Holidays :The Fashionable Plate

Last Minute Mother’s Day

May 11th, 2013 by Lucie

Whether you’re scrambling for something worthy of your mom’s devotion or simply putting the finishing touches on a brunch that’s pure perfection, you may enjoy these suggestions from STLTO and Angelini Estate wines. More below:

STLTO are wines made by women for women. The selection includes two fresh, fruit forward white wines: Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay (both un-oaked) as well as a wonderful red blend of Malbec and Merlot. The suggested retail price for each of the wines is $10.99. STLTO wines can be enjoyed throughout your meal and their “feminine touch” make them a unique gift for Mom.

I haven’t tried STLTO, but a blend of Malbec and Merlot sounds like the most generally girl-friendly red I can imagine. And since I tend to prefer my whites un-oaked (or “naked” if you like a racier term), I’m intrigued by the Pinot and Chard as well.

Here’s a bit on Angelini:

Angelini Estate wines hail from Italy’s Marche region. Angelini Estate Sangiovese is chock full of cherries, has lovely cedar notes, and flavors of fruit; the Angelini Estate Pergola Rosso has notes of rose petals and lavender; flavors of wild cherries, strawberries, and currants. These are two wines to be enjoyed with food. Both are great with grilled meat and pastas. The suggested retail price for each is $16.99.

And an appealingly spring-like sangria recipe using Bodegas Franco Espanolas from the Rioja winery:

INGREDIENTS:
2 bottles Franco Espanolas Royal White 100% Viura white wine
½ cup white sugar
2 lemons
2 oranges
1 small melon
1 apple
2 kiwis
2 plums
A bunch of white table grapes
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
1 cup Orange liqueur (Cointreau)
1 can lemon/lime flavored soda (7Up, Sprite,…)
Ice

PREP:
Clean all fruit and dice (maintain the peels in all the fruit except the kiwis).

Reserve in a bowl.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1 day before the event, pour 1 bottle of Franco Espanolas Royal White 100% Viura into a large pot adding the sugar and warm the mixture without boiling. Remove from the heat. Add the spices (cinammon sticks and cloves) to the mixture, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Transfer the mixture from the pot to a larger container (large bowl). Add the second bottle of Franco Espanolas Royal White wine, diced fruit (reserve some for garnish), orange liqueur (Cointreau) and mix delicately. Place the bowl in the fridge for 24 hours.

Before serving, add the can of lemon/lime soda to the mixture. Pour into a high glass half full of ice. Garnish with the reserved diced fruit (grapes, melon,…) in a skewer.

So whether you are a mom, have a mom, or just love someone who is a mom, have a beautiful (and hopefully wine-kissed) Mother’s Day!

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Posted in Holidays, Recipes Related Topics: angelini, Brunch, franco espanolas, Mother's Day, recipe, sangria, stlto, wine

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Easy Roasted Asparagus

April 10th, 2013 by Kim

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I went to a bridal shower last weekend! I love bridal showers – the cute themes, the homemade decor, the oh-so-cute games and of course the delicious foods! This particular shower had two tables of desserts and one table of lunch foods – perfect balance! Haha ok, maybe not but it was a parrrrtyyyy! I actually made some cupcakes to match the theme of cooking in the kitchen. The bride loves to cook – smart girl!

One food on the lunch table that caught my eye was Breaded Parmesan Asparagus. I love asparagus however I don’t do dairy and my youngest son is allergic. Since he shares my plate, I grabbed one off my mother-in-law’s plate – ha! It was super yummy but it got me thinking about what I could do with the bunch of asparagus I had in the fridge at home. I asked a couple ladies at the party and they all said “olive oil, salt and pepper.” Ok then!

Guess who didn’t have any olive oil at their house?

So I did what any other Paleo person would do – went to grab the bacon grease!

Guess what I was out of? Yah, really.

BUT I did have some Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil! HALLELUJAH! It was SO good! My husband even came over and grabbed them right off the baking sheet to munch on. Enjoy!

Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Prepare baking sheet with cooking spray or your favorite oil/grease. I also lined mine with aluminum foil for easy clean-up!
2. Wash asparagus and lay flat on towel to dry for a few seconds.
3. Lay asparagus flat on prepared baking sheet and drizzle with melted coconut oil. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Place baking sheet in oven on the middle rack and bake for about 10-15 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on how thick your asparagus stalks are. Mine were really thick and actually took about 20 minutes to get them nice and tender.

And that’s it! It was the best side dish ever and super healthy. It’s great any time of year, too – holidays, BBQs (ooo grilled asparagus? I’ll get right on it!!) and get togethers of any kind! I used the leftovers to whip up a delicious quiche (or maybe it was a fritatta?) and the asparagus was still just as delicious!

Enjoy and be well!

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Posted in Baking, Dairy-Free, Easy Suppers, Feeds a Crowd, Food & Snacks, Gluten Free, Health & Nutrition, Holidays, Nut-Free, Paleo, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian Related Topics: asparagus, Baking, BBQ, Breakfast, coconut oil, easy recipe, easy recipes, easy suppers, Food & Snacks, food and snacks, gluten free, health, Health & Nutrition, holiday, nutrition, oven roasted, paleo, Primal, snacks, vegetables, veggies

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Perfect Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

March 15th, 2013 by Kim

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We all crave that sweet little something now and then. The other day it was my husband’s sweet tooth calling out to me. He’s not a big chocolate fan – I KNOW – but I can’t do ice cream and I didn’t want his favorite candy, Wild Berry Skittles. Eh. I’m a chocoholic all the way! I also had a HUGE bag of Hershey Kisses from a party and every time I caught a glimpse of it all I could think was “PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS!”

It seems everyone has a different name for these perfectly round cookies with a Hershey kiss smooshed into the tops of them! I didn’t have a go-to recipe for them yet though so I started browsing everyone else’s. I didn’t have any brown sugar in the house either which led to some aggravation because it seemed like every single recipe called for it and I was almost fully convinced that even if I did find a recipe it wouldn’t taste nearly as good as it should. Cookie dilemma!! But then a light shone down on my little iPhone and I saw Paula Deen’s Magical Peanut Butter Cookie recipe! Haaallelujah! Her recipe calls for a sugar replacement and I’m anti-sugar replacements like Splenda, etc. I’m also a little anti-white refined sugar BUT it’s all I had, so we indulged. I’d like to find a “sugar replacement” that works with this recipe: palm sugar, perhaps? I haven’t worked with it much so maybe it’s time to experiment!

Anyway, these cookies came out delightful. Depending on your oven, watch out for the cookies not being fully cooked. Since you don’t have to put the hash marks into the cookies prior to baking, they’re not flat and those little round peanut butter balls can have a hard time getting cooked through to the center! Don’t worry though, it requires only a couple minutes more cooking time.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter*

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract*

2 dozen Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

*If you are dealing with a gluten allergy, like Celiac’s, make sure these ingredients are specifically GF. You can find them at most grocery stores.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 cookie sheets.

2. In a stand mixer, combine all ingredients until well incorporated.

3. Take dough and roll between hands until a small ball forms. I took Paula D’s advice and made them about the size of a walnut. Place on cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on your oven.

5. Take cookies out of oven and place an unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the middle of every cookie. Using a spatula, immediately remove cookies from cookie sheets and place on cooling rack. (If you don’t… it’ll be a big, sad melted chocolate mess…)

Voila! Easy peasy. I like to let mine cool all the way before enjoying them with a nice cup of coffee. These cookies have the perfect chewiness to them and the chocolate to peanut butter ratio is divine! Another variation is to use mini peanut butter cups instead of the kisses for an ultimate peanut butter and chocolate overload!

Coming up next: An out-of-this-world slow cooker meal that is really easy. Think sausage, tortellinis, cream cheese…. OH YAH. See you soon! Be well!

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Posted in Baking, Food & Snacks, Freezes Beautifully, Gluten Free, Holidays, Recipes Related Topics: Baking, Chocolate, chocolate and peanut butter, easy, easy desserts, easy recipes, Food & Snacks, gluten free, hershey, hershey kiss, peanut, Peanut Butter, peanut butter blossom, peanut butter cookie, sugar, yummy

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Pot-Luck Party and Paleo Pancakes

February 23rd, 2013 by Kim

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Hello boys and girls! Today is brought to you by the letter ‘P’!

Did ya miss me recently? I missed you!! My sister-in-law and I had been planning her parents’ surprise 40th wedding anniversary party for the past couple of months. Last weekend was finally the big day! It was perfect – we ate, we danced, we drank, we talked, we laughed. AND they had NO IDEA we were doing this for them. SUCCESS!!

A LOT of planning went into this fiesta though especially the food. We’d invited close to 100 people and having the party catered was not part of the budget. So luckily, our family and friends are abundant, awesome and great cooks!! Seriously – how lucky am I?? We had baked beans, clam chowder, meatballs, sausages with peppers and onions, rice pilaf, lasagna, brussel sprouts with bacon, butternut bisque and so much more. Then there was a separate dessert table!! Yes, of course I made a cake and cupcakes. Ya wanna see them? OK! (It’s over here on my business page, too! – Kim’s Sweet Treats)

So, after this whole incredible experience I thought I’d share some tips and knowledge I gained along the way. With warmer weather coming, the party planning is going to start – bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, graduations. The list is endless!

Depending on the size of the gathering you’re having you may be a little intimidated by the amount of food you’ll need (and decorations… Pinterest will be your BEST FRIEND). Believe me, I’m usually cool as a cucumber but the thought of having to feed 100 people was daunting and I was secretly very afraid we wouldn’t have enough food! I was SO wrong. Do you know how many leftovers I came home with?? A wonderful thing to do when you have a lot of mouths to feed is to ask for help. More than likely people are going to jump at the opportunity! My SIL and I made up a list of foods we wanted to have at her parents’ party prior to asking people if they could help out. That way we had something to go by if we got “What do you want me to make?” BUT it was key to be flexible if someone had a special recipe that they always made! We totally forgot about baked mac n cheese but my SIL’s aunt made a divine one that was completely gone by the end of the party. Go, Auntie!

I knew I had volunteered to make quite a bit of food – butternut bisque, brussel sprouts with bacon, marmalade meatballs plus the cake and cupcakes - and I know a lot of us do the same thing OR maybe don’t have any extra help for providing food. That means you need to PLAN big time and check out options for making things ahead of time. I felt like a genius! I learned from Martha Stewart about freezing soups and using the crock pot to reheat and serve, baking the bacon on wire racks inside of cookie sheets for the perfect crispy bacon that you can easily chop or crumble and store in a bag in the fridge and that Sandra Lee from Food Network is basically a genius especially for these types of occasions! Seriously, I’ve been making her Marmalade Meatballs for years now! Another great thing to use when cooking a big batch of something is to use those disposable aluminum pans with the wire racks they sit in. You can make your food (meatballs, rice pilaf, brussel sprouts, chicken wings – anything!), throw it into the pan, cover it with foil and it’s ready to go. If you’ll be refrigerating it to use the next day, then you can just pop the pan into the oven to reheat! Those wire racks they sit in? Grab a Sterno and light that baby up underneath to keep your food warm! I didn’t have to think about the food again until clean up time (that could be a whole new blog post! UGH!).

One other tip I have – if you’re looking up recipes online, read the comments underneath!! The original recipe I looked up for the Butternut Soup was from Martha Stewart and the people who had tried it thought it was awful! Yikes! I wound up using a super simple recipe that used like 4 or 5 ingredients and was incredibly delicious! I really felt like I had dodged a bullet there.

So, now that we’ve partied. I’m tired. But I’m also ready to be on the healthy track again! This morning I was CRAVING some Paleo pancakes. Have you ever tried them? They’re definitely not like your traditional pancakes. You will find that many, many Paleo peeps have been on the prowl searching and searching for the perfect Paleo pancake recipe that mimics those white, fluffy circles your Mama makes. I hate to break it to you but… I haven’t found that recipe. But I have acquired a taste for Paleo pancakes – they’re more egg-y so they’ve got an interesting texture to them and the batter can be very thin which makes for smaller cakes. What I love about them though is that they’re very filling! And like the traditional pancake, can be spruced up with some fun toppings. This recipe was adapted from the award-winning Paleo recipe blogger Nom Nom Paleo. Seriously, I’m on her blog ALL. THE. TIME.

I “fried” some bananas on the griddle after I cooked the pancakes!

Yup they were absolutely divine!

Cinnamon Paleo Pancakes

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 T coconut milk (I used some refrigerated, canned coconut milk but you can also use the cartons of coconut milk)

3 T coconut flour (I used Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp honey or maple syrup

1 small pinch of salt

Bacon grease or ghee for frying

Directions

1. Whisk the eggs until well combined.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients (except for the bacon grease/ghee) and whisk together until uniform.

3. Heat the grease or ghee on a griddle over medium heat. Pour 1-2 T of batter onto griddle.

4. Once the batter starts to bubble, turn it over and cook the other side. These pancakes are very thin and don’t take long to cook so keep an eye on them!

Enjoy! Try topping with your favorite organic maple syrup, coconut butter, fruit, or nuts (pecans would be yummy!) or try adding different spices to your batter like pumpkin pie spice! OR you could even add in some chopped dark chocolate, maybe sprinkle it on top of warm pancakes? Holy moly. I need to go make more…

Stay well, everyone!

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Posted in Baking, Cake, Cake decorating, Easy Suppers, Feeds a Crowd, Food & Snacks, Freezes Beautifully, Ground Beef, Health & Nutrition, Holidays, Kitchen Decor, Paleo, Uncategorized Related Topics: bacon, Baking, bananas, Breakfast, buttercream, butternut squash, cake, Chocolate, cooking bacon, cupcakes, decor, decorations, Food & Snacks, food for a crowd, Food Network, health, Health & Nutrition, holiday, holidays, kim's sweet treats, make ahead, meatballs, nomnompaleo, nutrition, paleo, Pancakes, party, party food, party planning, party tips, planning for a crowd, recipe, roses, sandra lee, snacks, soup, vegetables, veggies

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The Epic Appetizer Tray

December 4th, 2012 by Lucie

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This year, I was lucky enough to be invited to a friend’s for Thanksgiving. No roasting a turkey! No dishes!

I was, however, tasked with bringing the appetizer- a mixed blessing because while I loooooooove appetizers generally, I was feeling a bit bored with my usuals. Plus, the Thanksgiving app carries the additional complication of preceding a massive meal, so many favorites (lookin’ your way, nachos) simply aren’t appropriate.

Fortunately for me, I stumbled upon one of my favorite paintings at one of my favorite museums:

Frans Snyders’ Still Life with Fruit and Vegetables, currently starring in an exhibition at The Norton Simon Museum. Really, have you ever seen such rapturous, colorful abundance? What could be more Thanksgiving than that?

So with Frans Snyders for inspiration, I decided to make an EPIC cheese tray with lots of extras. First step: select the cheese. My research told me that I should include something sharp, something blue (or bleu if you want to be fancy), and something soft. To Whole Foods we went.

I quickly chose something wonderful from the parmesan family for my “sharp,” largely because my toddler ate so much from its sample tray that I was shamed into buying it. But what delicious shame it was! My only regret is that I neglected to write down its name.

For the blue, I went with Pt. Reyes Original because I have dear friends who love to visit Pt. Reyes. Let me tell you something: Go buy this cheese. I’m not the world’s biggest blue cheese fan, but I may have to change that now that I’ve had Pt. Reyes. I could nosh on it this minute, and that’s “this minute” wherever you are, too, any time zone, anywhere. Seriously, that good.

And I rounded it out with the accessible, semi-soft Port Salut. Then I turned my attention towards all the extras that would make my cheese tray truly epic in the spirit of Frans Snyders.

Once again, I researched and discovered that the best and most epic of cheese trays feature the following elements:

Something Sweet. Grapes, apples, and pears are tried-and-trues, but as a little something different I went for cherry tomatoes and tricolor carrots (cut into matchsticks).

Something Salty. Olives are the standard, and normally that’s how I’d go. Since I was swinging for the fences, though, I decided to make papas saladas, a Colombian favorite that I read about on Eatocracy. Basically, I took baby fingerlings, boiled them until soft, drained them, and then coated the still-damp potatoes with a lot of sea salt. I have to tell you: this was very easy to do and earned raves. For an even speedier salty, non-olive selection, though, I also love the idea of including some sassy potato chips.

Something Pickled. Cornichons are the most common choice, and you can’t go wrong with that (esp. if you happen to be a crusty old Englishman “eatin’ me lunch in me fav’rite pub, gov’nah”). However, I used pickled okra, both because I like it and because I had some left over from the Bloody Marys I made for a tailgate party the previous weekend. Really, anything pickled is fun here: asparagus, green beans, green tomatoes… knock yourself out.

Something Meaty. This is completely optional, and I could easily omit it. Knowing I had some serious carnivores in the crowd, though, I included sopressata. Any salami, prosciutto, etc. would fit the bill.

Something Unexpected. It could be anything; that’s why it’s unexpected. But I recommend sticking with things that are both edible and tasty. I went with Brussels sprouts roasted just the way Ina Garten makes them.

A selection of crackers or bread. No explanation needed, and I recommend going for some variety.

And the end result? Well, it was epic if-I-do-say-so-myself. Take a look:

And a closer look:

And the feedback? Uniformly excited! Our Thanksgiving crowd spanned quite a few decades, and everyone found something appealing on The Epic Appetizer Tray. My husband has already asked me to make it next year and every year after that until the end of time.

So if you’re looking for a standout appetizer this holiday, Frans Snyders will certainly lead you in the right direction.

Painting:
Still Life with Fruit and Vegetables, 1625-35
Frans Snyders
The Norton Simon Foundation
F.1973.16.P
© 2012 The Norton Simon Foundation

Recipe and all other photos by Lucie Amberg.

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Posted in Feeds a Crowd, Food & Snacks, Holidays, Recipes Related Topics: appetizer, brussels sprouts, carrots, cheese, holiday, lucie, party, pickles, Thanksgiving, tomatoes, vegetables

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Free Butterball Frozen Turkey from BJ’s

November 2nd, 2012 by Lucie

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All you fashionable cooks- How’d you like to get your Thanksgiving turkey for FREE? See the fabulous offer from BJ’s below:

Kick off November with a Free Turkey for your upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Now you can get a free frozen turkey when you shop at BJ’s Wholesale Club simply by purchasing any four different items from a select group of holiday favorites and must-haves in one transaction.

BJ’s offers an assortment of fresh and frozen food and delicious bakery items to help you prepare a complete Thanksgiving feast for your friends and family – and it’s the only wholesale club that accepts manufacturer’s coupons as well as their own coupons.

With a purchase of four qualifying products, you’ll get a Free Butterball Frozen Turkey. Some of the select items available to qualify for the free turkey are:

Coca-Cola Product- 4 pack/2 Liters

Swanson Natural Chicken Broth- 3 pack

Any Knorr Sides- 8 pack

Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce- 6 pack

Le Sueur Early June Peas- 6 pack

Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Jonathan T’s Frozen Puff Pastry Collection- 80 count

Mama’s Frozen Jumbo Cheese Ravioli- 4 lbs.

Pillsbury Frozen Buttermilk Biscuits- 36 count

Green Giant Cubed Butternut Squash- 2 lbs.

The coupon can be used at BJ’s until November 14. If you’re not a club member, you can still shop and save. The wholesale club is offering a Free 60-Day Trial Membership, which can be activated until December 31. The risk-free, trial membership consists of full-member benefits and no surcharge.

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Posted in Coupon Codes, Holidays, Uncategorized Related Topics: BJ's, coupon, holiday, Thanksgiving, turkey

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Banana Pudding (No Baking Involved!)

May 23rd, 2012 by Lucie

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With Memorial Day coming up, here’s an easy crowd pleaser. If, like me, you looooooooooooooooooooove banana pudding but get turned off by the idea of baking the meringue, this recipe is for you. I got it from my sister-in-law, Josie. I believe she adapted it from Paula Deen’s “Not Yo’ Mama’s Banana Pudding,” and you know that when it comes to desserts, Chef Paula is never a bad jumping off point!

Josie’s Banana Pudding (complete with her cute instructions):

This is basically the recipe, I just like to use Walkers shortbread cookies (or Lorna Doone) instead of vanilla wafers. I also top the banana pudding with additional whipped cream.

1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/2 cups cold water*
1 (4-serving size) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups whipping cream, whipped(+more for topping)
36 vanilla wafers (or shortbread)**
3 medium bananas, sliced and dipped in lemon juice

*ed. note- I actually chilled my water in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before making the pudding

**ed. note- I used 27 Walker’s shortbread rounds

1. In large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and water. Add pudding mix; beat until well blended. Chill 5 minutes.

2. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon 1 cup pudding mixture into 2 1/2-quart glass serving bowl.

3. Top with one-third each of the vanilla wafers, bananas and remaining pudding. Repeat layering twice, ending with pudding mixture. Chill thoroughly. Garnish as desired (with whipped cream) . Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Photo by Lucie Amberg.

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Posted in Feeds a Crowd, Holidays, Recipes Related Topics: banana, Desserts, fourth of july, lucie, Memorial Day, no bake, pudding, Recipes, summer

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My First Attempt at Holiday Pie- Pecan!

December 15th, 2011 by Lucie

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I’m definitely more of a cook than a baker; desserts just aren’t my strong suit. That said, I can whip up a pound cake or a batch of chocolate chip cookies with relative ease, and I make a mean cobbler. But there’s one item I’ve always been intimidated to try: PIE.

This is a common fear. I suspect it’s the impossibility of sampling a slice before it’s ready to serve. After all, since you can’t even make a little version to test, you have no idea if it turned out well until you’re serving it to others. Whatever the reason, though, pie is the trademark of confident bakers.

Feeling frisky, I decided I would take a crack at it. I consulted my old friend Eric from Bethesda, who has such a knack for collecting tasty recipes that I long ago nicknamed him “Delicious.” As predicted, Delicious came through with a slew of tempting suggestions. Since he indicated that pecan pie is easy, I went with that first, using Gourmet‘s classic Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie, which is conveniently available on Epicurious.com.

Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie Ingredients List

Pastry dough**
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest*
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups pecan halves (1/2 pound)*

*I used a little more than recommended.

**First, I will admit that I didn’t make the crust. I used Marie Callendar’s trusty freezer variety, and it was fine. Yes, I’m sure homemade would have been better, and in my mind I really wanted to do that. But since here in reality that was never going to happen, let’s not speak of it again.

I started with toasting the pecans. That wasn’t in the recipe, but I sensed it would provide added depth of flavor. Plus, it was easy, so I recommend it. I also used a bit more than the two cups the recipe calls for and toasted them at 350 for 10 minutes or so:

Next, I melted 3/4 stick of butter (resisting my temptation to use salted butter, since I always like a little salty kick in my dessert). I added 1-1/4 cups of light brown sugar to that.

As instructed, I whisked this quite a bit. However, since the recipe says “whisk until smooth,” I thought I needed to get all of the sugar incorporated into some kind of liquidy brown butter in order to avoid a granular pie. After about seven years of whisking, I gave up on that idea, and since the pie turned out, I was obviously right to do so. This is how my whisked butter and sugar looked:

Then I removed from heat and whisked in 3/4 cup light corn syrup, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest, and 1/4 teaspoon of my beloved salt. As you can see below, I actually used quite a bit more than 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest. Once again, I liked the result, so I recommend going for a full teaspoon on that.

I lightly beat 3 eggs in a bowl and added the whole gooey brown sugar-butter-corn syrup mixture to that (no need for tempering since the corn syrup had already cooled the whole mix down).

I mounded my toasted pecans into my prepared-as-directed Marie Callendar pie shell:

I poured the corn syrup mixture on top:

The recipe calls for baking on a baking sheet for 50 minutes to 1 hour. However, I peeked a lot, and at 45 minutes, I decided my pie was done. Maybe my oven is hot (or perhaps it’s the extra pecans I added), but it worked.

This pie really was everything you could want in a holiday dessert– rich and complex with an inviting variety of textures and a sophisticated mix of flavors. The orange zest particularly set it apart from any pecan pie I’ve tried before. I will definitely be making it for the BIG DAY next weekend, and I suggest you head on over to Epicurious.com and try it out. Trust me; if even a pie novice like me can do it, you will have no trouble at all!

And for extra panache, my friend “Delicious” Eric suggested the following:

Delicious’ Delicious Holiday Whipped Cream

1 cup whipping cream
1 Tablespoon superfine or confectioner’s sugar
1 Tablespoon of bourbon or whiskey
1-2 Tablespoons of sour cream

Blend the whipping cream and sugar. Then mix in the bourbon and sour cream. Chill or 2 hours to overnight. Truly sensational and gives your pie a very elegant feel!

Pie recipe from Epicurious.com. Photos by Lucie Amberg.

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Posted in Baking, Holidays, Recipes Related Topics: christmas, dessert, epicurious, gourmet, holiday, lucie, Pecan Pie, pie, recipe, Thanksgiving, whipped cream

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Thanksgiving Food & Crafts Ideas

November 8th, 2011 by Miranda

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Needing inspiration for Thanksgiving? Here’s an ebook you’ll want to check out. It’s loaded with 54 ideas! If you download this free ebook, please leave us a comment letting us know what projects/recipes you’ll be making!

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Posted in Baking, Holidays, Recipes Related Topics: Baking, crafts, holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving

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Perfect for Labor Day BBQ

September 5th, 2011 by Miranda

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BJ’s Wholesale Club has partnered with multiple vendors to offer 3lbs of free ground beef for free when you purchase of any 4 products below.

NatureSource ground beef is perfect for creating delicious hamburgers and meals for the long Labor Day weekend BBQ’s. Three pounds of NatureSource’s ground beef has a value of $10.99! Pair it with options including hamburger buns, Tostitos chips, French’s mustard, Ranch dressing, Glad storage bags and Snapple drink varieties.

Happy Labor Day!