All posts filed under: recipe

Honeyed Fig and Feta French Toast

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Last week, figs made an unexpected appearance at the grocery store.  I was pretty sure that last year, the figs didn’t arrive until late August, early September, so I was a little bit dubious about such an early arrival.  But, since figs are one of those, here-and-gone-in-a-minute kinds of fruits, I just had to buy some just in case they were in season and I had my dates wrong!  It turns out that California fig season started a little early this year because of a very warm winter.  Figs have a very short shelf life which I found out first hand when I opened the box two days later and saw that some of them had already begun to mold! So, with a fire lit under me I knew I had to do something with them immediately.  I opened the refrigerator and the ingredients appeared to me like the digital rain of the Matrix! Bread–got it! milk, eggs, fresh blueberries and what have we here…ah, a chunk of feta cheese! Yep.  Feta cheese.  Now some of you might be thinking that sounds like crazy talk, …

Happy Father’s Day! Cherry Drop Martini

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Oh, fresh cherries…I am not done with you yet!  I am going to make the most of you while you’re in season, eating these glittering jewels by the bagful; baking them into a pie, smashing them into a cocktail.  Cherry season is too short, so I shall make hay while the sun shines. This drink is so smooth.  A perfect balance of sweetness and strength.  Just like Dad.  I made this cocktail with both white vermouth and red vermouth and they both resulted in a really fine drink.  The red vermouth brings out the deeper, darker cherry notes and the white vermouth is bright and sweet.  You can’t go wrong with either one. So, make your Dad (or whoever represents a father in your life) a drink and let him relax today–he deserves it!

Chocolate Cherry Crisp from “Bountiful”

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I really want to tell you about this Chocolate Cherry Crisp that I made from White on Rice Couple’s cookbook, Bountiful.  I want to tell you about these gorgeous cherries and about how excited I am that cherries are back in season and are inexpensive enough that you won’t have to take out a home equity line of credit just to buy a bag! I want to tell you how absolutely luscious this crumble is–how the sweet, tender cherries and rich dark chocolate smoosh together perfectly under that crumbly topping.  But before I do any of that, I want to tell you that I am having the hardest time writing these days.  I’m not sure what’s causing my words to jam up inside of me like a spoonful of cold peanut butter, but they are.  I mean, I just used the word “smoosh” in a sentence and I’m 100% sure that’s not a real word, but it’s going to have to stay that way, because the other word I’m thinking of just vanished into thin air.  Have …

Lavender-Thyme Lemonade Fizz

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It’s hot out here!  Ok, it’s not hot enough for me to complain about it yet, but it’s still pretty toasty with temperatures hovering in the triple digits.  I’ll reserve my complaints for when it’s around 110 degrees in the shade; but for now, I’ll just relax and have something refreshing, like this Lavender Thyme Lemonade Fizz. It’s bright and crisp and refreshing, like lemonade always is, but made special with fresh thyme and lavender from the garden! This very grown-up lemonade is a lovely sipper that’s not too strong and perfect for weekends spent in the hot summer sun! Remember a few weeks ago when we made Lavender-Vanilla Infused Vodka? Well, you’re going to need it for this recipe, so run and go get it now!  I’ll wait… Ok, now that you have it in hand, you’ll need about a half of a cup of lavender infused vodka for this recipe. If you like a stronger drink, add additional plain vodka–lavender is a very assertive flavor so a little goes a long way. Along with …

Is that a Zucchini in your pocket…? Mini Turkey-Zucchini Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

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We unintentionally brought home a human-baby sized zucchini from the Portland Farmer’s Market.  I swear, I had every intention of returning this behemoth to its rightful owners (our friends who purchased it for all of $2) but this zucchini had other plans and instead managed to stow away in my suitcase headed for the bright lights of Las Vegas–sorry Janette!  We spent almost all day Memorial Day making things with this giant zucchini! First I made a casserole with the ingredients you see pictured below.  That was tasty, but not quite tasty enough to share with you yet.  Then we made a zucchini pizza with parmesan, basil pesto and olives.  Now, that was really tasty and I’ll be sharing that one soon.  But this recipe for “Turkey & Zucchini Burgers with Green Onion and Cumin” from the cookbook “Jerusalem” by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi was the clear winner.  Can you believe I was able to get three entire dishes from one giant zucchini? I have had this cookbook for a few months now and so far …

Purple Kale and Farro Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

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Last week in a fit of health-filled exuberance, the Husband declared Mondays “Raw Food Monday”.  Now, I know this man and I knew the look I would get if on Monday evening I brought him a nice pile of crudités. It would be the look of “well this is tasty, but where is dinner?” I think an important part of being in a relationship is understanding what your partner really means when they say stuff like “Let’s have Raw Food Mondays”.  In my relationship, it means, “I’m feeling like I overindulged on the weekend and would really like to eat healthier”.  So, without saying a word, when Raw Food Monday came around, I set to work making this Purple Kale and Farro salad. Filled to the brim with leafy greens, whole grain farro, zucchini and tomatoes, I knew it would check all the healthy boxes and be filling as well even it if didn’t fit the qualifications of “raw food”. As normal, around dinnertime on Monday, the Husband asked “what’s for dinner?”.  “A salad” I replied. He immediately looked …

The Year I Learn to Bake: Savory Ham and Cheese Scones

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Easter has come and gone leaving behind a huge container of leftover ham that has found itself in a multitude of dishes throughout the week, and all throughout the week, I’ve been dreaming of these scones! I could hardly wait for Saturday morning to come so that I could finally make them!  Fluffy and golden, studded with bits of ham and pockets of melted cheese and slathered with butter; well, let’s just say these scones need to be in your belly, right now! With the help of a food processor, you can mix up these scones in mere minutes, and before you know it, these hot, buttery scones will be on your breakfast plate, ready to be devoured–or as in our case, snatched hot off the baking pan and devoured while standing in the kitchen!  Either way, you’re going to love these savory scones! I baked these scone in two batches. The second batch was made using the leftover dough from the first batch.  While the first batch baked in the oven, I shaped the leftover dough …