baked apples with pomegranates + pistachios

I just found out yesterday that I am cooking + hosting Thanksgiving this year. Despite the last minute notice (ahh .. panic!), I could not be more excited. 

For the past few years, we have gone out to eat for Thanksgiving with the whole family. It may sound weird, especially for someone who cooks for a living, but we loved it. We would get all dressed up and have an absolutely stunning meal, and after hours of feasting we could simply get up from the table and go home. No mess, no dishes, we would get all of the fun and none of the responsibility. It had become our new favorite family tradition.

But, to be honest, a small part of me missed cooking for Thanksgiving. It's obvious I love to cook, but Thanksgiving is the opportunity to cook one of the most special meals of the year. It's the chance for me to wake up super early to prep, to set a beautiful table, and go overboard on dessert. It's the excuse for me to cook way more food than we could ever eat and not feel like I overdid it.

So when Michael called me up yesterday to tell me that we could not get a reservation at the place we've been going to for the past three years, I got really excited. 

I really should be menu planning and shopping right now, but before I go off and do that I wanted to share these apples with you. I actually came up with this recipe for a weekly series I am doing for The Conversation, but I really wanted to share these here as well because I think these baked apples will definitely make an excellent (+ healthy) addition to the Thanksgiving dessert table ... in between all the pies and cookies, of course. 

To get the recipe for baked apples with pomegranates + pistachios ... click here.

quince crisp

As soon as the temperature starts to drop, it's only natural that you and I start to crave certain things. More soups, more roasted vegetables, more blankets, more nights in watching movies, more baked fruits, more fireplaces, more crisp. 

It's no secret, I love a good crisp. 

Crisp is the prefect dessert for a crisp fall day. Maybe that is where is got it's name?  No?  Okay ... I know ... it's from the crispy top that pairs so nicely with the soft fragrant fruits hiding underneath. 

I'm fairly new to cooking with quince. If you are unfamiliar with this fruit, it is best described as a cross between a pear and an apple, therefore (in my opinion) making it ideal to bake with.

Pears and apples are two of my favorite fall fruits, and now quince will obviously be making it's way to that list as well.

The thing to note about quince is that is has particularly tough flesh which means it is not so good to eat raw, and it needs to bake on it's own for some extra time before being incorporated into a crisp, or pie, or any baked dessert for that matter. 

The upside to having to bake the quince longer? You will have that delicious smell of quince baking in your home for for that much longer, creating the perfect ambiance for a fall day. 

Click to read more ...

strawberry peach cobbler

Ahhhh Summer.  I never want it to end.  

I love spending mornings at the beach, and afternoons in the pool.  

I love going to the farmers market and picking out uber ripe tomatoes, and super sweet corn.

I love eating lobster and drinking rosé.

I love wearing flip flops and bathing suits.

I love having cocktails at sunset and eating dinner outside. 

I love summer foods. Summer fruits, summer vegetables, and summer recipes. 

There are some recipes that are strictly for summer. And some that are just better in the summer. Fresh fruit crumble is just better in the summer. Simply because the fruit and berries ... are .... fresh. 

On a trip to the farm stand the other morning, I was so happy to find my first bunch of squishy ripe peaches, which just happened to be sitting right next to a pint of bright red, beautiful, ripe strawberries. Heaven in a little green bio-degradable container. 

ripe peaches + ripe strawberries = delicous summertime dessert

And we all know what happenes next .....  

Click to read more ...

fig & apple quinoa crisp

Click to read more ...