national carrot cake day

National Carrot Cake day (who decides this stuff ?!).

I do love a slice or two of carrot cake.  But I have never made one myself.  So I think today could be the day!

I've had some wonderful and some really not so wonderful carrot cakes in my life.  The worst was in a cafe in the Netherlands and was so dry and flavorless with barely any carrot to be found.  The best was at The Little Cupcake Bakeshop in New York City and was unbelievably moist, lots of carrot, walnuts and spices and toped with delicious cream cheese frosting (a must for me).  Perfection.   I swapped my Hummingbird cake with my friend's carrot cake and she never got it back!

So now to recreate something of equally good standards at home!

Here's a selection of what looks to be some of the most delicious carrot cakes around and a couple with a little twist of there own...

Carrot & Pistachio Cake

Incredible Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake with Orange Curd and a beautiful rose design cream cheese frosting.

national chocolate day has arrived!

It's a very good Wednesday when I wake up to hear that it's National Chocolate Day!  Bring it on!

I'm not a crazy chocoholic, but can be more than tempted to indulge when there's some good stuff around (and that firmly excludes anything Hersheys!!!!).   One of my favorite chocolate bars is the Dutch brand 'Tony's Chocolonely" which the Huzz brings home from his very frequent trips to the Netherlands.  But starting just a couple of weeks ago, my favorite local Portland grocery store, New Seasons, has started selling it (and is the first store in the whole USA to do so!!) so no more waiting for the Huzz to unpack his suitcase! Lucky me.

Milk (always my favorite)

Dark Almond Sea Salt

Milk Caramel Sea Salt

Dark Coffee Crunch

Dark Pecan Coconut

Extra Dark

H A P P Y   C H O C O L A T E   D A Y!

fall(ing) into fall

Well summer has well and truly ended!  I've had the early morning walks in the dark with our dog Harvey, when I've had to pull my Hunters and my rain jacket!  Not pleasant at 7am, even before my first coffee!  The endless summer did actually end, of course it would - this is Oregon!

Thoughts obviously turn to keeping cosy, whether that's a feeling achieved with food, surroundings, ambience or style.  The change of season is welcome.  I absolutely LOVED our extended summer this year but definitely am feeling that Fall has made a welcome appearance.

Five things I'm going to enjoy this Fall are….

Wearing this fabulous skirt.  I purchased it from Marks & Spencer as soon as they were previewing.  I love this 70s style, and the hype around it being a "must have" was justified.  Beautifully designed and so well made, and the suede is perfect and makes you want to keep stroking it! 

This gillet from Zara caught my eye on Le Catch.
I pretty quickly found myself clicking on 'Add to Cart'.  Love it.

Soups.
I'm determined to be more adventurous in the soup department.
Not just good old veggie soup, made with whatever veggies happen to be in the refrigerator!
This Lemon Chicken Orzo soup is going to be near the top of my list…

This Fall Sangria.
I'm planning on serving this at a little gathering with friends at home next week.  Delicious.

White Pumpkins.  My favorite.




Happy Wednesday!

national dessert day

Yes its National Dessert Day!  What a tasty Friday!

We don't have dessert at home after every meal.  Sometimes some ice-cream or fruit.  But that doesn't mean I'm not partial to something sweet at the end of a meal, usually when out for dinner or with friends.  Here's a few desserts that would finish any meal and fit the bill perfectly for today.

Blackberry-Ricotta Tart

Sultan's Pavlova

Churros with Chocolate & Espresso Dip

Apple Cinnamon Baklava

Happy National Dessert Day!
#nationaldessertday

we all scream for ice-cream

National Ice-Cream day!

And perfect timing too, with temps today at 95 degrees!

In Portland, we are rather spoilt in the ice-cream department.  Salt & Straw being my favorite.  With a line snaking around the block at peak times (which is most hours of the day), at any one of its three stores (+ one in LA), it seems it's everyone else's favorite too!  I found that mornings are the least busy and it's no hardship having a little ice-cream indulgence before lunch!

Fresh handmade ice-cream with flavors ranging from Stawberry Banana Split to Goat Cheese Marionberry Habenero, and Meyer Lemon Buttermilk and Blueberries to Stumptown Coffee & Burnside Bourbon, it's an adventure for your taste buds for sure.  Of course Salt & Straw does have a vanilla (albeit double fold Vanilla) and a Chocolate (with Gooey Brownie) if you don't want to push your ice-cream boundaries.  And if you can't decide on what flavor (after sampling a variety), then you can always pick a 'tasting' board' of 4 different flavors - its more than enough to share, if you have to.

  

With pints to take home and an ice-cream cart to hire for events, Salt & Straw have got Portland covered.

Happy Ice-Cream Day!

ice ice baby

Summer is well and truly here.  Kiddos have finished school in a crazy week filled with end of year exams, field day, class parties, talent shows and 'school's out' parties.   It feels like the quickes school year ever (but I'm sure I say that every summer!).  It's good to know we have no early morning alarms to contend with, packed lunches to make and no late night homework schedules to deal with.  Twelve (yes 12!) weeks are ahead of us and I am taking a deep breath and diving in, and hoping I come out the other end still breathing!!!

The sun is shining here and its hot hot hot here (I'm hoping we haven't peaked too soon with such good weather).  The demand for ice-cream and popsicles is on the rise too, and there's only so many mini-Magnums I want my kidds (and me) to eat, and so I've been browsing homemade ices for them and some that have an extra kick for the grown-ups too!

Happy Summertime!

Blackberry Rosemary & Yogurt 

Strawberry Lemonade

Peaches & Cream

Ice-coffee 

Watermelon Mint Tequilla

Raspberry & Lime Sangria

doughnut day

via Pinterest

Yes, its National Doughtnut Day!

I think my son may have got there early.  We made a visit to Blue Star Donuts last weekend to break up his finals studying, and then we picked up 2 dozen doughtnuts from Krispy Kreme on Wednesday for a class party - apparently he ate at least 3 of them!

Here in Portland we are kind of spoilt in the doughnut (or is it donut?) market. Voodoo Donuts has the bright pink boxes and a eyepopping selection of crazy color and crazy flavors - covered in Froot Loops, the 'Cock-n-Ball (yes, really in that shape!), Maple Bacon (with a slice on the top), a Voodoo doll etc.  And there is always a line of customers snaking down the street and often around the block!

Blue Star Donuts is a more upscale, minimalist doughnut store with a selection for the more discerning doughtnut fan - quality over quantity is the promise.  With flavors like Bluebery Bourbon Basil, Poppyseed Lemon Buttermilk, Vegan Pistachio Cake with Raspberry Hibiscus, Cointreau Creme Brûlée.  Definitely worth the indulgence.  Mmmmm!

Of course, we have a Krispy Kreme where the kids still like to go and watch all the doughnuts being churned out, deep fried and moving along the conveyor.  It still has a very retro feel about it that they love.

via Pinterest

Anyhow, if you are partial to a doughnut, today's the day.  What's your favorite?  Original glazed?  Maple Bacon?  Sprinkles?  Chocolate?  Filled with jam or custard?  Whatever it is…   E N J O Y!

rainblow colored salads

Banish those salads made from limp lettuce, cucumber and tomato (memories of which still haunt me!).  With the bounty of gorgeous vegetables and fruits available as summer approaches, these salads are sure to get your tastebuds buzzing and asking for more.  And of course they look pretty good too.  Enjoy.

Beet salad with honey lavender dressing

Citrus & Onion Salad

Quinoa & Roasted Sweet Potato

Quinoa Feta Mint & Stone Fruit

rosemary seasalt shortbread (with honey brie frosting)

I tore this recipe from a magazine before Christmas and its been hanging around my kitchen ever since. The scent or rosemary with the salt sounded so delicious, and well, shortbread too of course!  How could I resist. So today, while both kiddos had play dates (oopss, I mean 'hang out' for the 12 year old!) and it was a grey wet afternoon and walking the dog in full waterproofts wasn't very appealing, I decided that today would be perfect for a spot of afternoon baking.  I had to do a quick trip to the grocery store for some Brie for the frosting, but it was worth it.  Here we go….

 Cookies:

I cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 teaspoons dried rosemary, plus extra for trimming

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

1/4 cup of fig preserve

Frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup unsalted butter

4 ounces Brie, softened

1 cup powered sugar

2 teaspoons honey

Cookies:  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together for approx 3 minutes.  Add the egg and continue mixing for another 1-2 minutes.  Add vanilla, 3 teaspoons of rosemary and flour and mix until a thick dough forms (I switched to a dough hook attachment for this part).  Divide the dough in half, and roll into two logs about 3 inches in diameter each, wrap in cling wrap and pop in the freezer for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Remove dough logs from freezer and slice into 1/4 inch thick round slices.  Place parchment paper onto a baking sheet, and lay out the cookie slices.  Press a tiny pinch of rosemary (or a couple of leaves if fresh) together with a few grains of salt into the top of each cookie.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until just before they barely start browning on the edge.  Remove from oven to cool.

Frosting:  In a stand mixer with whisk attachment whip cream cheese until smooth.  Add butter and continue mixing for 3 minutes until smooth.  Add Brie and whip for another 3 minutes until smooth.  Add sugar and mix until smooth. Add honey and mix until creamy and smooth.

Frost each cookie with a dollop of the delicious frosting and garnish with a smudge of fig preserves.

Perfect with an afternoon cup of tea and a good book.

Enjoy!

PS - the recipe stated 10-12 minutes to bake, but I found 15 minutes worked for me!

croissant day

National Croissant Day is today 30th January!  Hooray!  I'm happy to oblige and indulge!

Two Christmas's back I gave my wonderful Huzz a Croissant Making Course with Sur La Table here in Portland.  He's a fabulous artisan bread maker and I thought croissant making would be another string to his bow.  How thoughtful of me!

Oh how delicious are his butter croissants.  Flaky, light, buttery….mmmmmmmmm!  Yes a little time needs to be taken, but the smell of croissants baking in the morning, and the delicious buttery warm taste.  Bliss.

And yesterday I found out that today was National Croissant Day!  Hint hint Huzz!

homemade super fluffy marshmallows

Over the Chrismtas holidays we had plenty of time to hang out in the kitchen baking, roasting and making sweet treats.

I'd heard that making marshmallows was easy and once tried that there would be not going back to the jet-air-puffed ones we'd always store bought.  And it's true!

These are the lightest, fluffiest marshmallows I ever did taste.  The kiddos have been loving them floating in their hot chocolates this winter.  We also had a few dipped in melted chocolate - they didn't last long enough to be photographed!

This recipe worked perfectly, although next time I will switch out the corn syrup for honey instead.  And I've also just come across a recipe which includes evaporated milk and orange which I'm sure will be delicious.  I'll report back.