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These shrimp are perfect — perfect — for those nights when you can barely move an inch but need to get dinner on the table quickly. (Monday nights are generally like this, right?) In under 10 minutes, you’ll have these lil’ guys in the oven, bubbling away in butter, while you sit back on the couch sipping on wine or beer or whatever you fancy. I will pretty much use any excuse to eat bread. Soup for lunch? Need bread. Hot outside? Could use some bread. BLT looking sad on a plate with no carbs? Bread. So it’s no surprise that as St. Patty’s Day approaches, I felt the undeniable urge to bake bread.
“More baking?! Are you insane?” Yes. Except not really, because Irish soda bread is perhaps the easiest bread in the world to make. You don’t need any fancy equipment, just a bowl and a wooden spoon. Mix everything up, knead the dough for a few minutes to shape into a smooth ball, then bake and reap the benefits of your Irish heritage! Okay, no, I’m not actually Irish, but whenever I wear green clothes people take one look at my fair skin and reddish-brown hair and start looking at me like I’m a leprechaun. (True story: I get asked if I’m Irish all the time.) Continue reading Irish Soda Bread If you’re looking to impress someone with your culinary skills, don’t discount the beauty of a well-crafted salad.
Continue reading Beet Salad with Candied Walnuts and Gorgonzola Today is our 9 year anniversary. Or it was, before we got married. I guess we should stop celebrating in March, but old habits die hard. Besides, it’s Pi Day (the 3.14 kind… but I still like to honor the day via baked goods)! Not that I need a reason to bake a pie (or a tart, in this case), but celebrating our love seems like as good a reason as any to bake. Happy un-anniversary, John! We’re just an old married couple now with a kid on the way. I couldn’t ask for anything else.
I wish I could say that this was easy to make. A piece of cake (a piece of tart?). But no. This dough was out to get me. Anything that could possibly go wrong did. Alright, drama queen. Calm down. I mean, it doesn’t look awful, but believe me when I say that this was a challenge. It’s shocking that I’ve been able to master things like challah and croissants, but a little dessert can throw me off balance. If you’re a baker (and by “baker” I mean anyone who is generally more successful at baking than me… or a pastry chef), congratulations! This is the dessert for you! Continue reading Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart Thank goodness for leftovers. That’s what I was thinking as I devoured this for lunch today. I like to bake. It evokes happiness and warmth and aromas that make the whole house smell amazing. I’m not saying I’m the best baker ever, but give me a recipe that’s foolproof and I’ll bring it to life. When I came across this banana bread on a fellow blogger’s site, well, I knew I had to have it. The very idea of mixing bananas and peanut butter with more peanut butter was enough to send me running to the kitchen to bake at 9 pm. Sometimes you just can’t wait till morning. It’s hard to imagine improving upon a classic (banana bread = delish), but I’m telling you the addition of mini Reese’s peanut butter cups is killer.
And killer is good. Besides, all that peanut butter and bread is really just a vessel to get at the fruit, and everyone knows fruit is a necessary component to healthy eating. Am I right?! Ribollita. Also known as Tuscan vegetable and bread soup. It’s hearty, it’s healthy, and it screams winter. Which is perfect, because Mother Nature clearly cannot make up her mind as to whether it’s winter or almost spring. (It’s currently 32 F here in NYC, but we’re supposed to get up to 65 F (!!!) on Thursday.) This is the soup that almost didn’t exist. I was deterred by the mix of kale and cabbage and beans. Doesn’t sound like something hubby and I would like. But after eating comfort food non-stop for a week, we were in dire need of vegetables. Even though my track record with soups is iffy, I thought why not? Worst case scenario, we feed it to the dog.
Sorry, Jackson. No soup for you. Continue reading Ribollita Not going to lie, I’ve spent the last hour playing around on The Home Depot website looking at this amazing tool: http://homeinspiration.homedepot.com/main.html Basically, it allows you to play with paint without actually playing with paint. It’s the perfect way to bring inspiration into a new home. I’m in love! So in love that I almost didn’t post about these cookies, which is kind of crazy, because these cookies are kind of outrageously good. You know the saying, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade,” right? Well when life (read: your amazing, wonderful friends) send you homemade fettuccine with sage and a wild mushroom and sage olive oil, what do you make?
Isn’t the answer obvious?! Mushroom and sage fettuccine! And you make it immediately. Continue reading Mushroom and Sage Fettuccine |
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