Sparkling White Cosmo and The Year in Review

One more day till we count down to a new year and a fresh start.  Do you make resolutions?  Some years I've made them and kept them, other years I've made them but they got abandoned.  This year my plan is to make plans.  Rather than resolutions that feel like failures if they're not immediately implemented, I have plans for what I'd like to achieve, personally and professionally in the coming year.

The Month in Review - December 2013

Wow, looking back on December, it seems it was a very sweet and boozy month.  Well, that's probably why we remember it so fondly.  Those parts of it we remember, of course...  Actually a lot of what happened since Thanksgiving is a sweet and boozy blur.  But a happy blur!

In fairness, we mostly fed others, and had ourselves a festive, company filled holiday season.  Did it go by faster than usual this year?  Well, there's still New Year's Eve to look forward to before we dig out the scales and the diet plans.  So let's take a look back at delicious December, in case we need a sweet memory to get us through the winter.  Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Whatever you're celebrating today, we wish you and your family a very happy holiday filled with good food and good company!

Creamy and Crunchy Corn Casserole

Over the weekend I had a huge craving for one of Brian's delicious burgers.  He seasons them with Worcestershire sauce and garlic, then gets the cast iron pan screaming hot for a great sear, and he serves them with a mound of amazingly good caramelized onions on toasted ciabatta rolls.  I had to have one!  So, while he was out shopping for the ingredients, I got to work on the side dishes.

Spicy Black Mudslide

The chilly New York weather (oh, who am I kidding - it's damn cold!) means we stay home a lot more on Saturday nights and that seems to lead to some fun cocktail experiments.  We love spiced rum but, thanks to the Captain's Table Challenge, the good folks at Captain Morgan have introduced us to their spiced BLACK rum.  It's far more potent than their classic which makes it perfect to mix with sweet liqueurs.

Christmas Pie with Rum Gingerbread Caramel

I'm about to tell you something scandalous about this pie.  It's not too sweet, it's bursting with apples and tart cranberries and it's not about the crust.  Wait...did I just say that?  I, who am famous for eating the crust right out from under the filling?  Yup, though it pains me a bit to say it.  But, it's not so much that this pie is about the fruit but rather about how amazingly good the fruit tastes when it's slathered with the rum gingerbread sauce.  Actually, I think cardboard might be good slathered with this sauce.  One spoonful on top of each bite of fruit, one spoonful right into my mouth, repeat.  Seriously, someone take this sauce away from me right now.

Chocolate Babka

Today we're taking a break from all the Christmas celebrations to discuss an odd group of friends, a strange pole and a 'show about nothing.'  And by now, all you Seinfeld fans are smiling.  It's been 15 years since the TV series left the air but it's still very much around in syndication, popular culture and a little made-up holiday called Festivus.  Celebrated with a bare pole and an airing of grievances, it's a time to come together and say "I got a lot of problems with you people!"  It's all in good fun, of course, and in its 9 seasons, quite a lot of delicious food came up on the show.  So some of my blogger friends and I decided to cook the foods best associated with the Seinfeld years and give away some great holiday gifts.

Almond Shortbread Cookies

I have some pretty good willpower around most cookies.  For the record, I have absolutely none around peanut butter.  But, cookies...yeah, I can usually walk away.  Unless they're shortbread cookies and then I keep coming back to stare at them.  Add in some almond and suddenly I have a cookie problem.

Rustic Roasted Veggie Tart

It's possible that I was a mouse in a previous life based on my love of cheese.  I always keep a few cheesy staples in my fridge for recipe inspiration or just to perk up a dish.  And those Kraft bags of shredded cheese are such great time savers for quick weeknight meals.  With all the holiday entertaining this month, we've been going through our fair share so I was delighted to find great savings on Kraft products at Target.  In fact, Kraft is offering up to $20 in coupons towards their products there so check out the link at the bottom of this post for the savings.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lemon Herb Dressing

Pardon me while I take a moment away from the holiday cakes, cookies and cocktails to discuss a vegetable that hasn't been candied and topped with marshmallows.  No worries, though, because there are plenty more caloric goodies coming your way before we all wake up on New Year's Day and realize there are only 6 short months till bathing suit season.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle

So, we all know what you're supposed to do when life hands you a bowl of lemons.  But, what to do when life hands you a fallen crumb cake and you're supposed to give it as a gift?  If you've been paying attention around here at all, you know I am the queen of the crumb.  I can practically make a crumb cake in my sleep.  I add crumb topping to almost everything.  What on earth is the world coming to when my crumb cake fails??

Crunchy Kahlúa Buckeyes with Sea Salt

The holidays mean gift giving, and gift getting, but there's always the question of what to give.  Brian has an easy time of it because I just put everything I want on my Amazon wish list and he knows to look there.  But when I'm invited to someone's home, I think an edible or drinkable gift is always happily received.  Whether it's homemade or store bought depends on your level of comfort in making it but I like to do both.

Raspberry Red Velvet Cake with Chocolate Raspberry Glaze

Recently, Driscoll's asked me to create a recipe using their fresh raspberries and to talk about their Made with Love Holiday Sweepstakes (more about that below).  But it's the phrase 'made with love' that stuck with me because love is why I cook and bake special treats for Brian.  And I know how very much he loves my red velvet cake.  But when I first made it for him, he asked me why it needs to be red.  I didn't have an answer for him other than that it was traditional but he really dislikes the idea of the red food coloring that's commonly used.  Suddenly I had an idea.

The Rum and Maple Cocktail and Baked Brie with Rum Cranberry Compote

There's something about this time of year that brings friends and family together more often and our holiday entertaining has only just begun.  But that always leads to the question of what to serve.  We're all about great cocktails, as you should know by now, and love introducing our guests to new flavors.

Captain's Table Challenge with Captain Walker

From time to time you see me create recipes for specific food brands and it's something I find both challenging and rewarding.  They're always brands I like anyway and I enjoy the challenge of creating new recipes and new ideas for using well known products.  And, if that product just happens to be a spirit, well... that's kind of extra fun.

The Month in Review - November 2013

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving celebration yesterday.  We ate too much, drank too much and were up way to late.  It was great!  No 'black Friday' shopping for us today, though.  We're lounging around and enjoying the day off.

Before we head into December and all the holiday foods and drinks that are coming up, let's take a quick look back and a very delicious November.  Enjoy!

Creamy Kahlúa Trifle

Of all the many desserts I make around the holidays, no-bake trifles are by far the easiest.  They're great make-ahead dishes and can be flavored in lots of different ways.  Lately I've been looking in my liquor cabinet for flavoring inspirations and my bottle of Kahlúa Pumpkin Spice is a growing favorite.  Added to a simple cream cheese base it gives this dessert much more dimension.  And yes, I took some help from the store with prepared whipped topping and a really good pre-made crust.  With dessert quickly out of the way, I could focus on a more elaborate dinner.

Herb and Walnut Pie Crust Leaves

Did I ever mention how much I love pastry?  To me, the crust is the best, most important part of a pie or quiche.  I'd even be willing to scoop the filling out if it meant more crust.  Well... almost.  But it does make sense that I love to make savory appetizers out of my favorite crust recipe.

Deep Dish Dutch Apple Pie with Peanut Butter Streusel

If I had to be known for a signature dish, it would probably be my apple pie.  It's our annual Thanksgiving dessert and Brian's particular favorite.  The first time I made it for him, a few months after we first met, he told me I should have gone into the apple pie making business.  And, naturally, I've been making it for him ever since.

Holiday Entertaining and the 'House Special' Pitcher

I think the best part of the holiday season is getting together with friends and family.  And, although it can be relaxing to just be the guest, I actually prefer being the host.  Having a houseful of guests, eating, drinking, laughing and exchanging stories somehow makes the house feel like a home.  And I still remember all the parties my parents threw when I was a little girl.  I'd help my mother cook and decorate and I'd always be given a chance to join the adults for a little while before being sent off to bed.  Good memories.

Sweet Cinnamon Bread

Don't you love the smell of cinnamon coming from the oven?  Lazy Sunday mornings, coffee, tea and a warm cinnamon treat for breakfast.  Sure, cinnamon rolls are amazing but I had something a little lighter and easier in mind.

Sage and Butternut Squash Pithiviers (Savory Hand Pies)

As popular as pumpkin is in our house at this time of year, I think butternut squash shows up even more often.  It's a little sweeter and has a mild enough flavor to blend with lots of different recipes.  You can boil or microwave it but roasting brings out the best flavor and it's totally worth the time to do.  Know what isn't worth the time?  Cutting the dang thing.  I mean, if you have to then, you have to, but many markets sell it already peeled and cut up and I'm happily paying the extra few pennies for all that labor.  Even more happily, this recipe requires no pre-cooking but, since you'll likely have leftover squash, below are some recipe ideas.

Vanilla Cream Cocktail

I've always been a vanilla girl.  No, not in a boring, plain, run-of-the-mill sort of way.  Vanilla is nothing like that.  It's exotic and fragrant and adds a marvelous flavor to almost everything.  I'll always choose the vanilla-flavored whatever it is.  Now add that to the creamy, coffee flavor of Kahlúa and I'm an instant fan.

Cranberry Crumb Cake

One of my very favorite winter dessert flavor combinations is orange and cranberries.  I can smell that sweet aroma in every bakery and pastry shop I pass this time of year and it always calls my name.  And crumb topping?  Well, that's a treat I love pretty much every day of the year!

Sticky Figgy Bundt Cake

Do you all remember Fig Newton cookies from when you were a kid?  I actually had to go search to see if they're still around and, yup, they sure are.  I had totally forgotten about them until the bundt bakers group announced this month's theme of working with jam and I went off to look for inspiration.

The Spicy Pumpkin

I've made no secret of the fact that I like pumpkin and a quick glance to the right of this page should tell you I definitely like cocktails. So, when the folks at Kahlúa came out with a new Pumpkin Spice flavor and asked if I would sample it and, maybe make a cocktail with it, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a bottle.

The Month in Review - October 2013

Well, it was fun while it lasted.  I'm referring to that lovely autumn breeze that comes in when the windows are finally opened after a long, hot summer.  The first whiff of crisp fall air and the excitement of a pumpkin or apple cake baking in the oven.  Pure contentment.  But, this morning, the windows are shut and that delightful breeze has turned into a cold wind.

October was a lovely month in New York and we took full advantage of the weather.  I'll fill you in soon on our pumpkin gathering, apple picking and spook filled Halloween party.  But today let's look back at how delicious, and apparently very sweet, a month it was.  Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon and Walnuts

I've always been a fan of Brussels sprouts, even at a young age when most of my friends left theirs on the plate.  And I learned that school cafeteria overcooking was the chief culprit in Brussels sprouts hatred.  Drizzled in olive oil, well seasoned and oven roasted made for a lovely side dish that converted many folks I know.  But it never occurred to me to eat them raw until I started seeing salad recipes like that.

Moroccan Spiced Beef with Herb Parmesan Dumplings

Sometimes, delicious meal ideas begin with the age old question of 'what's for dinner?'  And, so, I asked this of Brian a couple of weekends ago.  This is normally a fruitless exercise because he'll tell me that whatever I choose is fine.  But, every once in a while, he'll throw out an idea which leads me to another idea and something tasty may result.  That sounds a little convoluted, doesn't it?  How do you decide what to make for dinner? 

Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies

I have to admit that I'm not the world's biggest fan of brownies, although Brian certainly is.  I am, however, a leading contender for biggest peanut butter fan.  So maybe combining the two would make us both happy.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I was so tempted to call these Pretty Perfect Pumpkin Whoopie Pies because...they really are!  Although I'd heard of them, I never actually ate one until the first time Brian and I vacationed in Maine.  When we checked into our cottage, two of these soft, pillowy, marshmallowy treats were waiting for us with a welcome note.  I knew they were considered a New England tradition and they seem to be most closely associated with Maine.  Certainly we found them in pretty much every bakery and provisions store we visited whereas I'd never seen one in New York.

Reese's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pretzel Crust Pie

The last time I got together with my friends from the Holiday Food Party Bloggers, we were baking up patriotic treats for the the 4th of July.  I don't know where the past four months have disappeared but I'm excited to be reuniting with them to make Halloween goodies.  Our group always knew we couldn't pass up such a fun, sweets intensive holiday and we've been brainstorming for a while now.

Life in the Big City - A Little Fall Housekeeping

When you were a kid, did you ever press leaves between paper to preserve them?  I haven't done that in years but, looking at all the pretty leaves lately makes me want to save them.  When we strolled through the park yesterday I found myself picking up some nice ones that had kept their shapes.  In fact a few years ago, Brian and I took an autumn vacation in Vermont and an absolutely perfect leaf somehow ended up in our car.  It was so lovely that we left it there and it lived in the back seat for a couple of years.  I used to love looking at it.

Red Wine and Herb Beef Stew

Chilly evenings, big bowl of warm stew.  You don't need any explanations for that, right?  Sure enough, first sign of cooler weather and I'm buying stew meat.  But I was also craving some of the flavors in my Pot Roast a la Giada with its sweet red wine notes and fragrant herbs.  So I just updated my long-time, tried and true stew recipe to include those flavors.  One pot, inexpensive but with all those rich, earthy flavors.  Now this stew is in regular rotation until spring.  Enjoy!

Apple Dumplings with Salted Caramel Sauce

For years I've seen apple dumplings for sale at local bakeries and they just didn't tempt me.  The idea of them was appealing but what I saw looked dry and boring and I didn't get the attraction.  And the couple of times I've bought them to try, my instincts proved correct.  But this year I decided that, since my idea of what they should be was so different than what I was finding, I should just create my own.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

When the weather started cooling down, the first autumn recipe that went into my oven was pumpkin bread.  It was a Friday afternoon, last month, and I was finally able to turn off the air conditioners and open the windows.  A fresh autumn breeze blew in and the smell of pumpkin was coming from my kitchen.  I hate letting go of summer but that made it bearable.

Antica Formula Manhattan

When Brian and I first met, he was a bourbon drinker but doesn't recall ever having had a Manhattan.  I loved Manhattans but always had them made with the traditional rye whiskey.  Now, years later, we both enjoy the happy marriage of bourbon Manhattans.  We've tested bourbons, we've found our favorite but we never gave a second thought to the vermouth.  We had the standard label, found everywhere, in the back of the liquor cabinet forever.

Caramel Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Given a choice between a regular cake with lots of frosting or a good old fashioned coffee cake, I will almost always choose the latter.  And a coffee cake with a thick crumb topping?  That I'll choose every time.

30 Minute Loaded Pasta

Weekends are my time to get busy in the kitchen.  Long cooking stews, fancy salads and creative desserts get tested, tasted and devoured.  But weeknights are hectic, I'm hungry and time is short.  Did I just describe your weeknights, too?  Take-out meals are a rare event here and I much prefer to cook my own food.  But weeknight meals have to be simple, quick and use a minimum of pots and pans.  So, when the folks at OXO and Plated invited me to participate in the Very Vegetarian Recipe Challenge and asked for a quick easy, yet nutritionally sound, dinner idea, I knew it was right up my alley.

Chocolate Hazelnut Candy Bundt with Nutella Glaze

The bundt bakers are back today!  A year ago, when I first joined the group and told Brian I was baking a bundt cake, he didn't seem too interested and informed me he prefers pie.  But, oh, how times have changed and now bundt day is happily anticipated each month.

A "Yummy" Addition to Our Family

No, it's not a new recipe ingredient, not a new puppy sibling for Hadley (don't tempt me!) and no, we didn't have a baby.  Although, in a sense, we did.  A while back Brian and I purchased a web site called Yum Goggle which featured beautiful food photography and links back to the recipes.  It was small and rather poorly designed but we saw an opportunity.

The Month in Review - September 2013

If I were to base it on the sheer number of blog posts and Pinterest photos, I would have to conclude that fall is everybody's favorite season.  Oh, I'm sure there are some holdouts and I, myself, will give you a convincing argument for summer.  But, let's face it, fall is awesome.  Crisp air, colorful leaves, pumpkins, apples, the anticipation of the approaching holidays....it's all pretty damn amazing.

Here in New York we've been having some lovely weather with days in the low 70's and nights in the 60's.  Gorgeous but not quite cool enough for those boots, sweaters and changing leaves we all talk about.  Of the many, many (too many) tabs I usually have open on my computer, one of them is the New York State Fall Foliage Report.  These days I check it religiously to find the perfect weekend for a drive upstate to see the leaves, pick apples and gather pumpkins.  Not yet, but soon.  In the meantime, my market has plenty of sweet apples and canned pumpkin puree and the fall baking has commenced.  But, before the autumn food onslaught, let's take a quick look back at all the deliciousness we created in September.  Enjoy!

Baked Spinach Chips

Remember when kale chips were all the rage?  Well, they're so over now!  OK, maybe they're still raging.  My supermarket now sells them ready made in little 3 serving containers...for $7.00!  At those prices they'd better still be raging but they're definitely over in my kitchen.  I sort of liked them, kind of, for someone who doesn't generally like kale all that much.  Brian ate the first batch I made last year and decided they were over back then.  The net net was that, if you made them for me, I would eat them but I usually didn't bother making them for myself.

Strawberry Thyme Gin Fizz and a Giveaway!

It's my pleasure today to tell you about my friend Heidi's new line of syrups and to give you the opportunity to win a gift basket.  Heidi writes the Young Grasshopper blog and she and I are bonded in our love of cocktails.  Now she, and her catering partner, have created a line of flavored syrups, called Not So Simple Syrup, for those cocktails as well as iced teas, lemonades, cakes...the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.  They work with a local bottler, use only the finest ingredients and personally test every batch.

Fresh Thyme, a Gratin and the Parsnips of Doom

This is a parsnip and fresh thyme gratin and it was a fun alternative to traditional potatoes.  We ate it with grilled steak and a kale salad.  We ate it a few hours later than usual, however, due to an overwhelming attack of stupidity.

Apple Pie Cookies

Aren't these the cutest things?  Not my idea, although I wish they were.  These have been pinned to my to-do list for quite a few months now and I've actually seen them in at least a dozen places.  They all seem to stem back to one original source, though, which is Smitten Kitchen.  So I'll go ahead and say the inspiration came from there.

Cheesy Bacon Corn Casserole

Do you ever get in a cheesy, bacony kind of mood?  That's probably a silly question, isn't it?  So, there I was, on my own for dinner and it was getting late.  I was wrapped up in a dozen projects, papers everywhere, the remnants of cooking projects everywhere.  One of these days I should take a photo of the chaos this place goes through during the day.  But, back to the subject of dinner...

Creamy Veggie Soup

A nip in the air.  A touch of autumn crispness.  An evening of open windows instead of AC.  A small first batch of pumpkins at the market.  It's not exactly full-on autumn yet but the slight chill down instantly brought my soup desires back.  I live on the stuff when the weather cools down.

Life in the Big City - Autumn in New York

"Don't you love New York in the fall?  It makes me wanna buy school supplies.  I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..."

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

A couple of weeks ago, when I made meatballs stroganoff, I mentioned that I consider meatballs an easy to make dinner.  It's probably because of that reason that I like experimenting with different flavors and ideas.  So, if I can turn a stroganoff into a meatball, why not a chicken parm?