Brownie Cut-Out Cookies: Christmas Version

I posted this recipe before as a Valentine's Day cookie, and this year decided I would try these as a Christmas cookie. As stated in my last post: these are cookies that taste like brownies, and they are amazing. Last time around I didn't spend the time to do nice frosting - I mean, you already have to roll out the dough and cut out the shapes, so also having to decorate the cookies makes the whole process take a few hours.

However, I have never done serious cookie decorating, so I figured I would give it a shot. I followed the instructions on this website. It's not overly difficult - you just have to get the frosting to the right consistency, and then you outline the frosting on your shape and fill it in. (According to the instructions you are supposed to have one consistency for detailing and one for flooding - but I used the same consistency for the outlining and the flooding.) At the end of the day, though, this can take quite a bit of time and I don't really think it's worth it. So, I did it once and had the experience, but we'll see if I will actually do it again!

Margarita Cupcakes

As is now par for the course, this post comes almost 3 months after actual cooking. Talk about procrastination. (Or, don't - wait until later.)

Anywho, my lovely friend Marisa's birthday coincides with Cinco de Mayo, so what better than to do a Mexican-themed party? (Her idea, not mine.) I of course volunteered to help with the culinary creations - guacamole, sangria, and margarita cupcakes (above). I've had this recipe sitting around for a while and have been waiting for the right moment to try it - and of course this was the perfect time. I wasn't sure how I would feel about tequila in/on a cupcake, but it was really tasty! Though it is long past Cinco de Mayo, these would still be a tasty summer treat if you can stand using your oven at this time of year :)

Cupcakes:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons tequila
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 to 2 tablespoons tequila (to brush)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

4. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and tequila. Mix until combined. (The mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but don't worry, it will all come back together, power on!)

6. Reduce the mixer speed low. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

7. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

8. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¾ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
Pinch of coarse salt

9. To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated. Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the lime juice, tequila and salt mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy. If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes and garnish, if desired, with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of salt and a lime wedge.

Original recipe here

Roasted vegetables

These photos are pretty old.....but I wanted to share my purple carrots (and white-ish/yellow ones?)! I love the farmers market in the winter - winter veggies are my favorite. And all you really need to do to eat them is chop them up, put some olive oil on them (maybe some rosemary), and stick them in the oven. Mmmm. The only thing I like about the winter. So glad it's spring.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

I have two recipes for southwest quinoa salad...no surprise, since it has many of my favorite foods. Yum. I went a little overboard with the herbs when I made this since I hate throwing away extra food, but, I'm going to tone it down a notch next time.

1 cup quinoa
1 3/4 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mint, roughly chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (or a 15 ounce can of beans, drained and rinsed)
1 cup corn kernels (fresh or canned)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1-2 juicy limes
1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine the quinoa, water, cumin, salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and lower the heat to a simmer. Let cook until the quinoa is soft and water is absorbed, about 13-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep covered for 5 minutes. Uncover and let cool. The quinoa can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Place the quinoa in a large serving bowl. Add the mint, cilantro, onions, red pepper, beans, corn and garlic. Squeeze the juice of one lime in and drizzle in the olive oil. Stir gently, taste for additional lime juice, salt and pepper and add more if needed. Serve at room temperature.

Original recipe here

Alternate Southwest Quinoa Salad recipe

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Love this time of the year, when you no longer have to cook everything you eat. This salad is really easy and delicious. I didn't follow the amounts exactly - but I had enough servings for 4 or 5 meals (obviously supplemented with other snacks).

½ cup dry wheat berries
1½ cups water
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

6 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
¼ cup crumbled goat cheese (or more....)

In a small pot combine the wheat berries, water, herbs, olive oil, and salt. Bring to a boil and then cover with a lid and reduce to a simmer. Cook over low heat for 25-35 minutes or until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the wheat berries are tender. Remove the lid and allow the wheat berries to steam for 5 -10 minutes. Cool and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, herbs and salt and pepper for the vinaigrette.

Toss together the cooled wheat berries, spinach, strawberries, and goat cheese. Serve with vinaigrette to taste.

Original recipe here

Blueberry lemon bread

Well, it sure has been a while. My 2013 posting count is pretty abominable (2, as of May!). As usual, I blame it on the doggy. Anyway, I've decided to leave my commentary on these blog posts to a minimum, and focus on the food. No one wants to hear me whine about my poor blogging performance on every post. And, when I look at most food blogs, it annoys me that I have to scroll down a huge page full of blahblahblah by someone I don't know to get to the recipe I want to use. I finally got a new awesome-sauce camera that makes me more excited about taking food photos, so hopefully that will give me some incentive to post. Hooray, back to baking! (and cooking, I guess.)

1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter (melted)
1/2-1 cup sugar (depending how sweet you want it)
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 tbs lemon zest
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups of blueberries (I use frozen)
1/2 cup buttermilk (I use regular milk with a little bit of lemon juice)

Put everything in a bowl. Mix it up. (Maybe save the blueberries for last, and fold them in.) Scrape into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes until a knife or toothpick comes out clean. Easy peasey. 

(If you want to do it the hard way, click here)

Vegetarian Chili

This chili is very spicy, so you definitely need the yogurt! If you don't like spice, you can reduce the amount of chiles/sauce, or remove it altogether.

1 small butternut squash
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 15oz. can chickpeas, drained
1 26oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
2 tablespoons adobo sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

Serve With:
plain Greek yogurt


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and dice the butternut squash. Spread the pieces out on a baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Roast until tender and cooked through.
2. In a deep, large saucepan, saute the onion, shallots and green pepper in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, until they begin to caramelize.
3. Add the squash, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup of water, oregano, chipotle chiles, and chipotle sauce. Season with salt and pepper and simmer chili until cooked through. Add a little more water if it becomes too thick.
4. To serve, spoon chili into a bowl and top with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Original recipe here

Pasta with Squash, Brown Butter and Rosemary

I love butternut squash. I decided the other day that I could live on just fall produce - squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, apples, pears, beets, figs, parsnips.....the list goes on. I would miss blueberries and raspberries, but not a lot else.

I tried this dish because I wanted and easy recipe for comfort food. And this made the cut. The parmesean melted when I put it on top, and when eating leftovers, there were chunks of cheese that had congealed back together. Sounds gross, but YUM. This is a must-try for a cold winter day.

[I just went back to the original recipe and realized that Rachael Ray started her post with the same 4 words. That's just weird.]


3 lbs butternut squash – peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
salt and pepper
1 lb box pasta
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large bowl, toss the squash, onion, olive oil and rosemary; season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain and transfer to a large bowl.

In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 7 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice.

Add the roasted squash, brown butter and 1/3 cup parmesan to the pasta and toss; season with salt and pepper. Top with the pine nuts and remaining parmesan.

[Note: I increased the amount of pasta and cheese significantly from the original recipe. Didn't seem to make sense to me to use 3 pounds of squash with only 2/3 cup of pasta.]

Original recipe here