Foodie Parties

Baked Goods Breakfast Foodie Parties Vegetarian

Apple Spice Muffins

written by Ali

My contribution to Novel Foods #37 is Apple Spice Muffins. It’s been quite some time since I’ve participated in Simona’s wonderful event that she hosts on her blog, briciole. Fortunately, Novel Foods #37 came along right when I started blogging again.

The inspiration for apple spice muffins is a cozy mystery series that I just recently stumbled across - the Magical Bakery Mysteries by Bailey Cates. I love cozy mysteries that involve food, especially those set in a bakery. In this particular series, our intrepid heroine, Katie Lightfoot, also happens to be a witch. A good one, of course. She happens to belong to a coven that includes her Aunt Lucy, with whom she also owns the Honeybee Bakery. Katie is just discovering her witchy powers, as her mom and dad (also witches) tried to protect her from the witch world. Of course, Katie is also caught up in a love triangle of sorts with the Druid Steve and the firefighter, non-witch, Declan. Plus, Katie has an adorable familiar in the form of a Cairn Terrier named Mungo. Because, it’s a cozy mystery, of course.

Lucy and Katie infuse all their baked goods with witchy positivity, which takes the form of various spices and herbs. I’m definitely going to be making lavender biscotti and cheddar sage scones that get referenced several times in the first few books at some point this winter. In the meantime, apple spice muffins seem like they are a perfect spell for happiness on a cozy, rainy winter day. I’ll be curling up with a cup of tea, and the third book in the series, Charms and Chocolate Chips, with one of these muffins.

Yum

Apple Spice Muffins

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 small apple, finely diced (about 1 cup)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and brown sugar.
Add the eggs, almond milk, vanilla and olive oil.
Mix to just combine. Fold in the apples.
Use muffin liners in a 12 cup muffin tin. Fill each cup 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of a muffin comes away clean.
Makes 12.
Enjoy!

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October 18, 2019 6 comments

Farmer's Market Foodie Parties Lunch Recipes Main Dishes Quick and Easy Salad

Cocoa Coffee Rubbed Salmon

written by Ali

Cocoa Coffee Rubbed Salmon will transform the way you prepare fish. I have been in a salmon rut lately, regularly cooking it in parchment paper with a little lemon and butter. It is great this way, but I wanted to spice things up (literally).

#Choctoberfest is such a good time of year to experiment with chocolate. I knew I wanted to make something savory, so decided I would see how salmon fared with a little cocoa coffee rub. Plus, I have a full spice cabinet from a summer filled with canning and preserving. (Yes – I do have three types of paprika lurking on a shelf. And I promise I used ¼ teaspoon from each at some point this summer to make chutney or something similar).

So – cocoa coffee rubbed salmon to the rescue! I blended cocoa, finely ground coffee, ancho Chile powder, smoked paprika, roasted garlic powder, salt, and pepper and rubbed the heck out of a salmon fillet.

On a side note, I signed up for the Port Orford Community Supported Fishery this year. The CSF is kind of like a CSA, only you get to choose what kinds of fish you want from what is fresh at the dock. I have totally stocked up on salmon and albacore tuna, all sustainably fished off our beautiful Oregon coast. The salmon is so perfect – sashimi grade, so great for poke, and absolutely like butter when it is cooked.

But back to the point: cocoa coffee rubbed salmon is positively amazing! It is the best blend for blackened salmon. I baked it in a cast iron skillet until it was just opaque and easily flaked with a fork. I did not add anything to it but the rub. One pound of salmon lasted me for lunch for two days. I’m a big fan of salmon salad, so served it with local farm greens and late season radishes and a dash of ranch dressing.

Yum

Cocoa Coffee Rubbed Salmon

Ingredients

1 teaspoon finely ground coffee
1/2 teaspoon ancho chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon fillet

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all the spices in a small bowl.
Rub the spices over the salmon, skin side down.
Bake in a cast iron skillet or on a baking sheet for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
Enjoy!
Serves 2.

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October 17, 2019 1 comment

Baked Goods Dessert Foodie Parties

Santa Fe Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

written by Ali

This post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. All opinions are mine alone.

One of my favorite parts about #Choctoberfest is getting to work with Imperial Sugar as a sponsor. I received a generous package of sugar, stacking measuring cups, and a silicone baking mat, all of which were positively instrumental in creating these Santa Fe Style Chocolate Chip Cookies. The silicone baking mat was perfect for baking these cookies. Imperial Sugar has a great contest going on through October 20^th: The Scary Scramble. Each day this week, Imperial Sugar will post a scrambled recipe title and a clue for you to find the recipe in their Halloween recipe collection. Once you complete the entry form with the unscrambled recipe name, you’ll be entered to win a great prize package of a cookie decorating kit, a silicone baking mat and 10 free sugar vouchers. Just think about all the great cookies you could be making this season!

When the days start to cool off in fall and the leaves start to turn, I am always transported back in time to New Mexico. The leaves, the light, the shorter days – I can practically smell chilies roasting in the air. I also start thinking about spending time in Santa Fe and enjoying chocolate chip cookies with pine nuts. It is such a nostalgic taste for me. On rainy and cool days here on the coast, I just want to hunker down with a cookie and a cup of tea and read for hours on end. These Santa Fe Style Chocolate Chip Cookies represent the best of both worlds for me – the nostalgia of fall in New Mexico and the present day rainy-day bliss.

Yum

Santa Fe Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed Imperial Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Imperial Sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup pine nuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream the sugar, egg, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla.
Stir the flour mixture into the sugar and butter mixture.
Fold in the chocolate chips and pine nuts. Mix just till combined.
Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or using a silicon baking mat.
Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the sheets. Each baking sheet can hold six to eight cookies.
Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until lightly browned.
Makes 2 dozen cookies.
Enjoy!

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October 15, 2019 3 comments

Beverages Foodie Parties

Welcome #Choctoberfest2019 with Chocolate Strawberry Kombucha

written by Ali

I’m always so excited this time of year to create chocolate recipes for #Choctoberfest2019. This year, I’m focused both on savory and sweet. In addition to sharing all the great information about the event today, I’m kicking off the week with a chocolate strawberry kombucha recipe. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my posts about my foray into the world of fermentation with a kombucha scoby that was gifted to me a while ago. I’ve been experimenting a lot with second fermentation flavors, and absolutely love this chocolate strawberry kombucha. So scroll down, check out the information about the great sponsors and giveaway for #Choctoberfest2019, as well as the many participating bloggers this year, and then see how easy it is to make chocolate strawberry kombucha.

#Choctoberfest is an annual recipe-sharing event. I’m joining other food bloggers from around the world to create delicious chocolate recipes. This year, over 70 bloggers are joining together for a week full of chocolate cakes, pies, cookies, puddings, tarts, candies, and more. You can follow along by searching for the hashtag #Choctoberfest on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Or, simply follow any of the participating bloggers listed below.

We also have some awesome sponsors, who make #Choctoberfest possible every year. Our sponsors have banded together to put together a delicious prize pack worth over $400! Here’s what you get if you win! (Scroll down to enter.)

Candy Gift Pack from blog host Triple Chocolate Kitchen, which includes 180-pack of Lindt LINDOR Chocolate Truffles (dark, milk, and white). Triple Chocolate Kitchen organizes #Choctoberfest, as well as posting chocolate recipes throughout the year.
Chocolate and Cocoa Gift Pack from Divine Chocolate, which includes a variety of high-quality fair trade chocolate bars, cocoa powder, and Divine Chocolate swag. Divine Chocolate’s baking line consists of three premium quality flavors ranging from 55% to 100% cocoa for a wide variety of delicious desserts. Their chocolate products are made with 100% cocoa butter and are non-GMO and Vegan Society Certified.
$100 Nordic Ware Gift Card and 40 Pounds of Granulated Sugar from Imperial Sugar. They are currently hosting their annual Scary Scramble, featuring delicious fall-inspired recipes using Imperial Sugar’s high-quality sweeteners. Imperial Sugar has been a kitchen staple for over 175 years!
Collagen Fuel™ Drink Mix Gift Pack from Primal Kitchen. The ingredients in these drink mixes help support hair, skin, and nails. Their chocolate version has organic, fair-trade cocoa and coconut milk powders, with no wheat, soy, or dairy ingredients.
Cracker Gift Pack from Mary’s Gone Crackers. The lucky winner will get to try a variety of crackers, many of which pair well with chocolate (check their recipe page for ideas!). Mary’s products are vegan, cruelty-free, and organic.
Fig Spread Gift Pack from Dalmatia Spreads. With flavors like sour cherry, plum, blackberry, and orange, you’ll find that several of Dalmatia’s fig-based spreads work well in chocolate recipes. Use as a filling for crépes, serve warm over ice cream, or spread onto toast. They even have a fig cocoa spread that uses fair trade cocoa.
Alkaline Water Pack from Perfect Hydration. Wash down all those delicious chocolate desserts with Perfect Hydration water. This 9.5+ pH alkaline water helps to effectively restore and rebalance the body to optimum pH levels. This water goes through a 9-stage filtration process, has no added sodium, chlorine, or fluoride, and is packaged in recyclable BPA-free bottles.
Kitchen Conversions Chart and Etsy Gift Card from Moonflower Mountain. Winner chooses the colors for this flower-adorned conversion chart, which makes it easy to double any recipe or convert from cups to tablespoons.

This is a prize pack worth over $400! Open worldwide, except where prohibited. Must be 18+ to enter (21+ in some locations). One lucky winner will be drawn randomly on October 20, 2019 and contacted via email. See terms and conditions for more details. Enter the giveaway now:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Entries from spam or inactive accounts are invalid. #Choctoberfest bloggers, sponsors, and their immediate families/households are not eligible to win. This giveaway is not affiliated with or sponsored by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Yum

Chocolate Strawberry Kombucha

Ingredients

Kombucha that's been fermented to your taste
2 - 6 strawberries
2 - 6 teaspoons cocoa nibs

Instructions

Distribute the strawberries and cocoa nibs between your bottles. Each bottle should get one strawberry and one teaspoon of cocoa nibs.
Cap the bottles and set aside to ferment for 1 - 3 days. Ferment until the kombucha is bubbly and tastes strongly of strawberries and chocolate.
Enjoy!

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Make sure you check out the participating bloggers to see #Choctoberfest recipes throughout the week:

Triple Chocolate Kitchen • 2 Cookin Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • A Labour of Life • A Little Fish in the Kitchen • A Southern Fairytale • Amy’s Cooking Adventures • An Affair from the Heart • Bottom Left of the Mitten • Broken Teepee • Bunsen Burner Bakery • Champagne and Coconuts • Cindy’s Recipes and Writings • Cook with Renu • Cook’s Hideout • Cookaholic Wife • Crafty Cooking Mama • Daily Dish Recipes • Dixie Chik Cooks • Everyday Eileen • Fairyburger • Family Breakfast Recipes • First Timer Cook • Fix Me a Little Lunch • Frugal & Fit • Fun Happy Home • Get the Good Stuff! • Glenda Embree • Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks • How Was Your Day? • I Can Cook That • Join Us, Pull up a Chair • Karen’s Kitchen Stories • Kate’s Recipe Box • Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats • Life & Medicine Blog • Life on Food • Long Distance Baking • Lynchburg Mama • Makes, Bakes and Decor • Making Miracles • Mama Needs Cake • Memories In The Kitchen • Our Good Life • Our Sutton Place • Palatable Pastime • Queenslee Appétit • Reviewz & Newz • Sarah Cooks the Books • Sarah’s Bake Studio • Seduction In The Kitchen • Shockingly Delicious • Simple Family Crazy Life • Simply Inspired Meals • Sneha’s Recipe • Style Island • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Sweet Coralice • Sweet Dash of Sass • Take Two Tapas • That Recipe • The Awesome Muse • The Beard and The Baker • The Delicious Spoon • The Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine • The Freshman Cook • The Redhead Baker • The Schizo Chef • The Spiffy Cookie • The Urben Life • Trampling Rose • Turnips 2 Tangerines • Who Needs A Cape? • Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

October 13, 2019 0 comment

Appetizers Foodie Parties Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy Salad Vegetarian

Easy Mango Salsa

written by Ali

I am celebrating getting back to blogging with an easy mango salsa. My inspiration for this recipe comes from The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone, which is the August/September selection for Cook the Books. Stone’s book is a fascinating dive into the life of David Fairchild – a nineteenth century botanist and explorer. Fairchild brought to the United States a cornucopia of fruits, including mangoes, avocados, dates, and citrus. And if you ever wondered how the Meyer lemon got its name – well, take some time to read this lovely book.

I am always fascinated by how we’ve come to eat the foods that we eat. Every time I cook an artichoke or clean a Dungeness crab, I think about how it came to be that humans decided that this strange thing was worth eating. Stone’s book explores this theme of how we have come to enjoy many of the foods in our grocery aisles. He also looks at the fails: how mangosteen, for example, is not a common household snack.

My easy mango salsa is inspired by Fairchild’s search for mango varieties. I found a gigantic mango in one of our local groceries. I am guessing it was a different type than the more generic mango that shows up in most produce sections. I can see eating this easy mango salsa with tacos, with chips, with a cheese plate. I opted to include this as a topping for a spinach salad with smoked albacore tuna from a sustainable fishery here on the Oregon coast. It was amazing! I encourage you to make the easy mango salsa and definitely read The Food Explorer.

Yum

Easy Mango Salsa

Ingredients

1 large mango (or 2 small ones)
Juice from 1 lime
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon cilantro (or to taste)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate.
Enjoy!

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September 26, 2019 4 comments

Baked Goods Breakfast Foodie Parties Low-Carb Quick and Easy

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

written by Ali

I realize that time has seriously gotten away from me this month, so I’m sharing these apple cinnamon muffins both to get back to blogging, but also as part of my favorite Facebook recipe sharing group. Each month we get paired with a wonderful blogger. This month, I was fortunate to be cooking from My Cooking Journey. What a delectable collection of recipes! I was so tempted by so many recipes, but finally landed on Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Apple Crumb. I had apples leftover from last week and love making muffins for the week anyway, so this one was ideal. It works really well to make muffins on Sunday so that I have a treat with my coffee and my husband has breakfast.

I made a few minor adjustments. These apple cinnamon muffins don’t have any crumb, and I reduced the sugar a little bit. I also used my apple cranberry butter from last year’s preserving mania. These are egg free, though not dairy free. I can definitely see using a vegan yogurt, though, to make these completely vegan.

Yum

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple sauce (or cranberry apple butter)
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups finely diced apple

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the apple sauce, yogurt, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the apple and stir gently.
Line a 12 cup muffin pan with muffin liners. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cups.
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.
Makes 12. Enjoy!

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March 15, 2019 9 comments

Baked Goods Breakfast Foodie Parties Snacks

Blueberry Cardamom Lemon Muffins

written by Ali

For this month’s food bloggers recipe swap, I was inspired by the Schizo Chef’s Blueberry Cardamom Bread. I love the taste of cardamom - I think it’s a highly underrated spice that deserves much more attention than it gets. Plus, I have blueberries still frozen from last summer. My new year’s resolution has been to use up the food that’s been preserved in various ways from last season to this one. All of that to say, I did a bit of adaptation to the original recipe and made blueberry cardamom lemon muffins.

I encourage you to check out Mirielle’s blog - she has some amazing recipes with so many beautiful international flavors. If it hadn’t been for my blueberry ~~problem~~ abundance, I might have made Mushi Pan - Japanese Steamed Cakes or Pandan Puto - Gluten Free Filipino Steamed Muffins. But alas - blueberries are the focus of most of my baking this month.

I used Meyer Lemons in my blueberry cardamom lemon muffins. I don’t have a zester (I know - what’s wrong with me?), so have discovered a little trick that works really well for getting the zest off of lemons. Use a veggie peeler to take long strips off the lemon and then chop finely with kitchen scissors. Perfectly sized zest!

These muffins are a great tea-time or coffee-break treat. They also freeze beautifully.

In the meantime, check out all the great recipes for this month’s food bloggers recipe swap in the linky below the recipe for blueberry cardamom lemon muffins.

Yum

Blueberry Cardamom Lemon Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 cup brown sugar
Zest from one Meyer Lemon or lemon
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen).

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use muffin papers to line 12 muffin cups.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, lemon zest, and brown sugar. In a second bowl, mix the eggs, yogurt, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until combined. Add the blueberries and fold in gently.
Fill each muffin cup 2/3rds full. Bake the muffins for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
Makes 12. Enjoy!

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January 14, 2019 13 comments

Baked Goods Dessert Foodie Lists Foodie Parties Holiday Recipes

Choctoberfest 2018 and a Keto Chocolate Roundup

written by Ali

Welcome to #Choctoberfest 2018 with Imperial Sugar! This is one of my favorite weeks of the year, because #Choctoberfest is finally here! From now until the end of the week, I am joining forces with over 100 other bloggers from around the world to post delicious chocolate recipes. Every day, #Choctoberfest bloggers will be celebrating all things chocolate - milk, dark, white, bittersweet, semi-sweet, and cocoa! And wouldn’t you know it - Choctoberfest happens in the same month that I decided to try out the keto diet! Needless to say, I did all my baking and recipe tasting before starting keto. I promise you I will be looking longingly at all the other choctoberfest bloggers’ recipes this week and pinning them all for trying out in November! In the meantime, I’ve been gathering some great keto chocolate recipes for a roundup to get the week rolling. But before we get to the roundup, check out the awesome #Choctoberfest prize pack from our generous sponsors. Scroll down to learn how you can enter to win. One lucky winner will receive the following:

A 100-Piece Cake Decorating Kit from our blog sponsors The PinterTest Kitchen. This set includes a cake turntable, piping bags, piping tips, flower nozzles, scapers, and more.
An Instant Pot and a 40-Pound Case of Granulated Sugar from our gold sponsor Imperial Sugar. Imperial Sugar provides high-quality sugar and sweetener products and over 100 years of time-tested recipes. Sweet things happen when people come together in the kitchen, and that’s why Imperial Sugar has been at the heart of family traditions and celebrations for generations.
Coconut Oil and Chocolate Silk Greens from our silver sponsor Barlean’s, your trusted source for chocolatey goodness superfood nutrition. Barlean’s has a commitment to staying ahead of the innovation curve in providing the absolute highest quality product.
A Chocolate Gift Pack from our silver sponsor Forte Chocolates. You’ll receive 12 of their most popular chocolate bars. With Forte Chocolates, you can celebrate life through chocolate. They also have a line of chocolate developed specifically to use in savory recipes.
A Chocolate Gift Pack from our silver sponsor Divine Chocolate. You’ll receive one of each of their baking bars, a white chocolate bar, and their top 5 everyday bars. Divine Chocolate is the only Fairtrade chocolate company in the world that is owned by cocoa farmers. Their baking bars are also a delicious vegan option.
A Selection of Sprinkles from our silver sponsor Sprinkle Pop. Sprinkle Pop’s bespoke sprinkle creations are one of a kind, just like you! At Sprinkle Pop, you can also order a custom sprinkle mix; there isn’t a sprinkle mix that you can dream up that they can’t create.

That’s a prize pack worth over $400! Open worldwide, except where prohibited. Must be 18+ to enter (21+ in some locations). See terms and conditions for more details.

To enter, simply follow our sponsors using the widget below. You can gain additional entries by following me and the other participating bloggers. A winner will be drawn on October 21, 2018 and contacted via email. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to come back to my blog for more chocolatey goodness between now and October 20.

Onto the keto chocolate recipes.

The first few keto recipes are straight from #choctoberfest.

First is Strawberry Cheesecake Fat Bombs from Chef Sarah Elizabeth.

Next up are a series of three amazing recipes from April Golightly.

Keto Hot Chocolate

Keto Chocolate Fat Bombs

Keto Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

And this one from one of my favorite low-carb bloggers - Low Carb Yum. Check out this delicious Easy No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.

Looking for something that would be perfect for the holidays? Check out these Crunchy Raspberry White Chocolate Fat Bombs from Allergy Girl Eats.

I’m such a fan of baked goods and I really thought that would be a problem on the keto diet. Not so much with great recipes like these Low Carb Double Chocolate Protein Muffins from Wholesome Yum.

Check out this great low carb fudge from More or Less Cooking. (And check out all of her great recipes for #Choctoberfest!)

I love a good souffle - I think I assumed it would be off limits for keto, but not so. Look at this gorgeous Low Carb Chocolate Souffle from Simply So Healthy.

So my month of keto unfortunately is happening during Halloween candy season. I have a soft spot for chocolate peanut butter cups. Fortunately, there’s a Keto Peanut Butter Cup recipe to the rescue from Savory Tooth.

I confess that I really like avocado and chocolate as a combination. Avocado can make such a great base for creamy recipes - no wonder this Chocolate Almond Avocado Pudding from Simply So Healthy looks so good.

These Chocolate Keto Fat Bombs from Diabetes Strong look like a perfect snack to me.

And last but not least, check out our participating bloggers for #Chotoberfest2018:

The PinterTest Kitchen ♥ 2 Cookin Mamas ♥ 27th and Olive ♥ A Day in the Life on the Farm ♥ A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures ♥ A Little Fish in the Kitchen ♥ addicted 2 recipes♥ Amy’s Cooking Adventures ♥ An Affair from the Heart♥ April Go Lightly ♥ At the Table with R and R ♥ Baking Sense ♥ Blade & Barbell ♥ Blogghetti ♥ Body Rebooted ♥ Books n’ Cooks ♥ Bottom Left of the Mitten ♥ Canning and Cooking at Home ♥ Cheese Curd In Paradise♥ Chef Sarah Elizabeth ♥ Cindy’s Recipes and Writings ♥ Coconut & Lime♥ Cook With Renu ♥ Cook’s Hideout ♥ Cookaholic Wife ♥ Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt ♥ CopyKat.com ♥Daily Dish Recipes♥ Everyday Eileen ♥ Fairyburger ♥ Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskere
Accomplice ♥ Family Around the Table ♥ Fix Me a Little Lunch ♥ Frankly Entertaining ♥ Frugal& Fit ♥ Get the Good Stuff!
♥ Growing Up Gabel ♥ Hardly A Goddess ♥ Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks ♥ Home Sweet Homestead ♥ House of Nash Eats ♥ Intelligent Domestications ♥ jenniferbakes ♥ JoAnn’s Food Bites ♥ Join Us, Pull up a Chair ♥ Jolene’s Recipe
Journal ♥ Jonesin’ For Taste ♥ Karen’s Kitchen Stories ♥ Kate’s Recipe Box ♥ Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats ♥ LeMoin Family Kitchen ♥ Life on Food ♥ Life, Love, and Good Food ♥ Lisa’s Dinnertime Dish ♥ Little House Big Alaska ♥ Long Distance Baking ♥ Maria’s Mixing Bowl ♥ Moore or Less Cooking ♥ Must Love Home ♥ Norine’s Nest ♥ Our Good Life ♥ Our
Sutton Place ♥ OVENTales ♥ Palatable Pastime ♥ Prettysweetblog ♥ Red Cottage Chronicles ♥ Restless Chipotle
♥ Reviews, Chews & How-Tos ♥ Sarah Cooks the Books ♥ Sarah’s Bake Studio♥ Savory Moments♥ Seasonal
and Holiday Recipe Exchange ♥ Seasoned Sprinkles ♥ Seduction In The Kitchen ♥ Simple Family Crazy Life ♥ Simply Inspired Meals ♥ Snacks and Sips ♥ Soulfully Made ♥ Stephie The Happy Mom ♥ Sumptuous Spoonfuls ♥ Sweet Coralice ♥ Take Two Tapas ♥ Tampa Cake Girl ♥ That Recipe ♥ The Baking Fairy ♥ The Beard and The Baker ♥ The Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine ♥ The Gingered Whisk ♥ The Heritage Cook ♥ The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen ♥ The Olive Blogger♥ The Pajama Chef ♥ The Redhead Baker ♥ The Saucy Fig ♥ The Spiffy Cookie ♥ The Weekday Gourmet ♥ This is How I Cook ♥ Trampling
Rose ♥ Turnips 2 Tangerines ♥ Walking Fruitfully ♥ Wendy Polisi ♥ Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen♥ Zesty South Indian Kitchen

October 14, 2018 0 comment

Foodie Lists Foodie Parties Musings

Whipping Up A Feast: 5 Steps To Better Kitchen Skills

written by Ali

Credit

It’s great to get into the kitchen and cook some delicious meals that you can enjoy with your family. However, if your cookery and kitchen skills aren’t quite up to scratch, then you might end up being ever so slightly disappointed with your creations. It doesn’t always have to be like that, though. In fact, there are plenty of ways you can improve your skills and become an even better home cook. Here are five fantastic steps to get you started.

Store Ingredients For Freshness

Generally speaking, you need to try and buy the best quality products and ingredients to cook with. These will be fresher and have the best flavor. To ensure that they retain their freshness and flavor, it’s important that you store them correctly. For instance, you shouldn’t keep tomatoes in the fridge. However, not many people realize this and still do, which can result in them losing flavor quickly. There should be a clear note on the packaging of all the produce and ingredients that you buy which will tell you the correct way to store it.

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Take Some Classes

If you really struggle in the kitchen, it’s worth looking for some local healthy culinary classes if you want to try to improve your skills. These classes often teach a range of skills, such as how to use specific types of kitchenware. You will also learn the correct way to cook certain foods and ingredients. Most will also take you step by step through some really delicious recipes.

Watch YouTube Tutorials

Don’t worry if you can’t afford to take some culinary classes. You can instead watch some of the free YouTube cooking tutorials. There are lots of YouTubers out there who focus on cookery. Most of them post videos of them cooking meals that you will be able to follow along, as well as videos that focus on teaching their followers how to use certain pieces of kitchen equipment and how to cook and prepare rare ingredients.

Practice Mise En Place

Do you always end up in a bit of a mess when you are cooking? It’s easy for the kitchen to lose control, but one way around this is to practice mise en place. This is a French term that all French chefs use. It simply means that you need to prepare all of your ingredients before you start to cook with them. That way, you have done all of the chopping and peeling before you need everything. You’ll be surprised how much easier this makes your life in the kitchen!

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Invest In Good Equipment

It’s always worth paying slightly above average for some better kitchen equipment. Generally speaking, the better the equipment is, then the better results you will get from it. If you can’t afford to buy good-quality equipment brand new, then it’s worth looking for some second-hand stuff.

As you can see, learning to cook and improve your kitchen skills won’t be too difficult. These five useful steps can get you off to a very good start.

September 14, 2018 0 comment

Foodie Lists Foodie Parties Freezer Meals Quick and Easy Soup Vegetarian

Instant Pot Giveaway and Instant Pot Recipe Roundup

written by Ali

I’m partnering with some other wonderful bloggers for an Instant Pot Giveaway! We are giving away not one, but three six quart size Instant Pots to three lucky winners!

This giveaway is open worldwide to individuals 18+ (21+ in some locations), except where prohibited. One winner per household. Winner will be drawn at random from eligible entries within 72 hours of the giveaway ending Winners will be contacted via email and must respond within 5 business days to claim their prize. Social media accounts used to enter must be active, not created to enter this giveaway. Please note: Winners from the continental U.S. will receive the prize as listed. Winners who do not live in the continental U.S. will receive an Amazon gift card in the current listed value of the Instant Pot and will be responsible for ordering and shipping. Please see full terms & conditions for more details.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please check out all the great blogs that are partnering on this giveaway.

The PinterTest Kitchen ♦ Cheese Curd In Paradise ♦ The Jolly Hostess ♦ Cindy’s Recipes and Writings ♦ Karen’s Kitchen Stories ♦ Little House Big Alaska ♦ Life, Love, and Good Food ♦ Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice ♦ An Affair from the Heart ♦ Blogghetti ♦ Sarah’s Bake Studio ♦ Shockingly Delicious ♦ Jonesin’ For Taste ♦ Fix Me a Little Lunch ♦ Moore or Less Cooking ♦ The Whole Gourmet ♦ Our Good Life ♦ The Redhead Baker ♦ Style Island ♦ The Spiffy Cookie ♦ Sarah Cooks the Books ♦ Frugal & Fit ♦ Family Around the Table ♦ Cook with Renu