{Guest Post!} Chad’s Beer Butt Chicken

If you remember, Chad Williams is the fitness guru behind Anthrophysique and the Evernote Ambassador for Fitness.  Here he’s sharing one of his favorite healthy recipes!

Beer Butt Chicken is one of my favorite meals of all time. It’s a pretty simple recipe and best of all, it’s done on the barbecue.

When it comes to cooking, I like my meals on the BBQ. I’m not so handy when I have to do things in the oven, but over an open flame I’m better at getting it just right. I also like the flavour you can get and the control you have.

If you’ve never had this meal, you’re in for a treat! Continue reading

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My Ode to the King of Cheese: Parmigiano-Orange Zucchini Fritters

Parmigiano Orange Zucchini Bites with Dipping SauceI’m three months into my thirtieth year, and it’s become official: I am not aging backwards.  I had briefly entertained the notion that, by some arcane feat of magic or dubious loophole in the natural law, I might merely crest the top of this thirty year timeline before slowly and gracefully falling backwards where I would begin to age in reverse, somehow growing younger and fresher as the days wound on.

Now that I’ve written that out, it does sound a little stupid.  But I like to think that stranger things have happened.  Case in point: the platypus.   Continue reading

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Champagne Wednesday: Sex in a Hot Tub

Sex in a Hot Tub

There are two words to describe this cocktail: freaking. delicious.

Not only is today Champagne Wednesday, but it’s also Paul’s birthday (happy birthday Paul!) so we got to include today’s cocktail in our celebrations.  I’m glad because it was really good.

It’s got everything you could possibly want in a glass: chambord, cointreau, vodka, champagne and a splash of juice for um…well, garnish, really.  :) Continue reading

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Zucchini Calabrese Hash

Zucchini Calabrese Hash with Poached EggsI make some of my best dishes off-the-cuff when I don’t feel good.  When I’m sick, I need rest, green tea, and hot delicious food, in that order.  Plus throwing together a very quick, simple but tasty meal for myself lifts my mood and helps me feel better.

This little veggie hash is one of those things.  I didn’t think much of it when I threw it together the first time, but then it was gorgeous.  So gorgeous I had to make it again a few days later.  It not only takes very little time and looks gorgeous, but it’s easily customizable and full of veggies and it features one of my favorite sausages of all time: calabrese.   Continue reading

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Valentine’s Day: Make All the Marshmallows!

Strawberry Marshmallows
Strawberry Marshmallows

I’ve been on a marshmallow-making kick lately.  I’ve made vanilla bean, chocolate-Grand Marnier, amaretto dipped in almonds and chocolate, and chocolate covered strawberries.  Next I plan on lemon, stuffed marshmallows and vegan marshmallows.  Why, you ask?  Because happiness and marshmallows are pretty close to being the same thing.  Fluffy, pillowy, flavorful, fun to melt on a stick and smoosh in between pieces of chocolate and graham cracker.  There are a lot of similarities between the two.

Also, it’s surprisingly easy.

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Coconut-Flour Parmesan Drop Biscuits

IMG_0026We had two really warm days this week.  By “really warm,” I mean, 50 degrees in Michigan in January.  They were promptly and predictably bookended by several days of snow and freezing temperatures.  It’s the kind of weather that makes me think about….well, running away to Tahiti.  But also biscuits.

I love biscuits.  Pillowy, fluffy, savory biscuits, dripping with butter and all the promise of delicious flavor conveniently transported to my mouth in one hand-sized package.  My favorite, of course, is the buttermilk biscuit that I can now make in my sleep, practically.  But I’ve been working on other species, if you will, of biscuit.   Continue reading

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Champagne Wednesday: Frizzante Mojito

mojito frizzante

This week’s cocktail is definitely my favorite thus far, and not just because I’m a huge fan of mojitos.  It was also one of those Wednesdays that really, really called for a drink.  I can’t wait til summer because this is going to be a perfect “sit outside on a sunny patio” kind of drink.

This fizzy mojito is a combination of the usual ingredients (lime juice, simple syrup, mint, rum), it also includes a dash of bitters and some sparkling wine.  Because I was lazy and/or out of some ingredients, I subbed just a sprinkling of sugar for the syrup, which worked, and did a mixture of dark and coconut rum, which really worked.

You can find the original recipe here on Martha Stewart.com.

Remember, life is better bubbly.  And happy new year!

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New Year’s Resolution: A “Fireproof” Kitchen and a Canon Scanner Give-Away!

DSC_0001It’s almost that time again.  Out with the old, in with the new, creating resolutions that may or may not change your life, or at least your habits for three weeks.  All that jazz.  My cooking resolutions include a complete redo of my pantry, creating a full kitchen inventory system,  learning to make pastry cream, committing random acts of cupcakes, taking some more cooking classes and perfecting a barbecue sauce recipe.  I also intend to not burn down my kitchen. Continue reading

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Champagne Wednesday: Hibiscus Punch

hibiscus cocktail
Photo by Isha Dusseau

This week’s bubbly celebration of life comes to you from my friend Isha.  ”Isha” is ancient Egyptian for “amazing, awesome and ridiculously beautiful.”  That might not be technically true.  But it’s a general translation.

Anyway, Isha made a fun, beautiful cocktail that she describes as being, and I quote, “holy sh– delicious.”  Apparently the flower tastes like rhubarb berry pie.  That alone is worth a trip to your local S-Mart to pick one up (remember, shop smart.  Shop S-Mart).  I think this is definitely something you want to make to impress your friends on New Year’s Eve. Continue reading

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Satsuma Delight

Did you have a merry Christmas?  Or, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, did you have a terrific Tuesday?  I did.  I got to spend time with friends and family and relax and eat good food.  That’s what holidays are truly about.  And I’m lucky enough to be off work for the next two weeks, and it’s a good thing too because I have serious plans for my kitchen and pantry…but more on that in a later post.

I promised you the third and final installment of our Citrus Dinner series—that is, the recipes and dishes we made for our citrus challenge, featuring delicious and fresh satsuma and clementine oranges from Whole Foods.  Thus far we’ve covered a delightful Champagne Wednesday cocktail (berry punch with clementine simple syrup) and a wholesome cheese plate (goat cheese, olive oil, raw almonds, fresh satsumas), plus two main courses (clementine-roasted chicken with thyme, mushrooms and tofu en papilotte).  Now, for the grand finale….

…dessert. Continue reading

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Clemen-Thyme Roasted Chicken & Citrus-Scented Mushrooms and Tofu En Papilotte

Whew.  Say that three times fast.

Continuing with our citrus fest, let’s move on the main show, shall we?  If you remember from last time, Whole Foods sponsored a little bit of experimentation using their fresh, in-season clementines and satsumas.  And with these beautiful little balls of sunshine, we made a delightful feast.

Citrus Dinner Menu

So we covered the berry punch with clementine syrup (which I already have another request for—as one of our New Year’s Eve cocktails) and our lovely fresh satsuma, almond and goat cheese plate (still one of my favorite appetizers ever).

But there was more.  Oh, so much more.  I’d been wanting for a while to make a thyme-roasted chicken dish and figured that adding a bit of citrus would make it even better.  And I was right. Continue reading

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Champagne Wednesday: Berry Punch with Clementine Simple Syrup and a Satsuma Cheese Plate

fresh satsumas and thyme in a wooden bowlWhat I love about winter is that it’s when some of the brightest, cheeriest fruits are available: oranges of all kinds.  And beyond the basic navel, there are other delicious citrusy goodies to be had, like clementines and satsumas.  To be honest, I’ve never really worked with either of them.  Sure, I’ve had the odd clementine now and again, but I was mostly a navel girl.  And satsumas, a variation of mandarin oranges that originated in Japan, were never really on my radar until recently. Continue reading

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How I: Use Evernote and Doxie to Save Family Recipes {Guest Post!}

In the spirit of sharing helpful information from one home cook to another, I’m going to start a series of guests posts from home cooks talking about ways that they make their time in the kitchen easier, more efficient and more delicious.  (Are you a home cook interested in doing a guest post?  Email me.)

When Amanda (a fellow geek, foodie and Twitterer) told me about some of the ways she collects original, hand-written family recipes using Evernote and a Doxie scanner, I knew this needed to be shared with the masses.  Full disclosure: Amanda works at Apparent, the company that makes Doxie, so she knows all the best tricks to using it.  Check out her fabulous guest post below–it might inspire you to create a family recipe notebook of your own over the holidays!

How I: Use Evernote and Doxie to Save Family Recipes by Amanda

I have various means of keeping track of my favorite recipes. I toss recipes into my Evernote “Cooking” notebook to keep track of everything. From cook books, saved PDFs, screen shots, magazine clippings, and handwritten family recipes, I like to have my entire catalogue on me at all times. As a cook, you never know when you’ll need ingredients or a recipe on hand.

Continue reading

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Learnist Love: Holiday Prep

Me: What do you mean, there’s only 12 more days til Christmas?

Calendar: That’s what I’m saying, you have a week and a half.

Me: No, that’s not right.  I have way more time than that.

Calendar: Uhhhh yeah no, you don’t.

Me: Yes I do.

Calendar: Yeah no.  That’s not how time works.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably had similar conversations with your calendar.  Probably quietly.  I mean, if other people heard you talking to your calendar, they might think you were crazy.  And you’re not craz…ier than anyone else.

But just in case you’re starting to feel a bit crazy about the impending holidays, don’t worry.  I’ve been assembling some great boards on Learnist to help you make it through.

Let’s start with gifts.  The best gifts are homemade… 
Continue reading

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Champagne Wednesday: The D’Artagnan

Champagne Wednesday is, as you probably remember, our quick, easy to way to liven up the boring midweek with a bit of bubbly.  We do this by buying the tiny, 187-ml bottles of sparkling wines that you can get at grocery stores and Whole Foods and making two little cocktails out of them.

This week’s cocktail was the D’Artagnan, a nice little mix of orange, Grand Marnier and sparkling wine.  I’ve noticed that most champagne recipes have a citrus flair to them.  I think next week we’ll try something entirely different, but this one was pretty good. Continue reading

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Bousou La Tmssou (Algerian Cookies) and the Food Blogger Cookie Swap

I was very excited to learn about the Food Blogger Cookie Swap this year.  I love getting mail from random strangers, I love cookies and I love the food blogging community so everything about it appealed to me, including the opportunity to donate to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.

I decided to make a recipe I’ve had in my Evernote recipe notebook for years but never got around to making, an Algerian treat called “Bousou La Tmssou” or some variation of that.  These are adorable little things made very simply with powdered sugar, ghee (clarified butter), flour and orange blossom water.   Continue reading

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Eating with Evernote: Auto-Send Recipes to your Evernote Account with IFTTT and RSS Feeds

As a tech-geek, I have long been a fan of the service If This, Then That (IFTTT–rhymes with “gift”).  IFTTT is a really easy way to connect the different pieces of your digital information puzzle.  It lets you automate the sending of resources and information from one source to another using easy-to-put-together “recipes”.  Recipes.  That’s a word we all know and love, right?  These recipes basically say, “If this trigger happens, then do this action.”

There are three main reasons that I love IFTTT:

  1. It’s easy to use.
  2. It connects to a lot of my favorite services.
  3. It works in the background, so quietly and smoothly I often forget it’s doing anything at all.

But it is doing something.  It’s being truly, utterly useful.  And now I’m going to show you some ways to make it utterly useful to the average home cook using nothing but variations on a single IFTTT recipe based on RSS feeds.  Simple, standard RSS feeds. Continue reading

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Join the Home Cooking Community on Google+

Home Cooking community on Google+

Are you a fan of Google+?  Or at least, G-curious?  They’ve finally unleashed a feature I’ve been wanting for a long time: joinable communities.  And of course, us foodies are flocking to them.  A bunch of great ones have just opened up.  The one I’m going to plug, though, is the Home Cooking Community–a great place for home cooks like us to share, chat and play.  Check it out!

Home Cooking Community on Google+

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