Kitchen Travels

Chewy Granola Bars

If you've been following along for a while, you may have noticed a slight shift in my recipes over the last year. For example, I strive to use organic ingredients as much as possible. I have also made the switch to natural, plant-based food coloring, choosing to avoid artificial food coloring ever since an unsettling blue frosting incident (you don't want to know). Because one of my kids seems to have a strong sensitivity to granulated sugar, I've been experimenting with alternative sweeteners such as honey, brown rice syrup, and maple sugar. 

There are many upsides to adopting a more natural diet. But, as you can imagine, organic foods can sometimes be more expensive than their non-organic counterparts. In my experience, this is especially true when it comes to kid-friendly items like crackers and snacks.

Easy, Homemade, Beautiful Burger Buns (with love)

It's Valentine's Day, and most food bloggers have been posting all kinds of sweet and beautiful treats on their blogs for the last few weeks. I know lots of people make a big deal of this "holiday" every year, and for many, expectations are high. There will be chocolate, heart-shaped confections, expensive dinners, champagne... or at least the hope for these things.

Not for me. Valentine's Day doesn't hold any particular magic or allure for me. Don't get me wrong -- I am not one of those people who hates Valentine's Day. It's nice, and the sentiment behind it -- a day dedicated to love -- is, well, lovely.But my husband and I have never been the type of couple who get starry-eyed simply because the calendar says February 14. Maybe it's because he worked in the bar and restaurant industry for so many years. Kind of hard to plan a special date on one of the busiest nights on the year.

Foraging and Roasting Fresh Chestnuts

This is the third in a series of "catchup" posts. xo

Chestnuts! For me, like many Americans, they are woven into the fabric of fall and winter holidays. In a way, we all grew up with chestnuts, or at least the idea of them. Each year when the weather turns cold, we know we'll hear Nat King Cole famously crooning about chestnuts roasting on an open fire. We'll be singing the songs we love to sing, at the fireplace as we watch the chestnuts pop. Pop! Pop! Pop! If we find ourselves in one of New York's five boroughs (or any number of European cities) around the holidays, we might be lucky enough to snag a cone of freshly roasted chestnuts, hot from the corner vendor. 

And if we're fans of those gorgeous holiday magazines - aren't we all? - we'll be reading about chestnuts and dreaming of ways to cook with them. I'd bet money that every single November issue of the now-defunct Gourmet magazine included at least one chestnut recipe. It's a tradition that I sorely miss.

Photography: Visiting the Farmer's Market & Antique Store

I love photography. In fact, making and sharing pictures is one of my favorite things about writing this blog. So you can imagine my excitement when some local business owners, after seeing my blog photos, expressed an interest in hiring me to make photos for their websites. I felt happy and humbled.

One of my potential clients was curious to see how I might photograph things other than food, such as a place, event or object. With that in mind, I set out this past weekend in search of inspiration. I found it at the farmer's market and a local antique store.

Meet-and-Greet with Oliver Ridgeway - Grange's New Executive Chef

This post is the second in a series of "catchup" posts. xo

Remember when I attended the Follow the Chef Lunch at Grange Restaurant & Bar last spring? You could probably tell that I just love that restaurant. When I heard the exective chef was leaving to pursue a new gig, I was pretty bummed so happy for him. Who would take his place? And would the new chef continue Grange's tradition of turning out the local, seasonal food I loved so much?

I got a chance to find out in early December when I was invited, along with a select group of local food bloggers, to participate in a recipe contest. We were asked to develop an original soup recipe, reflective of Grange's menu philosophy, one that would celebrate "the abundant, fresh, and local ingredients the Sacramento area is known for." The entries were to be judged by Grange staff, with the final winner selected by the new Executive Chef, Oliver Ridgeway. To wrap up the contest, Grange hosted an afternoon meet-and-great with Chef Ridgeway, where they announced the winner and gave all the contest participants a chance to sample the Chef's food. We even got to bring a guest. So in addition to spending an hour or two at a great restaurant, I got to have an actual date out with my husband. Yes!

Sparkling Sugared Cranberries - Happy New Year!

This is the first in a series of "catch up" posts. xo

Hey there, world. Did everyone have a nice holiday season? Having a happy new year so far? Ready for some new posts? I hope so, because we've got a lot of catching up to do. (Well, I guess in this blogger/reader relationship, I'm really the only one who needs to catch up. But I would love for you all to come along for the ride.)

You see, I've got a lot of photos and recipes stacking up in my computer that I've never posted here. I've  wanted to, I really have! But I have been pretty distracted the last couple months, and something had to give. I almost let all those would-be posts slide, seeing as how some of them aren't exactly timely any more. Hello... cranberries? In January? 

Wordless Wednesday: Chocolate Rosemary Truffle Cake with Rosemary Sea Salt Caramel

Autumn Leaf Cake, Scharffen Berger Bakery Crawl, and a Contest

Recently, I was fortunate enough to snag an invitation to a special event in San Francisco: a bakery crawl hosted by Scharffen Berger® Chocolate Maker. Scharffen Berger® was kicking off its latest contest: Elevate a Classic Dessert with Scharffen Berger® Chocolate (more on that later). As part of the launch, they challenged some of the city's best pastry chefs to elevate a classic dessert using Scharffen Berger® chocolate, and I was to be among a lucky group of food bloggers and writers to taste their creations.* An afternoon in the city, tasting chocolate and hanging with famous pastry chefs? Yes, please.

We met at the Scharffen Berger® Chocolate store in the Ferry Building Marketplace on a beautiful Friday afternoon, then boarded the trolley car which would take us on our Bakery Crawl. I knew from some pre-event Twitter exchanges that a few familiar food blogger faces would be on the trolley with me, including Irvin from Eat The Love and Benjamin from You Fed A Baby Chili?, 

Irvin and Ben photos courtesy of Scharffen Berger® Chocolate Co.

along with Catherine from Munchie Musings, and Sheri and Larry from Pork Cracklins.

Raspberry and Fig Jam

Making homemade jam is a little bit like finding true love.

Some people think it's not worth the trouble. That it's too much work, too difficult, too time-consuming. And with all those hot juices bubbling away, there's a good chance you might get burned.

Wordless Wednesday: Fruit Tart