Twelve egg-travagant recipes for any holiday cookie egg-change

Hello, friends.

Good news: final exams are officially over! I turned my final project in yesterday and I am now back home staying with my parents’ house for the holiday break. I’m ready to relax, spend time with friends and family, work on some business stuff, and bake, bake, BAKE! Growing up, a yearly tradition in my family every Christmas Eve was to make homemade gingerbread and sugar cookies. We would sit down at the kitchen table with a variety of different cookie cutters lay scattered across the dark wooden surface. Flour covered every surface as if it was the fall of the season’s first snow. Momma and I would cut cute little candy cane gingerbread and snowman shaped sugar cookies out, while Father and Jon made anatomically correct gingerbread men and grandma-got-run-over-by-a-reindeer sugar cookies. We were a family divided on creative expression, but it was always a time of laughs, jokes, and memories. That’s why when Eggland’s Best challenged me to test/bake up twelve delicious Christmas cookie recipes, submitted by their fans, worthy of any great egg-change, I was ready for the undertaking!  

Tis’ the Season for Baking (and Looking) Good | Whiskey Brown Sugar Glazed Ham + French Country Rye Bread with Slow Cooker Brandy Apple Butter

Hello, friends.

So, Christmas is now dangerously close. Unfortunately, final exams are even closer which seriously bums me out. I’m tired of being a student of higher education. I just want to bake and sleep through my responsibilities. Ugh! Why is being an adult so hard?! Okay, rant over. That’s right, today marks the start of final exam week for me. Luckily, I don’t have any tests until later in the week which gives me ample time to study as well as procrastinate by baking. During final exam week, I enjoy gathering together with friends, getting in the kitchen and making some delicious food, and sitting down together to eat, converse (and study). For the holidays or a weekend night study session, one of the great lessons of hosting I’ve learned from Momma Crawford is to make it simple. You want a dish that tastes delicious but doesn’t take an arm and a leg to make, especially during this stressful time of the year. Luckily, I’ve teamed up with JORD Wood Watches to share with you some of my culinary tips for hosting and/or attending a holiday gathering this season (and how to look good while doing it!)

P.s. Be sure to the read to the end of this post for an exclusive $25 e-giftcard you can use to get either my watch or any other style of watch from JORD. 

Vegan Cold Brew Coffee Pecan Pie

This Vegan Pecan Pie tastes just like the traditional pie momma-used-to-make, except this pie has a secret ingredient: cold brew coffee! The cold brew is added to the crust to provide a subtle richness and coffeehouse aroma that can’t be found in a traditional crust. The sweet pecan filling is warm, flavorful, and rich. A cup of coffee and a slice of pie and you have yourself a winning combination that will satisfy any guest at your holiday table.

Hello, friends.

When I think of the holidays back home, I think of my families old-as-dirt Christmas tree that Father had when he was a kid, its flimsy branches holding up the lights and various handmade ornaments.  The wonky treestand at the base holding all of it together. I think of the whole family coming together, lounging in the living room to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas, attending candlelight church service on Christmas Eve, and opening gifts on Christmas morning. The holidays to me are a time where I can get back in the kitchen with Momma Crawford and bake whatever my little food blogging heart desires. Her at the stove and me rolling out crust on the counter. We talk, laugh, sing along to Christmas music, and simply enjoy each other’s company. For this post, I’m inspired by family tradition once again. In my family, we always had a pecan pie for dessert after the Christmas dinner. So I’m back at it again this week with both a vegan AND cold brew coffee inspired recipe, and this time things are about to get nuts (get it…nuts…pecans…never mind). I’ve done one other vegan recipe on the blog and I really enjoyed it. That’s why I’m working with Califia Farms again to develop this recipe that you wouldn’t even know was vegan.  

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.

Blackberry, Blueberry & Honey Lattice Pie + a Blackberry Honey Basil Julep

One bite of this blackberry, blueberry, & honey lattice pie and I was immediately transported to the holidays back at home. The crust is warm, buttery, and flaky while the filling is the perfect mixture of sweet and tart. The berry filling has a secret ingredient, a splash of Powell & Mahoney’s Blackberry Basil Mixer, which gives the filling an herbal and aromatic sense of depth and flavor. The honey adds a subtle warmth and sweetness to the contrast of the tart berries, reminding me of the berry pies my Grandma Cooley would make every holiday gathering.

Hello, friend.

With every recipe, I learn something new I hadn’t known before. That is something I most love about working with food. Each recipe is a new beginning, a new story to be told. Every ingredient plays an integral part in creating the overall feeling or emotion of the meal. It’s a powerful sensation. So, what did I learn with this recipe? Well quite simply: Lattice pies are freaking hard to master! This was my second attempt at making this pie. During the first attempt, I made three mistakes: 1). I made the cocktail BEFORE I started baking, 2). I forgot to add the cold water at the right time (must have been a strong cocktail!) which left me with a tough and crumbly dough, and 3). I ran out of tin foil and I didn’t have any pie guards. Long story short there, I burnt the edges of the crust to a charcoal colored crisp and the lattice weave was slightly tacky and doughy. Tis was a sad day for sure. I took a moment to feel sorry for myself before tightening up my apron once more and heading back into the kitchen for trial number two.

Whole Wheat, Pumpkin & Brown Sugar Brioche {w/th Lime and Cilantro}

Hello, friend.

  

This recipe for whole wheat pumpkin & brown sugar brioche has been a freaking journey in the making, let me just tell you. I have been actively developing this recipe and its variants for little over a week now. Failed attempt after failed attempt has left me disheartened and run-down. Thankfully, I was able to break away from my bread making disasters and spend a few days in Fort Wayne for the Breadsense summit. Getting out of dodge and spending time away from my kitchen, with the trashcan of faulty bread attempts beginning to overflow, helped inspire my creativity and boost my confidence to get back in there and finish developing the dang recipe. With my bag of Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Graham flour in hand, I started on my bread baking adventure. Eight days and four attempts later, I finally produce a loaf worthy of the blogosphere! 

Update: I was invited by Erin from Cloudy Kitchen to be apart of Sara's and Aimee's #VitrualPumpkinParty. Essentially, it's a big group of food bloggers from around the world coming together and collaborating by sharing recipes for all things pumpkin. How cool is that?! I thought it was only fitting that I would share this particular recipe for the occasion! When you're done reading this post, be sure to check out some of the other incredibly talented bloggers from the list at the end of this post. Tell them TK sent you! 

Hummingbird Cake with a Goat Cheese & Chamomile Tea Frosting

Hello, friend

Hummingbird Cake is a Southern classic, and rightfully so. This is an incredible cake. I adapted from the original cream cheese frosting recipe by making a creamy goat cheese & crème fraiche frosting infused with chamomile tea to add a decadent yet subtle compliment to the rich, moist, tenderness of the cake.

I apologize for the late posting. I’ve been out of town all weekend attending the Breadsense summit for Aunt Millie’s in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was a complete success! It was my first time at Aunt Millie’s, so it was exciting being able to meet all the creators, marketers, and individuals involved with the Breadsense program. We toured the Aunt Millie’s plant, talked about audience and market segmentation, and even got to play with puppets. All I can say is that there are some exciting new things coming in 2017 that I cannot wait to share with all of you. Plus, on my way back home, I got to stop in Indianapolis and have lunch of Lauren (of the Saveur-nominated food blog Harvest and Honey), which was absolutely delightful! We ate at this adorable little brunch café Eggshell Bistro, which was outstanding, to say the least. Over cups of coffee, we talked about all things blogging, food, and photography. We gawked over our favorite bloggers as we chowed down on plates of shakshuka and rosemary & ham tarts. It was so wonderful being able to meet a fellow blogger who is just a stone's throw away regionally. Being able to connect with other content creators like Lauren makes me appreciate this little food community even more than ever.