Author: Tracey

A New Succulent Garden and Blistered Shishito Peppers

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I kill succulents.  I kill them so often and so quickly that the garden center should probably have my picture on their wall with a notice saying “Do Not Sell Succulents To This Woman”.  But so far I’ve been able to elude them or they’ve just decided that they make a lot of money from me and my succulent exploits.  With that in mind, please know that this is not a tutorial on keeping succulents alive!  I wanted to rehab this terrarium from a couple of years ago that has been dormant for…18 months.  That means I was able to keep the succulents that were originally in it alive for 6 whole months.  This also means that I’ve had a big bowl of dirt sitting in my bathroom for a year and a half.  I saw this tutorial on West Elm’s website a while ago that showed how to make a succulent garden and suggested leaving the plants in their original pots–which seemed perfect for me!  At least this way, when I kill them, they …

Maple, Ginger and Thyme Glazed Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

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A good friend of mine asked me the other day whether I’d ever made carrots with ginger before.  I thought about that question and my short answer was that I had, but then I couldn’t remember the last time I’d made them. I started to realize that I rarely make carrots as their own side dish, mainly because The Husband doesn’t really like carrots.  He’ll eat them, but he doesn’t enjoy them and that’s really saying something because he is the least picky eater on the planet!  So as my friend and I were talking, I started thinking the sweet potatoes that I recently roasted in coconut oil.  This, in turn had me daydreaming about how amazing carrots would taste alongside those sweet potatoes, roasted in coconut oil and glazed with maple syrup and ginger!  I was instantly obsessed with the thought and went straight to the grocery store after work for carrots and ginger!  I came home and within minutes I was enjoying possibly the easiest and best recipe I’d made in a long …

Oscar-worthy Cocktails and Nosh!

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The 86th Annual Academy Awards are this evening and this year, I’ve actually seen quite a few of the nominated films! I feel like I have some skin in this game now!  I won’t be having an Oscar party, but you can be sure that I’ll be watching the show with a cocktail in hand along with some great snacks!  So, whether you are having a party or just looking for a few ideas for what to snack on tonight while you’re watching the show, might I offer a few suggestions? I’ve been to enough parties to know that people love deviled eggs!  Try these smokey, spicy  deviled eggs along with the frothy Lusty Lady topped with some Cognac-soaked cherries!  It just speaks Hollywood Glamour! This homage to Oscar Winner, Ginger Rogers is one of my favorites!  The Ginger Rogers is a double dose of ginger flavor, combining spicy ginger beer with ginger simple syrup. Or perhaps this fruity Blood Orange Margarita?  Awesome for a Mexican food-themed party! This Framboise 75  is a perfect choice if you’re feeling particularly fancy-schmancy! Who doesn’t love champagne? …

Cocktail of the Week: It’s About Thyme! Plus, Parmesan-Thyme Crackers

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Last weekend, I planted four new thyme plants in my little herb garden, so in honor of that, I’m featuring thyme in this week’s cocktail and finger food! This was the first cocktail The Husband and I learned to make together.  Inspired by that year’s winner of the 2011 Signature Spring Cocktail Contest: “No Thyme Like the Present“; it was served as the signature drink at my 40th birthday party (my, how time flies)!  The original recipe is a Hendrick’s Gin cocktail flavored with fresh thyme, subtle hints of cucumber and finished with a float of white grape juice.   The drink was amazing! It was cool and refreshing and perfect for an outdoor summer gathering. What I remember most was that I only had one glass of it and I was the Birthday Girl!  Why do I always get cut off so early?  Well, that was a few years ago, and I think my tolerance has increased a bit since then! My version of the recipe uses more gin, less juice and incorporated the herbs …

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad with Kale Pesto

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I recently purchased “The Sprouted Kitchen” cookbook by Sara Forte and I became a little bit obsessed with this one particular recipe for “Heirloom Tomato Stacks with Bocconcini and Kale Pesto”; so much so, that I’ve made it twice this week!   The original recipe, with its beautiful photograph of mid-summer, juicy heirloom tomatoes nestled on top of a bed of pesto and stacked between layers of fresh mozzarella cheese lured me right in!  I was hooked!  The only problem is…it’s not mid-summer.  Not by a mile.  And you and I both know that February tomatoes leave a lot to be desired–they aren’t very sweet; they are often flavorless at best and mealy at worst.  I’ve learned that slowly roasting tomatoes with a bit of olive oil, a sprinkle of sugar, salt, pepper and garlic totally solves the problem of less-than-flavorful off-season tomatoes, so you can have this salad year-round! The kale pesto is also a stroke of in-season genius, as it’s too early for fresh basil as well!  The kale pesto is a perfect …

Cocktail of the Week: The Lusty Lady, plus Deviled Eggs

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I’m pretty excited to share this cocktail with you because, well, it’s delicious and it’s pretty, but also because it’s one of those recipes that just came together perfectly just the way I imagined it!  Last week, I attended an amazing cocktail party benefitting the Helen David Relief Fund for Bartenders Affected by Breast Cancer.  The event featured 12 specialty cocktails prepared by some of Las Vegas’ most esteemed mixologists!  I only made it through 5 cocktails that night (and that was an amazing feat all it’s own) but I left there with a fuzzy memory of  a pretty, frothy cocktail garnished with a sprig of fresh lavender.  And with that vague memory, came the inspiration for this cocktail. Now, if last week’s cocktail, the Martinez, could be considered a man’s drink, then this one is for the ladies!  And by that I mean in a “strong enough for a man but made for by a woman” kind of way!  Like the Martinez, it’s a gin-based cocktail, but lightened up with an egg white froth, an herbes …

Farmer’s Market Breakfast with Poached Eggs

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I have a confession to make.  Until today, I have never successfully poached an egg. It’s crazy, I know!  I mean, egg-poaching is a very basic cooking skill and I feel so ashamed that until now, it has completely flummoxed me.  About a year or so ago, I was bound and determined to learn the proper technique, only to end up with a pot of what looked like egg-drop soup.  I tried again and again; and again and again, I failed. I was told my eggs were too fresh. Then I was told that maybe they weren’t fresh enough! And then, this week I happened upon a little article in Real Simple Magazine about the many uses of a meat thermometer that just happened to mention that the ideal temperature for poaching eggs was 180 degrees fahrenheit!  Eureka! That was the variable I never considered in my earlier attempts.  I knew that the water should be barely simmering, but I never thought to check the temperature.  Well, that’s what I did, and SUCCESS!  Beautiful, silky, …