Aisle Twelve

Tis the time of year for holiday parties and festivities.  The most wonderful time of the year in my book.  What could be better than eating good food and drinking a few festive drinks with family and friends?  What goes better with a festive cocktail then a little spicy crunch?  These Spanish spiced almonds are the perfect accompaniment.  They also make great hostess gifts, and who doesn't need at least a couple hostess gifts over the holidays?  You might want to make an extra batch of these...they are extremely addictive!  Spanish Spiced Almonds (adapted from Eating Well) 1/4 cup light brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon hot paprika 1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 large egg white 1 tablespoon water 1 pound (about 3 cups) Marcona or raw whole almonds Preheat oven to 275°F. Lightly coat a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.  Whisk brown sugar, cumin, paprika, rosemary, salt a...

Wednesday, September 21 After a long flight, we make it to Edinburgh mid-afternoon.  True to it's reputation, it is rainy and grey.  As we walk our way to the hotel, it starts down pouring.  My shoes and luggage are soaked and after a little coaxing, I convince Joe to get us a cab.  We change out of our soaked clothes, freshen up and brace ourselves for the rain by putting on our rain gear.  As we step out of our hotel, we are welcomed with bright sunshine.  That would last for most of our trip.  As we were told time and time again by the locals, we were lucky because it is not typical for it to be sunny and 20 degrees Celsius in Scotland in September!  First on our agenda was, of course, a beer bar.  We went to Brewdog for a pint and then made our way to Edinburgh Castle.  It was about 4:30 and as we learned, most shops and attractions close by 5.  Only pubs and restaurants stay open later than that!  We didn't want to ...

Do you have a ton of blueberries left over from the season like I do?  I like to keep some to freeze and use throughout the winter in oatmeal and things, but I can't resist a good blueberry muffin.  Put strudel on top and I'm a goner.  This is a recipe from my Aunt Bonnie and it is my favorite.  I will sometimes go to a bakery and order a blueberry muffin only to be disappointed that they don't have Aunt Bonnie's moist recipe.  There is nothing worse than a dry muffin.  Well maybe there are some things, but dry muffins are no one's friend. The best part about these muffins is that they are so simple to make.  I know I say that about a lot of recipes but these really are.  And they come out moist, cinnamon-y and blueberry-y and perfect every time.  This recipe isn't limited to just muffin form.  My mom made these recently but instead of putting the batter in a cupcake tin, she used a square baking dish.  The result: delect...

 You're welcome.  What for?  Oh, because I already know you will be thanking me profusely for this recipe.  Just thought I'd get that out of the way up front.  I got this recipe from my cousin Jason.  I'd heard that he made these infamously for his family and it had me curious.  I finally decided I needed this recipe when this past winter Joe and a couple friends were going to a home brew festival.  Based on their performance at this festival the year before, I knew they were going to need something of substance to soak up all those heavy beers.  I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make the pretzels.  I wasn't quite expecting the overwhelmingly popular response that these pretzels received, but I gladly accepted the praise.  These pretzels are that good.  Make them and you'll feel like a culinary connoisseur.  I warn you, they are a bit of an investment in time and dishes, but they aren't incredibly difficult a...

I'm BAAAAAACK!  I know I've been absent in the blogging department lately, but I actually have been cooking on occasion.  I just haven't had the time to blog about it.  I'm sure you've missed me dearly...well now you can dry your eyes. This dinner reminds me of a tropical summer retreat.  It's a fiesta on your plate.  The flavors are big, spicy, bold...in a word, fun.  This would make a great party meal for entertaining; you can make a lot easily and relatively quickly. Of note, Joe and I found these stuffed jalapenos packed quite a lot of heat.  I can take a little, he likes heat, but for whatever reason these jalapenos were firey! Perhaps they were super fresh because I did take out the ribs and seeds.   Or maybe it was because I stuffed them ahead of time and kept them in the fridge which probably caused the heat to infuse the cream cheese.  You probably shouldn't do that.  Learn from my mistakes. These recipes...

Ok, so I'm big on the drinks right now.  That's because it's summer and as I mentioned previously, summer is not a high time for cooking.  It's either too busy or too hot to stand over a stove slaving away on a meal.  Not that I find cooking to be slave-ish, because I rather enjoy it, but... you catch my drift. This lemonade is so refreshing and sweet and tart and ... it just hits all the bells and whistles.  I crave this almost as much as I crave an ice cold glass of beer on a hot day at the ball park...almost, not quite but almost.  This is perfect though to sip at while laying lazily in the backyard and reading a good summer read.  Lemonade 4 lemons 2 oranges 1 cup sugar 1 quart cold water Juice lemons and oranges.  Add to a pitcher with the sugar and cold water.  Chill to expand (makes more as it chills.)  Serve in a glass filled with ice and enjoy summer.

It's too darn hot to cook.  That doesn't mean though that you can't make something great from your kitchen.  This isn't really much of a recipe but I'm addicted to these right now.  I had one at a great Italian restaurant recently and I couldn't see why I wouldn't be able to make this at home.  Italian cream sodas can be made with any flavored syrup.  My favorite is raspberry.  The cream with the raspberry flavor is an unbeatable combination.  If you wanted to make this a little lighter, you can make an Italian Soda by simply omitting the cream.  This is a perfect summer drink.  Refreshing, uncomplicated and simple to whip up - no cooking required! Fill a glass with ice.  Pour about a half an inch of syrup into the bottom of the dish.  Use any flavor of Torani syrup you wish.  (These can be found at most markets by coffees or teas.)  Fill the glass with club soda and add a splash of cream (or half and hal...