Brown Sugar Broiled Grapefruit

Summer desserts are so simple – a handful of fresh berries from the farmer’s market is usually all it takes to satisfy my sweet tooth.  On the other hand, winter fruits are harder to so readily consume, therefore winter desserts are usually heartier and more time consuming to create.

But sometimes I want a dessert on a blustery winter’s night that feels just as simple as reaching for that handful of summer berries.  Pink grapefruit is one of my favorite fruits, a bright, fresh taste and smell to cheer up the long winter months.  Sprinkling just a bit of brown sugar on top and then placing under the broiler yields a delicious, warming dessert in less than five minutes.

Chocolate Soufflé Cake

I completely forgot to share this recipe with you all back in May. Just as my job was shifting into full-gear for our annual event, my slated recipes and blog posts took a bit of a backseat to the 100-hour workweeks. Hopefully you can forgive me for hanging on to this gem of a recipe; I promise this one is worth the wait.

I created this dessert for a friend’s surprise 30th birthday party. It still strikes me odd that I am somehow old enough to have friends who have entered their third decade of life, even if I am only a few years behind them. It doesn’t seem so long ago when being in your thirties seemed incredibly adult and, well, old to me.

My view of turning thirty might have changed as I grew older, but there is nothing like a chocolate dessert to lessen any blow one might feel about joining a new age group. I needed a delicious, simple recipe – a crowd-pleaser amongst a group of people with varying tastes. I also needed a gluten-free dessert, so every person could indulge as desired. This chocolate soufflé cake fit my requirements perfectly and made a lovely vessel to hold a candle as we all sang our birthday wishes on a beautifully cool May evening, overlooking the East River and Queensboro Bridge.

Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Writing a food blog keeps me honest, but not in the sense of being truthful (which I am) or not providing faulty recipes (which I don’t). By honest, I simply mean I am forced to try an array of different recipes, no matter how much I may just want homemade graham crackers with a cold glass of milk everyday for the rest of my life.

The big downfall to this honesty is that after pursing our inspiration in the kitchen, meticulously recording ingredients and methods, writing a thoughtful post, and photographing the finished product, bloggers - including myself - tend to wipe our hands clean of improving upon the published recipe. Despite the notes I make on what to try differently or how to improve the recipe the next time, I rarely consult these notes in attempts to devise an even better version.

A few weeks ago, a certain someone looked over at me longingly and whimpered, “What does a boy have to do to get some mint chocolate chip ice cream around here?” To remedy the situation, I consulted the recipe I developed and posted last summer. But just as I was poised to shatter the first egg’s delicate shell, my notes flashed through my mind. I gently set the undisturbed egg back in its crate and consulted lots of different recipes for this ice cream, comparing the ratios of each, in attempts to achieve the changes I desired. The result was the best mint chocolate chip ice cream I have ever tasted. This, I promise you, will be the version I will keep and make each time someone bats his baby blues my way.

Valentine's Day Monster Cookies

We all have those days - the ones where nothing seems to go right and each frustration is followed by another. The days that drag on forever with no end in sight. It is equally frustrating when these inevitable days happen to a loved one, leaving me helpless to offer better advice than, “Life sucks sometimes. I’m sorry.”

While I may be at a loss in offering eloquent, inspiring words, I always know I can whip up a quick batch of cookies to provide comfort at the end of a bad day. Monster cookies are a perfect choice - mixing them up is effortless - and I can customize the colors of the M&Ms to whatever the occasion might be.

Bourbon Ice Cream

Sometimes I wonder if I am the type of girl who people think would enjoy bourbon. Ladies are supposed to enjoy sipping champagne, big glasses of wine, and sugary cocktails. And while I do rather enjoy my wine, some moments in life require a glass of Maker’s. Neat, please.

Around the holidays, I started seeing recipes for bourbon eggnog, which you think may have peaked my interest. But drinking warm milk and eggs, even with a boost of bourbon, just is not my type of thing. However - frozen milk and eggs with bourbon? That combination seemed heaven-sent. I had no idea if this brilliant idea would actually work, facing the little technicality that alcohol does not actually freeze. More specifically, a certain ratio must exist between the components, to ensure the ice cream will still freeze, even with the added alcohol.

I am happy to tell you that the below recipe holds the perfect ratio of milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and Maker’s. Each scoop of ice cream emerges effortlessly and unimaginably smooth from the container. The usual ‘burn’ of the bourbon is chilled, only revealing the oak-y, vanilla flavor behind the alcohol.

Homemade Chicken Stock

At the beginning of the year, I started thinking about the store-bought ingredients I use on a daily basis in my cooking and baking. I focused particularly on the items consuming a large chuck of my grocery bill and brainstormed ways to reduce their cost. For some items, the solution was simply to buy less to ensure minimal waste.

But this solution was not entirely feasible when it came to an ingredient like chicken stock. During the cold winter months, I enjoy throwing together soups and stews a few times each week, sometimes requiring a total of four quarts of chicken stock. At $3.50 a quart, store-bought stock consumed a noticeable portion of my grocery bill, so I decided to try my hand at making a homemade version.

Now on Sunday mornings, I roast a small chicken, then tear the juicy meat from the bones, reserving the meat for upcoming weeknight meals. I place the bones and drippings in my grandfather’s dutch-oven, throw in a few vegetables and seasonings, and the stock simmers away with the afternoon hours. As you might imagine, the flavor of a homemade stock is unmatched, meaning I stretch my stock to last throughout the week, effectively eliminating the cost associated with purchasing store-bought versions.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Every year, about three weeks into the month of January, I start dreaming of beaches, sand, bikinis, warm sunshine, and margaritas. I shut my eyes tightly and plead to be transported somewhere, anywhere, warmer than here. These next three months, the long weeks between the bustle of the holidays and fluttering down the sidewalk in a cute sundress, toughen up us New Yorkers. Or at least it toughens up those of us who have migrated from warmer climates.

Mother nature has thrown us an especially harsh winter this year - an endless stream of storms coupled with unyielding frigid temperatures. This type of cold seeps deeply into your bones, only melting away by tucking yourself tightly under a down comforter and cupping a steaming cup of homemade hot chocolate. As each sip passes my lips, it warms me from head to toe, and I am one sip closer to the warmer days ahead.

Kale Chips

I know what you are thinking. I can hear the tone of disgust in your thoughts. Kale chips? Really?!

I know, I know. For two years, I adamantly refused to create these chips, knowing there was no way they could replace the love I felt for a perfectly crisp kettle-cooked potato chip. But not too far into the new year, I grew tired of the bland, boring dinner salad and started hankering crunchy, salty chips to accompany our sandwiches. Knowing I would have zero self-control once the bag was opened, I unwillingly opted to pick-up a bunch of kale and give this recipe an honest try.

But that was far from the biggest hurdle I would need to clear. Mike returned home from work just as I was placing the green leaves, glistening with olive oil, into our small oven. Upon being informed of what these leaves would become and, yes he would be expected to at least try one, he started sulking and glaring at the oven.

Homemade Muesli

At the beginning of a new year, I ponder just how many people resolve to lose weight. Start exercising! Exercise more! Eat less! Eat healthier!

After college, I lost weight consumed by mug fulls of beer at the local bar and for two glorious years, I did not resolve to lose one pound. I loved running, rarely missed a day at the gym, and packed healthy meals for work each day. The pounds slipped off and stayed off.

The problem arose when I left the comfort and schedule of my office job. Suddenly, food surrounded me all the time, every cookie promising to comfort my stress and worries. Ten pounds later, the stress remained alongside the jeans I could no longer fit into.

So I imagine I joined the majority of Americans this year in vowing to readjust my diet and exercise routines. However, I must also be realistic - in my chosen career path, food will always be readily available and stress will always be plentiful. My indulgences are wine and dessert and I adamantly refuse to give these up.

Since I am already approaching shedding of these stubborn pounds with a resistant attitude, I know I am going to have to make adjustments elsewhere.

Gingersnap Ice Cream

I love the boldness of flavors in a gingersnap cookie - the spicy ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom exquisitely balanced by the sweetness of the molasses - exploding on my tongue with the first nibble.

Not every person favors this flavor profile, in fact most people either love or hate this ginger-infused dessert. Fair warning: if you are not smitten with gingersnaps, you will probably want to skip this recipe.

Unlike many gingersnap ice creams, crushed gingersnaps are not mixed into a milder tasting ice cream base. Instead, this recipe infuses the custard with all the spices and sweetness you find in the cookie. The flavors are not shy, which is exactly why I love it so much.

If you are like me and crave complex, comforting flavors of a gingersnap whenever the temperature dips below freezing, you should spin a batch of this ice cream immediately.

Do not allow the cold weather deter you from enjoying a generous scoop of this frozen deliciousness. The spiciness will take the chill off any winter day.

Butternut Squash Soup with Cream & Spiced Nuts

Today, as most Americans are recovering from a massive food hangover, I will be preparing and serving a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

With the help of my good friend Victoria, and a glass of wine or three, we will serve an entire turkey dinner from my closet-sized kitchen, equipped with two gas burners and a counter top oven.

The key to ensuring this dinner goes off without a hitch has been major planning and plenty of advance prep work. Anything and everything that could be made in advance is sitting, neatly labeled in my half-sized refrigerator.

This soup whipped up beautifully a few days before our actual feast. The recipe yielded more soup than I expected, so I simply froze half for the bitter winter days ahead.

To elevate the soup just a bit for serving, I will add a drizzle of heavy cream and a pinch of spiced nuts, which conveniently can also be made ahead of time.

Now that I am armed with a beautiful appetizer, I can focus my attention on more important matters, like praying the brining bag does not explode all over the refrigerator.

Homemade Ricotta

Ricotta cheese has never been a favorite of mine. Perhaps my distaste results from calzones stuffed with incredibly unhealthy amounts of watery, flavorless amounts of this cheese.

As such, I have always steered away from using ricotta as a star ingredient in any of my savory dishes and especially not in any of my sweet desserts.

But my strike against ricotta came to a fateful end at a cozy restaurant in Italy, where Mike and I shared our first non-airline, non-airport food in a long 20 hours. Being in Italy, we chose to indulge in pizza - I chose margarita and Mike chose ricotta with sausage.

After our first few bites, we cut off a slice to exchange with each other. I tentatively took a bite of the ricotta-sausage pizza, hoping to be able to keep down the rubbery, flavorless ricotta on a mostly empty stomach.

But the flavor and texture of the ricotta was shocking. "It's so pillow-y! It's...it's like clouds!" I exclaimed, as the supermodel-esque table next to us glanced over from their salads, annoyed.

Mike agreed with a nod and silent smile.

Mulled Apple Cider

A fall wind is whipping through the dark, crowded streets of Manhattan this evening. The chill makes me want to seek shelter under my puffy down comforter and stay huddled there for the remainder of the day.

But it is even more comforting to mull some apple cider on the stove top, allowing the spices to fill the apartment with their familiar, homey scent. Twenty minutes later, I can wrap my hands around the mug containing the fragrant, warm liquid.

One sip and I am warmed down to my tippy toes.

Martha's Apple Butter

When cool fall days arrive here in Manhattan, I instinctively begin to miss home.  The smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves make me homesick for weekends I spent baking with my mother and nights when my father would slowly mull apple cider on the stove top.

Perhaps what I miss most about being home in Virginia are the people - family and friends.  Besides feeling nostalgic for my own family and food, I miss the community.

My parents talk about our neighbors as very close friends - our conversations include updates on all the neighborhood children, pets, and get-togethers.  A community that considers each other family and are quick to offer a helping hand.

Meanwhile,  as I juggle grocery bags and dig in my purse for the keys, my neighbors walk quickly past without even so much as a hello.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

We all have that one ice cream flavor that continually has the ability to transport us to younger, summer days.  The flavor we chose as our reward for, perhaps, nothing more than being a kid.

As an adult, that very same ice cream flavor reminds us of days when our biggest decisions were the vessel to hold the ice cream - cup, sugar cone, waffle cone - and our most stressful moments were in not allowing a single drop of ice cream to escape down the side of the cone.

When I asked Mike to reveal his favorite childhood ice cream flavor, he adamantly answered, "Mint chocolate chip."  No question.

Since he has been particularly sweet and supportive these past few weeks, I decided to spin a homemade version of his beloved mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Watermelon-Lime Vodka Granite

During the summer months, I rarely desire a heavy dessert at the end of any meal.  Instead, a perfectly ripe piece of fruit or a refreshing sorbet seem to be just perfect.

So I guess it goes without saying that I also do not desire to spend a large amount of time in my kitchen creating a dessert during these months.

My kitchen is the size of most walk-in closets and does not benefit from air conditioning.  So creating intricate, delicate or otherwise fussy desserts in the summmer is not exactly an option.

Enter granite - a quick, simple and fuss-free process yields an icy, refreshing end to any meal.

Using watermelon juice, with a touch of lime juice and a splash of vodka, I was able to create a perfectly summer flavor combination, in less than 5 minutes preparation time.

Lemon Verbena Water Ice

The summer days are dwindling away, although the hot, humid summer air seems to be holding on for dear life.

At night, when the setting of the sun offers a few hours of relief from the heat, a lightly sweetened, fragrant dessert offers the perfect conclusion of the day.

A simple water ice always reminds me of my younger summer days, which I enjoyed between catching lightening bugs with my little sister.

Since neighborhood ice cream trucks, as well as lightening bugs, are noticeably absent here in Manhattan, the creation of such water ices are left completely in my hands.

Lemon verbena, an herb whose leaves are scented with the fresh, clean scent of lemon, is a welcome addition to flavor the syrup before it is frozen.

Homemade Cracker Jacks

Last night, Mike and I met for a date.  A date on which we would remain enemies until the very end of the night.  A date on which we exchanged glares instead of loving glances, snappy comments instead of loving words.

But that is to be expected between a couple comprised of a die-hard Yankees fan and die-hard Red Sox fan.

The problem of the evening, however, is that the game was in New York, not in my beloved, cozy Fenway Park.  As you might suspect, Yankees fans are not big on Red Sox fans crashing their stadium.

Not even tall, blonde females.

Chocolate Mousse

During the hazy days of summer, when my motivation is somewhat crippled between long, hot shifts in the kitchen and the unyielding heat, I tend towards creating very simplistic desserts in my own kitchen.

This is not a foreign feeling to me, the desire for my desserts to be quick, but incredibly tasty.  After moving to Manhattan, I lived in an apartment for over a year with absolutely no oven.  As much as I detested that period, looking back, it forced me to try tons of recipes that did not require the usage of any oven: candies, custards and frozen treats.

This recipe for chocolate mousse is one of my favorite discoveries of that period.  Since my first creation of this mousse, I have tweaked the recipe, ever so slightly, to include the usage of Maker's Mark, my favorite bourbon.  With just the slightest undertones of vanilla, the bourbon provides an incredible lushness to this dessert.

Serve with freshly whipped, slightly sweetened cream and let the swooning begin.

Monster Cookies

I had the best intentions to post this recipe last week.  Truly.

But life picked up speed last week and, while everything that is happening is exciting, it left little time to think, let alone write.

At the restaurant, my chef will prepare these every so often as a special treat for both the line cooks and pastry cooks.  She said she found the recipe in an old church cookbook and has been making them, much to the enjoyment of others, ever since.