Almond Madeleines

Another Butter (breakfast 8/6/08)

This morning I tried a another butter - almond butter and after a small stirring disaster... I had a nice AB&J for my breakfast along with a glass of skim milk and some fresh strawberries & blueberries. I liked the...

Rec: Orange-Almond Buns - with Pic

Orange-Almond Buns For dough: 1 2/3 cups warm milk (105°F) 4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packages, ¼ ounces each) 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 tsp almond extract 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon salt 6 ½ cups all-purpose flour Cooks’ note: • Yes, they mean 1 tablespoon, not 1 teaspoon, of salt for the dough; with 6 1/2 cups of flour, it is needed. For the filling: ½ cup chopped slivered almonds ½ cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup light brown sugar zest of ...

Power Lunch!

Creamy Fruit and Berry Smoothie 1 cup pomegranate juice 1/2 cup vanilla soy or almond milk 1/2 cup frozen strawberries 1/2 cup frozen blueberries 1/2 cup frozen peaches 1 banana 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds Blend all ingredients together in a high powered blender. Serves 2. Portobello Red Pepper Sandwich SANDWICH 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced 4 large Portobello mushrooms, stems removed 4 (4 inch) whole wheat pitas 2 cups large arugula leaves 2 medium drained roasted red bell peppers, fr...

Wedding Vendor Reviews

Ever striving to be helpful and useful, not only am I posting reviews of my wedding vendors on WeddingWire, I'd like to talk about them here in case anyone is Googling Hampton Roads, Norfolk or Virginia Beach wedding vendors. (Also, read our wedding recap for tons more pictures and notes from the day!) Last wedding post, I swear! Here we go! Catering: Gourmet Gang – This is probably where you'll spend the most money, so let's start with catering first. The Gourmet Gang did an absolutely top n...

Cherry-Pumpkin Seed Muffins From The "Farm To Table Cookbook" - Recipe

Cherry-Pumpkin Seed Muffins From The "Farm To Table Cookbook" - Recipe Sarina gave me this beautiful new book, the The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally by Northwest author Ivy Manning for our anniversary. It is organized by seasons, with an emphasis on ingredients that you might find at a farmer's market, and includes recipes both from the author and a who's-who of excellent regional chefs. Last Saturday morning, my daughter and I made the Cherry-Almond muffins from the book, bu...

The Eat + Drink List: This week's top 7

photo by Stefanie Michejda 1. Master mixology Want to get your cocktail on? Join Cantina proprietor and head bartender Duggan McDonnell on July 28, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and learn how to blend farmers-market-fresh fruits and premium Latin spirits into irresistible libations. Step behind the bar, shake and stir to your heart’s content and learn how to pair these fruity creations with easy-to-make foods from the chefs at La Cocina. For tickets, click here. 2. More cheese, please Don’t mind the ...

Springsteen '08, '69 Who and cool drinks for a stinker of a day

Hot and humid today, highs in the mid-90s. It may be too hot to type later, and it's already too hot to think. Let's drink icy coolers and listen to tunes. Tutti Frutti Punch at Ohio.com (Sipping just got a little cooler) sounds like a great pitcherful to whip up: 1 (6-oz.) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup pineapple juice 1 oz. (2 tbsp.) grenadine 2 pints lemon sorbet 3 cups ginger ale 1 cup citrus or orange vodka (optional) 2 pints fresh strawberries...

Cupcake Parade and other cupcake events this weekend

There are a couple of cupcake events this weekend (and if anything's missing from our cupcake RSS calendar (see right-hand side), you can always let us know and we'll add to it - please be patient as we get a lot of mail, but do read and try to answer/respond to it all. Washington, DC/Metro Area Cupcake Meetup July 19, 1 pm Sticky Fingers Bakery 1370 Park Rd NW Washington, DC 20010 202-299-9700 from organizer Danielle Buckley of the blog Delleicious DC: Hi Everyone! This month's meetup is going ...

Dad Does Dessert: A Recipe for Nuttiness

I like dessert. Especially if it’s quick and easy and healthy… We don’t eat it every day, but some days just call for dessert. This recipe is an all-time favorite at our house, and it has many variations, depending on what ingredients we have. It’s great for the summer, because it doesn’t require cooking and won’t heat up your kitchen. It also makes awesome travel, backpacking, or biking food, kinda like a home-made energy bar. The Uncookie Dough Ingredients: one and a half cups of a...

Macarons et Chocolat

A while back it was cannelés. Those little eggy pastries baked with a cracky-crust, that everyone was going ga-ga over and just had to bring home the copper molds to make. (Hands up, folks. How many of you have ever used them?) Then everyone moved on to macarons, dainty little "sandwiches", made from two crispy almond meringues, with a layer of buttercream or jam in the middle. So when I heard that pastry chef Arnaud Lahrer, who's won the award for the best macaron in Paris, opened a shop devot...