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red slaw with honey tangerines
There is a grocery store here in Utah called Harmons that I will drive twenty minutes out of my way to visit. That may not sound like that far of a drive, but when you consider I pass at least eight other grocery stores, a Costco, and a Super Target on the way, those twenty minutes prove just how much I love it. I don’t make enough money to buy all my groceries there, and they don’t even have everything I could find at a Whole Foods, but their service is exceptional. It seems like everyone in there knows all there is to know about the food in their section. And there is always someone standing within five yards who can answer any of my questions.
Oh, and don’t get me started on their Cheese Man. I don’t know that he knows that I call him that—apparently, his real name is Andrew—but he knows everything there is to know about cheese, and he deserves the distinction.
Last week, I was there browsing (I like to browse at grocery stores. I once had a roommate flatmate from Australia who said this drove her CRAZY when we would shop together), and I was looking for something interesting. The kid in the produce section asked if he could help me, and I told him I was looking for fruit. He immediately suggested these honey tangerines (or Murcott tangerines), which are sweeter than other varieties, and suggested I put them in a salad. After some research on the internet, I found out that these tangerines only grow in Florida, and are available in the Spring.
Here is the salad I made.
healthier eating: quinoa and zucchini curry
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the biggest occupational hazard of writing a cookbook is getting fat. I just added an hour walk to my daily routine, but even so, my body and my brain seem to think a plate of cookies for my book—whether the recipe passes or fails—should be scarfed down, with the best intentions of being better tomorrow. Mm-hm. Right.
easter nonpareils
Every once in a while, my daughter goes through a bit of a dark phase, where she tells me she likes the color blue, and wants to wear black, and fingerless gloves. But she always comes back to pink. She also happens to be my little candy addict. When I saw this jar of pastel nonpareils in the seasonal cupcake section of Target, I thought immediately of my daughter, and how I would surprise her with these: white chocolate nonpareils shaped like easter eggs.
sausage and kale soup
My good friend Erin Summerill, likes to drag me to the Olive Garden, or the OG, as she calls it. She seems to have a never ending supply of coupons to that place. Though I prefer other restaurants in town, like Pizzeria 712, I do like their soup with the sausage and kale, which they call “Zuppa Toscana.” Erin often makes it at home. I thought it was about time for another copycat recipe, don’t you?
If you haven’t guessed by now, the cookbook has me completely swamped. If I’m not up to my chin in flour and powdered sugar, I am either working on the manuscript for the book, or procrastinating with episodes of Downton Abbey. So to keep myself from only eating cookies and cake that I’m testing, I have started making soup at the beginning of the week, and then serving myself a bowl or two of it everyday.
Last week, I remembered Erin’s homemade version of the sausage and kale soup at the Olive Garden, and I made it myself.
coeur à la crème with balsamic strawberries
I’ve always wanted to make one of these. Isn’t it beautiful? I saw Martha Stewart make one once, and then Ina Garten made one on her show. When Gojee.com invited me to a virtual potluck, I knew I had to share one. A coeur à la crème (french for “cream heart”) is basically cream cheese, cream, and sugar, whipped together, placed in a cheese cloth inside a mold of some kind, and then left to drain overnight.
Once you have one of these coeur à la crème molds, or even a strainer, it’s one of the easiest, most decadent desserts you’ll make. There is no baking involved—just mixing and pouring. And it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day.
mascarpone passionfruit fool
Since today is my birthday, I thought it was only fitting that I should post an incredibly easy, incredibly indulgent recipe. Awhile back, when I saw my favorite grocery store was selling passionfruit, I bought up as many as I could afford. Just so I could have them. They’re usually quite tricky to find, and I didn’t want the opportunity of having some pass me by.
But have you ever bought something wonderful at the store, and then found yourself with stage fright—staring at it, without a clue how to make it shine? The first few fruits, I just cut open, and scooped out the juicy flesh and ate it with a spoon. I dare say, that is truly the best way to enjoy passionfruit. But what about all of you? I couldn’t just post my pictures of the empty, wrinkled skins, and say “Wish you had been here!”
guacamole in 10 seconds
I recently received an email asking if I wanted to try a jar of Hot Cilantro Chutney from Bollywood Chutneys. When it came, I put it on the shelf, promising myself to get it out when I made something Indian. But then, on a Sunday afternoon, we had some avocados to use up, some corn chips, and a lime. I knew I’d be dreaming about guacamole into the night if I didn’t make some right then, but we were out of fresh cilantro. I then remembered the cilantro chutney, and within a couple of minutes, we had a perfect guacamole. Even my daughter liked it.
Jarred cilantro is now my new favorite invention. Whenever I buy cilantro fresh, I only use a sprig or two for one recipe, and then have to throw the rest away after it turns into liquid in my fridge. Then surely, a day later, I need to buy another bunch of it for another recipe. The brilliance of this chutney is that it even has hot chilies added in, so I don’t even need to try to find a wilted jalapeño at the bottom of the vegetable drawer.
homemade almond joy
A year ago, it seems like the internet exploded with homemade versions of all the fun packaged treats, i.e. pop tarts, Hostess cupcakes, peppermint patties, etc. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t do anything similar here on sophistimom. But just because I never rode that wave on my blog, it doesn’t mean my kids and I don’t love that kind of thing.
It’s a pretty regular Sunday afternoon ritual to come home from church, find out one of my kids didn’t get treats from his Sunday school teacher when one of my other kids did, and answer his or her whines with, “Don’t worry. I’ll make you some candy!” (Hm. Maybe that’s the trouble with my parenting: I make candy for them when they whine.)
Usually we end up making homemade Reeses peanut butter cups, which I can post another time (but the general idea is in this ancient post I did on making peanut butter turtles—and you can probably piece together how to do it from there). But a few Sundays ago, I wanted something a little different, so I tried making these homemade Almond Joy cups. I’m so glad I did.
Now if I could just figure out how to make those Almond Joy Pieces . . .
sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts on wilted greens with warm maple vinaigrette
My brother was just on the phone telling me I had hardly any savory recipes. This is for you, Joe.
It rained almost everyday last week. We even got snow on the mountains.
Those are the kinds of days I want to eat a skillet cookie for dinner. Or a big bowl of chili covered in melted cheddar, like this one my friend Shaina made. Those are the kinds of days I want something to warm me to the bone.
I think this salad accomplished just that.
heirloom tomato salad with burrata cheese
Hello, my friends, I’d like you to meet my new friend, burrata. This little lump of cheese has made me one of the happiest people in the world. And I think it will do the same for you.
I was first introduced to this little orb of the creamier, dreamier relative of fresh mozzarella, when my peeps at babble took us out to dinner in New York last year. Since then, I have been searching high and low for it in Utah. I am happy to announce, that last week, I found it at Whole Foods, one of my favorite places in the world.
