Living, Learning, Eating: Homemade

Showing posts with label Homemade. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Homemade. Show all posts

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!

Apr 10, 2016

Spring Flavors: Honey Ridge Farms Artisan Honeys!

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

Springtime makes me think of flowers, sunshine, twirly dresses, my birthday, and the sticky fingers of childhood. I'm not sure what it is about honey (perhaps the association with bees and flowers and all things happy and sweet?) but honey is such a spring food to me!

I recently tried two new flavors, Honey Creme Coconut and Honey Creme Lavender, from Honey Ridge Farms!

While liquid honey is great for sweetening tea, I prefer honey cremes as a topping on toast for a peanut butter and honey sandwich (or on cream cheese, as in the photo above). It's a lot less messy (making it much more suitable for the adult, less sticky me), spreads easily, and just looks really nice - like spreading gold quartz on bread. Yum!

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 13, 2016

Recipe: Better than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

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

I grew up in a suburb in North Carolina, so when the weather wasn't great outside, there were no good movies playing in the theaters, and our mothers were all tired out by one too many sleepovers, the fun thing to do with friends was go to the mall!

I tend to have sensory memory of things, so when I think back to those pre-teen afternoons spent walking around the mall, laughing, trying on clothes, and talking about anything and everything, I especially remember the sounds and smells (and, to a lesser extent, sights) of the mall.

Other than the amazing warm, sweet smell by the mall cookie shop during the holidays and the strong floral scent by the Bath & Bodyworks store, one of the smells that stands out the most is the buttery, spicy, sweet smell by the Cinnabon shop!

I was always more of an ice cream or cookies girl when it came to dessert, and more of a cereal or bread girl when it came to breakfast, so I'm not sure if I ever bought anything from the Cinnabon. I certainly remember enjoying the smell, however, so I was thrilled when I got to make cinnamon rolls for a roommate's potluck!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Pre-frosting, but don't worry - I frosted them!

Not only did these cinnamon rolls get rave reviews from his coworkers (not a single roll remained after the potluck) but our apartment smelled like a Cinnabon for hours!

The recipe is easy to make, sure to please, and both a lot more budget-friendly and brings you a lot closer to your food than a trip to a Cinnabon would, so enjoy!

Dec 5, 2015

Happy Holiday Hack: DIY Gifting Made Better

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

Tomorrow is St. Nicholas Day!

Since I'm half-German, that was the first official holiday day of the Christmas season for me. I always cleaned my boots the night before, placed them outside my bedroom door, and found them full of candy and fruit (clementines and apples, mostly, though sometimes I also lucked out with prunes and dates) the following morning. It was so exciting!

st nicholas day gifts

These aren't mine (I'm - sadly - not an owner of wooden clogs) but this is an example of a great haul for a few lucky kids!

Tomorrow is also the first night of Hanukkah! Needless to say, gifting season is upon us.

DIY gifting is a popular way to keep holiday spending in check without missing out on the most significant part of holiday presents - the thought! Since I love to bake, my favorite DIY gifts to give are homemade baked goods.

This year, I found a way to make my DIY baked good gifts even better! Read on to find out how to take your DIY gifts to the next level!

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 12, 2015

Recipe: Easy Irish Soda Bread

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

It's still a long time until St. Patrick's Day, but Irish Soda Bread is a delicious breakfast or snack bread for any time of the year!

It's like the love child of a regular loaf of bread and a scone. It's sweet, it's dense, it's absolutely delicious!

This recipe is so delicious that it doesn't require much of an introduction. Read on for the super easy, quick recipe for this amazingly delicious loaf. Then you can taste it for yourself!

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 28, 2015

Recipe: Fantastically Fudgy Brownies

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

What is almost as abhorred in the baking world as someone presenting yet another chocolate chip cookie or banana bread recipe?

Another brownie recipe. But before you moan and groan, since that's exactly what I have for you today, please refer to the signature crackly crust and rich, fudgy interior of said brownies (presented above). This recipe is worth giving a try!

Lots of brownie recipes end up dry and fluffy, like bar-shaped chocolate cake, but this one is like bakery brownies or (good) boxed mix brownies! It's the only recipe that I bother with anymore and for good reason - bring these to a party and you won't have to worry about how to store the leftovers. There won't be any!

Here's the recipe - it's a one bowl recipe, so clean up is super quick and easy, too!

Sep 14, 2015

Speedy Weeknight: A Fast & Frugal Homemade Dinner!

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 11:32 AM

I'm a young professional, working 9-5 in an office while balancing a social life and career passions (and hobby passions!) outside of work. What does that make me?

Busy. But I love it!

Still, it's neither a particularly frugal nor a particularly healthy habit to get used to eating dinner out every night, especially since I tend to eat lunch out with my coworkers every day. I love making fun, elaborate recipes, but that's not what I need for weekday dinners. I need something fast and easy!

Barilla® Pronto™ pasta is a great base for a simple staple dinner that's equally well suited to busy young professionals like me as it is to busy working moms cooking for their families.

Read on for my experience and the recipe for the mac & cheese pictured above!

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!

Aug 20, 2015

Recipe: Perfect Pumpkin Pie

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

Back to school season always feels like the start of fall to me. Sometimes the weather keeps it pretty summery for a while after all the kids are back at their desks, but either way fall is not far away!

Apple picking, the return of long pants and long-sleeved T-shirts, chilly evenings that require coats, and the coming of the holidays all mark fall. So does fall baking!

Pumpkin pie is not only a Thanksgiving favorite, but also a classic fall dessert. Make a pie now to perfect your skills and get back in the swing of things before the holidays sneak up on you!

Here's the recipe that I swear by for a perfect pumpkin pie!

Aug 5, 2015

Recipe: 5-Ingredient Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

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

Going gluten-free? Simply out of flour?

These flourless peanut butter cookies are rich, perfectly sweet, and a great, decadent texture without any flour at all. There are only five common pantry ingredients!

They're super quick and easy to mix up!

Enjoy!

Jul 27, 2015

Recipe: County Fair Apple Pie

Posted by Living, Learning, Eating at 2:58 AM

Before I get to today's dessert recipe, I have exciting news to share.

The Princess Games was released today!

King Winkle and Queen Periwinkle have a problem. They need a princess, and they need her fast. With the upcoming peace-keeping marriage between Prince Linus of Branninia and the princess of the fair Kingdom of Hoggenbottom, it's a bit risky to admit they don't have a princess.

Instead, they decide to host The Princess Games. Soon enough, the fairest maidens of the land are gathered in front of the castle, fairy-godmothers in tow! With a goofy king, an obsessive compulsive advisor, and a fairy godmother whose spells do whatever they want, these games are about to get interesting.

Even if Emma and her clumsy Fairy Louise can manage to do well in the competition, she'll have to get past the expert spells of Fairy Faye and the beauty of Laralyn, who is intent on pleasing her ambitious mother at any cost.

Check it out on Amazon!

Okay, back to the food - I may be a city girl now, but that doesn't change that I grew up in North Carolina. Carolina girls love pie!

Whether you're a southerner, a northerner, a mid-westerner, or something else entirely (I realize I didn't mention most of the planet), I am sure you can enjoy a good pie. And if you can't you just haven't had really good pie yet!

Whether you need a recipe for a dessert for a dinner party, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just because, this apple pie recipe is a simple and delicious way to convert your friends and family to the pie side of life!

It's sweeter over here.

Jul 15, 2015

Recipe: Rosemary Bread

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

Bread is one of my favorite things to bake (and eat) but I tend to make more sandwich and breakfast breads than savory breads. While I never really got into the idea of 'appetizer bread,' appetizer breads are inarguably popular (walk into any Italian family restaurant at dinner time and you'll see).

Here is a recipe for a savory rosemary loaf that is delicious, easy to make, and works just as well served with olive oil as an appetizer bread as it does toasted and served with fried or scrambled eggs for breakfast or brunch!

Don't let the idea of 'baking bread' intimidate you. This is a really simple loaf and, unlike the 1-2 day process of baking sourdough bread, only takes a few hours total from start to finish!

Jul 1, 2015

Recipe: Best Banana Bread

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

Banana bread recipes are almost as bad as chocolate chip recipes - there are so many of them and they're all slightly different, but it's difficult to sift through the mediocre ones and get to the gold.

This is the gold. You're welcome.

Seriously! This bread is soft, moist, flavorful, and easy to make on top of it all!

The walnuts can easily be left out with no other changes if you have someone with an allergy, but they really do work nicely with the flavors and textures in the bread. If you're on the fence and there's no allergy problem, leave them in!

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Apr 19, 2015

Recipe - The "Best Pancakes Ever"

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

These pancakes are, according to both of it taste testers (a middle aged woman and a rambunctious ten year old), the "best pancakes ever."

They're really easy to make, use only basic ingredients that can be found in most kitchen pantries, and are absolutely fluffy and perfect!

Mar 15, 2015

Recipe: No-Fail New York Bagels

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

I've lived in NYC for almost a year now (and over a year collectively, if you add all the random months of temporary residence over previous years together) so I've decided that the proper way to honor the fact that I'm somewhat a New Yorker now is with a New York bagels recipe!

These have the bagel crust, the bagel chewiness, and the bagel flavor - they're all around the real deal! Whether you bake them in New York with NY water or in North Carolina (or wherever else you are) they'll turn out great. The NY water thing for bagels and pizza crust is a complete myth, in my opinion.

Without further ado, here's the recipe!

Aug 21, 2014

Recipe Review: New York Cheesecake

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

I visited home for a long weekend at the beginning of the month (guys, how is it already August?) and my mom really likes cheesecake, so I decided to make a cheesecake for my AWESOME mom!

We didn't have any graham crackers in the house, so I used Sandy's recipe for a New York Cheesecake that doesn't have a graham cracker crust!

Of course, I made some alterations. Following recipes to the letter? Generally not my thing, I like mixing things up! Here's my version of her recipe:

New York Cheesecake

Makes 1 10-inch springform pan

The throwback Harvard 'H' is unnecessary, unless you're as ridiculous as me

* 1.5 c. all-purpose flour

* 1/3 c. sugar

* 1 egg

* 1/2 c. margarine

* 2.5 lb cream cheese, softened (5 8oz cream cheese packets)

* 1.75 c. white sugar

* 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

* 5 eggs

* 2 egg yolks

* 0.25 c. heavy whipping cream

1) Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a 10" springform pan.

2) Combine the first four ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Spread to the edges of the springform pan. Prick all over with a fork.

3) Bake the crust for 15 minutes at 400F. Allow to cool while you make the filling.

4) Increase the oven temperature to 475F.

5) Make the filling by combining all remaining ingredients except the cream in a large bowl and mixing thoroughly.

6) Add the cream and mix only enough to combine.

7) Pour evenly over the crust.

8) Bake at 475F for 10 minutes.

9) Reduce temperature to 225F and continue to bake for 70-75 minutes, until set.

10) Cool, then refrigerate overnight. Open the springform before you cut and serve!

What's your favorite dessert?

Do you like plain or flavored (ie: cappucino, peppermint, chocolate, etc.) cheesecake better?

Do you follow recipes or alter them?

Mar 31, 2014

Recipe: Simple Scones

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

The internet is such a fun place to foster and share creativity (safely, of course).
But despite the temptation to bake all the recipes NOW (I'm looking at you, Pinterest), sometimes it's fun to go back to my own staple recipes. One favorite in my favorite is scones!

They're simple, they're quick to make, they don't require any special ingredients...they're a perfect afternoon tea time snack! No advance planning required, you can even whip up a batch really quickly when guests stop by unannounced (as I frequently have - my little sister's best friend lives next door and sometimes confuses our house for hers. She's adorable).

Simple Scones
Makes 8

2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder (not a typo - a whole TABLEspoon!)
0.5 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold
0.25 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk (I have used both whole and 2% milk before, based on what I found in the fridge, with equivocal success. I would not recommend skim milk, however, as that's a quite different watery mess)

1) Preheat oven to 425 F.

2) Mi flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

3) Grate butter in with a fork.

Or cut them in if you don't mind extra finger mixing!

4) Mix it all together with your fingers until it's a bowl full of fine crumbles.

5) Add sugar, toss to mix.

6) Stir in milk (with the fork used in step 3) until the dough comes together.

7) Form into a ball.

8) Roll into a 6" circle (no need to measure, just approximate - baking is relaxation time, not neurotic Type A time).

9) Cut into eight wedges. Try to keep the wedges more or less equal in size so that they bake evenly.

10) Place the wedges on a greased baking sheet, leaving a little room between them (so that they don't bake into one big glob - that's attractive. Not).

11) Bake 12-15 minutes in pre-heated oven, or until golden brown on the top and bottom.

I find that 15 minutes is usually the better approximation of baking time.

12) Cool on a cooling rack, NOT the baking sheet. If you cool them on the baking sheet, they take a gabajillion years to cool and they get soggy, to boot. NO.

13) Serve with jam of choice (I recommend homemade!) and freshly whipped cream. Just slice the scone down the middle to add a dollop of each before sandwiching the top back on!

These taste best served fresh from the oven, so bake them half an hour to an hour before you wish to serve them and try to finish them in just a day. If you live by yourself and a whole tray is too much for you to do justice to by yourself, this is the perfect time to make the neighbors love you!

Do you like tea time? Tweet it!

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