How about a no-cook, easy, crowd-pleasing appetizer? How about another way to serve and eat cheese? Yes, please? These Caprese Skewers are great for cocktail parties - for any party really. When entertaining, I like to have a few things prepped in advance (and one fragrant dish in the oven as guests arrive so it smells inviting). This dish ... view more
not un-healthy
Spinach – Walnut Pesto
Traditional pesto is made with basil, garlic, parmesan reggiano, olive oil, and pine nuts - but there is nothing that says we can't mix that up a bit. I find that pesto made with all basil is just a bit too basil-y for me - and pine nuts are disproportionately expensive recently. That brings us to Spinach - Walnut Pesto. Equal parts basil and ... view more
Roasted Garlic + Rosemary Beer Bread
Do you love fresh-baked bread ... but fear the thought of working with yeast? I recommend starting with a delicious baby-step: Beer bread! Beer bread is just what it sounds like - bread that is made with beer. What kind of beer? Any kind, really, and the bread will take on a subtle taste of the beer you choose. For this recipe, all you do is mix ... view more
Grilled Flatbreads
July 4 weekend has come to a close, but grilling season is still in full swing! You may recall from my Homemade Grilled Bread post that at a recent Cooking Club (Hostess: AWP; Theme: Grilling; Date: 06.09.13), I tried my hand at making fresh bread dough - and grilling it. The bread was delicious - my guess is it was the sour cream that made it ... view more
Homemade Grilled Bread
At this month's Cooking Club, I acquainted myself with a propane grill at a good old-fashioned barbecue in AWP's backyard. My apartment building has a community grill on the roof, and I had not made much use of it - until now. Yes, the success of this bread has made me want to grill. For Cooking Club, I selected to make Grilled Flatbreads; we ... view more
Fresh Ricotta Cheese
al·che·my [al-kuh-mee], n. 1. a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life. 2. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, ... view more