Archive for the ‘cooking’ Category
kale chips
Salty and crunchy. The two characteristics I look for in my favorite kind of after-work snack. Usually the first thing I do when I get home from work is unload my crap, wash off my make-up, and open a bag of chips to munch on while I unwind. Although I’ve been good lately snacking on Popchips or other healthy alternatives, I decided to step up my game and get even healthier with these tasty treats.
Kale chips are pretty hot right now considering they have practically no calories, are incredibly crunchy, and have a pretty awesome flavor profile. You can make them as salty or spicy as you like, and they’re perfect for satisfying that salty-crunchy tooth. I’m trying to get back on the super healthy eating wagon since I started doing morning work-outs again and can actually control what I eat nowadays. Snacks like this really help, and I hope they do the same for you.
sweet potato fries + creamy dill dip
One of my favorite snacks, side dishes, or hey even a dinner on a weeknight. I’ve got all sorts of free produce to take home every day from the studio (especially fresh herbs), so I like putting them to good use. The fries are sweet and crunchy, the dip is refreshing and can be used for anything – crudite, chips, rye bread, etc. It’s simple and delicious.
roasted applesauce
Do you smell it? Do you feel it? The refreshing, crisp wind. The shutting down of the AC. The first morning where you can see your breath walking to your car.
Autumn is finally arriving after a brutal summer here and with it brings all the glorious weather changes along with some great personal changes for me as well.
I got a new job at a new company (well, old company I used to intern for) as a full-time food stylist last week and things are going very well. I’m still in the same city (thank the heavens a move wasn’t necessary) and now get to spend all my time either in the studio or prepping in the kitchen, which is fantastic for my spirit (but definitely hard on my feet!) I feel so revived and ready for this next step in my life, and combined with this glorious weather, my zest for cooking has returned tenfold.
A friend of mine texted me the other day asking if I knew how to make applesauce. I rattled off a recipe to him and then seeing honeycrisp apples had arrived the next day was instantly inspired. Fall is the time when I feel most alive and excited about life, and it’s food like this that makes me love the season more than any other.
seattle, wa
Nothing like a little spontaneous vacation to the Pacific Northwest! My friend Travis invited me out for a visit and I had a great time. I had never been to Seattle before and really loved it. The weather was shockingly perfect, the food was great, and the collection of landscapes (mountains! ocean! rivers! beaches! forests!) was awesome. Here’s a quick little sample of some of the tasty eats I had while I was there.
mint julep cupcakes
I attended a very special wedding this past weekend. Let me stand you to a mint julep and tell you all about it.
During college I was notorious for getting floormates and friends addicted to my favorite television shows. Buffy, LOST, Firefly. Only one person joined me in my addiction to a 1980′s TV miniseries about pre- and post-Civil War America, and that was my best friend and roommate Rach. We were addicted to North and South and watched it every time we moved into a new room. Every time we moved out. On weekends. On sick days. We loved Orry and George, their friendship, the ridiculous accents, the costumes. Everything.
We even made a trek out to Charleston, SC to visit the houses where they filmed it and had one of the best vacations ever.
So when Rach got engaged to a fellow North & South fan (the only other person we ever met at Cornell who a) knew what North & South was and b) loved it – obviously a match made in heaven!), she asked me to make cupcakes with a perfect little nod to their favorite miniseries. Mint julep cupcakes.
I was honored to be asked to make the “wedding cake” for them, and I wanted to do it right. Knob Creek in the batter, silver cupcake liners (to represent those gorgeous silver glasses the drink is normally served in), and fresh mint leaves on top. Both the batter and frosting were a gorgeous pale green due to copious amounts of créme de menthe, but the balance was there. They were rich but refreshing, and had that bite of liquor without the aftereffects. I was incredibly proud to serve them and even prouder that they were served at an unconventional wedding done the bride and groom’s way – which is what every wedding should be.
So congrats to Rach & Brandon! May your love be as everlasting as Orry and George’s Madeline’s.
