Tag: boozy

5 Recipes for the Fourth of July

July is here, reminding us all how hot it can actually get in this world. But it comes with a silver lining. In a few days we’ll all be given free license to hang out outside and drink cold drinks and eat grilled food. ‘Murricans, this one’s for you.

And even if you’re not American, these recipes are delicious in their own right. Who doesn’t love fruity alcoholic beverages, summer snacks, and homemade ice cream?

No one.

So rejoice, friends! And let’s forget about our worries and our strife for a day. (more…)

July 2, 2017
4 Thanksgiving Rescue Recipes

We all know that by now, we should all have a clear idea of what we’ll be eating tomorrow and who we’ll be eating it with. But “should” doesn’t always mean “does”, especially not in our house. So we’d like to help you out with some last-minute T-day recipes you can pull off quickly and without a hitch. Because while we can’t bake you up some friends, we can certainly help you with your menu plans.

If you need even more recipes, check out this list of 15 of our fave Thanksgiving recipes, or our list of the best Fall dessert recipes.

Let’s start with morning treats – we all need something to tie us over before the main meal but we also don’t want to feel too full. For something slightly sweet and autumnal flavored, try this Pumpkin Spice Bread. This bread is moist and delicately flavored with spices and pumpkin. If you’ve got a pumpkin pie waiting for you at the end of the big meal, then this will make the perfect bookend. It’s coffee’s perfect companion and will keep your blood sugar going while mashing potatoes and waiting for the turkey to roast.

If you’re looking to fancy things up and add a soup to your meal, then look no further than this Butternut Squash Soup. This soup is so easy to make and requires so few ingredients that you should add it to your menu regardless. Your guests will appreciate the extra effort but you’ll know that it took you no effort at all. This butternut squash soup is a little sweet, from the squash and the apples, and it’s peppered with fresh herbs to bring all the flavors together.

This soup may not be the standout item of the night, but it’ll surely bring comfort and provoke nostalgia for the ending of autumn.

Thanksgiving desserts have always been ruled by pie. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and sweet potato pie are the 1% of pies – they hog all the sweet glory for themselves, leaving the rest of the dessert world to be shoved to the side or completely forgotten once Thanksgiving rolls around. Well, I won’t have it.

This Brown Butter Cinnamon Sweet Potato Challah Bread is certainly not your mama’s challah. While I love making Thanksgiving bread rolls out of challah bread dough, this loaf definitely lands firmly on the dessert spectrum with its layers of cinnamon-sugar swirls and delicate nuttiness from the brown butter. And whether you serve this as a sweet counterpart to savory gravy or as another alternative dessert option, any leftovers will make for epic morning-after-Thanksgiving french toast. You’re welcome.

This Kahlua Chocolate Pecan Tart will fit in nicely with any of those other haughty pies, but its naughtiness will make it an alternative you’ll want to take center stage. It’s spiked with enough Kahlua to make a small child inebriated, so keep this one on the adults-only table. While all tarts need a crust, it takes its place as an afterthought behind the tart filling. Not here. This chocolate tart crust is buttery, fudgy, and deeply chocolatey, and will blow any other pie or tart crust out of the Thanksgiving water.

To all of our friends, family, readers, and everyone else in between, have a happy holiday. Be safe, be kind, and don’t forget the importance of sharing a meal together.

November 23, 2016
Kahlúa Chocolate Pecan Tart

I can almost taste the turkey!

With that special day just around the corner, we’re scrambling to solidify our Thanksgiving menus. After recent events in the U.S., it’s more important than ever that this meal be one that brings people together. In that spirit, I’m offering an alternative to your regular ol’ pies in order to appease those with tastes that diverge from the Thanksgiving norms. And I’m doing it for those of you who, like me, just don’t want to play by the rules. I strayed from tradition last year too, and there’s no going back now. (more…)

November 19, 2016
Granita di Caffe con Panna {Espresso Granita with Whipped Cream}

You need a pick-me-up.

Whether you’re mentally preparing for Game of Thrones tonight and feel too fragile thinking about the fate of Jon Snow to do anything too strenuous, or you just need a Sunday morning boost that’s a little more decadent than your typical black cuppa Joe, you need this.

Last summer I went galavanting through Italy and ate all the things. Check it out here, and also here, where I actually show you what real granita di caffe looks like from the famous La Cassa del Caffe Tazza d’Oro. When wandering the narrow cobblestoned streets of Rome, I got a little too used to walking around in the scorching hot sun with one of these in my hand. (more…)

April 24, 2016
Sinner’s Brownies

Oops…I did it again.

I played with your heart, got lost in the game.

.…the brownie game. (more…)

February 9, 2016
Chocolate Ice Cream & Fudge Sauce {Vegan}

All I need in this life of sin is a few heaping scoops of creamy chocolate ice cream. It fits into any occasion; at any time of day – it’s perfect for elevensies, a summer afternoon snack, or some late-night stress eating after last week’s Game of Thrones finale. (I don’t want to talk about it. I just can’t even.)

But as I’ve mentioned before, I can’t eat ice cream without feeling icky afterward. Lactose intolerance is just a cruel joke. The good news, which took me way too long to discover, is that there’s a solution to this dilemma. And if you give it a chance, you’ll see what all the fuss is about. (more…)

June 22, 2015
Triple Fudge Peanut Butter Brownies

You can’t blame me for shoving more chocolate in your face.

I mean, I guess you can. Actually I’ll totally take the blame. I will do that for you, friends, because this is really more of a public service announcement: you all deserve to try these brownies, free of guilt. (By the way, whoever invented the idea of “feeling guilty” about eating should seriously re-evaluate their lives. I call bullshit.) (more…)

April 23, 2015
Sea Salt Caramel Hot Chocolate

Guys, it’s almost the end of the year and I’m sure resolutions are being drafted up. But before we commit to those good habits, let’s have one more splurge and indulge in something decadent. We deserve it, don’t we?

Leili and I love the marriage of salty and sweet – Leili is kind of a mega-girl fan of that coupling and that’s an understatement. So naturally, this hot chocolate with salted caramel fits the bill. And since it’s so close to the New Year, why not add some Bailey’s to it and be merry?

This recipe is very similar to the hot chocolate we used to make at the cafe we worked at. It is made with ganache and steamed milk – I won’t go too in depth with ganache since Leili already covered that in the chocolate truffles recipe. I use two different types of chocolate since it was all I had but it comes out to about 67% cocoa. Use the chocolate you like, but keep in mind that the caramel is rather sweet and if you’re adding Bailey’s, well, then good for you.

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December 28, 2014
Flourless Bittersweet Brownies

Sometimes, I just need to shove some chocolate into my face.

It feels like more than just a craving. It’s a necessity. Without it I go through withdrawals, getting easily disoriented and inexplicably anxious. It’s gotten so bad that after tearing apart my kitchen without finding so much as a single chocolate chip, I’ve sprinted out into the rain at one in the morning to the 24-hour store just to pick up a couple chocolate bars. (My roommate at the time hesitantly joined me, more out of fear of my chocolate mania than out of solidarity.)

Chocolate isn’t just delicious, people. It runs through my veins.

So if you’re like me, then you know most brownies just don’t make the cut. They’re more sweet than chocolatey; or more cake than brownie. And I’m officially done with those. Because when you can have these rich, chewy, decadently dark chocolate brownies, there’s no point wasting your taste buds on anything less.

Did I mention these are flourless? There’s no flour in this recipe – of any kind. So they’re gluten-free, but without any weird gums or sneaky vegetables keeping things together (here’s looking at you, black bean brownies). To make these, I just created a hybrid recipe of my two favorites and replaced the flour with cocoa powder. The result is a super-rich and extra chocolatey brownie that isn’t the least bit cakey. Yet it isn’t overly sweet like fudge, either. It’s just right.

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November 2, 2014
Blueberry Ice Cream

When I was younger, my family and I would stay with my great-grandmother in Vermont nearly every summer. The small house was situated on the corner of two intersecting dirt roads, with an ancient wood-burning oven to keep warm in the winters and an apple tree out back that was perfect for my small hands to climb.

Nearby there was a hill where you could pick your own blueberries, so every summer we’d craft make-shift buckets out of empty water gallons by cutting the tops off, and pick as many berries as we could fit in our buckets while still snagging a few handfuls to snack on.

Back at the house I would help my mother wash the giant batch of berries, pick out all the leaves and stems, and then watch as my mother would make jars of fresh jam and blueberry pie. So much pie! To this day the smell of freshly baked blueberry pie throws me back to those sweltering summers spent in that rustic Vermont kitchen watching my mom bake, while I stole bites of raw pie dough when I thought she wasn’t looking.

Blueberry season is now almost over, so get the fresh ones while you can! Then make this ice cream to cool off. Although I didn’t pick these blueberries myself, I did get them from a local farm. Still good vibes.

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August 15, 2014