Hosting Thanksgiving? NBD.

Nick and I are hosting Thanksgiving again this year and feel like we have things pretty well under control. Last year was our first year hosting, and we ended up doing a lot of research and planning to make sure things went smoothly. We kept things pretty simple and found this timeline from William-Sonoma super helpful in tackling not only Thanksgiving day, but also the days before. Luckily, most things that I set out to do in this blog post worked out, so we were happy to host again this year. That, and our guests actually agreed to come back!

Our Turkey!

We grocery shopped for everything on Sunday morning. The bread for our stuffing is currently sitting on our counter getting nice and stale. Our heritage turkey will be ready for pick-up on Wednesday. The rest of of the afternoon we will prep more of the food, set the table completely, and get the serving dishes out and label them (naturally!).

A Little Holiday Review

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday season - it's hard to believe the 2013 holiday season is over! From getting ready for Thanksgiving, to hosting Christmas and celebrating New Year's Eve (which is actually Nick and my anniversary), it's been a bit of a whirlwind! With only four weeks between the major holidays, we only had a day of relaxing before it was time to get the house ready for Christmas. In no time we had the stage set for the next holiday.

Christmas Tree Decorated

It's always fun decorating the tree because we have collected so many ornaments from our travels that we get to re-live those trips as we decorate. I have to say, Arthur had some trouble with the tree and seemed to enjoy the taste of our sentimental ornaments a bit too much and gobbled them up! While some of them cannot be replaced, the one from our honeymoon is being replaced by the resort after we sent a desperate email!  Phew!

Pumpkin Seed Brittle - the Perfect Hostess Gift

In preparation of hosting our first Thanksgiving, Nick and I flipped through a bunch of magazines and blogs for inspiration. While we have our schedule and menu ready to go, a recipe for Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Bon Appetit caught my eye.

Brittle

Dutch Apple Pie

In the beginning of October (can you believe how long ago that was?!) Nick, his sister and I headed to Smolak Farms to do some apple picking. While it was super crowded overall, we headed to the back of the orchard and hit the jackpot of cortland and macintosh apples. And, since I am a sucker for any type of souvenir, big or small, I upgraded from the apple bag to the big basket (not the easiest to carry through the orchard, but totally worth it). With a massive basket full of apples, pie was definitely in our future, along with a bunch of other delicious apple-based recipes.

Basket FULL of Apples

Dutch Apple Pie - it is basically as if apple crisp and an apple pie had a baby! This pie really allows for the apples to be the star and not to get lost between the pie crusts. We are a big apple crisp family, so needless to say this is the preferred pie for Nick and I.

Fresh Picked Blueberry Pie

When you go to Maine between the months of July and October (i.e., the first frost), blueberry picking is a must-do. When we were up in Maine recently, the weather was topping out at 75 degrees - not exactly swimming weather. When we set out blueberry picking at Crabtree Blueberry Picking, we each grabbed a large pail and set off into their blueberry patch that had about 10 different types of blueberries!  

Blueberry Farm

Baked Apples - Easy Classic Dessert

With the expectation of snow coming this week even though spring is nearly here (technically) I still am seeking those winter comfort foods.  I still cannot make the switch with the weather this cold!  During the blizzard (Nemo) Nick and I cozied up for an easy dinner at home.  For some reason, I wanted baked apples, something my mom made many times growing up, but not something I have had in ages!

Baked Apple

Peninsula Grill's SUPER Coconut Cake - Valentine Day Special

This Valentine's Day we decided to stay at home and have a delicious dinner in.  In the past we have gone out to some great restaurants (Grill 23 and Mamma Maria) but I always worry whether we will see the restaurant's best food on these high-traffic evenings.  Nick was taking care of dinner (lucky me!) so I decided I would make something special for dessert.

Extreme Coconut Cake (excuse the mess)

Dinner was a surprise until he started cooking - remembering how delicious I thought Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms looked, he whipped it for a perfect dinner.

Attempting Club Med's White Chocolate Bread

After spending a week at Club Med, I once again fell in love with their infamous White Chocolate Bread.  At the time I just assumed this would be too difficult to replicate at home.  However, after a bit of interent searching, I realized making this bread at home was not as far fetched as I originally thought.  Love and Olive Oil had attempted the White Chocolate Bread and seemed to have some good luck, so this was my attempt at bringing vacation home to Boston.

White Chocolate Bread

Easy Go-To Brownies - a Family Recipe

I know most people have a go-to recipe they can whip up at a moment's notice.  Often, it seems to be some sort of cookie (and really, who doesn't love a good cookie?!), but my preferred cookies are too time consuming.  I do, however, love chocolately, fudgey brownies - they are my favorite!  Growing up, my mom had a recipe box filled with index cards of family recipes.  One of those was my aunt's brownie recipe that I would reach for time and time again.  Simple ingredients, one bowl, and delicious results - not much more is needed!

Yum!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

When it comes to Sesame Street, Cookie Monster is by far my favorite character.  I think he's a hoot, and the fact that he and I share an extreme love of cookies doesn't hurt!  When Nick and I were heading up to Lake Winnipesaukee for the weekend, I thought some delicious fall cookies would make a great addition.  When I stumbled on Pumpkin Snickerdoodles I knew these would be perfect!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

The Necessities (adapted from Pennies on a Platter)

Apple and Pear Crisp - Apple Picking Spoils!

After spending the day at Smolak Farms picking apples, we had loads of apples to put to good use in the kitchen.  That is, of course, if I did not eat them first!  One of Nick's favorite desserts ever is Apple Crisp, so needless to say this was an easy decision.  Last year I made a Fruit Crisp using Ina Garten's Back to Basics recipe, and while it turned out well, I wanted to experiment with recipes a bit.  Since I had some pears on hand from our CSA, I decided to utilize those as well.

Apple Crisp

This time around, I turned to the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking, which had a basic crisp recipe to start with.

Italian Easter Bread

At this point, Megan is somewhere in Italy drinking amazing wine and cappuccino and indulging is loads of pasta!  In honor of her Italian trip and her amazing baking, I wanted to share a post on Italian Easter Bread (even though we are nowhere near Easter!).  When I traveled through Italy in 2002 it was Easter time and I ate delicious Easter Bread with almost every meal.  I remember it fondly, and find myself craving it from time to time.

If you want to read more about this recipe, head on over to Delicious Dishings where I am guest posting for the Day!  Congratulations again Megan, I hope you are having an amazing time on your honeymoon!

Easter Bread

Dessert at Oak Long Bar and Kitchen

After entirely enjoying our meal at Coppa, Nick and I decided to move on to somewhere new for dessert. We wandered down Dartmouth Street back to Newbury when Nick came up with the genius idea of drinks and dessert at Oak Long Bar + Kitchen!  Having not been there since the massive renovation, I was excited for our next stop.  Upon walking in, I was totally turned around because there is an entrance in the spot where I used to sit in the big comfy chairs, and the space is about three times the size of the old Oak Room with combined dining and bar areas.  Dominated by a long, centrally located bar (go figure) the space is light and airy, but still has the imposing high ceilings to remind you of the history and opulence of the Fairmont.

The New Oak Long Bar and Kitchen

Although the space was packed, Nick and I were able to grab a table for 2 and the server had no problems with our drinks and dessert plan.  While we were looking over the menu we enjoyed a sampling of savory biscuits with a smoky bacon (we think?) dip.  I mean, the 10 minute walk from Coppa took a lot out of us!

Frozen Banana Goodness

Like most everyone these days, I have a bit of a Pinterest obsession.  There are so many great ideas for food and everything else under the sun!  Most recently, one of the "pins" that inspired me was for Banana Ice Cream, a really healthy dessert that looked almost too good to be true.  I had to put it to the test and figured if it even came close it would be a perfect summertime snack or dessert.

The Necessities...

• Loads of Bananas!!  (we used about 6 for 3 or 4 servings)

Bananas

Chocolate Brunch at the Langham Hotel!

Recently I went to Cafe Fleuri at the Langham Hotel for their famous chocolate brunch and it was completely amazing - chocolate lovers dream.  If you want to read more about my trip head on over to  Beantown Baker!  I am taking over for the day while Jen is having fun exploring Europe!

Chocolate Fountain and dipping choices

Lemon Lavender Bundt Cake

Once again, after returning home from Dubai and with new spices in hand, I was on the lookout for recipes in which to use them.  I had used the hot paprika already, but had yet to use the lavender.  This had to change, and the Lavender Lemon Bundt Cake was the perfect inspiration!

Bundt Cake

It's been ages since I have made a cake - it's not something I tend to bake because I don't like to have it tempting me in my house (or my office!).  Something about this Lavender-Lemon bundt cake however, called to me.

Joanne Chang's Milky Way Tart

Everytime I flip through my copy of Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook I always stop on the Milky Way Tart.  I usually passed on it because a) we didn't own a tart pan, and b) it just seemed too difficult.  However, when we got a tart pan off our wedding registry, I decided to go for it, and ultimately it wasn't that hard and it came out really well!

Milky Way Tart

While I won't publish the recipe here, these are the simple steps I followed.  The full recipe is available on Leites Culinaria, but I'd encourage anyone to grab a copy of this great book if it's not already a part of your collection.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Weekend!

As anyone from Boston knows, St. Patrick's Day is kind of a big deal in our little town.  Last year for me it was an even bigger year because I got engaged!!!  Hard to believe that was almost a year ago now!

This year, once again, Nick and I will be heading over to Southie to enjoy the craziness that is the St. Patrick's Day Parade.  Luckily for us, our good friend M is kind enough to host an impressive number of people at her house that is right next to the parade route.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcake

Since she is hosting, when she requested the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes from last year, I was more than happy to oblige!  If you are looking for the perfect food to bring to a St. Patrick's Day party this weekend, this is definitely it.  However, if you do not have that much time, I also highly recommend the Guinness Float - all you need is vanilla ice cream and some delicious Guinness, which is all over this city this weekend!

Guinness Float

What are you doing for St. Patrick's Day this year?

Let Them Eat Cake! Wedding Cake that is ;)

When you book a wedding at Willowdale, a cake from Konditor Meister comes included.  Most people would be psyched by this, and their cakes look beautiful, but Nick and I are (sadly) not huge fans of their cake.  Having grown up on the North Shore, I am a BIG fan of Cakes for Occasions, a local cake shop in Danvers center.  Nick had never tasted Cakes for Occasions, but I promised him it was delicious and that their butter cream was one of the best!  So, when the tasting day came, I was almost nervous that I over-sold the cake, but after selecting about 10 pieces for us to try I knew I should not have been worried.  Each piece was just as delicious as I remembered.

Wedding Cake!

One of the things I would suggest registering for is a cake serving set - that is unless you already have one.  I got one at my bridal shower and was sure to bring it to use at the wedding.  It seemed fitting to use it for the first time at our own wedding.

At Least There Was Good Food....

In the wake of last night's depressing outcome, the one thing I will be focusing on is the delicious food Nick and I spent the day preparing.  One of the fun reasons to have some friends over for the Super Bowl is the excuse to prepare some dishes you probably would not otherwise prepare!  So, for the past two weeks I was trolling the internet looking for some inspiration dishes and came up with the following (forgive my Instagram obsession)...

First up was a Cheesey Pepperoni Pull Apart Bread that I adapted from Jen's Cheesey Mushroom Bread, as I have a friend who is not a mushroom fan.  This recipe was easy to pull together and very satisfying to put on the table with the "ooo's" and "ahh's" it received.  With its adaptability to almost anything this will quickly become a go-to appetizer.

Cheesey Pepperoni Pull Apart Bread

Next up was Megan's Buffalo Chicken Stromboli, adapted to add a lot more heat!  I doubled the amount of Frank's Red Hot and allowed the shredded chicken to sit in all of the sauce not taken up during the sauteing to make sure all the chicken was sufficiently ready to burn tongues!  If that were not enough, I picked up this great buffalo Cheddar at Whole Foods that even had bits of jalapenos added to it!  Needless to say the Stromboli had plenty of bite - good thing we had friends over who love spice as much as Nick and I do.