Living, Learning, Eating: Entertaining

Showing posts with label Entertaining. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Entertaining. Show all posts

Jul 2, 2018

Recipe: The Best Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 8:00 AM

Cauliflower is one of those foods that can be anything from a duty food, the kind you have to force yourself to eat, to the most delicious thing on the table. This recipe is definitely the latter!

The Best Whole Roasted Cauliflower

My taste testers said it was the best cauliflower they've ever eaten in their lives and, all humility aside, I must agree. It's crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and sooo flavorful throughout. Here's the recipe!

Oct 1, 2016

Recipe Roundup: The Best of Autumn

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 10:30 AM

In what feels like just a week, summer magically transformed into autumn!

The leaves, dressed in autumnal yellows and oranges and red, lie on the ground. Tote bags of apples are at the entrance of every supermarket (um YUM). I need a sweater in the mornings and evenings! And sometimes I don't wear a sweater and just rock the pretty fall dresses and pretend I'm not cold.

Fall marks the beginning of baking season, too! Aka my favorite. So, without further ado, here are my favorite fall recipes, from a girl who loves all things apple, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, and nutty. Enjoy!

Cherry Pecan Bread

Pecan Bread Recipe

It's moist, it's perfect for banana bread lovers, and it's something different and delicious!

Sep 2, 2016

Recipe: Shakshuka (Israelian Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas and Feta)

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

September is National Breakfast Month!

This is clearly my month to shine, because I make breakfast for dinner far more often than is likely acceptable for a twenty-something-year-old. What can I say? Breakfast foods are the best foods and I'm okay with never being a proper grown up if that would mean I can only have breakfast once a day!

Shakshuka Recipe

This dish, an Israelian favorite for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, straddles the line between breakfast for dinner and a sensible grown up's meal. That's a compromise I can live with!

Even better: it's simple to make, full of healthy plantbased nutrition from chickpeas and tomatoes, a cheap meal that beats ramen by a mile (feta is the most expensive ingredient, but the core ingredients are canned chickpeas, canned tomatoes, and eggs), and you can eat out of a cast iron pan like a farmer!

I used Nellie's Free Range Eggs to make this a meal that's healthy, humane, and free of residual antibiotics or other icky things from the chicken's diet. I chose Nellie's Free Range Eggs because they're easy to find (I got mine from Whole Foods) and always free range, and free of hormones or antibiotics, and kosher certified. They're also great quality, delicious eggs!

Read on for the recipe. It's a 35 minute dinner!

Aug 17, 2016

Blue Cheese Crusted Filet Mignon with Cabernet Reduction

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

Whether it's a dinner party, date night, a birthday, or just a wear-high-heels-and-have-perfect-posture Tuesday, sometimes breakfast for dinner or a simple pasta dish doesn't cut it.

This blue cheese crusted filet mignon with cabernet reduction is loved by all of my taste testers, spanning three generations and many different food preferences, and it's a pretty dish perfect for any fancy evening in!

I'm not going to pretend that this is 'quick and easy' as you should definitely give yourself a solid hour to prepare this dish along with the sides (I recommend mashed potatoes and garlic spinach), but the big smiles and rave reviews are well worth the effort. Read on for how to make a restaurant-quality steak dinner at home!

Aug 4, 2016

Recipe: Jalapeno Cheddar Bread

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

I love baking bread! While I'm a total wuss when it comes to spicy food, many of my friends love a little fire in their food. This bread is savory, just the right amount of cheesy, and has a jalapeno kick (but not so much that you cry when you eat it).

Easy Bread Recipe

This loaf is flavorful, moist with a good texture, and makes grilled cheese sandwiches, croutons, and savory sandwiches. It's also a nice gift loaf or nice to bring along to a picnic or potluck! Read on for the easy-to-follow recipe.

Jul 2, 2016

Independence Day Eats!

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

It's Independence Day weekend!

It's a place where this pickup line CAN work 100 percent of the time.

...sorry, I couldn't resist the patriotic pickup line.

I'm celebrating the long weekend with a trip to Providence, Rhode Island. It's under two hours out of Boston and can be reached with just the red line and the commuter rail, so you can get there for $20 round trip. Not bad for a long weekend getaway!

I'll share photos of Providence later, but for now here are some great holiday-themed foods to bring to your Independence Day barbecue, potluck, or any other celebration that requires food. Enjoy the yummy red, white, and blue!

Jun 26, 2016

What Being a Hobby Baker Is Like

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

I love baking! Baking is so fun, makes my apartment smell cozy and inviting, and can make others happy, too. I've also had the opportunity to work with some cool companies on recipes.

But being a hobby baker has its trying moments, too, just like anything else. Here's what you don't see in the cheerful recipes and pretty food photos!

When you're asked to bake cookies for an event, but they need to be sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and whatever the other latest food trend is:

When you're elbows deep in flour and someone tries to join in on your solo baking project:

Jun 20, 2016

Style Post: Vamp It Up

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

Dressing up is super fun and, though I wear little to no makeup most days, doing the girl thing and wearing a complete look sometimes can be so fun!

In general in makeup, I love a bold lip and emphasized eyes, with just very light skin stuff.

I am very lucky to have clear skin, so I never really wear anything on my skin when I do my own makeup, but I also think that the eyes and mouth are two of the most interesting areas on our faces and I love to play them up when I do bother to get all dolled up!

Jun 17, 2016

Recipe: Nutty for Nuts Bars

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

We're well into June now and with the warm weather and long days comes a lot more time spent outside and, by extension, a lot more fun social activities like potlucks and parties for many of us!

I love baking, so I always try to get dibs on dessert when I go to a potluck. Not only is making desserts loads of fun, but desserts are often also easier to make ahead of time and transport to the party location, since they generally don't have to be kept particularly hot or cold in transport.

These nutty bars are a sweet, delicious, and indulgent dessert that's a big hit at parties, potlucks, and bake sales. They're fun to make, a great way to switch things up from the typical chocolate chip cookies and brownies, and are perfect served at room temperature. They're very rich, so you get a lot of bars out of the batch. Read on for the recipe!

Mar 19, 2016

My Top 10 Favorite Baking Hacks

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

I love baking and have been baking for as long as I can remember!

I could bake every day and be the happiest girl in the world (assuming we can temporarily ignore the food waste and cost of ingredients for this happy hypothetical).

My friends and family know me as a good baker now, but that wasn't always the case. I've had my fair share of kitchen disasters and near disasters!

The person who set this pasta on fire.

I promise that's not my photo (it's cooking, not baking, anyway) and I have never set pasta on fire. But seriously - how do you set pasta on fire?

I'm also confused by this election, but that's a different topic.

The good thing about (mild) kitchen disasters is that they can be great learning experiences! Read on for some of my ten favorite kitchen hacks - some picked up from books and fellow bakers over the years and others learned the hard way!

Jan 6, 2016

Recipe: Caribbean Coconut Bread

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

There are so many wonderful reasons to eat coconut oil - it has been proven to improve cholesterol profiles, may reduce heart disease risk, is great for your hair and skin health, may help reduce dangerous abdominal fat, and an improve immunity.

A quick bread baked with Ojio raw organic coconut oil as the fat, instead of butter or traditional vegetable oil, makes a wonderful switch-up from the traditional banana bread!

We're all getting back into the swing of things at work now, after the lovely Christmas holiday break, and sometimes this time of year can give us a bit of the post-vacation blues. While this bread is not quite as good as a Caribbean vacation (who wouldn't love to go to the Bahamas?) it tastes like the bakery-fresh coconut loaves you could find all over by the beaches!!

Read on for the recipe for my Caribbean Coconut Bread, made with healthy fat-rich coconut oil!

Dec 30, 2015

Recipe: 24 Carat Carrot Cake

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

Need a carrot cake to blow everyone (including those who aren't huge fans of veggie cakes) away?

I'm one of those people who brings a dessert to a party and then keeps peeking at the dessert table every ten minutes to see how my dessert is doing. I just want to ask people how they like it! But I resist.

This cake made it easy for me! I made this for a birthday party and had three recipe requests by the time that I left the party, as well as several people asking for dibs on leftovers to take home!

To me, that is the mark of a successful recipe!

This carrot cake is perfect for a flavorful, moist (sorry to those of you who hate that word for whatever reason, but it's not dry) cake with the perfect balance of flavors and textures. You'll never want to use a different carrot cake recipe!

Dec 23, 2015

Recipe: Chewy Chococonut Cookies

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

Everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie, but sometimes you want to mix it up a bit. If you've had enough plain chocolate chip cookies this holiday season, check these out!

These chewy Chococonut cookies might be a bit of a tongue twister, but the flavors of the dark chocolate chunks and the chewy shredded coconut compliment each other brilliantly and make these a great change from the typical chocolate chip cookie!

They're big, soft, chewy cookies, like the kind you get from the cookie bakeries or carts at the mall. Without further ado, here's the quick and easy recipe! No dough chilling required.

Dec 16, 2015

Recipe: Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

I love trying out all sorts of different cookie recipes and cookies around the holidays. There are so many fun varieties!

But when it comes down to it, you can't beat the nostalgic appeal of the classic chocolate chip cookie around Christmastime.

This is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I use anymore! The cookies are amazing and everyone loves them.

Everyone.

Read on for the recipe. You'll be glad that you did!

Nov 10, 2015

Recipe: Bruce Bogtrotter's Extreme Chocolate Cake from 'Matilda' the movie!

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

Do you remember that epic scene from Matilda, where the awful headmistress Agatha Trunchbull forces Bruce Bogtrotter to eat an entire chocolate cake on stage in front of his peers?

While that scene looked miserable, both for the public humiliation factor and the fact that eating such a big, rich cake all by oneself so quickly must cause some digestive upset, the cake itself always seemed like the pinnacle of an extremely chocolatey chocolate cake.

Chocoholics would love it!

Albeit, probably a slice as opposed to a whole cake and probably enjoyed with a dessert fork instead of by the fistful.

This cake is exactly as chocolatey and indulgent as Bruce Bogtrotter's chocolate cake and perfect for the chocoholic in your life! Read on for the recipe!

Nov 2, 2015

Recipe: Quick and Easy White Bread

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

I love grainy, seedy, dark breads. Pumpernickel is one of my favorites, especially in Germany!

Sometimes, however, you need a simple bread. If you're feeding a picky eater, a group of kids, or someone with a cold or flu and a sensitive stomach through that, sometimes a simple white bread is just what you need.

This recipe is a quick, easy, no-fail, and short rise time recipe for exactly that! I like to make it when someone has one of those sudden flu onsets. You can start it when they head off for a nap and be done by the time they're ready for some chicken soup (or the vegetarian equivalent) and plain buttered bread.

Enjoy!

Oct 26, 2015

Recipe: German Honey Cookies

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

I'm half-German and absolutely love so many things about Germany - the landscape, the people, the culture, the music, the organization, the country overall, and (of course) the food!

Food is a huge part of culture and it's a great way to take little staycations to far-away places without leaving your kitchen. So you can all enjoy a little piece of Germany in your homes, here's a recipe for traditional Germany honey cookies!

These cookies are essentially the basic 'milk and cookies' cookie. They're simple, sweet, pair perfectly fresh from the oven with a cool glass of milk, and are beloved by children and adults alike. They're also quite simple to make and use only fairly basic pantry ingredients for the most part, so there's no reason not to give them a try.

Happy food-venturing!

Oct 5, 2015

Recipe: Best Ever Blueberry Muffins

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

Want a muffin recipe that will make everyone want to have breakfast at your place? These blueberry muffins are it!

Perfectly soft and fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the streusel-covered top, they're melt-in-your-mouth amazing. To make them just like jumbo bakery muffins, use 6 extra large muffin tins instead of 9 regular ones. Enjoy!

Sep 24, 2015

Weeknight Convenience with Marley Spoon!

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

Those of you who follow me on Instagram know that I love to bake and cook.

My Irresistible Irish Soda Bread

If you follow me, you also know that I recently left my flexible, but also all over the place, schedule as a freelance writer and print model behind to join the 9-5(ish) world as a children's entertainment writer. I love my job!

But that doesn't mean that adjusting to the new, structured schedule didn't require a little work. While I no longer have to be up at 5am on shoot or writing until 2am to meet a deadline, I also don't have time to pop out in the afternoon for a grocery run or precook part of an elaborate dinner when the mood strikes me.

But home cooked dinners are not only fun to make, they're also generally more nutritious than eating out and that's important to stay healthy and happy!

Luckily, there's a middle ground between the time-effective but less nutritious option of eating out and the healthy but time-consuming process of grocery shopping, recipe finding, prepping, and cooking your own dinner. It's called Marley Spoon!

Sep 13, 2015

Recipe: Challah

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 6:00 AM

I love learning about different cultures and food can be a huge part of culture! It's also interesting to see how cultures intersect.

I'm not Jewish, but it's a culture with a rich food history and rich traditions overall. I am German, and I always think it's really interesting when I see overlaps between German words and Yiddish words, traditional German foods and traditional Jewish foods, and so on.

One such overlap is Challah - or Zopf in German cuisine! Since tonight is the start of Rosh Hashanah, what better time to share a great Challah (or Zopf, if you're German) recipe?

This bread is soft and flaky and light, ever so slightly sweet, works great with or without poppy seeds on top, and looks great! It's an absolute winner fresh, but even the leftovers (if there are any) won't go to waste. It makes great french toast!

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