These days I’ve been feeling pretty lazy when it comes to preparing meals.  Gone is the enthusiasm to seek out recipes.  I’m constantly WAY behind on my Google Reader, and forget even looking at Foodgawker or Pinterest.  We’ve been eating some pretty lame, boring, repetitive meals.  I literally stand in the grocery and ask myself “What the hell are we going to eat tonight?”  I cannot WAIT for my CSA to start (this weekend!) because it gives me inspiration.  Until then, any dish that relies heavily on pantry staples is a lifesaver in my book, and that’s just what this one does.

I’ve also been a bit lazy when it comes to blogging, but I knew when I first tasted this that I needed to be sure and snap a picture so I could blog it.  I can’t guarantee how often I’ll be blogging new recipes after the baby comes, but I know I will continue to turn to my blog when I want to make recipes I know & love.  Not to sound selfish, but the number one thing I like about having my blog is for me to have fast & easy access to recipes I can trust.  Most often, it’s the “best of the best” when it comes to recipes I enjoy.  I’m so beyond even caring if Tastespotting/Foodgawker/whoever likes my photo.  I post a recipe with a fugly photo if I want, unashamed!

I must say though, this one doesn’t fall under the fugly category.  I find it to be every bit as good to look at as it was to eat!  This recipe is perfect for a summer get together as it can be eaten chilled or room temperature.  Or it would be great to whip up and eat for lunch!  I loved the balance of flavors between the beans, fire roasted red peppers, and the dijon mustard vinaigrette.

White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Salad

Yield: Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 for lunch on top of a bed of salad greens

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 small clove garlic, grated on a microplane
1 (16 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, salt, pepper, and garlic in a medium bowl. Stir in all remaining ingredients; refrigerate until serving.

from An Edible Mosaic

And, for all you Nashville locals, I just wanted to help spread the word that one of Nashville’s great neighborhood farmers markets is back open for business!  Beginning yesterday, the 12th South market located in Sevier Park off Clayton Ave & 12th Ave S will operate on Tuesdays, from 3:30 – 6:30pm.  So head out, listen to some music, and shop the produce, meats, cheese, & more!  Plus, it’s another chance to grab some food truck food, as the Grilled Cheeserie will be there each week.  For more info, including a full list of vendors, go to www.12southfarmersmarket.com.

We were so fortunate to have three baby showers thrown for us!  One was a surprise shower at work given by my awesome & amazing coworkers.  It had a bumble-bee theme and was TOO cute!  They included cupcakes from my favorite neighborhood cupcake shop, Cupcake Collection, and really hooked us up as far as gifts!  Things really began to feel real after this shower.

I was so overwhelmed I didn’t get a chance to take sufficient pictures of this adorable shower!  It was fun & cute!

Next up was the baby shower at my hometown church up in Kentucky, attended by church members & family.  Some of the people attending this shower have known me since I was a baby!  I sure was blessed to grow up in such an awesome & amazing community.  Baby racked up tons of great gifts, and we couldn’t be more thankful.

(Top: I “hinted” that a sheet cake was a waste of money, and not nearly as delicious as homemade, so my mom, Aunt Brenda, and my Mammy (grandmother) made a variety of delicious cakes! Middle: Opening gifts! Bottom: Nathan being silly with one of the books.)

And finally, rounding out the showers was a smaller shower thrown by my amazing aunt who I refer to as “The Queen of Showers” and my awesome cousin, a new mom herself, who helped choose the adorable theme.  They both worked hard and we had a really lovely day!  That shower was a “family shower” attended my aunts & grandmothers, and we were so blessed that some of Nathan’s aunts & Granny were able to come as well!

Just SOME of the spread!

No diaper cake, my aunt made this Diaper Big Wheel!  LOL, it was so cute!

And now… I’m so blessed to be showered with love from fellow food bloggers!  I was honored when Jessica asked me if I wanted to have a virtual food blog baby shower, so of course I said yes!  If you’re unfamiliar with this concept, basically you make a dish in honor of a fellow food blogger, and post it to your blog.  I love this concept, and can’t wait to see what the ladies have done for me!  Head over to The Novice Chef to see the roundup!

And since my posts are few & far between these days, I couldn’t not post a recipe myself to share.  Don’t go thinking I went and made something myself for my shower.  Nope!  This is a recipe my mom made as a contribution to my family shower.  She knows I love these mints.  They’re creamy & a bit refreshing, and melt in your mouth.  She’s made them for many wedding & baby showers in the past.  She’s says they’re really easy to make, and I know they’re delicious.  I’ve never personally made them, but now that I’ve got the recipe, who knows, I might have to make them myself!

Cream Cheese Candies

Yield: 6 dozen candies

Ingredients:

1 3oz package cream cheese softened
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar
food coloring (optional)
granulated or colored sugar

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese with peppermint extract. Beat in half the confectioners' sugar. Knead in remaining confectioners' sugar until smooth. Divide dough according to the number of colors you want, and add food coloring as desired. Shape dough into 1/2 inch balls and roll into granulated or colored sugar. Place on baking sheets, flatten with a fork, and allow to stand 1 hour to harden. Store in airtight containers in refrigerator.

SOURCE: My mother, who forgot what magazine she cut the recipe out of. ;)

My mom has always been known for bringing deviled eggs to potlucks.  Family gatherings, church gatherings, you name it, people expected her to bring deviled eggs.  I’m pretty sure there would be an uproar if she came sans this appetizer.  Perhaps it’s because I was always around them, but I never really liked deviled eggs that much.  I would take one bite, then scoop out the filling, and eat just the white.

So when Beth mentioned she was bringing deviled eggs to our Nashville Food Bloggers Christmas gathering, I was definitely intrigued.  I knew if she was making them, they’d have some kind of “twist”.  Sure enough, they were a delicious take on this longtime appetizer!  She made two versions, both stellar.  Since my mom has always been known for deviled eggs, I thought I’d try out both recipes Beth shared, and maybe pass the recipes along to my mom, as I know she gets bored of making them, yet continues to do it because people love them.

First I’ll share the Pimento Cheese version.  If you’re unfamiliar with this southern staple, two of it’s primary ingredients are cheddar cheese & mayonnaise, and of course, pimentos.  I’ve most often seen it served sandwiched on white bread, and occasionally alongside crackers.  Not intrigued?  Yeah, oddly, I’m not big on pimento cheese sandwiches.  But I have become addicted to Noble Springs Pimento Goat Cheese, which I think has opened my palate up to more upscale pimento cheese options.  The deviled egg version is basically a mashup between your basic deviled eggs, and pimento cheese.  I shared this recipe for deviled eggs with my mom, and she loved it!  She said it got rave reviews.  When I made them to share with friends they were also well received.  These might just be a new staple!

Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs

Yield: 24 servings

Prep Time: 20 min

Total Time: 1 hr 20 min

Tips I've found that work best for me for peeling hard boiled eggs:
Older eggs tend to peel better than fresh, so buy your eggs a week early or so.
Eggs from white shells tend to peel easier than ones from brown shells.

Ingredients:

12 large eggs
2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 oz (6 Tbsp) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp diced pimientos
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:

In a large pot over high heat, bring eggs, vinegar, and enough cold water to cover by 1 inch to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high to maintain a medium boil and cook eggs for 8 minutes. Drain and run eggs under cool water.

Fill a bowl with cold water, add eggs, and let sit for 20 minutes to cool at room temperature.

Peel eggs and halve lengthwise. Remove yolks and transfer to a medium bowl. Set aside whites on a serving plate. With a fork, break up yolks until fluffy.

To yolks, add cheddar cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, diced pimientos, dry mustard, salt, and freshly ground pepper; mix. Fill egg whites. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until ready to serve.

Country Living, as seen on Eat.Drink.Smile

Oh, hello!  Long time no post again!  As we approach the final weeks before baby comes, it seems every free moment is spent preparing for his or her arrival.  We’re constantly working on getting the house in order, taking classes at the hospital, not to mention I’m reading multiple books about babies, birth, and beyond.  Oh, and 4 weekends in a row have been/will be spent with a trip to KY of some sort!  I promise I am still cooking and baking, I just haven’t been as good about blogging.

These scones were my contribution to a Nashville Food Blogger get together.  Combining three of my favorite things: coffee, breakfast foods, & the word “potluck”, we were invited to get schooled on all things coffee by the lovely owners of Roast, Inc.  On a Sunday morning a while back, a bunch of us local bloggers met up to experience coffee at it’s finest.  I couldn’t begin to tell you how much we learned about different brewing methods, roasting, and more.  It was really great to meet people who have such an enthusiasm for what they do.

Second row latte art was done by me!  If this whole video editing thing ever fails me, I might just have to become a barista.  ;)

Now, onto the FOOD!  There were tons of delicious options including sausage biscuits, quiche, maple bacon cupcakes, donuts, muffins and more.  Needless to say, it was a good day to have an excuse to eat for two!  I remember being so worried that someone else would bring scones, and no one would eat mine.  Yeah… that didn’t happen.  These were nearly all gobbled up, I think we took only one back home!

I adore baking with fresh cranberries, and of course love the flavor of ginger.  When baked into these scones, the cranberries loose some of their tartness, and taste sweeter.  Of course the candied ginger gives an awesome kick of flavor as well.  These were so good, I baked another batch not long after.  I delivered a couple from that batch to our neighbor one morning when he had company over.  Apparently his company thought the scones were so good he wanted to go buy more from the bakery they came from!  Quite a compliment!  These scones were awesome, and I’m already craving them again.

Cranberry Cream Scones with Candied Ginger

Yield: 6 scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 heaping cup coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped candied ginger
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, cold
cream and sugar for topping (I skipped topping mine)

Directions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the cold butter and quickly work the butter into the flour mixture. Break up the butter until well incorporated into the flour. Some butter bits will be the size of peas, others will be as small as oat flakes. Toss in the cranberries and ginger and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg, vanilla extract, and heavy cream. Add the cream mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir quickly to ensure that all of the flour mixture is moistened by the cream mixture. Dump the shaggy dough mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and work together, kneading lightly, into a 1 1/2-inch thick disk.

Cut the disk into 6 wedges. (Because I knew I was feeding a crowd in a potluck/brunch situation, I made 2 disks, and cut those into 6 wedges, so I actually yielded 12 smaller scones.)

Place 2-inches apart on baking sheet and brush with cream and sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes until just cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. Scones are best served the day they are made, but these scones will last well wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze unbaked scones, and bake whenever you want a homemade treat with zero effort! Just add about 5-10 minutes or so to baking time.

adapted from Joy the Baker

The {epic} Oreo Cheesecake Cake for Nathan’s birthday wasn’t the only food I prepared for his party.  The theme of his party was a “beer share”.  He invited all of his craft beer loving friends to bring some craft beer to share.  I wanted to keep things light & snacky, so we had bar snacks like nuts & chex mix, chicken wings (not homemade, from Sam’s Club), a Black Bean Goat Cheese Dip (good, but not as good as I hoped), Nathan’s favorite queso dip with house made tortilla chips from local catering place Chef’s Market, ham sandwiches on cheddar scones also from Chef’s Market, and this Spicy Lemon Date Spread.

I chose this dip thinking it might pair well with some of the lighter, fruit inspired beers that would be at the party.  Whether it did or not I won’t know because #1 I was too busy running around playing hostess to eat much, and #2 I didn’t drink any beer with the whole “growing a human” thing I’ve been busy with.  (I did however drink a fabulous peach sparkling beverage from Target’s Archer Farms brand that was 100x better than that Welch’s crap I drank on New Years.)  What I do know is that I loved eating the leftover date spread the following couple days.  It has a touch of sweetness, a touch of spice, and a wonderful combo of flavors.  This is a dip I can definitely see myself making again.  I also think it would be great combined into some kind of tasty sandwich or wrap, even though I didn’t get around to doing that.

Spicy Lemon Date Spread

Yield: approx 2 cups

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups pitted, chopped dates
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
scant 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sea salt
warm naan or pita bread

Directions:

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped dates, lemon juice, water, zest, ginger, and spices to the pan. Simmer until almost all of the water is evaporated. The dates will begin to break down, and the simmering mixture will resemble a very thick stew., about 30-45 minutes (I cooked mine a full 45 min, as I wanted it to be nice & thick).

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Place mixture in the bowl of a food processor fit with a blade attachment. Puree mixture until smooth.

Spread is delicious warm and at room temperature. Spread will last, covered in the fridge, for up to 5 days.

slightly adapted from Joy the Baker, who slightly adapted from Party Like a Culinista