Winter Squash & Apple Minestrone with Quinoa & Brown Rice

Hello, friend.

With Thanksgiving over, all the turkey consumed, and just a few measly crumbs of stuffing left in the pan, I can officially say that I am 100% in the Christmas spirit right now. The holiday season is definitely my favorite time of year. Not the actual day of Christmas per say, but rather the time leading up to the holiday itself. I feel that the day of is hectic and kind of a blur. In an instant, it’s over before you feel like it truly began. The season leading up to Christmas is different, though. It’s festive, fun, and exciting. The days leading up to it gives you more time to embrace the season fully. I love being able to decorate my apartment in twinkling lights and garland, baking holiday cookies in the kitchen with Momma Crawford, and watching endless holiday television specials under a warm blanket drinking hot chocolate. It’s this time of year, where the days are chilly and the nights are long, that I crave something warm and comforting to eat. In the winter, I love turning on the oven and roasting seasonal vegetables, filling the apartment with warm, aromatic scents. Squash is such an easy ingredient to work with and tastes delicious in a variety of dishes, especially in soup. To say goodbye to the autumn season and hello to the long winter months ahead, I have teamed with Hodgson Mill once again to bring you a great “grain” recipe that will get you through the coldest of days.

Brandy, Pear & Buckwheat Pound Cake + a Spiced Pear Brandy Sidecar

Hello, friend.

Thanksgiving is just a few days away. In my last post I talked all about what to make for the perfect holiday feast, everything from the sides, to the entrée, and even the dessert. Though I forgot one VERY important part of any great gathering: the cocktail! But fear not, I have swooped in to save the day with another cocktail + dessert pairing using another mixer from Powell & Mahoney. With autumn slowly coming to an end I wanted to highlight the seasonality of one of its great fruits, the Bosc pear. I also wanting to snag the chance at baking with/drink some brandy (because it’s my favorite of any hard liquor. So good!). The holidays are a hectic, crazy, stressful, but ultimately fun time of year me. Plus, with final exams in the next couple of weeks, I think I'm in need of a cake and cocktail break.  Who here is up for that??

How to host an Egg-cellent Thanksgiving dinner: four recipes + a whole lot of egg puns

For Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, or any other holiday gathering you might be hosting, don’t fret because this dinner party master post has got you covered. I’ve teamed up with Eggland’s Best to bring you a simple, easy, and delicious holiday spread. I’m not egg-aggerating here, these recipes are tasty! Included are savory sides such as ‘rosemary biscuits with spiced butternut squash butter’, ‘deviled eggs with honeyed jalapenos’, and ‘herb butter stuffing’. The main event is a ‘lemon thyme hay-roasted chicken’, and for dessert is a ‘pumpkin & brown butter cheesecake with candied bourbon pecans’. The holidays never tasted so good!

Warning: This post contains an exuberant amount of egg puns. Enjoy :)

Hello, friends.

It’s less than a week until Thanksgiving. Are you ready?! When you’re reading this, I will have already left my apartment and will be at my parent's home for the holiday break. I’m pretty excited for this time off. I am in need of a break from higher education. Senior year has been a rigorous semester so far, but I’m making it through. With final exams just around the corner, I’m looking forward to this period of rejuvenation before hitting the books for the final home stretch. For me, thanksgiving break always means two very important things: No classes and a whole lot of baking! Weeks before the holiday gathering, Momma Crawford and I will sit down and brainstorm recipe ideas for the festive dinner. We think of ways to reimagine traditional side dishes or create healthy dessert alternatives that will still taste delicious. It’s always so much fun planning and prepping the Thanksgiving dinner menu with her. Lots of laughs and cups of coffee are shared. But this year, Eggland’s Best reached out to me and challenged me to create a thanksgiving/Friendsgiving dinner all by myself. You can say I was pretty egg-cited to accept this challenge.

Chocolate & Cold Brew Coffee Croissant Buns

Hello, friends.

Little known fact: I love croissants! They’re just the better-looking older sibling of the yeast dough family. A warm croissant with a thin layer of butter, a cup of coffee, and a good book, and you have my idea of paradise (or a perfect Sunday afternoon). With Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks, I have teamed with Califia Farms to bring you a sweet, chocolatey treat which is just the thing to get you through the holiday's emotionally sane. I’m talking about two things: coffee and chocolate. If you follow my Instagram, you know that I am obsessed with coffee. So, when Califia asked me to develop a recipe with their Black Label Cold Brew, my imagination started racing with possibilities and I knew I needed to get back in the kitchen ASAP. Originally for this recipe, I set out to make a savory ‘cold brew coffee croissant’, adding the cold brew into the dough, with an expresso chocolate butter as a sweet element on the side, but the first batch of croissants sadly failed. Feeling bad about myself, I tightened my apron, did some research, and went back into the kitchen for take number two. I decided that I wanted to create a hybrid between croissants and Eva’s chocolate swirled brioche buns because too much chocolate is never a bad thing, right?! 

Dutch Apple Pie Cookies with a Caramel Apple Glaze | #TheMagicofTea

Hello, friend.

Halloween is over and November is in full swing! The days are colder and the nights are longer. During this time of year when I’m not spending my time in class or in the library studying, I can be found baking my little heart out in my tiny apartment kitchen. There is something therapeutic about coming home after a long day of school, out from the biting autumn winds of Illinois, and just baking my feelings. After I am all said and done, I take a deep sigh, brew myself a steaming cup of tea, sit down at my desk and proceed to go on a photo editing binge, the sounds of smooth jazz acoustics playing softly in the background. 

As I've gotten older, tea has become one of those drinks that has ever so quickly grown on me. Coffee has always had my heart (or at least since freshman year of college when I started drinking it), but there is something so powerful about the calming, floral flavors that tea provides. It's this which has recently gotten my hooked, the warm brew trickling down my throat with each savored sip. Tea reminds of late night study sessions at my or my friend's apartments, our laughter proceeded late into the evening. Happy memories and funny moments, all over a cup of tea, and  more specifically, Celestial Seasonings tea.