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By Caroline, March 6, 2010

Can I tell you something? I’ve cheated before. It happened when I was in 5th grade and taking a social studies test. I didn’t know the capitol of South Dakota, or what its major exports were, and so… I cheated. And then after school I broke down crying in front of my mom; I’m really not that good at keeping these kinds of secrets. So yeah, based on past experience I didn’t really think cheating was going to be a good thing. However, this time there were no tears and I wasn’t grounded from watching TV for two weeks. Instead, there was fudge. Lots and lots of awesome fudge.

Continue reading 'Chocolate Cinnamon Fudge'»

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By Caroline, February 24, 2010

I definitely would not have eaten this as a kid. Not because it isn’t a good soup, but because my taste as a kid was a bit limited. Let’s take a moment and look back at all of the other things I didn’t eat as a kid:

Hamburgers. Yeah, I know, I am the only kid in America that grew up not liking hamburgers. For a short time as a teenager I thought they were the greatest thing on earth, and then in college I gave up beef and now I’m back to and sans-burger diet. Sorry burgers, we just weren’t a good match.

Fish. I have no defense for this, other than to say that I’m making up for it now by attempting to consume my weight in sushi at least once a month.

Apple Pie. I know, right? I used to think that cooked apples were “slimy” and therefore wanted nothing to do with them. Cherry pie rocked my socks. However, I now make apple crisp as often as is humanly possible. I haven’t had cherry pie in over 5 years.

Continue reading 'Arugula Soup with Goat Cheese'»

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By Caroline, February 16, 2010

This is an example of typical conversation when I take a friend to Pitfire Pizza for the first time:

Friend: “What’s good here?”
Me: “The Burrata Pie.”
Friend: “What else is good?”
Me: “No idea. That’s the only thing I’ve ever had.”
Friend: “Well, do you want to split something?”
Me: “ Err…no. I want my burrata pie. And I want all of it.”

Continue reading 'Pitfire Pizza and the Burrata Pie'»

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By Caroline, February 9, 2010

When your friend is a foodie, it’s both easy and difficult to buy gifts. Easy, because you know exactly what they like, and difficult, because there’s a good chance they already own whatever it is you were planning on buying them. This is the case when Adrianna and I try and buy each other gifts, however, we seemed to have both pulled it off nicely this past Christmas. I gave her a cutting board that was hand-made by my step-dad, and it’s already made its appearance in posts like this and this. I understand that since he made it he should get most of the credit, but let’s not dwell on this for too long, okay?

Continue reading 'Tuscan Beans on Toast'»

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By Caroline, January 29, 2010

Sometimes failure isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes it ends up being downright delicious, like this banana cream pie. I’ll give you two reasons why this wasn’t one of my kitchen “successes.”

1)    This was supposed to be a caramel banana cream pie. However, I burned my finger while making the caramel sauce, and then subsequently burned the sauce while I tended to my finger. So, this became a caramel-less pie.

2)    Even though I now know how to make my own piecrust, I decided to use a store brand with this recipe. Sorry – I get lazy sometimes. However, I learned my lesson when, while baking in the oven, the crust softened and shrunk. You’ll notice how it doesn’t go over the edges of the pie dish. Yeah…it was a crust failure.

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By Caroline, January 22, 2010

I am a big fan of broccoli. I really don’t feel that there’s any need to dress it up; to me plain steamed or sautéed broccoli is just delicious. However, when Adam from Amateur Gourmet advertises that he has The Best Broccoli of Your Life, it’s definitely going to pique my interest. I decided one day to make it and then while I was at work I asked Chase what he wanted to have to go with his broccoli. Here is our text message conversation in verbatim

Me: I’m making broccoli for dinner. What else do you want?
Chase: Just broccoli?
Me: I have a recipe for the blog
Chase: Ok. I’m saying it’s just broccoli? That’s it? That’s a boring blog entry. Here’s some broccoli. Mmmmmm. Just steam it or grill it up and there ya go.
(yes, that is a sarcasm you’re detecting in his messaging)
Me: So you think. This broccoli is gonna be amazing.

Continue reading 'Definitely Not Boring Broccoli'»

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By Caroline, January 14, 2010

So, I’m back in California. Back to the real world, with alarm clocks that go off at 6:00am and traffic that robs me of hours in my day and blahhhhh…. I just don’t want to think about it anymore. Instead, let’s pretend I’m still in the South and mull over that for a while. For starters, Southern folks really love to fry their vegetables. And, we really love grits, especially cheesy grits. So, yeah that’s what I would rather think about, okay?

First, a word on cheese grits. Most self-respecting Southerners have a cheese grits recipe that involves baking in the oven to really get them just right. You know that scene in “My Cousin Vinny” where the guy is offended at the suggestion that he uses instant grits? Where he proudly says in the courtroom, “I take pride in my grits!” Yeah, that’s not an exaggeration. This recipe, however, is the “quick” version of cheese grits, meant to be prepared over a stove in less than 30 minutes. If you’re lucky I’ll give you the recipe for my stepdad’s “real” cheese grits, but that will have to wait for another day.

Continue reading 'Fried Green Tomatoes with Jalapeno Cheese Grits'»

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By Caroline, January 6, 2010

Well, this recipe comes with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I learned how to make easy homemade pudding, something that is probably going to be common fixture in my home from now on. The bad news is that as excited as I was to incorporate pomegranate, it didn’t really live up to the hype I had in my mind.  Don’t get me wrong, this was incredibly delicious, and anyone that turns their nose up at it is probably not someone I want to be friends with for much longer. But I feel that whenever something has “pomegranate” in the title, it should transcend any normal expectations you might have.

Continue reading 'Chocolate Pudding with Pomegranate'»

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By Caroline, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year everyone! I have to say, it was a little hard to say good-bye to 2009. It’s been a good year; Adrianna and I started this blog, which is awesome. I got a Kitchen Aid standing mixer, which is super awesome, and Chase and I are engaged, which…well, it goes without saying how amazing that is. But nonetheless, I’m ready for 2010. I only hope that it realized how big the shoes are that it has to fill after these last 12 months.

Continue reading 'Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree'»

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By Caroline, December 26, 2009

Okay, I know that Adrianna already spilled the beans. I am no longer living with my boyfriend in LA. No, I am now living with my FIANCE, which by the way, I’m still having trouble  saying to people. Fiance is one of those words that seems a little too big and surreal to say out loud. It’s a word that says that I am NEVER going to have a boyfriend ever again, which makes me feel grown up in ways I never thought possible. It also means that I, the girl that has never worn rings throughout her entire life, now has a ring that is never going to come off, and I’m actually okay with this.

There’s something else that I have to tell you is never going to happen again. I am never making apple butter again. Never. Again. I know, it must be a rare blog post when the author confesses that although the final product turned out perfectly, she has no desire whatsoever to return to it. To fully understand this, I need to explain my reasoning for making apple butter in the first place. When Adrianna and I made the fig jam a couple months back, I was stunned at how easy it was to make. I couldn’t help but ask, “Why haven’t I been making my own jam all my life?” So for Christmas I decided I would make a homemade canned gift for friends and family, and after much debate I chose to take on apple butter.

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