Thirsty Thursday | Maple Old Fashioned

Most folks make a big fuss about turning 30, but the coming year will be one of the most challenging to date for yours truly. Yup, I turned 29 last week. 

Easy Curried Pumpkin Soup

Sometimes I don't want to write headnotes. I want to skip any superfluous wording and head right to the recipe. This is one of those recipes - Crazy Easy Curried Pumpkin Soup that takes as little time as opening a can of soup would to heat. The smartest of smart supper recipes, I dare say. 

Feeding Baby: Cooking with Toddlers 101

My daughter has always been an active participant in our kitchen. When she was a baby, I'd stick her in a bouncy seat and let her listen to cooking from a safe distance. I'd share tools with her while I cooked as she grew. Later, I'd even pull her highchair up to a counter and let her watch and play while I cooked. We've recently entered ruthless toddler-hood and now she wants to "help" with everything! 

No Bake Granola Cookies

Life is a lot about perspective. For example, I would call this recipe a praline - a sweet, almost candy cookie, but my husband keeps referring them as "breakfast cookies. You know I can always get behind dessert for breakfast - so I don't argue. 

Thirsty Thursday | Chai Spiced Apple Cider

Surely I'm breaking some food blogger code by saying this, but I'm just not that into all the "Pumpkin Spice" stuff that pops up in the fall. Mostly because "Pumpkin Spice" isn't an actual flavor. I get it - its much easier to call your product "Pumpkin Spice" than it is to say "Cinnamon, Clove, and Nutmeg Spiced" or even "Fall Spice". Wait, I take that back - "Fall Spice" is easier and more descriptive. 

Good Morning Muffins

This may or may not be a blogpost about how I told my toddler we were having cupcakes for breakfast, when, in fact, we actually ate muffins full of fruit, vegetables, and wheat germ. And she liked it. 

ATL LOVE | Grant Park

This is the last of ATL LOVE Series! Thank you to Natalie, Lesley, Nicole, Patty, Lindsay, Jana, Erika, Amber, and Natasha for covering this blog space while I've been busy unpacking. We'll return to regularly scheduled blogging later this week! 

Our last stop of the ATL love series we're head to Grant Park!

Natasha Steinberg of Tartlet Sweets is showing us around her 'hood. Natasha is a talented photographer, recent grad school graduate, and lawyer to be. Her seed and nut loaf recipe is crazy delicious! 

find more of Natasha: twitter/instagram/pinterest/facebook

  

What you love about your hood: It's beautiful, tons of trees, unique houses, quiet, and walkable.

Favorite breakfast/brunch: My house! Breakfast is my favorite meal, and we hardly ever have it out because we love to make it ourselves.

Favorite coffee stop: SteadyHand Pour House. Although they're in transition, I'm still super loyal to them... partly because one of the owner's is my boyfriend, but my answer would be the same even if that weren't the case!

Best working lunch: I used to work in Midtown and absolutely loved going to the food truckson Thursdays. I'm sadly too far away now for that to be a feasible working lunch, but I'm sure it's still just as awesome.

Best date night bet: Once upon a time, I would have said Pura Vida, which is no longer open unfortunately. Now, I would say Abattoir. It's in a cool area and isn't too crazy. We have sat at the bar a couple times and ordered some plates and wine, and it has always ended up being the perfect, unplanned date night! We are also huge fans of dates on Buford Hwy. It's fun to try out different kinds of amazing food, and it's cheap!

Best meeting friends for drinks: Paper Plane for cocktails, Brick Store for beer

Favorite dessert stop: Cakes & Ale or Little Tart... I love a good pastry, and both deliver on that front.

Donuts, pie, or ice cream: Morelli's has amazing ice cream. The rosemary olive oil is my favorite.

Diner, greasy, spoon or grab and to-go dinner: Hankook! The sesame fries are toooooo good.

Neighborhood Shop or Farmer’s Market: Grant Park Farmer's Market is one of the things I look forward to every weekend, which is probably a given considering I live in the neighborhood. They have so many awesome vendors, and I am usually able to get all my fresh veggies for the week.

Non-food shopping: I love wandering around Kudzu and picking up random little things. Highland Row Antiques and Young Blood Gallery are good for that too.

more ATL LOVE: Marietta|East Atlanta Village|Tucker|Buckhead|Decatur |Westside|Roswell