Clove-Scented Sidecar
FACT 1: I've never ridden in a sidecar. I've always wanted to.
FACT 2: I've never had a sidecar drink. Until now!
What would happen if you drank a sidecar while riding IN a sidecar? I bet it would be a very messy endeavor. It would be classy as all heck though. With some cool goggles, a nice scarf and some leather gloves. Wait!
This is the image I have in my head:
Spiced Orange Popovers
Ready for my David Letterman impression? I'll do it if you stop staring at my gap teeth!
TOP 10 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THESE SPICED ORANGE POPOVERS:
- They taste like donuts, yet they're not fried!
- They're ridiculously easy.
- Your house will smell like a high-end Christmas candle.
- It's the holidays & you're looking for something festive for breakfast.
- Clove, cinnamon & orange are your best friends this time of year.
- You need an excuse to dust off your popover pan.
- They're light and fluffy. Means no calories, right?
- They're a perfect breakfast, snack or dessert. You could make dinner out of them. (I totally did)
- Your coffee is lonely. It needs company.
- Because I said so!
I should also note that I ate 5 popovers within an hour after I made them....I blame the delicious clove cinnamon orange sugar. Well...that and they were WARM.
It's not like I have to wear a bathing suit anytime soon...
OH WAIT. I do. CRAP!
Fall is in the air!
Have you ever done one of those quizzes that tells you what color season you are? I'm a Winter person. That's right! I'm a cool tone icy blue, purple, teal, green and turquoise kind of girl. My mom, on the other hand is totally in the autumn camp. She looks great in reds oranges, golds and bronze tones. Even though I don't look good in autumnal colors, I love EATING autumnal colors. Here's proof with a little roundup.
Orange, yellow, browns with a few little hints of green.
Fall! You're here. So let's get acquainted with your color scheme.
Nut Stuffed Delicata Squash (nuts & sage make the filling taste like sausage)
Flat Roasted Chicken (because the fall is all about ROASTS)
Delicata Squash with Kale & Cannellini Beans (this recipe changed my life!)
Curried Squash & Red Lentil Soup (with fancy pants cilantro oil!!)
Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meatballs (a fun way to eat Spaghetti squash!)
Brown Butter Biscuits & Gravy (need I say more?)
Curried Butternut Squash Soup (simple orange goodness)
Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing (I brought this to a Halloween party & it was demolished!)
Apple Pear Phyllo Crisp (a nice afternoon snack with a mug of tea)
Poached Pears (sometimes a simple recipe is all you need)
Baked Caramel Apple Donuts (dangerous! proceed with caution)
Salted Caramel Popcorn Pretzel Bars (SHHHH! don't tell your dentist!)
Homemade Applesauce (my neighbor always comes thru with APPLES!)
Spiced Bundt Cake (hearty, spicy, wonderful CAKE)
Pumpkin Waffles (worth waking up early for!)
Fluffy Pumpkin Parfaits (like pumpkin pie...in a cup!)
And last but not least...Pumpkin Cream Pie (thanksgiving just got 1000 times better)
Hello, Autumn!
Asparagus & Orange Salad
Guess who's on a salad kick?? That's right. This girl! I'm making June the month of salads. I will eat more of them...at least one per day. I will love them, and I'll get rid of this double chin I see staring back at me in my cellphone when I'm typing a text message. What is with that?! Salad will become my new best friend. A best friend that gets rid of my double chin. A best friend that I can eat.
If you've been around here for awhile, you already know how much I love citrus and how awesome I think asparagus is. But it wasn't until now that I married the two and fell in love. This salad was unexpectedly delightful! Crunchy vibrant green asparagus, juicy orange segments, smoky sesame seed heaven...the aftertaste is truly awesome. It's Asian and then it's not! This salad is destined for warm afternoon barbecues or fancy Tupperware picnics on the beach. Hello summer. Goodbye double chin!
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Orange Poppy Scones
Have you already figured out what to make for Easter? I still haven't a clue! What I DO know is that I'll be taking a few of these flaky Orange Poppy Scones out of the freezer early tomorrow morning & popping them into the oven so we can start our Easter day off RIGHT! These buttery scones are infiltrated with the most addictive poppy seed crunch and are delicately perfumed by fresh, bright orange zest. Doesn't that just scream EASTER??!! Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm glad I saved a few for the special occasion. Way to go, me.
Now...tell me what you're making for Easter. I need ideas. Like...QUICK.
Orange Walnut Cake
We've had a slew of gray mornings in the past few weeks. A few Saturdays ago, I decided to make this cake to summon the sunshine. Even if it didn't work, at least the taste of the cake would give the illusion of a warm sunny morning. All I had to do was whip out an orange and my zester and the sun immediately peered through the clouds and heated up my kitchen island. The last time this happened was during my cocktail hour a few weeks ago. There's something about citrus in my kitchen; it has the power to cut through clouds the same way a good dish washing soap cuts through grease.
Walnuts, oranges & olive oil...the foundation in which dreams are built uopn. The walnuts are ground-- not chunky and add a fantastic texture to this cake. The orange perfumes this treat and the olive oil adds that hint of earthy greenness in a way only olive oil can. The sweet Greek yogurt and the orange zest to the side add some fun, but honestly the powdered sugar on top of the cake is enough. This is the perfect cake for breakfast or as a snack in the afternoon with a good book and a huge mug of tea. Bring on the sun!
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Cocktail Time: Juice of a Few Flowers!
It's Friday! What does that mean?? HAPPY HOUR!!! My buddy, Miss James just got a copy of Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics Cookbook and we're trying to plan a few recipes to cook on the same night so we can do a virtual GIRL'S NIGHT. Totally sucks having cool peeps live so far away. I hate it! To start it off, I've made this cocktail for our Happy Hour. We can now ichat under the influence. The typing gets a little crappy, but oooh does the truth come out!
Let me tell you that this cocktail is TASTY. The first few sips are like WHOA. It's a bit on the strong side, but if you exploit the sugar rim you'll be just fine. It definitely balances out the alcohol and citrus TANG. After finishing the first drink, you'll find the second one to be much smoother! We even did a little gin floater on top. Amazing. So won't you make yourself a cocktail and have one with us?
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Arugula Fennel & Orange Salad
Latest Food Craving: Arugula Fennel & Orange Salad.
I had my first taste of this salad last Saturday at my friend Danielle's Champagne Tasting party. I kept a steady eye on the big glass salad bowl throughout the party. Between sips of bubbly, I monitored how much was left in the bowl. After my third helping, I dropped my napkin (on purpose) near the bowl and scooped up yet ANOTHER helping onto my plate. Did anybody notice that this was my fourth helping? It's salad! Who cares? When I came back from the party, Casey asked me about the different champagnes I tasted and all I could tell him was how blown away I was with this salad. It distracted me; I just KNEW I had to recreate it. Like...I couldn't sleep until I made plans to recreate it the next day.
When we had friends over for lunch on Sunday, I started with this salad as a feature and created a whole Antipasti Party around it. The surprisingly thing is that I've never much cared for shaved fennel, but now I adore it--- especially when it's combined with peppery arugula and juicy orange segments! The salad is light, crunchy, juicy, peppery and tangy. I love everything about it.
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