I’ve mentioned on here before that I’m getting into a whiskey/bourbon craze. I’ve noticed a lot of people around me getting into that scene lately as well, so maybe we’re all just conforming to a bigger trend? I actually heard an interesting story on NPR recently about how women are the future of whiskey. Historically considered a “man’s drink,” whiskey is becoming more and more popular with the female crowd, and whiskey producers are paying attention. Personally, I think I can attribute much of my coming around to whiskey to the artisanal cocktail scene. (I prefer to get used to a new spirit as it mingles with other tasty items in a fancy beverage.) To celebrate my newfound love, I’ve rounded up the whiskey and bourbon-focused recipes I’ve been eyeing on the internet. This wish list of mine is so true to life – I clearly love the sweets and cocktails more than real food. Also, you can totally tell which other bloggers are deep into the bourbon by their repeat appearances on here. (I’m looking at you, Minimalist Baker, Chasing Delicious and How Sweet It Is.) So let’s talk whiskey and bourbon recipes and get all boozed up together: [Read more…]
Wish List: Fresh Mint
Mint will always be a flavor that I associate with pleasant memories of both of my grandmothers. My strongest association comes from drinking “Plantation Mint” tea with my mom’s mom. Grandmom drank that tea the way other people guzzle coffee. She would make us a pot in her fancy tiered teapot (a gift from her wedding), and we would eat way too many carbs, usually in the form of Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread or jelly krimpets. She also kept peppermint hard candies in her pockets and on her coffee table at all times. (I wonder where I got my sweet tooth or my love for all things doughy?) As for my dad’s mom, “Mom Mom,” I remember her always having spearmint gumdrops in a glass candy dish in the living room, and her house had the best spearmint-flavored toothpaste. From time to time I will taste some toothpaste that reminds me of it, and I am right back in her bathroom, a 6-year old girl getting ready for bed before sleeping over at her grandparents’ house in New Jersey. Both of them have been gone for years now, and I miss them terribly – so I am thankful for mint and its powers to send me on a trip down memory lane.
These days mint is one of my favorite things to grow in our rooftop garden throughout the summer (partially because it is a wild beast of a plant and hard to kill). My favorite routine on a weekend morning is to slip out the back door to the garden, snip off a bunch of mint leaves, and bring them back inside to brew in a cup with some plain green tea. Sometimes I add a little bit of honey to it. I prefer sweeter mints like mojito mint or spearmint as opposed to peppermint. This year for the garden I chose chocolate mint (how could I not?) and pineapple mint (both pictured above in my illustration, chocolate on the left and pineapple on the right). The recipes below will surely give my mint plants a workout this summer: [Read more…]
Wish List: Chicken
I pin a lot of recipes. I get irrationally sad and frustrated sometimes because I know I could never make all of them. These “Wish List” posts are a way for me to highlight some of the amazing recipes I would like to make, with each one focusing on a specific ingredient or type of food, etc. If you make something from here, please let me know! I will live vicariously through you.
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to cook more meat. That probably sounds a little backwards, so let me explain. Robert and I don’t eat meat every day, and I don’t plan on trying to change that. However, I’m usually more drawn to vegetarian recipes or those where meat is a secondary part. Also, Robert is the one who tends to handle cooking the meat (since I am easily grossed out by raw meat). He hovers over the frying pan, doing his thing while I chop veggies and clean up around him. This works out well for us, but I want to start trying some new recipes where the meat is the highlight, perhaps serving it with a side salad or veggie. I did get a bit of a start on this goal last weekend when I made Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken, a dish I highly recommend. (Don’t skip the pomegranates!) I also want to do more of the meat cooking myself, getting more comfortable with it, possibly even reaching that point where I can cut apart a whole chicken from the grocery store – a skill that would allow us to save money and use more of the whole animal. As part of this resolution I recently purchased a shiny new roasting pan, so I’m looking forward to putting that to good use and perfecting a roasted chicken. Here are some of the recipes that have been inspiring me: [Read more…]