Thirsty Thursdays: Sparkling Apple and Cranberry Champagne Cocktail

Sparkling Apple and Cranberry Champagne Cocktail

Check out today's post on A Cocktail Life for this celebratory drink!

The Year in Review - 2014

At last we've come to the end of 2014 and not a moment too soon. I'm not gonna lie, this was not my favorite year and I'm looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning with a fresh new attitude and endless possibilities.

Glazed Orange Cranberry Crumb Loaf

OK, so Christmas is over and the long Christmas weekend is over and you've eaten all the cookies in the house. You might have even made some public statements about being sick of sweets and ready for a healthy new year. But... the new year isn't here quite yet and you're getting hungry again and you do sort of still want something sweet. Or maybe that's just me.

Thirsty Thursdays: Spiked and Spicy Hot Chocolate

Spiked and Spicy Hot Chocolate

Check out today's post on A Cocktail Life for this cold weather treat!

Of Travels and Lighthouses and Christmases Long, Long Ago

OK, not long, long ago. Just two years ago. But I'm a little obsessed with Christmas music these days and the song It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year with the line "And tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago" was running through my head. Just like the line from The Carpenter's Home For the Holidays that reads "I met a man who lives in Tennessee and he was headin' for Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie" was looping in my brain the other day when I made pumpkin pie. I'll be over this soon, I promise.

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

I have Christmas music playing pretty much non-stop these days. When I'm at my desk, when I'm at the gym...it's my annual binge. And, come the new year, it will be banished again until after next Thanksgiving. One of my favorites has always been Home for the Holidays by The Carpenters and it's made me associate Christmas with pumpkin pie.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Crumb Bars

I like giving homemade food gifts because I think the love and effort that goes into making them truly expresses to the recipient that they were important enough to you to make the effort. And so I spent the morning of my dearest friend's birthday in the kitchen, baking these treats for her. I also have a treat for you today because Peanut Butter & Co. will send 4 jars of their peanut butter, in your choice of flavors, to the winner of my giveaway below.

Thirsty Thursdays: Hot Buttered Rum Nog

Hot Buttered Rum Nog

Not gonna lie. The first time I heard about hot buttered rum I thought the idea sounded nauseating. But over the years, whenever I heard the term, I started wondering why I thought so because I certainly like butter well enough. And I definitely like rum. And the idea starting sounding more appealing.

When I finally decided to make my own, I looked up recipes and found it involved making a "batter' so now it wasn't so much nauseating as much as complicated. No wonder it took me so longer to warm up to this drink.

Happily, the "batter" is hardly complicated and the drink lends itself perfectly to different flavors. The creamy part is typically ice cream and so I used some of the egg nog ice cream I have in the freezer. And it turned out so well that now I'm thinking the pumpkin ice cream and chocolate ice cream I have may both needed to be tested too. Cheers!

Per Serving:
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 oz. Egg nog ice cream or egg nog
1 1/2 oz. Spiced rum
Pinch of cinnamon
Small pinch of nutmeg
6 oz. Boiling water

Combine the butter and sugar in a small bowl. Add the egg nog ice cream and whisk in the boiling water. Stir in the rum, cinnamon and nutmeg and garnish with whipped cream if desired.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Morsel Snack Cakes

If you think that I'm capable of walking past a package of chocolate chips stuffed with peanut butter then it's obvious that we've never met. It was definitely one of those "stopped in my tracks" moments in the baking aisle when there, next to the chocolate chips and the peanut butter chips, was the combo of my dreams. Thank you, Nestle, for your new DelightFulls filled baking morsels. Or snacking morsels, as the case may be. Or just buy two and do both.

Savory Cheesecake with Honeyed Walnuts

Today I have the pleasure of working with Mirassou on some great holiday entertaining ideas.

We're deep into holiday entertaining mode around here. Cocktail parties, appetizers before dinner, something special for New Year's Eve perhaps? I have some great wine and that needed a great appetizer to match. Wine and cheese is a given but a savory cheesecake is so much more impressive. And I promise you there won't be a sliver left because it's just too good.

Banana Cashew Pancakes

Have I ever mentioned to you that I am a cashew thief? I mean that, if there's a bowl of mixed nuts around, I will surreptitiously steal all the cashews. And if you happen to comment on how few cashews there are in the bowl, I will stand there and complain to you about how the mixed nut companies are shorting us on cashews while pretending there is an equal number of them in the can. This has happened.

The Month in Review - November 2014

Excuse me but can somebody please tell me what happened to the first part of December? These days it seems like I blink and I'm handing out Halloween candy, blink again and I'm roasting Thanksgiving turkey and and now all my get-it-done at the start of the month December plans are late. Some of you may be getting Christmas cards for Valentine's Day if this keeps up.

Thirsty Thursdays: Cranberry Gin Fizz

Cranberry Gin Fizz

Check out today's post on A Cocktail Life for this seasonal treat!

Easy Baked Rice Balls (Arancini)

Today I have the pleasure of partnering with Minute® Rice to create this mouth-watering recipe. As always, thank you for supporting the products I love and use in my kitchen.

We all have our guilty pleasures and, while mine are usually sweet, rice balls have the savory honor. There's a gourmet Italian market dangerously close to my apartment and they make the most perfect arancini. They also have an amazing produce selection which is why I go there...cough, cough...OK, moving right along.

Mediterranean Tapas Potatoes

Every year it seems like I spend the month of December coming up with creative ways to feed guests. Oh, planning a dinner is easy enough but what about those in-between, buffet type foods. A cold cut platter, cheeses, crudites, something more special?. But what?

Thirsty Thursdays: Chocolate Covered Pretzel Martini

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Martini

Check out today's post on A Cocktail Life for this candy store treat in boozy form!

Cheesy Polenta and Spinach Baked Eggs

If you recall, a couple of weeks ago I was whining about not being motivated to make a fuss over breakfast and calling it a successful meal when I've actually poured milk into my bowl of cereal. But, it's the holiday season and making a good breakfast for someone you love or visiting guests is such an act of love. And, in fact, it is on holidays and birthdays that I haul out the bacon and eggs and French toast to make people happy at breakfast. But that's kind of the problem because the recipients are happy but the cook is eating leftover cold French toast crumbs while cleaning the kitchen. Wow, I guess I wasn't done whining.

Chocolate Gingerbread Crumb Cake

The post-Thanksgiving weekend comes with certain traditions around here. Pumpkin and turkey decorations are put away, I can hear the Christmas tree vendors setting up down on the sidewalk and my kitchen smells like gingerbread.