I have no excuse for this pie. Absolutely none. I could maybe defend it by pointing out the use of fresh fruit, but I’m aware that this is just not something I should be showing you in the dead of summer, also known as Bathing Suit Season.  Maybe I can place the blame elsewhere…specifically, to Saluda Grade Café, the restaurant that I worked at in high school, and the place that gave me the inspiration for this recipe.

The funny thing is, this was not a popular dessert there. It only  showed up for maybe 2 months out of the year, and when it did those pies would sit and sell so slowly that eventually I would take some home to keep it from going to waste. Not that I ever once complained about this. Except when I had to put on a bathing suit. Damn those pies.

I’m convinced that the reason these pies weren’t big sellers is because instead of having our desserts in a display case, customers made their decisions based on a list that we wrote on a chalkboard at the back of the restaurant. Even I will admit that it’s hard to choose “Blueberry Cream Pie” when it’s written next to “Double Chocolate Fudge Cake.”

However, I think that if everyone had realized that “blueberries” meant fresh-picked North Carolina mountain blueberries delivered that morning, and that by “cream” we were talking about the equivalent of melted cheesecake, they may have changed their minds. This pie that I only got to eat twice a year was the absolute highlight of my summers. And totally worth forgoing a bathing suit for.

Blueberry Cream Pie

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This is a recipe that I came up with on my own, but it tastes exactly like the one at Saluda Grade.

1 baked pie shell
½ cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries

In a bowl, beat the whipping cream and 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.

In a larger bowl beat together the rest of the sugar, cream cheese and vanilla extract. Once everything is well combined and the cream cheese is smooth and creamy, slowly fold in the whipping cream. Once everything is combined gently fold in the blueberries.

Pour the filling into a prepared pie shell and chill for at least and hour to allow the pie to set up. Now try to stop yourself from eating the whole thing at once.

I’m realizing that a lot of my daily life is a simple series of action and reaction. For instance,  I recently read, well, more like devoured, the book “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and after reading something that good there are two logical actions that must be taken: 1) watch the movie on Netflix, 2) order the follow-up book immediately on Amazon.

Another instance is when Lindsay Lohan went to jail, and I the immediate action of people unhealthily obsessed with celebrities everyone was to look up her mug shot.  I would like to tell you that I don’t often follow celebrity gossip news, but my grandmother would disapprove of me to lying to this many people at once.

And now, whenever I make risotto, the immediate reaction the next day will be to make risotto cakes. Although some brilliant bloggers claim that everyone has already heard of the trick of turning leftover risotto into little cakes, I am only just now catching on to this trend. I’m a little behind the times, remember?

I’ve always been hesitant to cook risotto specifically for the reason that leftovers are a waste. Micro-waved day-old risotto is certainly something I’ve ever craved. These little cakes, however, are exactly what I needed in my recipe arsenal. They add in a whole new texture with the crispy fried bread crumbs on the outside, and seal in the melty goodness within that is almost, if not just, as good as the original dish.

Roasted Red Pepper Risotto Cakes

These cakes can be made with any leftover risotto, but I just loved the flavor and color that the red peppers added.

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1 medium onion, minced or finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 whole roasted red peppers
½ cup white wine
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
5-6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup water
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup dried bread crumbs

For the risotto:
Combine the water and vegetable broth in a pot and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion for 2 minutes or until it begins to soften. Add in the garlic and peppers and sauté another two minutes. Add in the rice and stir for another two minutes, just until the rice begins to brown.

Pour in the white wine and stir until all of the liquid has evaporated. One ladle at a time, at the simmering broth to the rice and stir gently to develop the starches. Wait until all of the liquid has evaporated before adding the next ladle of broth. Once most of the broth has been added in, taste the rice occasionally until it becomes tender. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan cheese.

For the cakes:
Eat however much of the risotto you want now, and then refrigerate the rest, at least for an hour.

Form the chilled risotto into small balls, and cover both sides with the bread crumbs. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet and heat on high. Cook the cakes in the oil, 2-3 minutes on each side or until the bread crumbs are golden brown. Serve over mixed greens, or as a side item.

I am a huge fan of Looney Tunes. Note: I’m not saying that I was a huge fan as a child, I’m still maintaining my super-fan status now as an adult. I even bought tickets to see Bugs Bunny at the Hollywood Bowl, which means I spent 2 hours watching cartoons on big screens while the LA Philharmonic played the music live. I was happier than a five year old on Christmas morning.

I’m sure that my mom was at least a little happy about my love of Looney Tunes, not because she wanted me watching TV, which she normally didn’t, but because those clever cartoonists were smart enough to have the loveable Bugs always munching on carrots. Which meant that I, in an effort to be just like Bugs, also wanted to always be munching on carrots. I can even remember my mother once telling me to stop eating carrots or I would spoil my dinner.

Think about that – while other mothers were trying to keep their kids out of the cookie jar, mine was fighting me off from the vegetable bin in our refrigerator.

I’ve never quite reclaimed the same devoted love of  raw carrots that I had as a 2nd grader, but I definitely can sense some of the same feelings toward this pudding. This traditional Indian dessert is sweet and creamy, and definitely something I wouldn’t mind spoiling my dinner for. I think Bugs would approve.

Gajar Halwa, AKA Carrot Pudding

Adapted from Bon Vivant

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I was drawn to this blogger’s recipe for two reasons: one, she used butter instead of ghee, which I didn’t have in my kitchen. Two, the idea of a sweet pudding with saffron sounded heavenly, which it most certainly was. The original author recommended serving with vanilla ice cream, but I ate it plain and was just fine.

1 2/3 cups grated carrots
2 cups milk
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon saffron threads

A handful of chopped nuts of your choice, I used pistachios but almonds, pecans or cashews would also work.

Heat the milk and water in a heavy-bottomed pot, stirring occasionally. When bubbles start to form on the surface, stir in the carrots and cardamom. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Stir every few minutes until the milk evaporates, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Add in the sugar, butter and saffron and turn the heat back up to high. Stirring constantly, allow the mixture to boil until the liquid evaporates and you have a soft mush.

Scoop into individual bowls, sprinkle with nuts and enjoy.

I don’t know who decided that cucumbers were especially cool vegetables, but I suspect he/she may have coined the phrase “cool as a cucumber” after drinking some cucumber juice. This stuff is by far the best way to eat a cucumber. Granted, it takes a little more effort than just dunking slices in salad dressing, but the extra work most definitely pays off.  And over ice, this drink finally gives meaning to the expression “cool as a cucumber.”

While we’re finding meaning in expressions, can I discuss a few others with you?

Dollars to Donuts – I heard this for the first time about a week ago, and I am already looking for every opportunity available to work it into conversation. Is it bad that I might actually be happier winning donuts instead of dollars? I wonder in that case if I can still use the phrase…

The Bees Knees – this makes no sense. Absolutely none whatsoever. I don’t even know if bees have knees, or if they do, what could possibly be so great about them. I can tell you right now that if I had wings and could make honey on a whim, I wouldn’t be pointing out my knees as my best feature.

The Cat’s Pajamas – If I ever own a cat again I’m buying it the coolest pajamas you’ve ever seen. And taking at least a million photos.

Brownie Points – I think of s’mores, knot tying and campfire songs when I hear this saying. Does anyone else remember being in the Brownies in Girl Scouts? Anyone?

And from now on, when I hear “cool as a cucumber” I will think of sipping this awesomely green juice. Give it a try, cause seriously, this stuff is the bee’s knees.

Cucumber Juice

Recipe adapted from Sunny Anderson

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The only complaint I had about this juice is that it was a little sweet for my taste, so I cut way back on the sugar. Chase also had a great idea – make this without the sugar and freeze into ice cubes. Pour water over the frozen juice and you have some instant cucumber water.

2 English cucumbers
½ cup sugar
2 cups water

Peel the cucumbers, saving the peel. Chop the cucumbers into small pieces. In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and the water to a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the chopped cucumber flesh and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the peels. Blend everything together until smooth, using either an immersion blender or regular blender.

Line a bowl with a cheesecloth. Pour the mixture into the bowl and gather the cheesecloth in one hand to squeeze out all the excess juice. Chill the juice until cool, about 1 hour, and then serve over ice.

There are a lot of remakes going on in Hollywood right now. Every week there’s a movie coming out either based on a book, or a remake of a classic older film, which isn’t exactly my favorite thing. I am definitely the girl that will read a book, go to see the movie, and spend the entire time making a mental list of everything that they changed. When I saw the movie version of “The Phantom of the Opera” I could even tell you when they had changed individual words in the songs. Yes, it bothers me. If something is good, just leave it alone. I see no reason why some snotty director or writer needs to come along and “make their mark” on a classic. Basically, I’m a big fan of the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Therefore it surprised even me when I decided to change up what is considered a Southern classic – peach cobbler. If you live in the South and manage to go an entire summer without eating a gallon of this, then you obviously live in some sad, dark cave and you have my sympathy.

However, this weekend as I started slicing the peaches to make a cobbler for the 4th of July, I had an itching to try something a little different. I knew it was risky, I mean, how do you improve on peaches and sugar baked in a pie crust? You wouldn’t immediately think that things could get much better. However, I found that if you add a little oatmeal to the crust, and a little almond liquer to the peaches, cobbler can actually achieve new heights in perfection. I guess sometimes a remake can be better than the original.

Peach – Almond Cobbler

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This crust recipe was tweaked from one that Joy the Baker recently posted since I thought buttermilk & crust was too heavenly a combination to pass up. I forgot to add butter to the filling and it turned out fine, but feel free to add a couple of tablespoons on top of the filling just before covering with the crust. It’ll add a nice creamy texture.

Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
¾ cup rolled oats
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup cold buttermilk

Filling:
5 cups peeled & sliced peaches** (about 7 large peaches)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons amaretto
2 tablespoons corn starch
½ teaspoon cinnamon

To make the crust:

In a food processor, grind up the rolled oats until they are the consistency of flour. In a large bowl, sift together the oat flour, all purpose flour, sugar and salt. Cut the butter into cubes and blend into the flours using the food processor (you can also work the butter in with your fingers.) Once the flour-butter mixture begins to resemble coarse crumbs, place it back in the bowl and make a well in the center of the mixture. Add in the cold buttermilk and mix together with your hands. (yes, this will be sticky)

Roll the dough onto a floured surface and form into a rough disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour. It will last in the refrigerator for 3 days if you decide to make it ahead of time.

To make the cobbler:
**If you aren’t sure how to properly peel & slice peaches, here’s the trick – blanch them first, by placing the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds and then moving them directly to ice water. The peels should now come right off, and they’ll slice more easily. I simply used a paring knife to slice pieces away from the core.

In a large bowl, mix together all of the filling ingredients. Place in your baking dish. Roll out the dough until it is roughly ¼ of an inch thick, and then place it over top of the baking dish. Trim away the edges, and then flute the crust along the top with your fingers. Be sure that the crust hangs a little over the edge and that you press it firmly to the baking dish, otherwise the filling may bubble over and drip into your oven – you can tell I experienced this a bit with mine.

Beat an egg and brush the top of the crust with the egg wash. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream – mmm-mmm!

So, I’m not exactly a trend-setter. I’m more of what you might call a trend-copier. And really, I’m not even good at that. I tend to catch onto really hot trends right as they’re on the way out the door, and then I hang onto them long after they’re considered cool. Yeah, I’m that girl.  This would all work out find if I could hang onto my clothes long enough for them to come back in style and be considered “vintage,” but I every few years I have a serious Feng Shui attack and empty my wardrobe of everything I haven’t worn in the last 6 months.

I’m definitely the same way when it comes to food. You’re all probably tired of seeing recipes for kale chips, since they’ve show up here, here and here and I’m sure plenty of other places as well. Heck, you can even find these at your local grocery store now. But even then, I still had to try them out for myself. I was incredibly skeptical that something so simple could really be as delicious of a snack as everyone raved.

I’m here to tell you though, I am 100% on the kale chip bandwagon. These were easier to make than I could have though possible, and as a snack to munch on while sitting in front of the TV, these were just as good, if not better than your average popcorn or chips. Plus, they are loaded with nutrition, which means that you truly have a guilt-free snack. I’m definitely hanging onto this recipe forever, even if it does go out of style.

Kale Chips

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1 bunch of kale
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Wash the kale thoroughly to remove any grit and pat with towels to remove the excess water. Rip the leaves of the kale away from the stems and discard the stems.

Lay the leaves out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkly with salt and pepper. (I would start out light on the salt and pepper, you can always add more later)

Bake the kale for about 20 minutes, or until crisp. Allow to cool and then transfer to a bowl. Enjoy your guilt-free snack all afternoon.

Remember bubble gum ice cream? You know, vanilla ice cream that has bits of bubble gum scattered inside it? Chances are that you have a distinct memory of either loving or hating this as a kid. As I asked people about it in preparation for this recipe, I found that everyone had an incredibly strong opinion to offer. Me? I LOVED it.

The trick to eating ice cream that had bubble gum in it was trying to manage the gum as you ate. As every kid knows, if you swallow a piece of gum it will stay inside you for 100 years, so it’s best if you avoid having this happen. Therefore, as you ate the ice cream you had to save the bits of gum in your mouth. This gets a little tricky toward the end when you have a big wad of gum on one side of your mouth and you’re trying to get the last bites of ice cream through the other.

As amusing as this may be, when you reach adulthood the idea of eating ice cream with a wad of gum in your mouth loses its appeal. However, this lovely float recipe has just solved that problem. And it added vodka, which makes everything better. Adrianna and I were determined to create an ice cream float that replicated the flavor of bubble gum ice cream, and when both of us are working on something we do not fail. Ever. This is our masterpiece, and I hope you enjoy!

** Please note parents – this is NOT a kid friendly beverage!**

Bubble Gum Vodka Ice Cream Float

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2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream
2 oz bubble gum vodka
1 cup cream soda

Scoop the ice cream into a glass, and pour the vodka and cream soda over top. Stir gently with a spoon, and enjoy!

Before we go any further, I need to be clear: this is not a child-friendly recipe. Specifically, it should be prepared by those that are 21 years of age or older.

Sorry for the obvious stipulation, but when I originally saw this recipe on this blog, I noticed that an irate parent had commented that she didn’t think it was wise to be making vodka with a kid-friendly ingredient. I don’t mean to be rude, but sometimes common sense just doesn’t seem to come naturally to people.

So please parents, don’t give this vodka to your five year old, okay?

Good, glad we got that settled.

At any rate, this is a seriously fun recipe. It’s so easy to make that a child could do it, except that children should definitely not be allowed anywhere near this, got it? I have a definite feeling it’s going to start popping up more often in our apartment whenever I have friends over. For starters, this vodka is bright pink, which automatically moves it into the “super awesome” category. And yes, it tastes just like bubble gum – that same pink bubble gum that we all chewed as kids. I made a martini with some lemonade and it was a piece of childhood heaven.

Except it had vodka.

I love adulthood.

Bubble Gum Vodka

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You have two options with this, you can either let the gum steep for at least 24 hours, or you can cut the pieces in half and it would only need to sit for 12 hours. The longer you can let it sit the better so the vodka really soaks up all that bubble gum flavor. For this recipe I used Double Bubble.

8 oz vodka
8 pieces bubble gum (do not use sugar-free)

Combine the vodka and gum in a container with a lid and allow to sit for 12 – 24 hours.

Bubble Gum Martini

Recipe inspired by Taylor Takes a Taste

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1 oz bubble gum vodka
2 oz lemonade

Run a lemon slice over the rim of martini glass and then dip in sugar. In a martini shaker, combine the vodka and lemonade over ice and shake. Pour into martini glass and enjoy.

I have a distinct memory from my childhood of my mother and I buying a coconut with the intention of eating the flesh and coconut milk inside. However, we got it home and sort of looked at each other to see who would make the first move to open it. I assumed that since she was my mother she of course knew all the secrets of the universe and was utterly shocked to discover that neither she nor my step-dad knew what to do. My stepfather, who flew jet planes in Vietnam and assembled my bike on Christmas day, was stumped by this little brown ball in our shopping bag.

So, he went for the solution that is apparently obvious to every guy that is met with an obstacle: hit it really hard with a hammer. Which worked…sort of. We were able to salvage some of the coconut flesh from the pieces that scattered across our driveway, but there was no hope of saving any of the milk. It was a bittersweet day in kid-dom.

Nowadays coconut milk comes in a much more easily accessible packaging. It’s called a can. It’s awesome. Especially when you want to make things like chocolate coconut pudding. Remember when I made chocolate pudding with pomegranate and swore that I had found the best easy pudding recipe? Sorry Deb, but this is by far my new favorite. It was just as easy, but something about the coconut milk gave the pudding a slightly more depth of flavor, without adding in a strong coconut flavor.

And to anyone that doesn’t like the taste of coconut – first of all, I don’t understand you at all, but that’s another story. Second of all, don’t think of this as chocolate pudding with a coconut flavor, think of it as rich chocolate pudding that is made richer by the thick and sweet coconut milk, and I think you’ll be able to get past your bias. And if not, I’ll definitely eat your share.

Coconut Chocolate Pudding

Recipe adapted from Vanilla and Lace

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The original recipe calls for arrowroot powder. I’m not entirely sure what that is, but I’ll let you know when I find out. In the meantime, corn starch worked just fine.

1 14-ounce can of coconut milk (lite is fine), divided
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
dash of salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Shake the can of coconut milk vigorously for a few seconds before opening. In a heavy saucepan bring 1 1/4 cups of the coconut milk, maple syrup, and the salt to a simmer over low heat.

While that is heating, in a seperate bowl whisk together the remaining coconut milk, corn starch, and cocoa powder. It will look like a smooth chocolate frosting.

When the coconut milk and maple syrup mixture has started simmering turn the heat down to low. Slowly add in the chocolate mixture while vigorously whisking it the whole time. Keep whisking until the pudding  thickens up a bit, about a minute.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and continue whisking while it is cooling for about a minute. Whisk in the chocolate chips and vanilla and keep stirring until the pudding is smooth. Transfer to a bowl  or bowls and place in a refrigerator to chill thoroughly. To prevent a skin from forming press plastic up against the surface of the pudding.

Sometimes things don’t always go as we planned. I had planned to watch “The Wizard of Oz” at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I had even called all my friends, cooked up some recipes, scheduled a time to meet, loaded up the car and driven all the way to Hollywood just to have a picnic in the cemetery. However, when we turned the corner and were preparing to enter, we were met by this:

The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but basically the entire city of Los Angeles had the same thoughts that we had. And unfortunately for us, they had the idea about an hour sooner, and we didn’t make it inside. Yeah, it was a bummer. There are few things sadder than having a picnic meal and nowhere to picnic.

Luckily, I’m blessed to have flexible and endlessly enthusiastic friends. We took our picnic dinner and headed to a teeny tiny park in Universal City. We sat on blankets and drank wine, ate our food and watched the sunset go down. It was good, even without the red slippers or munchkins.

There was one thing that turned out exactly as I had planned. This walnut pesto. It was just as tasty, satisfying and unique as I had been hoping for. My photos of the final product I feel are a tad lacking, I’m going to blame the change of venue on that, although it could have just as easily been the wine I was drinking. Wine or no wine, this is a great spread to have for your next picnic.

Walnut Pesto

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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1 cup shelled walnuts, even better if you toast and cool them first
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
3 sprigs of thyme, cleaned
Salt
Small splash of red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced sun-dried tomatoes (oil or dry-packed will both work)
1 loaf or baguette of crusty bread, sliced and toasted.

Combine walnuts, parmesan, garlic, thyme, salt and vinegar in a food processor and coarsely grind. Stir in the olive oil and tomatoes. You may need to add a little extra oil if your tomatoes aren’t soaked in oil.
Spoon the pesto over the toasted bread. Spread a blanket on the ground and have a picnic.