Peru is INCREDIBLE! My ten day visit went by in the blink of an eye. When I look back through my photos and my journal and I can't believe we managed to do everything that we did. I also can't believe that I ate everything that I did. In case you didn't know, Peru is the gastronomic center of South America. I'm sure Colombia or Argentina may dispute that but they would lose. Badly.
Read MoreSo, it's June. Did anyone else realize that? School ends in a mere four days and then I am off to South America to chaperon dozens of fourteen year olds for ten days.
Sorry, did I not mention that until now?
Read MoreWell helloooooo there! I'm still here, it feels more like I've been everywhere else, but yeah, I'm here. Today I share with you this gem in Westport, Connecticut. It all starts with fifteen year old me falling in love with Anthropologie. The unique, eclectic design and delicate, but cozy materials were everything I ever wanted in my sundresses and cardigans. Then I discovered BHLDN. Not that I need it any time soon but, WOW, I'd get married over and over just to wear these gorgeous frocks. When I thought it couldn't get any better I found the topic of today's post: Terrain.
Read MoreI have a slight problem when it comes to saying thank you. Chill out, I'm going to explain.
I say thank you when necessary (and then some) but when I am so truly grateful for something/someone I find it difficult to thoroughly express myself. So I bake something for that person. It's weird, I know, but I have yet to get any complaints.
I have an upcoming formal event for which I needed a very nice dress. Said dress needed quite a bit of hemming and it wasn't easy material to work with. However, I have the best tailor in Westchester and, as I knew she would, she did an outstanding job. I couldn't thank her enough so what did I do? I baked. I had a jar of apricot preserves that needed using so I found a base recipe, which I then transformed into my own.
Almond flavor is one of my favorites, especially when combined with apricot. I upped the almond by using almond meal, crushed almonds and extract. One of my coworkers is also on the almond/apricot train so I made sure to save a few for him. I got a flurry of texts that night:
"omg SOOOOOO good"
"like serious good"
"amazing"
If that doesn't prove these cookies are a winner then I don't know what does. Oh, I should mention he knows his way around sweets: he's quite the baker himself and dates a pastry chef. Sooooooooo, yeah. These cookies are the ****. Until the next dish, ciao!
You will need:
1 cup flour
1 cup almond meal/flour
2 sticks of softened butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup dry toasted sliced/slivered almond, crushed
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon (plus an extra dash or two)
3oz apricot jam
Powdered sugar
Combine both flours, crushed almonds and cinnamon, set aside. Using a hand mixer on low to medium mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and both extracts and mix well. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and gently combine, do not overmix.
Divide dough onto 2 pieces; press into small discs, about 1 inch thick. Wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or until firm enough to roll.
Preheat oven to 350. Flour your work surface and roll out one disc to about 1/8 thick, perhaps even thinner. Using your desired cookie cutter, cut out the shapes and transfer them to a cookie sheet greased or coated in cooking spray. *I chose to NOT make them "window" cookies so you will have to adjust your cutting if you choose to do so*
You can reroll scrap dough but after the second time I suggest placing it back in the refrigerator and beginning the process again with another disc.
Bake for 12 minutes, until the cookies are light brown. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet. Spread a thin layer of jam on one cookie, place a second cookie on top and sandwich together. Repeat process and dust cookies with powdered sugar.
The days are getting lighter, longer and warmer, which means I want to spend less time inside cooking and more enjoying the outdoors. I was able to do just that the other night with this Calamari and Chorizo pasta dish. This dish came together in less than fifteen minutes but you would never know. With hints of saffron and the bold spice of chorizo, this dish hits all the right flavor notes.
Read MoreAfter a bit more of a hiatus than I'm used to (I didn't even post a darn thing on the 'gram) I have a few recipes worth sharing. I wish I could say that my hiatus was used for planning said recipes but that was not the case. I had a few curve balls thrown my way, nothing serious, but I started the week with my pants ripping open in the middle of teaching and ended it with a volleyball square to the face. And there was stuff in between. So yeah. At any rate, the first of these recipes is a vegan Mushroom, Lentil, Quinoa Burger that has the vegan seal of approval.
Read MoreIn case you weren't aware via every form of social media it was beyond frigid last weekend in the Northeast. I went to college in New Hampshire for four years and don't ever remember it being this cold. The only way to handle meteorologic events such as this is to make a large batch of soup and catch up on your Netflix shows.
Read MoreLet me start by saying that I am very critical of my own work; especially when it comes to meals I've prepared. That being said, I'm going to do an awful lot of boasting right about now. During our surprise three day weekend I wanted to use up some extra heavy cream and milk I had and there's really only one thing you can make: panna cotta. Now, I'd always wanted to try it but every time I went to the store I'd forget to pick up unflavored gelatin. Well, the stars aligned and I had all the ingredients necessary plus an extra special one to boot.
Read MoreWhen you go from having no winter to all the winter at once you have to make some pretty quick decisions. Can that trip to the bank wait? Did I get salt for the driveway? And, most importantly, what am I going to make? After shoveling as much as I did I knew I wanted to make a carb based dish but what exactly. I spied a open container of ricotta and like a snowball to the face, it hit me: ricotta pancakes.
Read MoreIt has been exactly one year since my last trip to Boston. I'm not sure what it is about MLK weekend but apparently I like going to New England when it is the coldest. Thankfully, these visits are punctuated by good company and great food. This particular trip, I got to visit the Somerville Winter Farmer's Market and Highland Kitchen, both of which made me realize one thing: I'm going to need more trips to Boston.
Read More
