Food

During both of my pregnancies, I’ve had this strange obsession with all things lemon. There are nights where I drool just thinking about a tall glass of lemonade. For someone who was never really that into lemons or lemon products, this pregnancy ‘craving’ is quite the newfound obsession.

Pumpkin is everywhere, so it must be September. Starbucks brings back it’s famed pumpkin spiced latte. Pinterest is bloated with pumpkin recipes, and I’m totally fine with it. I make some pretty darn yummy pumpkin cookies (coming soon), but I wanted to try something new to kick off autumn.

We left Phoenix for Lawrence, KS while my husband attended law school. Lawrence has tons of small-town charm, but I missed the variety and volume of bigger city dining options. Despite being small, the Lawrence culinary community did do a few things very well. For example, our proximity to Kansas City gave us access to some of the best BBQ in the world. Also, I’d put the French toast at Milton’s Café up against anyone’s in the country.

I’ve never made a tart before. Given it was Labor Day weekend, I wanted to create something new and a bit more challenging. Since I almost always choose to bake sweet things, I thought it would be fun to try something on the savory side. I originally wanted to make an heirloom tomato tart, but I was underwhelmed by the selection at the Farmer’s Market. I found this recipe while searching for tomato and onion tarts, so decided to change up the filling a bit, but used this recipe as a base.

How did I come up with Oatmeal Molasses Cookies with Apricots? Awhile back, my friend Pam sent me a picture of some tarts she had purchased from a nearby bakery that they looked ridiculously good. They were from the Blackmarket Bakery in the Camp. I finally made my way over there a couple of weeks ago. Most everything inside the bakery looked delicious, but the one item I couldn’t pass up was their ‘Blackstrap Betty’, which is a chewy molasses cookie with chunks of dried apricot.

I start jonesing for citrus fruits when the temperature rises. When I’m thirsty, I think lemonade (“that cool refreshing drink”). At the farmer’s market, I get all buddy-buddy with my favorite grapefruit vendor, which means laughing at his reoccurring jokes about the clash between morning toothpaste/mouthwash and citrus.

For a few short weeks each year, it is stone-fruit season. As I previously highlighted the peach, when I saw these plums at the Farmer’s market, I couldn’t help but pick up a bunch and feverishly search for an interesting recipe to use the lovely purple jewels. Ironically, I found another UK dessert, so had to translate it like I did for my brownie recipe. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this cake made for a nice ending to a summer-night.

I just recently joined Pinterest. The thing I like most about Pinterest is the rush of creative ideas, interesting recipes and DIY projects I have at my fingertips. When I saw a ‘Phish Food’ brownie recipe, I immediately thought about my sister’s upcoming birthday. She isn’t much for sweets, and usually opts for carrot cake on her birthday, but she has always had a thing for Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food frozen yogurt. I can recall our early twenties when we lived together in Minnesota, every now and then a pint would spend a few days in our freezer as she’d savor a spoonful at a time. I thought home-made Phish Food-inspired brownies would be a perfect little something for her birthday.

My husband’s first Father’s Day was the perfect excuse to make his favorite summer dessert, peach cobbler. There is no shortage of peach cobbler recipes online, with endless variations on the theme. My husband reassured me that recipes, in general but especially for this dish, were guides and not the gospel, as his “Big Mama” pretty much went by taste. I decided to adapt this recipe. It had a strong rating even after over 1400 reviews. How could I go wrong?