Smarter Supper | Roasted Tomato Sauce

I’m eating tomato toast as I write this, not because I love tomato toast but, more or less because I had a craving for toast and there are so many damn tomatoes in our kitchen right now.  I wanted to have a lovely little garden but at a plant sale this spring I got a little crazy and bought 16 tomato plants.  I clearly had no idea how many tomatoes would come from 16 plants and the rainiest year I’ve seen in Georgia yet. 

S'mores Ice Cream Cake

Sorry, I'm not sorry. Allow me to go out on a limb here, guys. I try to keep this blog pretty practical, mostly nutritious, and classic. Or I at least like to have a good excuse to be completely ridiculous (see here for an example of my reasonable insanity). 

Thirsty Thursday | Cucumber Collins

The Collins is such a classic cocktail it even has a namesake  glass. And I'd be so bold to call the Collins the official drink to wrap up summer - especially this cucumber riff on it. 

Feeding Baby | Nana's Frosty

Today's recipe is like our Thirsty Thursday for the under 5 set. There is no booze, but I consider the banana frosty as much a classic kids drink as the Shirley Temple. Maybe you know this banana smoothie by any other name: Banana Freeze, Faux Ice Cream, or as we call it in our house - 'Nana's Frosty. 

The BLP | Bacon, Lettuce, + Peach Sandwich

There is a small problem in my house: my husband does not like tomatoes. Sure, he'll eat tomato sauce, but do not try to serve that man a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich; in fact don't even eat it in front of him. 

Though he helped plant 16 tomato starters in our vegetable garden this year and has lovingly weeded them, pruned, and nurtured them. He still refuses to eat a ripe, perfectly seasoned, raw tomato. And I refuse to make dinner twice.

On Gardening + Buttermilk Herb Dressing

Here is something I never thought I'd say: I'm a gardener. Until this spring I had managed to kill more plants than I had kept alive and I felt like I tried everything. I tried container gardening on apartment balconies, my husband built raised beds in the first house we rented together, but every summer ended in a few squash and a bunch of dead tomato plants. I even managed to kill a few cacti, which I was told were impossible to kill. Still I didn't quit trying. 

Strawberry Granita

"Keep it simple" is probably the best cooking advice to remember this time of year. Fresh peas, tart cherries, tender spring greens, even sweet strawberries don't need much to dress them up. 

But what kind of food blogger would tell you that the best way you could enjoy those tiny, tender, sweet, spring strawberries is with a little whip cream or a drizzle of red wine? A boring one, thats what kind.

Thirsty Thursday | Dirty Shirley

Oh, Shirley! You classy lady, you've been with me since I was a little girl. A Shirley Temple is the first drink I ever ordered at a bar. Really! My dad worked in restaurants throughout my early childhood and I remember bellying up to the bar, (before the restaurants were open), ordering this drink, and feeling like a real pro. 

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Ella's Carolina Sauce

This post is full of confessions:

1. I like to smoke things 

2. I'm kind of lazy 

3. I'm self-conscious of my non-Southern linage 

4. I've been hanging onto this recipe for a while. 

5. I like to make lists

I hadn't smoked a thing in my life until I moved to Georgia. The only smoked meat I'd eaten in the 22 years I lived before I migrated here consisted solely of smoked salmon. Once I landed in Atlanta, a veritable melting pot of smoked meat (because it doesn't "own" a particular style of BBQ as other regions do), I started eating a lot of barbecue. For my Northern friends and family, barbecue in the South doesn't just mean you just fire up the grill; Oh no, no - in the South barbecue means smoke and time. 

DIY | Home-brewed Root Beer

It's important to try new things. We all get caught up in our normal live-work routines, our weekly do-to lists, our schedules, and calendar reminders. Routine is good, healthy even, but when is the last time you did something for the first time? Now I'm not talking about diving out of a plane or walking on fire - I just mean getting a little outside of your comfort zone; Doing something new to you culinarily is a great way break your routine. 

Thirsty Thursday | Easy Horchata

My office recently moved into a different neighborhood and just down the street is a tiny taco place. We've been going for lunch at least once a week since unpacking. The tacos are delicious, but the real star is their house horchata - it made me fall in love with the drink all over again. 

Horchata is a traditional sweet Mexican beverage made from ground rice and flavored with cinnamon. Variations abound widely - some have lime, most are made with milk, but others are made with water. Traditional Spanish recipes are made with chafu nut (don't worry I hadn't heard of it either). 

I was on a mission to make some horchata myself to share with my family (and you) in time for Cinco de Mayo. I tried two recipes for homemade horchata this week and both failed; One was weak and watery, the other thick and gooey. I resolved to keep working on a recipe and try to bring it to you next year. 

Late last night I had an epiphany - you can totally buy rice milk. This is a total cheat, inauthentic, and probably about as blasphemous as a bunch of American's using a Mexican holiday as an excuse to eat too many tacos and drink too much tequila. Just saying. 

So you might call this cheater's horchata, but I promise it is delicious and will help wash down all that salsa this weekend. 

Easy Horchata 
Makes 8 (8 ounce) drinks  

2 quarts rice or almond milk 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for garnishing
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped 
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (optional, omit if using sweetened milk) 
pinch of salt 
lots of ice
8 ounce dark rum, optional 

Combine the rice milk, ground cinnamon, vanilla bean, and brown sugar, and salt in a large pitcher. Refrigerate for at least an hour but ideally overnight. Serve over lots of ice with an additional sprinkle of cinnamon. 

Add an ounce of dark rum to each serving for adults. 

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Cookies are like the poor middle child of the dessert world; Not nearly as elegant and grand as a layer cake, or cute and charming like a pie. When asked to make something special for a celebration, I almost always rely on cake or pie. April has been such a busy, busy month filled with birthdays that I just haven't had time for my usual celebration cakes. 

Chickpea Burgers + Crispy Carrot Fries

The battle of my pantry has begun! So far I've actually managed to add things to my freezer (whole wheat pancakes and these burgers) while also using both pantry and fridge items up in the process. I'm seeing more pantry room already! 

Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

Dear Lovely Neighbor:  

So sorry for the other night when my husband had a five-ton truck stuck in your driveway. Thank you for parking in ours while we waited for the tow truck. Also sorry about that patch of grass and for what was surely a lot of swearing coming from said husband. 
I hope your little boy enjoyed seeing that semi-truck lifter pick that five-ton off the ground and that you will accept these Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies as a token of both apology and thanks.  

Sorry and thanks again, Meghan 

Thirsty Thursday: Clementine Hot Toddy

Winter is this|close to being over and wouldn't you know it, last week I had my first sick session of the year. Snotty nose, sore throat, congestion, headache - the whole damn shebang. But you know, I took the whole thing in stride, by creating a cocktail that I will now promote as a cure all as to excuse my day drinking. 

FEEDING BABY: Leftover Oatmeal Muffins

*Cora is the Winner of the Breakfast for Dinner giveaway from last  week! Congrats Cora, I'll be sending you an e-mail shortly.*

Well, it has been quite a while since we talked about feeding baby, huh? I guess I was all caught up in playing mama and got too busy to share what I was making for our daughter, Ella. I had planned and shot a couple of posts along the way but they never made it here. Now Ella is 13 months and a lot has changed since we first introduced purees. 

Raw Cocoa-Nut Bites

Confession #1: I'm trying to quit eating refined sugar. 
Confession #2: It isn't going very well. Mostly, I don't think wine should count as sugar, because it is very clearly fruit. 

Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles and the Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012

It is officially baking season! Yes, I believe there is a season for butter and sugar. Strawberries and tomatoes get their season in the spotlight, so why shouldn't cozy spices too? 

the Smarter Supper series: Lentil Tacos

Lentils are one of my favorite legumes, because they don't require soaking or long cooking and they are still full of fiber and protein. I started experimenting with them as a replacement for ground meat this summer and while lentil loaf isn't making another appearance in my kitchen for ever a while again - these 'taco lentils' are in heavy rotation. 

{Feeding Baby}: Firsts

Let's keep things real around here. Ella's first "real food" {as in non-formula} was not a puree of the lovely organic carrots you see above. Her very first was brown rice cereal, followed by oat cereal, and then very ripe bananas. So, you know, nothing worth snapping a picture of.