He had his eyes on a crazy huge one and after some negotiation and consideration, decided on a Weber that heats up in no time flat. He’s seriously so giddy around that thing! We’ve been grilling ever since it was put together, shortly after moving in. And when I say we’ve been grilling, I mean that we’ve grilled every night (and usually twice on weekend days) except when we were out of town or it was raining. It’s been amazing.

While Hubby was eyeing grills, I started researching grilling recipes. I have a ton saved up that I want to try. Really when it comes to grilling, you don’t really need recipes. We tend to just season our protein and veggies and throw them on the grill. A few minutes later, it’s time to eat.

Grilled Caesar salad was something I knew I wanted to try. Using the homemade Caesar salad dressing that I whipped up, we have been enjoying grilled Caesar salad on a regular basis. Who would have thought you could grill lettuce. By doing so, you get a great smokiness with every bite. If you have a grill at home, I highly recommend trying this out!

One Year Ago: Spice Rubbed Chicken
Two Years Ago: Cucumber Hummus Bites and Chocolate Covered Strawberry Truffles
Three Years Ago: Roasted Asparagus
Four Years Ago: Dairy Free Chocolate Strawberry and Vanilla Ice Cream Cupcakes and Coconut Margarita Ice Cream Cupcakes
Five Years Ago: Spinach and Artichoke Pizza

Continue reading: Grilled Caesar Salad

After reading Lindsay’s post, I decided to go with Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s recipe for homemade ginger beer. Since I have my beloved Zeus, I knew I’d have no issue procuring the fresh ginger juice. The only things I needed to purchase was a bottle to brew the ginger beer in and the champagne yeast used in the recipe. I decided to go with this 32 oz bottle with a flip top lid. I decided it would be perfect for the ginger beer and later for serving water out of when we have guests over.

Once the bottle and yeast arrived from Amazon, I set out to start my first batch of ginger beer. Since Jeff’s recipe was for 16 oz, I simply doubled it. However, I had underestimated how much ginger I would need for the 2 oz of ginger juice… I also realized at that point how difficult it was to count out 50 granules of yeast. And how SMALL of an amount of yeast that was. Deflated, I decided to try again in a few days.

While the days were passing, I started reading more of the comments on Jeff’s post with the recipe. Multiple people had commented that counting yeast granules was absurd and even if you did, it didn’t usually give the fizziness expected from ginger beer. Somewhere deep down in the comments, Jeff mentioned that he uses ~1/16 tsp of yeast per 16 oz bottle instead of counting out granules of yeast.

So I set out again to make homemade ginger beer. This time, I made sure I had plenty of ginger on hand for juicing. I topped my mixture with the 1/8 tsp of yeast for my 32 ounces of ginger beer, shook it, put a lid on it and took it to the basement. Jeff mentioned that you can have bottles explode, so I wanted to store my ginger beer in a safe place while it fermented.

Exactly 48 hours later, I moved the ginger beer to the fridge and we tried it the next day. The verdict? Definitely worth making at home. Hands down, amazing. 32 ounces only made a couple Dark and Stormys so I look forward to making this again and playing around with the amount of lemon juice in the recipe. Some of the commenters on Jeff’s page even had ideas of adding honey or herbs like thyme.

Thanks Lindsay for challenging me to make something at home that I never would have thought to make on my own! Be sure to check Lindsay’s blog to see how everyone else did.

One Year Ago: Raspberry Rhubarb Muffins and American Potato Salad
Two Years Ago: Chipotle Pork Stew
Three Years Ago: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pops and Homemade Ding Dongs
Four Years Ago: Rhubarb Rolls
Five Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Continue reading: Homemade Ginger Beer

Boy am I glad I did! This dressing has a good deal of garlic in it and the perfect amount of saltiness from the anchovies. I stored this in the fridge for a couple weeks and it held up just fine. The recipe reminds me of homemade mayo, so we even slathered it on a few sandwiches while it was in the fridge.

Once the jar was empty, Hubby started asking when I would make it again. I definitely need to do that soon because we’ve been getting romaine lettuce in our CSA box almost every week. Now I just need to make some homemade croutons to go with it!

One Year Ago: Beer and Chocolate Pairing and Giant M&M Cookies
Two Years Ago: Crockpot Ham with Beer and Chutney Glaze and Funfetti Blondies
Three Years Ago: Alton Brown’s Broiled, Butterflied Chicken

Continue reading: Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

My original plan was to save them for this coming weekend. My sister and her Hubby are coming to visit and she LOVES snickerdoodles. Yea, they didn’t last that long. It started with just snacking on one here or there and then turned them in to this ice cream.

Hubby has been requesting cookie dough ice cream since I got the ice cream maker attachment for Christmas (it’s his favorite). So cookies and ice cream were on my mind. I figured I might be able to hold off his request for cookie dough ice cream a little longer if I just mixed some cookies into ice cream. Same idea, right?

I knew from making this vanilla bean ice cream that I wanted to use full fat coconut milk throughout the recipe. I wanted this ice cream to be thick and extra creamy. So I just substituted the coconut milk in place of the heavy cream and half and half in the recipe. The nice thing about most ice cream recipes is that the amount of dairy usually adds up to 3.5 cups. That’s exactly what you’ll get out of two cans of coconut milk! While the base of the original ice cream recipe does taste snickerdoodle-y, I wanted to have the snickerdoodles be the star of the show. So I just chopped a couple cookies up into large chunks that got mixed in at the end of the churning process.

So enough about how I made the ice cream, I’m sure you’re wondering how it tasted. Hands down, the best non-chocolate ice cream I’ve made (hey, I’m a chocolate lover, it’s tough to beat). For Hubby, there is no caviat, it’s the best ice cream I’ve made. Period.

Now after creating this ice cream, I tried to save some for my snickerdoodle loving sister. I tried really hard. But Hubby loved it so much there was no chance. The amazing thing about this ice cream was how soft and chewy the cookie chunks became in the ice cream. They were still chunks, but just the perfect texture to compliment the ice cream.

One Year Ago: Pimento Cheese Burger and Baked Brie with Grape Balsamic Compote
Two Years Ago: Mustard Chicken Salad
Three Years Ago: Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes and Homemade Oreos (again)
Four Years Ago: Coconut Lime Cupcakes
Five Years Ago: Dairy Free Mac and Cheese with Broccoli and Cauliflower

Continue reading: Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

I want to talk a few minutes about my new favorite cheese. Humboldt Fog has been making an appearance in my grocery cart on a regular basis since moving to Cincinnati (it was even the star ingredient to our low-key Superbowl snacking). Our local big-box grocery store has an AMAZING cheese counter. It rivals what I could get at Trader Joe’s back in Boston.

Due to my lactose intolerance, I love trying new goat and sheep milk cheeses, and this Humboldt Fog cheese has become my favorite. It paired so nicely with the other flavors in this sandwich. Hubby was definitely jealous that I made this one night when he was working late. But have no fear, this sandwich has been made a couple more times since then!

One Year Ago: Homemade Granola and Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Two Years Ago: Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies and New York Style Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce
Three Years Ago: Oreo Pretzel Fudge and Oreo Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies
Four Years Ago: Brownie Pops
Five Years Ago: Baked Eggplant Chips

Continue reading: Strawberry, Avocado, Goat Cheese Sandwich

If you haven’t ever browned butter, it’s quite simple, although it does take some patience. Just melt the butter on low. Once the butter starts to foam, I start whisking. From here things can be tricky, although I’ve never had any issues. My secret? Using my nose. I stir the butter constantly until it smells nutty and almost caramely. That’s it.

I only have dark bottomed pans, so I can’t follow the instructions about when you see flecks vs when you don’t. But my nose has yet to fail me. Believe me, you’ll know when it’s ready. Once cooled to room temperature, browned butter can be used in just about anything.

Since my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe has browned butter in it, I was not at all surprised that I loved these snickerdoodles. Don’t get me wrong, I like regular snickerdoodles enough (in cookie or bar format), but with browned butter, they were downright addictive!

One Year Ago: Roasted Blueberry Cupcakes and Two-Berry Coconut Macaroons
Two Years Ago: Hummingbird Cupcakes with Pineapple Flowers
Three Years Ago: Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Meal Idea for New Parents (or Anyone else you want to take a meal to)
Four Years Ago: Roasted Red Pepper Dip and Samoas Bars

Continue reading: Browned Butter Snickerdoodles

But soon enough, I decided to make some vanilla ice cream. I threw in more vanilla than the recipe called for because I wanted it to be really vanilla-ey and have the signature speckles that can only come from using fresh vanilla beans.

For this ice cream, I used coconut milk again, but I used half low fat and half full fat. I knew that the low fat coconut milk might affect the texture of the ice cream. Since it has more water in it, it can produce a more icy texture since the water crystals turn to ice.

While the texture was a bit icy, the ice cream was Hubby approved as delicious dairy free vanilla bean ice cream. I enjoyed it with sprinkles on top because I love sprinkles.

One Year Ago: Blackberry Cheesecake Swirled Brownies and Purple Potato, Tomato, and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
Two Years Ago: Cranberry Raisin Almond Banana Bread and Cinnamon Chip Scones
Three Years Ago: Not So Newlywed Map and Black Bean and Bell Pepper Cous Cous Salad
Four Years Ago: Spicey Orange Shrimp and Alton Brown’s The Puffy
Five Years Ago: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Shrimp Scampi with Mushrooms and Asparagus

Continue reading: Dairy Free Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I kicked off the weekend with a bright pink manicure and wore a bright pink blazer to work on Friday. It got me in the mood for the sheer overload of pink coming over the next couple of days.

Hubby and I had a rough start to the weekend. First our flight was delayed, then it was delayed again. When it was finally time to leave for the airport, I cut the heel of my foot on the front door as we were walking out of it.

Kicking off the walk at the Washington Monument

Luckily, we were able to make it to the Avon Walk host hotel just in time for check-in on Friday night. After grabbing my alumni pin (a 5 this time!), we headed up to our room to get ready for the weekend. I packed my backpack, laid out my clothes, and set my alarm for 4:30 am. Man, that’s early.

For whatever reason, I was under-prepared for this walk. I think it’s because this was my 4th time walking and I underestimated how much my over-prepared-ness has helped in the past.

Jefferson Monument

While I had checked the weather multiple times before packing, I forgot about how cold it is at 5am. I just kept thinking about how perfect 60 degree weather is for a long walk. It was in the 40s when we left the hotel Saturday morning. That’s cold. And I didn’t pack my usual hot pink fleece gloves and ear warmers. And the only jacket I brought was a dry-fit jacket, so the wind went right through it. I was downright COLD while waiting for the opening ceremonies.

This was the first time Hubby was able to stay for the opening ceremonies with me. It’s always very emotional, but the best part this year was the stretching. The instructor was a cute guys with an accent who was dancing around on stage and just having a good time with it. He was awesome and really got the crowd pumped up. Then we were off!

Since I was walking alone for the first time ever, I set out to get lost in my thoughts and take in the sites. We started at the Washington Monument (which is under construction from damage due to an earthquake last year) and headed towards the Jefferson Monument. Next up, we headed to the National Mall straight towards the Capital building.

After leaving the monuments, we headed through some other parts of DC and went to Georgetown. I am not really sure where all we walked, but after lunch on Saturday, we ended up in some very nice neighborhoods with cute houses.

Me and Moo Cow Guy! He goes to all the walks and was very encouraging every time I saw him!

Along the way, I found myself running into people I had seen before and would strike up a conversation here and there to help pass the miles. I met up with one woman from Alabama before lunch. We ended up eating lunch together and walking for about 8 miles together before she called it a day.

The Capital Building

My favorite part of Day 1 happened around mile 19. I took my tennis shoes off and put them in my bag. The rest of my miles would be in flip flops. I get a lot of comments when people see me in flip flops. Some people say they’re jealous. Others ask if I walk the whole 26 miles in them. But a lot of people are just curious about it.

My biggest issue with walking the 20+ miles is that my toes start to cramp at some point. They just want fresh air. So I always take my socks and shoes off at lunchtime to let them air out, then at mile 20 I change to flip flops. I have really comfortable flip flops (Teva Mush) and I train that way. So it works for me.

A mile or so after changing into flip flops, I started to fade. I was slowing down and starting to hurt. So I turned on my iPod. I had bought a little speaker case for my iPod and filled it with upbeat music. I learned last year in Boston that having music can really energize you. So I blared my music and kept on trucking.

When I got to Rest Stop 6, at mile 25, another one of my favorite moments of the walk happened. Hubby met me with a giant hug and walked the rest of the way with me. He had been assigned to Rest Stop 6 for his crew assignment. He had told his whole team about how I was walking alone so they were all high-fiving me and encouraging me to continue.

Old Post Office

When we made it to the Wellness Village, I headed straight for medical to get my blisters re-treated. As I mentioned, I hadn’t trained like I usually do for the walk. The good news was that all of the blisters I got were in places that I normally have issues. But when I train more, those spots become caliced and I don’t get blisters during the actual walk.

After medical, I went to get a foot massage and back massage before heading to physical therapy to get my hips stretched out. Then we headed to the bus back to the hotel where I scarfed down a burger and a beer (my Avon Walk tradition). After a long shower and more stretching, I was in bed by around 9.

National Cathedral

Sunday I was up at 4:30 again to head over to the Wellness Village. I headed back to medical to get my blisters wrapped up for the walk. And remember how I said it was COLD Saturday morning? It was even colder on Sunday. They were handing out mylar blankets and am so glad I took one.

This cop was riding around on his motorcycle blaring music for us and high-fiving everyone. Even his gun was pink!

I was more than a little sore on Sunday because of my lack of training, so even though I was at the beginning of the pack at the start of the day, I was definitely getting passed left and right. The day was kind of a blur of walking, wishing I had trained more, stretching, and more walking.

Hubby had made a rule for the weekend – No Whining – which I tried whole-heartedly to stick to. He wasn’t trying to be mean. He was trying to remind me that I was there to have fun and celebrate the inspirational nature of the walk weekend.

SO CLOSE!

Along the walk, there are always people selling pins to add to your backpack or hat. I have quite the collection of pins, including one with the year and city of each walk I’ve done. When I saw the pin with No Whining on it, I just had to get it. The other pin I got was one that said Keep Calm and Walk On.

Even though I was in more pain than usual during this walk, I had a blast. Not once did I feel alone on the route because the other walkers, crew, and staff are all so friendly, supporting, and talkative.

All smiles while waiting for the Closing Ceremony

I did re-learn a few things this time around. As I mentioned in my Tips for Walking an Avon Walk, training is important. I didn’t do nearly enough training this time around. I kept making excuses because we had just moved or the weather wasn’t nice or whatever and I paid for it this weekend. I was in a decent amount of pain, got more blisters than I have had in my previous 3 walks combined, and just overall had a harder time with the physical challenge this time.

Survivors walking in to Closing Ceremony

I also need to remember to bring more layers. I was wondering why my backpack seemed so empty when I packed it… It’s because I didn’t pack enough clothes. Sure, when it was 64 and sunny, I was comfortable, but when it was dark, windy, and 48, I was freezing.

For those of you who have not been following my Avon Walk journey, check out my other recap posts from previous walks:
Boston 2009 – crew
San Francisco 2010 – walker
NYC 2011 – walker
Boston 2012 – walker

I have already signed up to walk Charlotte this fall and Chicago in June 2014. Then I’ll have 2 more walks to complete my goal to walk all of the Avon Walk cities! I did meet some other women last weekend who are walking all of the Avon Walk cities. The two I ate lunch with on Sunday only have two cities left!

I was excited about the theme because it’s been AGES since I’ve made cupcakes. And with our recent move, I was reminded at just how many different cupcake liners I have in my cabinet. So this was the perfect excuse to browse some cupcake recipes. I looked through recipes in cookbooks and online before deciding on these chocolate nutella cupcakes.

And what a great way to re-introduce myself to cupcake baking than with my go-to chocolate cupcake that I know and love with a new amazingly delicious frosting. The frosting’s name is Nutella Cloud Frosting and I can’t think of a better way to describe it. Whether the cloud in the name is referring to the dreaminess of the frosting or the light-airiness is still up for debate, but it’s the perfect name for this frosting.

And if you’re not a fan of Nutella, you can just leave it out and make yourself some chocolate cloud frosting. Either way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. I decorated these cupcakes quite simply, using multi-colored liners and some sprinkles on top. They the perfect addition to any shower menu, virtual or not.

So join me in congratulating Krystal and her hubby Eric on their upcoming arrival. To see all of the cupcakes, check out the round up on Eva’s blog. And, you might remember Krystal’s first virtual baby shower, where I made these delicious Cuban Sandwich Eggs Benedict. YUM!

One Year Ago: Caramelized Red Onion Tart and Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Two Years Ago: Roasted Banana Soft Serve and Fudgey Banana Brownies
Three Years Ago: Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake
Five Years Ago: Perfect Summer Salsa and Dairy Free Cheesecake Pops

Continue reading: Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes

I can’t even explain to you guys how good these cookies are. Honestly. You are going to want to make these the next time you need a chocolate fix. Or you want to impress your friends. Or you just want to do something for yourself.

I made these on a whim because we were having friends over. I was glad I broke my own rule about always using my cupcake scoop for cookies. These were very rich and indulgent – I mean look at that batter, it looks just like ganache!

You know, Hubby keeps telling people that he’s not a chocolate guy. I think he’s lying through his teeth. Maybe I’ve converted him and he’s still in denial about it. I watched him gobble up quite a few of these without thinking twice. They were so good I had to get them out of the house so I sent a dozen home with our friends. I was glad I did it and then sad the next day when we didn’t have any cookies in the house. You win some and you lose some I guess…

One Year Ago: Purple Ombre Cake and How to Pipe a Rose (with Video)
Two Years Ago: Cinnamon Banana Bread
Three Years Ago: Cornish Hens with Garlic and Rosemary
Four Years Ago: Homemade Oreos
Five Years Ago: Mini chocolate-chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry and Caramel Filling and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Continue reading: Salted Dark Chocolate Truffle Cookies