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Broccoli Rabe, Italian Sausage & Ricotta Pizza

January 15, 2014 | posted by Sarah | 7 Comments

About a year ago, my life changed in a big way. I discovered this recipe for no-knead pizza dough that yields my favorite kind of restaurant-pizza crust, right out of my home oven. It’s thin in the middle, chewy and bubbly around the edges, and a total cinch to make. I’ve been talking it up to friends and family (come on, Dad–try it! I know you’ll love it!), but somehow we haven’t talked about it here since my initial discovery.

Well, let’s change that! Let’s talk pizza today. We’ll definitely use my go-to dough and I’m thinking some garlicky sautéed broccoli rabe, spicy Italian sausage, and ricotta cheese sound like awfully good toppings for this chilly evening. A bottle of red? Maybe a movie? Good, I’m glad you’re on board.

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Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies + A Cookie Swap!

December 11, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 17 Comments

A cookie swap is such a beautiful thing. You make a big batch of cookies and divvy them up, trading your single variety for a little of this, a little of that. This year, I participated in a different sort of cookie exchange. Instead of partnering up with friends or co-workers, I signed up to swap cookies with total strangers…other food bloggers! I sent off boxes of almond thumbprint cookies filled with homemade sour cherry preserves to Deb, Lynn, and Katie and, in return, received packages from 3 other bloggers.

I’ll walk you through my recipe for almond butter and jam filled thumbprints, then show you the loot I received in exchange.

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Spiced Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

December 6, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 2 Comments

Remember a couple of days ago, when I said I was going to lay off the baking and hefty eating until I fully recovered from Thanksgiving week eating? Yeah, about that…

…it didn’t happen. See, I found myself with an unexpected morning off this week. And it just happened to be in the middle of a massive snow storm. And I had to shovel. That’s hard work, you know. You’ve really got to keep your strength up if you’re going to be shoveling lots of heavy, wet snow. So the butter came out to soften and my holiday baking was underway.

I started with these spiced chocolate shortbread fingers. They are the perfect cookie to bake when you’re snowed in, relying on just a few staple ingredients you can almost always count on having on hand: butter, flour, cocoa, sugar ‘n spice. The flavor of the shortbread actually intensifies after sitting for a few days, making them an excellent treat for gifting. Plus, waiting for them to age to perfection buys me some more salad time. It all makes perfect sense, right? Right.

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Roasted Plum & Ricotta Breakfast Bruschetta

August 23, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 6 Comments

Breakfast bruschetta. When I came up with the idea, it felt like such a revelation. Bruschetta in the morning? Great idea. Honey-roasted plums and fresh ricotta cheese on crisp, nutty bread? Brilliant!

And then, a little later, I smacked myself on the head. Breakfast bruschetta isn’t anything new, it’s just stuff on toast. Toast. As in breakfast 101. As in we’ve all been there, done that, a million and a half times.

Well, ground-breaking or not, this plum and ricotta bruschetta is definitely worth making. The roasted plums themselves are pretty special, sweetened slightly with honey, savoried (yes? Yes.) with a pinch of sea salt, a twist of pepper, and a sprinkling of thyme leaves. The base is seedy whole grain bread, toasted ’til it’s crunchy around the edges. And, when you use fluffy fresh ricotta to bring the two together, you’ll officially enter breakfast heaven.

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White Bean Dip with Roasted Garlic & Eggplant

August 13, 2013 | posted by Sarah | 3 Comments

I really hope I never come face to face with my recycling pick-up guy. I fear his judgement. Every week my bin looks the same: the Sunday newspaper, obviously untouched, a couple too many empty wine bottles, and an absurd number of bean cans. He probably imagines me to be some gassy, illiterate wino, bottle in one hand, can o’ beans in the other.

But you don’t need to hear about my irrational bout of self-consciousness. You need to hear about how one of those many cans of beans and bottles of wine turned into something more, something better. We’re talking a white bean and eggplant dip, loaded with roasted garlic and richened with fruity olive oil. We’re talking way delicious, super easy, and, if paired with a wedge of cheese, a bottle of wine, and some olives or salami, the center of an awesome appetizer spread.

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