Plum Fruit Leather

I’ve gotten into a show called Sweets Made Simple on BBC Two. It’s a show where a quirky married couple makes candy. I want to make everything on that show. Boozy chocolates, rose flavored turkish delight, salted caramel! They recently made fruit leather and I was so excited. I love fruit leather.

Fruit leather also makes me feel a little nostalgic for back to school and my colleagues at Live It Learn It who are back in the US. My coworker Erica and I were a little crazy for fruit leather at the end of last school year. It was our snack of choice during the many meetings we were having. She’d have a big stash in her backpack and I’d peak through and pull out my favorite flavors. Snacks are always a nice way to pep up the workday. 

Popeye Muffins

I have three things to say about these crazy delicious green muffins.

First,  if there is a way I can put more vegetables in my food, I will do it. I know people who are anti-hiding vegetable – but not me. I’m always trying to find a way to get more veggies in my diet. I like green smoothies and these zucchini chocolate chip cookies from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I like today’s muffins. When I saw a picture called “spinach Popeye muffins” on Pinterest, I knew it was something I had to try. I mean, make me strong like Popeye and they taste good? Yes please. Try not to be put off by the green muffins. They are fun looking and taste like banana bread. 

Raspberry Honeycomb Ice Cream Pie

Recently I bought delicious and BBC Good Food, two UK based food magazines. I thought it would be nice to have some recipes and not have to constantly search for conversion. My oven is in Celsius and everything I buy in the grocery store comes in milliliters or grams. But I’m used to Fahrenheit and ounces and tablespoons. So, I pulled out tons of recipes and the first one I chose to make doesn’t really require too much conversion anyway.

Barley Succotash

It’s been hot here, although I think the temperature is finally going to break today. I know I shouldn’t complain about the weather. It’s only been in the high 20’s. Crazy I know what that means right? It’s about high 70’s, low 80’s.

You’re probably reading this thinking, um, Mariel, that’s not hot. I know – I know, I just moved from DC where it’s hotter than hell. In DC low 80’s would feel like a wonderful cold front because summer is usually 100° with about a million percent humidity. But the thing is, high 70’s is hot here because air conditioning isn’t so much a thing here. Our flat doesn’t have air conditioning, the library doesn’t have air conditioning, and when you walk down the street you never pass a store and feel the cold blast of AC. We got a fan and that helps a ton.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Reese’s Pieces Cookies

I’m moving to London later today. Officially and for real. The last week or so has been really busy and fun as I said goodbye and prepared for this move. Let me tell you about my last few days and then at the end I’ll give you a cookie recipe.

My 29th  birthday was a little over a week ago! I went to New York to have a last hurrah. I actually hadn’t been to New York since my graduation, and I was excited to go back and see the city one more time. On Friday (the 20th) I went to Staten Island and stayed with my friend Inga (who also has the same birthday as me). It was so great to catch up with her. She and I were roommates years ago when we studied abroad in Rome. Visiting her, I got to see her new house, meet her  beautiful daughter, and celebrate our birthdays. We had sushi and cake and it was wonderful.

The Return of Chocolate Pasta

So I decided to try chocolate pasta again. If you’re unfamiliar with my horrendous first experience with chocolate pasta, read about it here.

What’s changed since last time? I had a recipe. I found it in my cookbook Melt by Stephanie Stiavetti and Garrett McCord. I decided I’d trust them and their recipe because I loved their chorizo macaroni and cheese. Last time I didn’t have a recipe and I was just winging it. But this time, maybe things would be different. Maybe the flavor combinations would be delicious. Maybe the pasta would redeem itself and not taste so nasty. Maybe I could eat a whole bowl.

And I did eat the whole bowl! And it was pretty good!

Banoffee Pie

Photo from Bullycomics

Have you ever seen Love Actually? I have. Many times.

Do you know that scene when Juliet (Kiera Knightley) goes to Mark’s (Andrew Lincoln) apartment? She goes there looking to see if he has good video footage of her wedding. When Mark opens the door, she offers him banoffee pie. “What the heck is that?” I’ve thought to myself. So I googled it, and I immediately wanted to have some. And simple as that, I decided to make this pie for myself.

Banoffee pie is banana and toffee pie. Get it? Banana+toffee=banoffe. Doesn’t that sound delicious!?! I really liked this pie. The texture is creamy and silky. It’s cool, delicious, and both indulgent and refreshing.

Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

When I get back to London, I want to have tea. Obviously I’ve had tea before. Ryan and I made it in our apartment and I even had tea and scones with some friends at the Victoria & Albert Museum. But I think you know what I really mean.

I bet you have some idea of the ridiculous picture I have in my head. Imagine: a restaurant, dressing up a little bit, a fascinator hat, pinky in the air, and a three-tier tray with tiny sandwiches and sweets. I know it’s not really going to be like that and my little fantasy is probably closer to a stereotype than anything else. Regardless, I still want to go to tea and Ryan and I have been collecting a few suggestions for where to go.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

I have an ever-growing collection of wish-list recipes. I am constantly pinning recipes on Pinterest and ripping things out of Food & Wine magazine. I collect things that I think have lots of vegetables, that have a holiday theme, or that include my current ingredient obsession. There’s so much good stuff, but I think I only cook about 20% of what I collect. So, I’ve decided to make an effort and once a week attempt something from my vast collection.

I chose this recipe because it has some vegetables, good spice flavor, and ingredients already in my pantry. It’s an easy to make and very filling vegetarian dish. Also, this recipe makes a lot of servings. I’ve been eating it for lunch and breakfast for almost a week – which is fine because it’s tasty. Finally, it’s good both warm and cold so it’s a perfect on-the-go meal. Try it out, it’s yummy.

Confetti Cookies

I feel a little guilty that it’s been over a week since I’ve posted, but the truth is I haven’t been cooking much. Since I’ve been back I’ve gone out, I’ve had pb&j, grilled cheese, and teriyaki chickpeas. Ryan, on the other hand, has been killing it. He sent me beautiful pictures of the ingredients for pasta, homemade tomato sauce, and cheesy garlic bread. Cheesy garlic bread! I wanted it. It looked gooey and buttery and amazing. Also, he is having great adventures. He recently went to Greenwich and saw the Naval Museum and Royal Observatory. The pictures are impressive – check them out below. Gorgeous architecture, amazing painted ceilings, and beautiful scenery!