lately... in the kitchen

As you know, cooking/baking is a creative outlet for me. It works out great because I also accomplish the task of feeding everyone at the same time. Here's a look at some of the yummy stuff coming out of my kitchen lately: 

 

Spaghetti carbonara. I love this recipe because it is so quick and easy. I usually fall back on it when I've forgotten to take some meat out of the freezer for dinner.

Open-faced veggie/egg sandwich. I just spread some tahini or humus on the bread first, then layered greens from my garden, radishes, cucumbers, and medium-boiled eggs. Yum.

Whole wheat tortilla layered with refried black beans, greens, shredded chicken (seasoned with taco seasoning), halved cherry tomatoes, corn, avocado, diced jalapeno, lime juice, and sour cream. 

White chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Follow Morgan's recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (my favorite!) and then just substitue the white chocolate chips and add in the nuts. These disappeared fast.

French onion. Okay, this one is quite a process... but very tasty. 

Tis the season to move the cooking outside. I love grilled pizzas. This is the recipe for my favorite crust (scroll down). We mostly freestyle our toppings, but I do love tomatoes and goat cheese topped with salad greens and avocados drizzled with oil and vinegar (bottom right).

Lavender shortbread. I love lavender. I love shortbread. Match made in heaven! Recipe here. 

When it's not too windy we're back to eating outside. Lemon relish salmon tastes so good on the deck. 

Sometimes the breakfast fairy visits and she leaves behind some goodies. Chocolate zucchini cake (above) or a puffy oven pancake (below) .

Hope you find time today to whip up something pretty. Come back tomorrow and let's make a lemon tart! 

Kites and crepes and stuff

I left my camera battery charger on spring break. It's coming back to me in the mail shortly (thanks Dad). Good thing the trusty ol' iphone still works, otherwise you wouldn't see what a lovely weekend we had. ​

​Sun, and wind, and kites, and picnics, and climbing trees, and crepes, and showers, and blossoms, and soup, and steam. 

You know what they say... "it's all fun and games until your favorite 9 year old falls and breaks her wrist!" (It's not bad... but no swim team for a month!) Bummer. ​

some yummy things

You should make these:​

Lemon Cream Butter Cake​. So fluffy and light! We devoured this for dinner one night. The kids were like, "Really mom? This counts as dinner?" I'm so cool like that!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart: used this crust recipe, and this one for the filling. Just plop some raspberries on top. It was so easy and looks pretty right?

Go get your apron!