tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901522305255616462024-03-13T23:07:53.215-04:00WHAT JEN DOESUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1012125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-32958261920942771682021-12-14T10:57:00.000-05:002021-12-14T10:57:22.304-05:00orange chocolate biscottiThis is the 4th year that I've participated in the Salted Cookie swap. One of the benefits of the swap is that you end up with a pile of new recipes across all the participants.... but each year I'm still finding myself searching the internet for inspiration.I had never made the biscotti before but had heard it was very easy. I also felt like it was going to be very shipping friendly. I do love Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-25637465972904511882021-01-09T13:16:00.000-05:002021-01-09T13:16:06.563-05:00miso peanut butter cookiesFile this under one of the best and easiest cookies on planet earth. The first time I made them I doubled the batch and was very happy that I did. I found the recipe on the New York Times Christmas cookie roundup. Of the 24 or so listed there were many that seemed very enticing.... but this is the only recipe I could get in front of the paywall.The other benefit is I only needed one more Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-1015875518852594802021-01-03T10:36:00.001-05:002021-01-03T14:33:52.787-05:00my christmas + new years cardWhat a weird year. I had "Christmas Card" on my list for literally months. I normally start gathering pictures in early November, sent to the printer by Thanksgiving and cards in the mail shortly after that. I'm so eager to get them in the mail that I put regular stamps on the cards instead of postcard ones. This was a different year - not a bad one, just different.My phone is filled with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-18604026619267848792021-01-01T12:28:00.001-05:002021-01-01T12:28:11.637-05:00vegetarian bologneseTo be clear, I still love bacon and eat meat - but I'm trying to improve my diet. Normally I would have made a traditional bolognese like this one but was inspired to make a vegetarian version. And that is the reason why I bought tofu for the first time in my life. I figured that when I started to look for a vegetarian option I was going to get stuck with lentils, but that was not that case here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-29527704980461666342021-01-01T11:51:00.000-05:002021-01-01T11:51:06.183-05:00salted brownie cookiesIt's really been a year without much blogging. I can't believe that it's been literally months since I documented something that I had cooked - and I don't like that. In part because some of these things have been really tasty! and it's so much easier to share a recipe that I've got on my own site.These are the cookies that I made for my friend Becca's Christmas cookie swap. I wanted something Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-63734673364092848922020-07-14T18:16:00.002-04:002020-07-14T18:16:36.958-04:00very delicious tahini chocolate chip cookiesAs previously documented, I've grown quite a fondness for chocolate chip cookies... and specifically having them at the ready in the freezer. I'm currently on my second batch of these tahini cookies and see many more in my future.I found these by pretty much just looking for unique chocolate chip cookies. There is a New York Times recipe that gets top billing on Google, but I hate paywalls.... soUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-46648803507556878262020-07-09T19:41:00.000-04:002020-07-09T19:41:12.684-04:00rhubarb blueberry anytime cakeFun fact? I've had some rhubarb in my fridge for quite some time just begging for a tasty recipe. But it wasn't until I was on a random Zoom call this week for a consulting project that I got the right inspiration. A girl I was meeting with commented that her morning was starting off great because she had just eaten some rhubarb cake ... and with that I was off and running.The original recipe Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-25287626595252581902020-07-07T10:08:00.000-04:002020-07-07T10:08:01.459-04:00coconut cake with marshmellow frostingI had the great honor recently to make a gender reveal cake. I spent a good amount of time thinking about this task. My primary goal was to make a delicious cake that didn't immediately reveal whether it would be blue or pink inside. I didn't want the recipient to know immediately once the knife hit the cake.The end result was a funfetti coconut layer cake. I only made the middle layer blue so asUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-9150269131550586142020-07-06T12:40:00.000-04:002020-07-06T12:40:04.016-04:00seasonal love affairI'm not sure if peony season came on schedule this year or not, but it did show up and that is frankly all that matters.My peony plants on the South side of the house had such a strong showing in their second year. Very proud of those babes. The only downside is they get so much sun that the season for them feels faster than the rest of my neighborhood. The good news is that I have other peonies Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-31553975050576931172020-07-06T07:39:00.001-04:002020-07-06T07:39:32.151-04:00so it's been a bitI haven't been blogging in quite some time. It is not as though there hasn't been things to write about either. Plenty of good stuff happening. Perhaps not as many kitchen adventures - but still things to document.Blogging before used to be a healthy combination of a break from my job and a commuting activity. In the 10 years that I've been blogging, the prior 8 (?) I commuted to a job ... Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-36579544178081061022020-06-01T17:57:00.002-04:002020-06-01T17:57:25.566-04:00italian chicken meatballs
Feel free to file this recipe under "wonderful for Sunday meal prep". It was a total home run and could not have been easier to pull together. I had all of these ingredients on hand which made it even better. This recipe was made even easier by the use of my very handy cookie scooper. The extra bonus to these meatballs was that I quick roasted some frozen tomatoes from last summer's gardenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-91000377141766965362020-06-01T17:39:00.003-04:002020-07-06T12:43:35.055-04:00salted dulce de leche double chocolate cookiesI'd like to introduce you to perhaps one of the most delicious cookies ever. I honestly can't even remember how I found it but I'm so thankful that I did. I was completely unable to exhibit self control around them and consumed four in one evening... and to be clear, there were more consumed earlier in the day.One reason this recipe caught my eye is because of the dulce de leche. I had a can of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-34209694549470157652020-05-09T16:23:00.003-04:002020-05-09T16:23:54.416-04:00egg yolk almond pound cake
While I am normally fairly decent on food waste, I do have my weak spots. Like the last 10% of a bag of arugula. I'm not quite sure what prevents me from just making the previous salad bigger... but I regularly fail at that.
I'm a consistently bad at using egg yolks. So many of my favorite things to eat require only egg whites and that leaves several sad egg yolks behind. I finally found a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-67550758750584618672020-04-24T07:44:00.002-04:002020-04-24T07:44:27.673-04:00miso chocolate chip cookies
My new favorite thing is freezing cookie dough. In the last couple years, I've grown a little bit more of a sweet tooth... and the concept of having ready made frozen cookie dough is a very alluring concept. The first time that I did this was with the gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
I was scrolling away on Instagram and saw these miso chocolate chip cookies from A Cozy Kitchen. One, I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-8574478015999721252020-04-14T21:07:00.001-04:002020-04-14T21:07:18.713-04:00gluten free chocolate chip cookiesIn the last couple years, I've become more of a dessert person - but not just any dessert. I'm still not choosing a piece of pie after my dinner but I'll rarely push away a piece of chocolate or cookie.Given my lack of self-control, I have removed all of the Reese cups from my house for the last couple months. The seasonal shapes are my weak spot for sure.With the recent shift to a quarantined Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-56311341858283522602020-04-08T07:09:00.001-04:002020-04-08T07:09:30.709-04:00very easy tuna cakesHow many posts in a row can I reference quarantine cooking? The answer is probably a lot - and probably more for the next two months or so.As we prepared to eat more out of our houses and with less trips to the grocery store, I impulse bought a couple cans of tuna fish one day at the local grocery store. It had probably been at least three years and maybe five since I last bought a can of tuna Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-37922119437428094362020-04-05T21:30:00.001-04:002020-04-05T21:30:08.597-04:00sourdough pancakesI've been making pancakes on Sunday evenings for probably 2 months now... or perhaps more honestly.Sometimes figuring out what to eat for dinner every night can be a lot, so knowing that Sunday is for pancakes makes life a bit easier. Plus it normally means bacon is also on the menu. Given that I recently adopted a sourdough starter, I've been looking for ways to use it that aren't bread. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-79263797241818183742020-04-05T10:08:00.001-04:002020-04-05T10:08:44.680-04:00buttermilk cinnamon peanut butter donutsYes, that is a really loaded name for these small donuts... but it is all the truth.Donuts were not on my list of things to make during this quarantine but I had some fresh buttermilk... and I'm trying very hard to reduce my waste.Why the fresh buttermilk? Well, I obviously had to make fresh butter because the store was out of butter and toast without butter is lunacy. Last week I made my mom a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-48352177957300080122020-02-25T19:55:00.001-05:002020-02-25T19:55:55.448-05:00grapefruit white chocolate macaron
So, I am continuing to experiment with macarons... and this might have been my best batch to date. They were great for so many reasons. One, the flavoring was very solid. Two, the consistency and shell structures were real good. What did I do differently? I finally bought a scale. I always thought using scales would be more work than I wanted to spend... but boy was I wrong. I love using a scaleUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-15118791393625443902020-02-09T19:55:00.002-05:002020-02-09T19:55:40.370-05:00bagel egg bake
Let me introduce you to a very easy and impressive brunch recipe. I honestly have no idea what to call it - but perhaps a "bagel egg bake"?
I've attempted several different brunch casseroles over the years and this is one of the best. It is also one of the easiest. There are only 6 ingredients! I ended up making a slightly larger batch than the recipe called for... which necessitated Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-53228028904720217412020-02-09T18:08:00.005-05:002020-02-09T18:13:30.045-05:00blood orange cardamom cake
Hello there beautiful. That is what you can say to this cake once you flip it out of the pan.
I was looking for something a little bit red and a little bit fun to make for a galentine's brunch this weekend. It was incredibly easy to make and a bit of a shocker to me honestly. I am probably now going to see what other fruits I can put in cake pans and flip upside down.
A few takeawaysUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-76433471863269154572020-01-18T13:36:00.001-05:002020-01-18T13:36:45.117-05:00my 2019 christmas card
2019 was quite the year. It some ways it was a dumpster fire and in other ways it was wonderful. Obviously the dumpster fire didn't make the actual Christmas card photo :-) But overall, it was a year that was spent mostly outside, wearing leggings, or looking for Lowe's coupons online.
I did come to the realization that I get 1 Christmas for every 2 that I send out. For someone who Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-50566267757711400192020-01-16T22:01:00.002-05:002020-01-16T22:01:44.276-05:00Chocolate dipped merengues
I am fully committed to merengues as a household staple. I believe that I have now made them weekly for a month? The minute I eat the last one in the container.... I just start to whip up some egg whites for a fresh batch.
The recipe isn't wholly different from the peppermint merengues that I made over Christmas... the difference is that I discovered the magic of dipping them in chocolate. IUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-76492229231187582162020-01-08T13:40:00.000-05:002020-01-08T13:40:48.520-05:00Nighttime Moon Milk
I believe I first saw this recipe on Instagram back in the Fall. I was immediately enchanted by the idea of "moon milk" and had to know more. After reading the Bon Appetit description, I was sold. I love sleep and this promises more sleep.
While I had all the spices at my disposal, it did take me a little bit to get the last ingredient: ashwagandha. Whole Foods does sell several different Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6990152230525561646.post-7556823159430710962020-01-05T20:27:00.002-05:002020-01-05T20:27:24.772-05:00tomato recap 2019
Funny story. I wrote nearly this entire recap post in September... and it has taken me this long to finish it. I'm getting ready to think about this year's garden plans. I've got about 15 tabs open in my browser and they are all different tomato varieties.
The tomatoes were pretty solid this year. Solid enough that I've unfortunately let way too many rot and then pulled myself together Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0