Pizza Margherita

Straight from the most recent Bon Appetit! We used Trader Joes out of the bag whole wheat dough… probably should have rolled it a bit thinner, but it’s so sticky!

Ingredients:

1 13.8-ounce tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 12-ounce bag cherry tomatoes, stemmed
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed in plastic bag
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 4-ounce balls fresh mozzarella in water
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves plus small leaves for garnish

More →

Pot Roast

Ingredients:

1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 whole Onions
6 whole Carrots
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
1 cup Red Wine (optional, You Can Use Beef Broth Instead)
2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary


More →

Julia Child’s French Onion Soup

 

Julia says it best: “Fat gives things flavor! The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
3 lbs onions, halved and sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 cups red wine
6 cups beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 toasted slices of French baguettes, 1/2 inch thick
1 cup swiss cheese, grated
3 cups parmesan cheese, grated

More →

Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies

Taken straight from the lid of the Quaker® Oats container!

Ingredients:

1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2  cup granulated sugar
2  eggs
1  teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)
3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1  cup raisins

More →

Killer Cheesecake

We got the inspiration for this cheesecake from the Killer Bars! Mmmm… so decadent!

Crust Ingredients:

Two packages of graham crackers
1 stick melted butter

Cheesecake Ingredient:

8 ounces 70% chocolate
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs

Toppings:

8 ounces butterscotch chips
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup salted macadamia nuts (for decorating)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (for decorating)


More →

Currant Scones & Molasses Frosting

We started from this recipe on epicurious, added some cinnamon and then made up our own molasses frosting! Yum!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar OR sucanat
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup currants, cranberries or raisins

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon molasses
cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger to taste

More →

Halibut Cabbage Rolls

A little intensive on the prep the first time you  do it, but so worth the effort. Great, savory taste… we all sat around raving while we were eating!

Ingredients:

Ice cubes
6 large savoy cabbage leaves
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/4 cup drained capers, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
Coarse kosher salt
6 4-ounce halibut fillets

Get the whole step by step process on BonAppetit.com!

Lavender Lemon Cookies

Adapted from When Harry Met Salad Check out the blog for some more gorgeous photographs!

Ingredients:

¾ cup sugar OR sucanat
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons dried lavender
1¾ cup whole wheat flour (or a mixture of ww & white)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoon (1½ sticks) cold butter cubes
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoons vanilla extract

More →

Cheesy Apple Pie

Laurie inspired this creation with her talk of having a slice of cheese with your apple pie. After gushing about the pleasures of combining sweet and salty, we asked the obvious question… why not just put both sweet and salty in one pie? Here’s the before and after. We fully baked the apple pie and then broiled the organic white cheddar cheese on top to get it nice and gooey!

Whole Wheat Molasses Waffles

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons grapeseed oil
3 tablespoons honey
5 large eggs
2 cups milk, plus more as needed
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon molasses

More →

Killer Bars

While we were in Kauai we overdosed on these Killer Bars that we would buy at Banana Joe’s almost everyday. Once we got back we made them for a baby shower. They’re actually made by Country Moon Rising Bakery, but we found a recipe that we used as a starting point on planetgreen.com.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1 package of graham cracker crumbs (equals about 2 cups)
1.5 cups organic chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
15 oz sweetened condensed milk

More →

Cloud Pancakes

We’re loving Martha Stewart’s breakfast section! We love cottage cheese, we love pancakes… put them together for a yummy reason to wake up in the morning!

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, separated
1 cups small-curd cottage cheese
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (or a dash of lemon juice)
Butter, for cooking

More →

Broccoli Leek Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter

3 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only; about 3 large)

6 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided

1 1/4 pounds broccoli crowns, chopped (about 8 generous cups)

4 cups (or more) homemade chicken stock

More →

Lemon Cheesecake

We’ve been super obsessed with lemons recently, so Tami made up this fresh dessert! Top with strawberries and chocolate sauce for an uber-decedant treat! Cut back on the amount of lemon juice for a more subtle flavor!

Crust Ingredients:

2 (generous) cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick melted butter
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake Ingredients:

16 ounces cream cheese
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon zest
6 tablespoons lemon juice


More →

Chicken Barley Soup

Adapted from Nourishing Traditions cookbook, using what we had on hand in the kitchen

Ingredients:

3 cups homemade chicken stock
3 cups filtered water
1 cup cooked barley
1 onion, finely chopped
5-6 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups cooked chicken

More →

Esalen Banana Coconut Bread

Straight from the Esalen Cookbook. Healthy, moist, sweet (but not too sweet) and yummy! Perfect straight out of the oven, just cool enough to handle with butter melted over it!

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons butter, softened
1.25 cups sucanat
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
chopped walnuts for topping (or any other type of nut, if desired)

More →

Lavender Lamb Chops

Ingredients:

1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons culinary lavender
8 lamb chops
sea salt & ground pepper

More →

Snickerdoodles

All right. Here they are. The world famous (infamous?) cookies… they’ve been called snickerdoodles, sugar cookies and even the “crack” cookies. These are the cookies that people eat so many of they literally make themselves sick. We take no responsibility for stomach aches. If you can’t control yourself, don’t make them!

These cookies have literally been passed down from generation to generation… with no actual instructions, just the ingredient list, the temperature and cooking time. We’ve included some helpful tips to get the softest, most addicting cookies possible!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cup white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

More →

Meyer Lemon Bars

Originally drooled over these on foodporndaily.com and then every so slightly adapted the recipe from kitchenrunway.com to our needs. Which simply means a little more lemon zest & juice!

Crust Ingredients:

1 C of unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ C sugar
2 C flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon Meyer lemon zest

Filling Ingredients:

6 extra large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons grated Meyer lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour

powder sugar for dusting

More →

Bacon Waffles

Surprise your sweetie this Valentines day weekend with the only way you can possibly make waffles better… with bacon! And brown sugar!

Adapted from joythebaker.com

Ingredients:

10 slices of bacon
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 grapeseed oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
(we made our own butter milk with 2 cups of milk and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar)

More →

Upside-Down Apple Sour Cream Cake

From our guest baker/blogger Laurie. Adapted from a recipe she found on epicurious.com, we totally love her version–just the perfect amount of sweet. We were all talking about second helpings before we even finished our first slice! Yum!

Cake Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)

Apple Ingredients

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 8-ounce Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Find full instructions on epicurious.com

Split Pea Soup

Want to know the (not-so) secret ingredient? Bacon! Seriously… best split pea soup we’ve ever had!

Ingredients:

1 cup split peas
3 cups water
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 slices bacon
1 stem celery
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery flakes
1 tablespoon parsley flakes

More →

Andes Mint Brownies

These intense brownies came from our desire to fuse two love affairs: chocolate and mint!

The first iteration of these brownies started with a single bar of Lindt Dark Chocolate Mint chopped up super fine and mixed into the batter. While that version was pretty good, it just wasn’t minty enough. This time we not only found normal Andes, we found a conveniently pre-chopped up bag of Andes, which saved some prep time. So with mint mixed in and turned into a frosting, we’re finally satisfied with these brownies!

It’s probably the only time you’ll see a box mix on our blog; but Ghirardelli’s are so phenomenal there’s really no reason to waste time making brownies from scratch!

Ingredients:

Box mix of Ghirardelli brownies
1 egg
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil, butter, coconut oil or your prefered oil
1 bag chopped Andes Mints (can generally be found in baking aisle with chocolate chips)
1 box of whole Andes Mints

More →