for trying out new cookie recipes. I get to satisfy my sweet tooth, and by the end of the night all the cookies are gone so I don’t have anything tempting me the next day.
April 5, 2011
Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles with Blueberry Syrup
I realized the other day that the majority of the food I eat is breakfast food. I eat a lot of eggs, muffins, fruit bars, smoothies and cereal, not just at breakfast time but throughout the day. It’s not at all uncommon for me to have a bowl of cereal for dessert. My absolute favorite thing is breakfast for dinner, but I have a boyfriend who is a weirdo who likes, you know, dinner-y things for dinner. So that’s why I started “whatever” nights, which are nights 1 or 2 times a week when we just fend for ourselves. I get my breakfast for dinner and Brandon can order Chinese food or pizza. Everyone is happy.
My recent breakfast related obsession is blueberries. I’ve generally been ambivalent toward blueberries, but after putting them in my fruit bars, I realized how delicious they can be and now want to use them in everything. I’ve been making tons of blueberry pancakes lately, but last night I really wanted waffles. I know it can be done, but blueberry waffles sound messy to me. …
March 29, 2011
Tex-Mex Potato Soup
It feels weird to be posting a soup recipe when it’s almost April, but it actually snowed in Charlottesville this past weekend so Spring isn’t quite here yet, at least for many of us in the top half of the country. And you know what? That’s kind of okay with me. Spring is beautiful time of year up here, but I actually prefer cold weather. Plus I get to eat more soup! I don’t think there’s anything I love more than soup (well anything that doesn’t have sugar in it, anyway).
During the colder months I make soup at least once a week, but I’ve been making it less in the past few months. So last week when the temperature dropped and brought rain and snow with it, I knew I had to make some soup. I figure it’s my last chance before it gets too warm. I recently had some potato soup at Panera Bread and it made me remember how much I love it, so I decided to improvise my own version at home. I love spicy soup like my favorite Chicken …
