Cheers to the New Year: 2014

Christmas is over, and my house is, for the first time in months, cookie-free. My tree is still up and there are gifts strewn about the living room, but that's another story. Here are some phone pics of my Christmas vacation (we went ice-caving!). 

I don't know about you guys, but I'm beyond stoked for 2014! In 2014, I'm getting married. WHAT!? 

2013 has been a wild year. I got engaged and wrote a 50,000 word novel for NaNoWriMo. And that was only the month of November! 

I rang in 2013 at a snowy cabin with some of my favorite people. I went wine tasting in Sonoma, house-boating in Shasta, hiking and exploring in the Gifford Pinchot, and camping at the Oregon coast. We celebrated our nephew's 1st birthday in New York, and my sister's Masters graduation from UW. I won a quinoa recipe contest and this blog turned four years old. Evan and I bought a car together, and (after almost a decade of dating and several years of living together) our parents finally met. Some good things happened in 2013.  

2013 also had some bumps, with health scares and hospital visits for people I care very much about. I'm crossing my fingers that 2014 is a happy, healthy year for everyone I know and love. And for all of you guys, too!

So, here's to the new year! I'll be back in 2014 with great new recipes, photos, and stories. Until then, here are my top 20 of 2013. Some of these were the most visited posts, and some were just my favorite to write, eat, or photograph in 2013. Cheers!

Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl Salad

Peppermint Mocha Icebox Cookies

Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

Coconut Lemon Bars

BBQ Pulled Pork Hand Pies

Creamy White Chicken Chili

Sweet Potato, Pear, and Wild Rice Salad

Pumpkin Spice Almond Milk Coffee

Fried Green Tomato Salad

Peach Pineapple Crisp with Coconut Ginger Crumble

Tortas with Chorizo Scrambled Eggs

Totally Grilled Guacamole

Baja-Maui Zucchini Tacos

Wheat Berry Salad with Avocado, Strawberries, and Caramelized Shallots

Food Bloggers Against Hunger

Tex Mex Taco Stack (Dinner & a Movie)

Soba Salmon Noodle Bowls

Lemon Cake with Blackberry Buttercream

Roarin' 20s Murder Mystery Dinner

The Perfect Entree Salad

Cranberry Gin Fizz

Are you guys all ready to have a holly, jolly, merry, bright, drinky, fizzy holiday? I am! Pick me!

Christmas break has begun and it's officially time for some holiday spirit. Holiday spirits, rather.

This cocktail combines three of my favorite things: gin, bubbles, and cranberry. Plus a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. 

A few of these fizzy cranberry and gin drinks and you'll be super jolly. 

Cranberry Gin Fizz

For each drink:

1 ounce (shot) good quality gin (I like Hendricks)

Juice from a quarter or half a lemon

2 ounces cranberry simple syrup (recipe below)

Champagne or prosecco 

Frozen cranberries (on a pick, or otherwise)

Add gin, lemon juice, and cranberry syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake until cool. Strain into glass, then top off with bubbles. Add more lemon or syrup, to taste. Add frozen cranberries to keep cool. 

Note: this a strong boozy drink. To make a little less strong, you can use soda water instead of prosecco, or leave out the gin, and just do prosecco, cranberry syrup, and lemon.

Cranberry Simple Syrup

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, and cool before using. 

Makes about a cup and a half. 

Dinner & Movie: Creamy Mac n Cheese

“Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.” - Kevin McCallister

Guys, Christmas is just around the corner, and it wouldn’t be the holidays without Home Alone. I happen to think Home Alone is the greatest holiday movie of all time, and potentially one of the greatest anytime movies of all time. It’s super quotable, has a killer soundtrack, fills you with warm holiday fuzzies, and helped an entire generation plan out how to protect their homes in the event of a burglary. Safety first. Amanda and I recently got together for our annual Home Alone viewing, and made a big pot of creamy Mac n Cheese for the event.

Its dinner & a movie: Holiday Style!

The Movie: Home Alone

Look what you did, you little jerk! Home Alone! The McCallister family heads to Paris for Christmas, and they accidentally leave 8-year old Kevin (an adorably tiny Macaulay Culkin) home alone. WE FORGOT KEVIN! Meanwhile, two crooks, the Wet Bandits, have big plans for the McCallister’s giant mansion-like house. Kevin comes up with a genius plot to foil the bad guys, and hilarity ensues. The little Nero’s pizza guy runs off in fear from Snakes and Johnny (Acey says 10 percent…), John Candy does the polka, Uncle Frank tries to steal the silverware and champagne glasses from the airplane, Kevin gets a good look at Buzz’s girlfriend (woof!), some totally great classic holiday tunes play, the old guy turns out to not be the shovel slayer after all, and in the end, the whole family is reunited on Christmas morning. Holiday classic! 


The Dinner: Creamy Mac n Cheese

There are a few potential meals you could serve with Home Alone. Pizza might be the obvious choice, since the Little Nero’s pizza guy makes a couple appearances, and Buzz eating all the cheese pizza in the beginning really sets off the chain of events that follow. But, remember that scene right before the Wet Bandits arrive for the final show-down? Kevin sits down (at a candle-lit table) to a bowl of microwaveable Kraft mac n cheese, and says a little thanks for the meal (see quote above). But then the clock chimes, and he doesn’t even get to take a bite. I always felt bad that the mac just sat there getting cold. Did he go back and eat it afterward? Maybe if he had a big pot of creamy, homemade mac n cheese he would have.

This recipe comes from Joy the Baker, and is simple, creamy, and rich… everything a good bowl of Mac n Cheese should be. So, head on over to Joy the Baker, whip up some mac n’ cheese, and get ready to rock around the Christmas tree: it’s time for dinner & a movie!

Recipe: Joy the Baker’s Classic Mac n Cheese

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013: Peppermint Mocha Icebox Cookies

For the second year in a row, I participated in THE BEST COOKIE SWAP EVER: The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! Last year I made Maple Waffle Cookies for the swap. This year, I decided to go minty and chocolaty.

I’m pretty much obsessed with peppermint. When peppermint ice cream starts popping up in stores I go crazy. It’s so good! And I’ll even bend my no-sugar, no-flavorings-in-coffee rule for peppermint mochas. Chocolate, coffee, peppermint...seriously, put that in my stocking this year!

I had seen peppermint mocha cookies before, but usually in drop-cookie form, with pieces of crushed candy cane mixed in the dough. I wanted to make something new, so I decided to do slice and bake cookies (icebox cookies), and then dip them in chocolate and coat that in crushed candy canes.

Sidenote #1: crushed candy canes are the most beautiful thing ever. It’s like sparkly white and pink glitter snow.

Sidenote #2: crushing candy canes kind of sucks. I put them in a big freezer sized ziplock, then wrapped that in a hand towel, then beat it with a hammer. Then, because I’m crazy and wanted perfect tiny little speckles, I sifted out the big chunks. #imcrazy

I love icebox cookies because they’re so easy. You can make the dough, then roll it in logs (which, unfortunately, resemble a friendly little Christmas cartoon named Hanky), and then freeze. Then you can fully clean your kitchen, listen to some holiday tunes, watch Home Alone, drink some hot buttered rum, get a good night’s sleep, and wake up the next day, bright eyed and ready to slice and bake!

Sidenote #3: I love the word icebox. Oooh, how retro. How very Madmen of you, Amber!

Also, thanks to the espresso powder, these cookies are super chocolaty. Like, majorly so. Like tiny little cookie shaped brownies. You’ll die ten times. Then you’ll add that cool pepperminty crunch of the crushed candy canes, and you’ll die a few more times. Probably 15 times in all.

Guys. Seriously.

Peppermint Mocha Icebox Cookies

Very loosely adapted from this recipe 

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup quality unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup dark or semi sweet chocolate chips

8-10 candy canes, crushed

Whisk flour, cocoa, espresso powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

In bowl of stand mixer, beat sugar, vanilla, and egg on high speed until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Add butter and continue to beat on high speed until smooth, about 3 more minutes. Using your fingers, work flour mixture into butter mixture until dough is just combined. It will be sticky and a little difficult to work with, but it's all worth it!

Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 9" log. Wrap each log in parchment paper, twisting ends tightly to make a uniform longs. Freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap dough and slice each log into rounds about 1/3 inch thick. Place rounds 1/2 inch apart on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake until cookies are slightly puffy, about 8-9 minutes. Let sit on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to a rack to cool. Be careful, they're really soft at first. 

Let cookies cool completely. Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl or over a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Dip each cookie half-way in the chocolate (I tried to dip only on the top), and then dip in crushed candy canes. Set on wax paper to harden. Let cool completely. 

Enjoy!

Wait, there's more!

Looking for more recipes from the cookie swap? Check out the blogs of my random matches: the bloggers I sent these bad boys to, as well as the bloggers who sent cookies to me!

Strudel and Streusel

Thirty Five Ninety Five
Pudgie Pies

A Family Feast

DESIGN + LIFE + KIDS

It's Good to be the Cook

Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Truffles

Do you guys have a favorite holiday movie?

As far as classics go, I love It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. I also love all the old animated ones like Rudolph, Frosty, and (the original) Grinch. The best newer holiday movie is obviously Elf. And as far as all-time favorites go, the best holiday movie, hands down, is Home Alone. I probably quote Home Alone at least once a month. I'm pretty bummed it's not available on streaming Netflix. Christmas Vacation is available though, and I watched that last night in the glow of my round, shrub-like Christmas tree. 

This year I decided I'm going to try to watch Love Actually. Guys, I'm sorry. I've tried. I really tried to watch it when it came out, and I just made fun of it and eventually left the room. I just don't love Hugh Grant romantic comedies. Not my thing. The only movie that I've liked in that type of genre so far is the Holiday, which is actually pretty good. So. I'm gonna do it. I'll report back and let you know what I think.

But in other news… CARAMELIZED ONION, PISTACHIO, AND GOAT CHEESE TRUFFLES. 

I love cheese balls, and couldn't get the idea of a caramelized onion and chèvre ball out of mind. Then I remembered these little gems, and just couldn't live with myself if I didn't make tiny little bite-sized goat cheese balls. THESE ARE SO GOOD. The caramelized onions, with honey and balsamic, are sweet and tangy, and go so good with the creamy cheese. Then you roll them in ground pistachios for a nutty little crunch. The hardest part is waiting for the onions to cool so you can get to rolling.

You can serve these with crackers and jam (try something like peach jam or orange marmalade) or you can just pop 'em in your mouth like candy. Make these for a holiday party, and people would be pretty stoked about it. Or…make them for yourself, then sit inside near a heater and watch holiday movies, which is my plan, because it's freaking freezing outside. 

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Truffles
Inspired by this recipe

1 onion

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon butter

salt

honey

balsamic vinegar

8 ounces chèvre

1/2 cup pistachios, finely ground (using food processor)

Dice the onion in small pieces.

Heat a  thick-bottomed sauté pan over medium high. Add olive oil and butter, and heat until it's shimmering. Add onions and stir. Spread onions evenly, and cook, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium/medium and cook for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, and cook another 20-40 minutes, until brown and caramelized, but not burned. Stir in a small spoonful of honey and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Add more honey, vinegar, or salt, depending on your tastes. Cook another minute or two, and remove from heat. Let cool completely. 

Crumble chèvre into a bowl, and stir in cooled onions. Roll into 1 to 2 inch balls, and then roll in ground pistachios. Refrigerate until time to serve. 

Thanksgiving Stuffing Roundup

Thanksgiving is only two days away!? How did that happen? I had all these great plans for you. A few more T-day side dishes, some desserts, maybe even a cocktail. But then this crazy thing happened that fully derailed everything… I GOT ENGAGED. Our whole relationship has been a crazy whirlwind of excitement… we met, fell in love, moved in together, and got engaged. So fast.

 

Just kidding about the fast part… we’ve been together since spring of 2004, when we were wee little freshman babies in college. Most people probably think we’re already married. The general response to our engagement has been “IT’S ABOUT TIME!”

But more on that later, because it’s almost Thanksgiving! So, let’s discuss stuffing. Or dressing, which is technically what it’s called when baked separate from the bird. This is how I prefer it, because it’s not a soggy lump of a mess, but instead it’s crispy in places, soft in places, all around amazing. But I still call it stuffing.
 

First, the bread: start with super crispy dry bread, whether it’s 2-days old or popped under the broiler to crisp up. Try classic French bread, or mix it up with cornbread, ciabatta, or a combo! Second, the additions: I think there are 6 main categories here. Mushrooms, fruit (cranberries and apples), winter veg (squash, sweet potatoes), pork (bacon, sausage, chorizo), nuts (chestnuts, pecans, walnuts), and herbs (thyme and sage are classics).
 

Since I didn’t have time to make a million stuffing recipes for you, I scoured the internetz for some really tasty looking recipes that you can make as-is, or use for T-day inspiration! A little something for everybody. Happy cooking!

• Kale and Mushroom Bread Pudding via A Thought for Food: Savory bread pudding is a lot like stuffing/dressing, just a bit eggier. This one looks amazing.
• Apple and Herb Stuffing via Smitten Kitchen: Two of the main stuffing additions, together in one glorious dish.
• Andouille Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing via Food 52: This sounds like an amazing year round stuffing with a southern twist.
• Butternut, Sausage, and Fennel Stuffing via Gimme Some Oven: I want to eat this for every single meal this winter.
• Ciabatta Stuffing with Chorizo, Sweet Potato, and Mushrooms via Food 52: Another recipe that takes several of the addition categories and mashes them all together for perfection.
• Pancetta Sage Stuffing Muffins via A Cozy Kitchen: WHAT! Stuffing in adorable hand-held muffin form. Genius.

 

Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Quick Bread

Warning: this post contains explicit language & delicious bread.

I don't think I've told you guys about the fucking yams yet, have I? Well, it happens to be my very favorite holiday story. 

So, to set the stage… my parents certainly didn't have the mouth's of angels when I was a kid, but the F-bomb was a place they never went. I think I heard my mom say it once my whole childhood, when a thrift store wouldn't accept her donation (she was really riled up that day). Then, when I was in like, 7th or 8th grade, Amanda, Mel, and I spent one super hot summer reading through Stephen King's The Green Mile out loud together. That's what you do out in the country when you don't have cable TV…sort of like old timey radio stories. So we all took turns reading chapters. We were at one super intense part in the story, my mom was reading and Amanda and I were leaning forward in anticipation of what would come next. All of a sudden, Mel stopped reading, her face got super red, and then she continued "Eff-You-See-Kay, Percy Said!" Amanda and I looked at each other, then fell on the floor laughing. She couldn't even read the F-word out loud to us, she had to spell it out. Needless to stay, we lost our steam after that, and it took us awhile to carry on with the story. 

So, fast-forward to a few years ago. It's Thanksgiving day, and Mel is hard core stressin'. We have a house full of people, and she's pulling everything out of the oven, just about ready to serve dinner. From the living room, we hear a giant crash in the kitchen, so we all run in, and Mel is standing there, covered in yams. Orange mush on the walls, the floor, every where. My dad asks "what happened?" And then she bursts into tears and wails "THE FUCKING YAMS!" So, of course, Amanda, John, and I all die laughing. And then, to make her feel better, one of us says "we don't really like the yams anyway." If bullets could shoot out of peoples eyes, that's what would have happened at that moment.

The next year, Amanda and I wandered out Thanksgiving morning in shirts we had made with a cartoon yam and Mel's new catchphrase "THE FUCKING YAMS." Needless to say, this time her tears were laugh-tears, and the phrase sort of just stuck. So now every year we make sure we add some sort of fucking yam to the Thanksgiving menu. 

But the truth is, we weren't lying when we told her that we didn't really love the yams. The mushy, sweet, marshmallow covered yams. So ever since that day, we try to do something new with them. Roasted sweet potatoes, scalloped sweet potatoes, etc. This year, I figured we could go in a whole new direction, and make a sweet potato quick bread!

I based this off of the pumpkin quick bread in my trusty Fannie Farmer cookbook, and was inspired by the recipe just below it for cranberry quick bread. Full of nuts and tart cranberries, with warm fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, this bread is perfect for the main meal, the dessert table, or even breakfast the next day.  

Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Bread

Based loosely on a Fannie Farmer recipe

Plan ahead so your puree has time to cool before mixing with the egg, otherwise you'll have weird cooked egg pieces. To make the sweet potatoes, I just peeled and cubed one orange sweet potato, then steamed it (in a veg steamer) for about 15 minutes, until it was super tender, and then mashed with a pastry blender until smooth. You can also roast a whole, unpeeled sweet potato, or try boiling the peeled chunks, ala Martha Stewart (minus the salt & pepper).

1.5 cups flour (I used half whole wheat, half all purpose)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sweet potato puree, cooled 

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup water

1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped

2 teaspoons course turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350, and butter a loaf pan.

Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, stir together potato puree, oil, eggs, spices, and water until properly mixed. Add sweet potato mixture to dry ingredients, and stir until just combined, don't over mix. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Pour into loaf pan and sprinkle course sugar over top. Bake 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack. 

Roasted Vegetables with Harissa Yogurt

Hey guess what!? I mentioned this on my Loves Food, Loves to Eat Facebook page, and also on twitter, but if you're not following along at either of those places (you should be!) then I'll tell you here too. I'm doing NaNoWriMo! NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, and it takes place every November. I've been very, very slowly writing a story for the past two years, and decided to use NaNo as an excuse to push through and finish it. The goal with NaNo is to write 50,000 words, which is the average size of a novel. I'm up to 30,000! Anyway, my novel has nothing to do with food. It's a mystery type story. My mom likes it so far, so…I'll consider that a success. Stay tuned, maybe I'll let you read it someday. 

But anyway, enough about that. Let's talk about your Thanksgiving table. There's the turkey, the mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing/dressing, something orange, green beans of some sort, bread rolls, and cranberry sauce. Right? 

Well, I like to also add some roasted vegetables with a little spice. These vegetables, delicata squash, carrots, parsnip, and onions are roasted until they're all caramelized, and the coconut oil adds just a hint of sweetness. Then the whole thing is topped with harissa yogurt, which is cool, sweet, and spicy all at once. Throw some crunchy, juicy pomegranate arils on top, and it's ready to serve.  

Roasted Winter Vegetables with Harissa Yogurt 

1 delicata squash

1 large carrot, peeled and cubed

1 parsnip, peeled and cubed

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 can drained, rinsed chickpeas (not pictured..*)

2 teaspoons coconut oil, melted

salt & pepper

6 oz plain greek yogurt

1/2-1 teaspoon harissa spice blend (dry)**

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons olive oil

juice from half a lemon 

Pomegranate arils (the fruity seeds)

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice delicate in 1/2 inch slices, and clear out center of each slice with a spoon. Separate and save the seeds (like with pumpkin seeds). 

Toss squash slices, squash seeds, carrots, parsnip, and onion with coconut oil, and spread out on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with a fairly generous amount of salt and pepper (you can also sprinkle on spices here if you'd like. I've tried za'atar and thyme, both were great!).

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until everything is tender. If you want more color on it, stick under the broiler for thirty seconds to a minute (keep an eye on it).

Stir together yogurt, harissa, honey, olive oil, and lemon juice. Add salt to taste.

Serve vegetables hot, topped with yogurt mixture and pomegranate arils.

This is also pretty good cold the next day, or tossed with arugula for a little salad. But, since it's cooked in coconut oil, once it's refrigerated, the coconut oil hardens again. 

*Edit: Aw man! I completely forgot that when I made this before I added 1 can of drained, rinsed chickpeas! I would definitely recommend doing that. 

**I've tried both the spice blend and the paste in this, and prefer the dry spice blend. You can buy it bulk in a lot of places or try this. 

Papa's Marinated Green Olives

THANKSGIVING! Just a few weeks away! I have a few recipes that you can adopt for your Thanksgiving table this year, and the first is so, so perfect: a simple little snack that also happens to be a really special family recipe for Evan. 

Every time Evan and his family visited his paternal grandparents, his grandpa, Frank "Papa" Piro made his signature marinated olives. Evan said these olives were always a highlight of the trip. And he said that as a kid, he was amazed that his Papa could make olives, he had no idea how he did it! PS. Evan was a really cute little boy, and this is my favorite picture on Earth. Those sandals! 

Unfortunately, I never had the chance to meet Papa or Mamo Piro, but luckily I get to hear tons of great stories from Evan and his family, and we ended up with a copy of the recipe for Papa's Olives! 

These are so easy and flavorful—just a jar of store-bought green olives, marinated in garlic, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and oregano. We like to make a jar and just keep them in the fridge for snacking, but they would be such a perfect addition to the Thanksgiving feast—a simple snack you can prepare ahead of time, before you get all crazy with the turkey and ninety seven side dishes. 

Thanksgiving is for giving thanks, so this one, this thank you is to Evan's family, for making me one of their own, being supportive and caring and welcoming to my family, letting me whisk Evan away all the time, sending me awesome hilarious childhood pics (Thanks Mary Ellen!), and for sharing their amazing history and traditions with me. And for these olives.

Papa's Olives

You can make these right in the jar they came in, or if you buy canned olives, just mix it up in a bowl or other jar! The flavors intensify as they sit and meld, but feel free to add more garlic, pepper flakes, etc, as your tastes desire! 

1 6-7 oz jar or can of green olives, drained

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Add garlic, pepper flakes, olive oil, and oregano to jar, and shake to mix well. For a pretty presentation, serve in a little dish, or transfer to cute jars for gifts (!!).