World Cup of Yum

Fried Mac N Cheese Bites

When I home-make mac n cheese, it’s always a big pot that makes for lots of yummy leftovers. Inspired by my success with using leftover risotto to make arancini, I decided a similar thing could be done to make fried mac n cheese bites. I had made such a big pot of mac n cheese…

Mini Amaretto Cakes with Blood Orange Topping

After my Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Blood Orange Topping was such a hit, I found myself constantly thinking about how the amaretto made that topping shine. And it occurred to me that I could really showcase the amaretto flavor by using the blood orange topping on amaretto cake. I’d also been trying to come up…

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Blood Orange Topping

My friend gave me a bag of blood oranges from his tree. They are sweet and so stunning, so I thought they would be a perfect topping for panna cotta. And I had some leftover buttermilk, so I decided to make it buttermilk panna cotta. Just a tablespoon of amaretto added a luxurious almond flavor…

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Hot Honey Browned Butter

Cookbook Club – Dining In The book for our March Cookbook Club was Dining In by Alison Roman, which aims to provide simple yet compelling recipes that make you want to cook and eat in. To see everything we dined on, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! When I think…

Lemon Buttermilk Bundt Cake

My friend gifted me a bundt pan on the condition that he would get some bundt cake desserts at future dinner parties. I think he made that stipulation because he knows I’m on Team Pie. But I’m always excited to use a new kitchen thingamabob, so I set out to figure out bundt cakes. This…

Arancini

I made the Sausage Risotto with Balsamic-Roasted Shallots from the Back Pocket Pasta cookbook. First, let me say that it is INSANELY good. But it makes a pretty large portion, so I had quite a bit leftover even though my boyfriend went to town on it. So I made Arancini (Italian rice balls). I wouldn’t…

Lavender Lemon Cream Pie

It’s March, and that means my favorite holiday… Pi(e) Day! As the world is figuring out how to live with COVID and slowly opening back up, we were able to do a big Pie Day bonus event for Cookbook Club. Continuing to find fun ways to use lavender in my cooking, I made a Lavender…

Lavender Lemon Cookies

So far my adventures in cooking with lavender have been successful, so I’m gonna keep going. I recently had some lemon cookies at a party, and as I was eating them couldn’t help thinking a lavender lemon cookie could be a treat. It is! Guessipe 1 stick butter 1 cup lavender sugar 1 TBSP lemon…

Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce and Fried Caper Crumbs

Cookbook Club – America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated For February’s Cookbook Club, people were able to choose recipes from the America’s Test Kitchen website and cookbook and the affiliated Cook’s Illustrated magazine and cookbook. To see what we selected from the thousands of recipe options, go to my cookbook club site. For now – my…

Lavender Madeleines

Now that I have lavender sugar, my first experiment in using it was these Lavender Madeleines, which I have to say turned out great. I have had this worm in the back of my mind about making madeleines ever since I watched the movie The Transporter (yes, Jason Statham is one of my guilty pleasures…

Lavender Sugar

I was gifted some lavender, which my friend grew and dried herself. I love the scent of lavender and the wonderful fragrance it adds to baked goods, so I was excited to try incorporating it into my baking. The first step was figuring out how to work with it, and after consulting with a chef…

Caramelized Cabbage with Bacon

I crave this cabbage dish. How many cabbage dishes can you say that about? But I kid you not. The caramelized sweetness of the cabbage with crispy bacon bits and a touch of spice make it a savory spicy sweet bit of heaven. Do you think dessert cabbage could ever become a thing? Guessipe 1…