This is a throw back to my teenage years. It’s as simple as gettting a bag of M&M’s and a skillet. On low heat fry up a single layer of M&M’s, it does not take long like 3 minutes. The outside stays hard and the inside is a soft chocolate that melts in your mouth. Come on kids give it a try.
recipe from culinary arts
Pound cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. It is believed that the pound cake is a Northern European dish, that dates back to the early 1700s. And over the years recipes have changed and many styles of pound cakes can be found. This recipe is pretty traditional and reminds me of the classic recipe I grew up with. The blueberry Jam is another story that I will hopefully be able to share with you soon. A friend of mine makes this Jam and will have it available. The idea is the classic pound cake with creative toppings, pound cake is an open palette.
When you are looking to spice up your breakfast syrup, here is a simple delicious alternative, Maple Bourbon Butter Syrup. The name pretty much says it all- everything sounds tasty. A pumpkin or eggnog pancakes would make a great pairing with this syrup.
Last winter I received this olive oil mixture as a gift, at first I was scarred to try it. It seamed messy and suspicious. It took someone else to try it out first on her hands, she gave it a good review. So I gave it a try rubbing it on my hands, yea it’s nice. It exfoliates and leaves your hands silky smooth. It’s good to keep in the shower and use on your legs, really never felt so smooth-ok maybe TMI.
It’s about 50/50 brown sugar and olive oil and then add a couple drops of lavender oil, just to make it smell nice. That’s all and everyone can find it in their cupboard. I’ve read on-line people use it on their faces, but I’m not going there seems like too much oil. This is a great mixture for those winter months.
To wrap up my summer infusion tour, I made a classic pineapple infused vodka. I just like to call it a classic because it really is the best flavor to start your infusion journey and one you will return to often. Chop up a fresh whole pineapple put in a jar with a liter of vodka and place in your refrigerator. Give it a shake every couple of days, I like to let it infuse for at least two weeks. Remove the pineapple and either squeeze it through a potato ricer or a piece of cheese cloth. Squeeze all the pineapple juice back into the infused vodka, keeps all that pineapple juice. Then if you like shake the vodka with some ice and strain into martini glass-Enjoy. It’s that simple and delicious. There is a bar in Minneapolis that always has a large vat infusing on the bar, but they have a rule you are only allowed to have two pineapple martini’s. Probably from experience they limit the pineapple goodness, and a cautionary tale for yourself.
Cheers
What do you do when your friend gives you some eggplants from his garden? Make Baba Ganoush. I find eggplant intimidating, I look at it and have no clue what to do. I do like Baba Ganoush and after looking up the recipe I decided to give it a try. I choose to grill it which was real easy since I asked my husband to grill it. The best part about the dip is the tahini anything with tahini is good for me, it’s like a sesame peanut butter.
The best Baba Ganoush is in the middle east, I have never had it as smokey and flavorful as there, I don’t know how they do it. Perhaps I should request my neighbor smoke the eggplant next time he has his smoker going in the backyard. This is a simple and tasty dip, great for all those fall vegies.
I’m still in the baking mode, with a fall inspired theme. This recipe I found on smitten kitchen and decided to give it a try. I am usually looking for a soft chewy cookie and this cookie delivers. As I was doing some research I found there are several tricks to get a thick chewy cookie. One simple technique is to refrigerate the dough before baking. This recipe instructions is to place the cookie dough balls on the cookie sheets and then chilling it in the refrigerator before baking. This will be a must do when ever baking cookies in the future. the Oatmeal Raisin cookies have a slight flavor of cinnamon and not too sweet, I could even pretend it’s a healthy breakfast oat treat.
Happy Baking
recipe from Smitten Kitchen
I decided to share this recipe, since it was such a big hit. We shot a peanut butter pie in the studio, the stylist made two different recipes and this was the winner. I brought some home and it did not last long. If you are a peanut butter and chocolate fan this is a sweet treat, emphasis on the sweet and rich. We garnished the pie with reeses peanut butter cups and made a graham cracker crust instead of the pie dough. Both sounded like improvements. This recipe is from the pillsbury web site fluffernutter pie. I may just have to make this some day for someone special.
styled by Barb Standal
This Spring I had an editorial assignment with Macalester Alumni Magazine, it was an awesome opportunity. We went to Sonoma and Napa California to photograph four alumni working in the wine industry. We drove the hills and valleys of wine country met some interesting talented people living and working in the area. From winegrape growers to wine makers in small family run business to the large wine-producing companies. It was beautiful driving on the twisting roads with the vineyard-laced hills as far as the horizon. Reminiscent of Tuscany the area has over 400 wineries, lined up along side the roads. Everyone was very welcoming and generous, I would love to go back in the fall for harvest.
These are the tears pulled from the magazine, designed by Brian Donahue of BeDesign. I even made the cover:)
photoappetite 