Salt Cellars

Isn't this little apple jar with spoon so adorable? Unfortunately it's no longer available. I have been looking for a little white salt jar with a wooden spoon and this one seemed so perfect. I first saw it on Apartment Therapy a while back. It was designed exclusively for the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) online store by a Japanese artist named Tatsuya Okazaki. If you have never heard of MoMA before you must check out their site, tons of amazing pieces!

I love this little salt pig too, but I think I prefer something with a lid.

I decided on these cute white spice jars from IKEA because I really loved the wood lids. Now I want this little spoon to match from Live Wire Farms. They have the best hand sculpted spoons from Vermont timber. It's exactly what I've been looking for!

Apple Crisp

I rarely ever use my Betty Crocker cookbook except when it comes to classics like good old fashioned apple crisp. This has become my "go to" recipe that I use all the time. It's just so simple and delicious.

Butternut Squash Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Well Fall is officially here and I'm so excited! Fall is my all time favorite season and it's when I go crazy stocking up on pumpkin spice coffee, canned pumpkin, and an absurd amount of baking supplies. I have so many pumpkin recipes I can not wait to try so look out in the months ahead.



Up until today, I have never cooked or baked anything using butternut squash. I don't know why, they are so amazingly good.

These squash are also called butternut pumpkins and actually have the same sweet, nutty taste as regular pumpkins. They are both part of the squash family so there are a lot of similarities and can be used interchangeably. And did you know that squash are considered a power food because they are high in fiber, vitamin A, and especially beta carotene?
So in case you haven't tried it before, you must! Anyway, on with the recipe...





I have been craving something really special and creamy using the squash and the fresh ricotta I picked up at Trader Joe's last week. It came down to either lasagna or risotto. But then somehow I found this mac-and-cheese recipe and it won!

I cut the recipe in half and we still had a ton left over. Also, I only used the butternut squash, no acorn. Oh and if you can't find amaretto cookies you can use Italian almond cookies or biscotti-that's what I used.

Ooh La Le Creuset!

I am officially the proud owner of a beautiful White 7 1/4 Quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven!



Ever since watching the Food Network I have dreamed about one day owning my very own cast iron French dutch oven. The original retail price for one of these particular pieces is $260 and being the bargain hunter that I am would never ever pay that price for a piece of cookware.

The white dutch oven is always pictured in my Everyday Food magazines and on my fave Everyday Italian. I just love it. I also adore the red. I'm not sure why but Le Creuset discontinued white so it is nearly impossible to find except if you get lucky and score one on ebay. That is how I got mine! A few weeks ago I randomly came across a seller who was selling a bunch of used white pieces that were in pretty good shape. The pictures and description for the 7 1/4 oven showed a bunch of light scratches on the inside, but other than that it was as good as new. So I waited for 5 days until the auction was about to end and in the last 20 seconds I bid and won it for $64! Just wait, it gets better....

Five days later my prize arrived in the mail. It was a little dirty, but looked way better in person. I used my trusty Magic Eraser on the inside just to see if the scratches would rub off. And they did! So they weren't scratches after all and now my Le Creuset is perfect!



I know most people don't get this excited about cookware, but nothing can compare to the versatility of these dutch ovens. You can use them stove-top, in the oven and then store the leftovers right in the refrigerator. The high quality enamel lining is gorgeous and is actually very easy to clean. And if you are low in iron like me, the pot actually releases iron into your food. The best part is that there's a lifetime guarantee so if anything happens the company will replace it with a brand new one for free!

Now if only I could score one of these red buffet casseroles.

Farmers Market Blueberry Cupcakes

A few months ago I heard about Trophy Cupcakes while watching "Cupcake Week" on the Martha show. Since then I've become obsessed with cupcakes and got really excited when I saw this recipe featured on their site.

These cupcakes took me about 3 hours to make, but were a lot of fun. They should not take 3 hours, but since I STILL do not have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, it took me a little longer plus I messed up. For the meringue you have to beat the egg whites for about 10 minutes or so and I had to do that twice (by hand-mixer) because I ruined the first batch. Whenever you need to beat egg whites for airy meringues or souffles do not allow a speck of egg yolk into the bowl or they will not fluff up at all. I was whipping and whipping away for like 20 minutes until I decided to "Google" my problem and found out what was wrong. So lesson learned.





Here are my thoughts about the overall outcome. I thought the meringue was really really buttery. I should have know better since Swiss Meringue is supposed to be buttery. The recipe called for a whole pound of butter for the frosting alone. Yep, that's right... 4 whole sticks of butter! It does make a lot though and I have to say the consistency was dreamy. It was the perfect piping frosting. The cake part was a tad dry and almost tasted more like a muffin.

I still really liked these cupcakes, but will try to tweak a few things next time and will try a different meringue recipe.

Steak Salad

I'm a really big fan of salads, especially when they can serve as a meal all in itself.



Since my recent discovery of the flat iron steak, I really wanted to try this recipe. Flat iron steak is best when marinated so I just use a little bit of olive oil and really good steak seasoning. Let it sit room temperature for about 30 minutes, grill it, then slice into strips. Goes great with grilled asparagus, our favorite.

S'more Tart

I made this tart a few weeks ago for a family picnic. You really can't go wrong when it comes to s'mores or marshmallow..anything. I don't know anyone who doesn't love them.



I used Callebaut (it's the best) semi-sweet chocolate for the filling, but I will probably use bittersweet next time. It was very sweet.

This was a lot of fun to make, but a nifty little kitchen torch would of come in handy to toast the marshmallow topping. I think I left it in the oven too long because the topping started to melt a little bit.





S'more Tart
adapted from a lot of sources

For the crust:
1-1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix all ingredients until well blended.
Bake 8 min. or until lightly browned; cool completely.

For the filling:
7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate or semi-sweet, chopped finely
1 cup heavy cream, (I used half-n-half because that's all I had)
1 large egg, at room temperature for 30 minutes
pinch of salt

Put chocolate in a large bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan, then pour hot cream over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then gently whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Gently whisk in egg and a pinch of salt until combined and pour into graham cracker crumb crust (crust will be about half full). Bake until filling is softly set and trembles slightly in center when gently shaken, about 25-30 minutes. Cool pie to room temperature on a rack (filling will firm as it cools), about 1 hour. (I chilled in the refrigerator to speed up the process.)

For the topping:
1 7-ounce jar Marshmallow Creme
3 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar

Scrape the jar of marshmallow creme into a big bowl and set aside.

Beat the egg whites with salt in another large bowl until foamy. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff and glossy peaks form. This can take 7-10 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of the beaten egg whites to marshmallow creme and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions until just incorporated. Spread or pipe meringue over top of cold pie. Swirl with a knife to create peaks or use the pastry bag to do the same. ( I used a big star tip to pipe the top).

Bake pie just until peaks and ridges of marshmallow meringue are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Don't walk away from the oven! Or if you have a kitchen torch, use that to lightly brown the peaks. Let stand at room temperature until meringue is cool. Enjoy!