When we moved out to the suburbs of Atlanta over two years ago, my mind went into cultural shock from being one of the very few couples in our neighborhood without children to having a 40 minute drive get to midtown Atlanta. Luckily (or not) I happened to work from home and a daily commute wasn’t something that I needed to worry about.

Over the past couple years, I went through phases of “I hate living out in the ‘burbs” to “well, I love our house so I guess I’ll deal” back to “when are we going to move already?!”

Well, I am glad to say that I’m finally, really(?) starting to warm up to living in the suburbs. It may be from joining a gym that I really enjoy or having new neighbors that we like chatting with or finally realizing that we won’t be able to have a monster-sized backyard if we move back into the city.

What do you do with a large backyard? You plant things of course!

Edible things, that is.

I’ve been wanting to plant a fruit tree in our backyard for a little while now and when I heard about Atlanta Local Food Initiative‘s Incredible Edible Grow-It-Yourself Fruit Tree, Vine & Berry Bush sale (wow, that was a mouthful!), I immediately hopped over to Georgia Organics’ website and pre-ordered a brown turkey fig tree and a blackberry bush.

Figs and blackberries – two of my most favorite fruits in the world. If we can manage to nurture and grow our little plants, just think of the lovely fruits that can be picked right out in our backyard!

Pick-up of our new plants was over this past weekend at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Despite the crazy thunderstorm that morning, we picked up our little ones and brought them home, safe and sound.

Then it was time to place the fig tree in the ground. Of course, my lovely husband was kind enough to do the hands on part:

And put up some chicken wire to deter our dig-happy pups from the new tree.

“Hey Mom… whatcha doin’?”

Grow little one, grow!

Our figs and blackberries won’t be ripe and ready for picking for another year or two, so in the meantime, I thought I would satisfy my fruit craving with a nice coconut panna cotta with pomegranate jello inspired by my brilliant friend, Jen of Use Real Butter.

Coconut Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Jello (4 servings)
1 can coconut milk (15 oz)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons agar agar, divided
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup boiling water

Let’s Cook:
For the panna cotta, mix 1 teaspoon agar agar in a small bowl with 1/4 cup warm water, then set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk, agave and vanilla. Mix well and bring the mixture to a boil for about a minute. Pour the agar agar mixture into the coconut mixture and stir to combine.

Divide the coconut mixture evenly into four serving containers and place in the refrigerator to set for about 4 hours.

To make the pomegranate jello, mix 1 teaspoon agar agar with 1/4 cup boiling water. Then pour into a small mixing bowl with the pomegranate juice. Mix well, and then pour onto the panna cotta after the panna cotta has set.

Then place the containers back into the refrigerator to set for another 4 hours.

Note: If the pomegranate juice is too tart or sour, mix in some agave or sugar to taste. The result should still be tangy.

I have been wanting to try tea-infused baking for a while. Just something about adding the flavors of a tea to the sweetness of a baked good intrigued me.

When I found out about the 1st Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap hosted by Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen, I thought to myself that this would be the perfect opportunity to bake some tea infused cookies. We were given the names, addresses and URLs of three fellow food bloggers and then we were to bake a dozen cookies to ship to each one. And in return we would receive three packages of a dozen cookies each. How fun!

After pondering more complicated recipes including peppermint tea cookies and lemon camomile cookies, I settled on chai shortbread because of how simple (baking 3 dozen cookies, packing and shipping them were quite the task!), yet delicious they are – or at least I crossed my fingers and hoped that they would be!

After figuring out how to infuse the butter for the cookies and baking off about 4 dozen cookies – some had to be taste tested, of course – I just had to design a little somethin’ somethin’ to package the sweet cookies in. Above is the label with the cookie information. I wanted to make sure to put the ingredients on the label since I was placed in a smaller group of bloggers with peanut allergies.

Below is the final packaging, complete with ribbons!

And the best part about a cookie swap?

Receiving 3 dozen cookies in the mail!

Pinwheel cookies from Marilyn:

S’more cookies from Thao:

Birds Nests and Wreath butter cookies from Stephanie:

A great big thank you to Lindsay and Julie for hosting the 1st Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! And although it was quite the task to bake, pack and ship 3 dozen cookies I think it was all well worth it. Aside from receiving three sweet packages in the mail, this was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn a new skill (infusing butter with tea) and learn all about packing and shipping food.

Hope everyone had a great time baking cookies as well!

Chai Shortbread (makes 3 dozen cookies)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
10 tablespoons chai-infused butter, at room temperature (see below for recipe)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cold water

Let’s Bake:
With a hand mixer or electric hand mixer, whip together the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract until well combined and creamy in texture. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt with a whisk to break up clumps and mix until combined.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating at low speed until combined into a flaky/crumbly dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cold water.

Divide the dough into thirds, and shape into logs (2 inch in diameter). Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least an hour up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Unwrap the dough logs, slice into 12 pieces each about 1/4″ to 1/3″ thick. Place the dough about 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheets, and bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until the sides of the cookies are slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then remove cookies and let completely cool on wire racks.

Chai-Infused Butter (from the Cupcake Project)
chai tea leaves
unsalted butter

Notes:
First, you will need more butter than your recipe calls for, since some of the butter will stick to the tea leaves. I found that the ratio is about 4:5, so if you need to end up with 8 tablespoons of infused butter, you should start infusing with 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

And as for the tea leaves, you will need about  1 1/2 teaspoons loose leaf tea for 1 tablespoon of butter.

Let’s Cook:
Melt the butter in a saucepan until just liquid. Then add the tea leaves and continue heating the mixture over low heat for 5 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from heat and let the mixture stand for another 5 minutes.

Pour the mixture through a sieve, make sure to press hard on the tea leaves to get the most of the infused butter out. Discard the tea leaves and let the melted butter come to room temperature. I also placed it in the fridge to let the butter firm up a bit.

Then use the butter as you would use plain butter in any recipe.

I had so much fun participating in the Secret Recipe Club last month, I was so excited to do it all over again this month. The concept of the Secret Recipe Club is just so much fun. You are assigned a blog, from which you can choose and make any of their recipes, including being able to adapt it to your dietary needs.

This month I was assigned The Realistic Nutritionist. I had so much fun reading her blog, but first I have to congratulate Claire on her new journey that she is beginning next year, as a full-time blogger. What an accomplishment! She is also working towards attending culinary school and I can not wait to read all about it on her blog when she starts attending.

Since she is an aspiring nutritionist, Claire’s recipes are mostly “skinny” or reduced in calories/fat. And I could not have been assigned her blog at a better time. I (re)joined my local gym exactly one week ago, so I’m back on a health kick. I love that the name of the blog is The Realistic Nutritionist, and that she does do posts with sweet goodies.

While browsing through the recipes on The Realistic Nutritionist blog, one jumped out at me. Blame it on the holiday season, blame it on the chocolate craving that hit just as I was browsing recipes… I just knew that I had to make Claire’s Peppermint Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting. I did make a small adjustment to the frosting recipe, instead of using vanilla extract I used peppermint extract for extra peppermint flavor.

A great combination in a peppermint chocolate dessert just in time for the holiday season. If we had kids and were setting cookies and milk out for Santa, I think I would be setting these out instead.

Peppermint Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe slightly adapted from The Realistic Nutritionist)
Brownies:
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
cooking spray

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8-oz) package fat free cream cheese, soft
3 tablespoons of butter, soft
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 – 3 candy canes, crumbled

Let’s Bake:
Preheat oven to 350˚F.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa and salt with a whisk. In another mixing bowl, mix together the brown sugar, canola oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract and eggs. Then add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix well.

Coat a 8″ by 13″ pan with cooking spray, then pour the brownie batter into the pan. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick that is inserted comes out dry.

To make the cream cheese frosting, mix together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and peppermint extract together with a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer. Mix until the mixture is creamy and well blended.

Spread the frosting on the brownie once the brownie has cooled to room temperature. Then sprinkle the candy cane crumbles on. Enjoy with a glass of milk or cup of tea.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We had a Friendsgiving, followed by a Thanksgiving dinner at our house, some Black Friday shopping and then another dinner at the in-laws’ house.

I’m finally starting to recuperate and catch up on work from the busyness of the long weekend, and am already looking forward to the next few weeks – full of holiday parties, restaurant events and seeing old friends again.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year, but I have lots to be thankful for this year:

Friends

Family

Our “kids”

Good food and cooking this weekend without the thought of having to write up a recipe and blog for each dish. Following recipes from other bloggers and enjoying the food with friends & family has been a nice change from the usual process of recipe development –> cooking –> styling –> photographing –> editing –> blogging

and Staying Busy

I guess I should be thankful for what I ask for (#99). I’ve been working on menu designs for a local farm-to-table restaurant, which has been fun, even though I do get super hungry while working (post on this restaurant will be up on Friday!).  And I’ve been having a great time filming videos and shooting products for Doggy Baby.

It’s been wonderful falling in love with my job all over again.

Don’t forget to go comment on this blog post! I will be picking and sending out a little gifty to someone next week!

Okay, so maybe I did actually end up blogging about a recipe. But this cheesecake is just way too yummy to keep all to myself.  And it is perfect for the holiday season:

Cranberry Goat Cheese Cheesecake (8-10 servings)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup rolled oats
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 – 8oz packs cream cheese, room temperature
12 oz goat cheese, room temperature
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups fresh cranberries
zest from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup agave nectar

Let’s Bake:
Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, rolled oats and butter in a mixing bowl. Press the graham cracker mixture onto the bottom of a 9″ springform pan. Place the pan on a cookie sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the springform pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Reduce the the oven temperature to 325˚F. For the cheesecake filling, mix the cream cheese, goat cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla together using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the sugar until mixture is well blended. Then add the eggs, one by one, and beat until the cheesecake batter is creamy.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the springform pan, on top of the graham cracker crust. Bake in the oven until the sides of the cheesecake look set and the center is still slightly jiggly, about 50-60 minutes. The cheesecake will finish setting as it cools.

Let the cheesecake cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For the topping, combine the fresh cranberries, lemon zest, water, red wine and agave nectar in a saucepan. Mix to combine the ingredients, then bring the mixture to a boil, then cover & let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the cranberries have “popped.” Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the cranberry topping cool to room temperature.

To serve, top the cheesecake with the cranberry topping.

This year I discovered a new found love and respect for pie.

I used to be more of a cake person, but that’s when the thought of pie brought about visions of pumpkin, chocolate cream and lemon meringue. Me, being not a huge fan of the creams and gel textures would shy away from the idea of pies. I had completely forgotten about the whole fruit pie phenomenon.

It really all started with these mini pies that I baked back in July. Peach and blackberry chunks wrapped in flaky, golden crust. It was heaven in a pie pan for me.

After that, freshly baked fruit pies with big chunks of fruit have taken over as my dessert of choice. And although, making and baking pies is a tad more work than a cake, I dare say, the end result just might be worth it.

This spiced pear plum pie just screams fall to me. Since I’m not the biggest fan of pumpkin (and sweet potato) pies – don’t get me wrong, I like them, but I don’t love them. The desire to sit down and eat half of a pumpkin pie, just isn’t as appealing to me as sitting down and eating half of this spiced pear plum pie.

This was also my first venture into making pie crust from scratch. It wasn’t as intimidating as I thought, but it is more work than just buying pre-made dough.

I will be the first to admit that I still have lots of room to practice on making my own pie dough, but I am proud of this first attempt. Just make sure that the butter and water that goes into your pie dough stay cold, and you’re pretty much good to go from there.

And another great thing about pie? It’s great for sharing.

Because let’s face it, even if you want or think that you can eat an entire 9″ pie by yourself, it’s just that much better when you share it with friends and family. Maybe next week over Thanksgiving?

Spiced Pear Plum Pie (serves 12)

Pie Crust
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups cold unsalted butter
2/3 cup ice-cold water

Spice Pear Plum filling adapted from Better Homes & Gardens
4 firm Barlett pears, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
3 red plums, pits removed and cut into similar sized pieces as pears
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
zest from half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
juice from half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Let’s Bake:
This was my first time making pie crust and instead of listening to me stumble through the instructions, head on over to this site for a helpful video on making pie crust.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Roll out pie crust pastry to a circle about 12-inches in diameter. Transfer to a 9-inch pie tin or plate, then trim pastry even with rim of tin.

In small bowl combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon peel, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. In a large bowl combine pears and plums. Add lemon juice and vanilla. Add sugar mixture; toss and mix well to coat. Transfer the fruit filling to prepared pie pan.

Roll remaining pastry portion intoto a 12-inch circle. Cut any desired shapes into pie crust if you’re feeling fancy. Otherwise, just place the pastry dough on filling, gently molding over the fruit. Trim to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie tin, and fold top pastry under bottom pastry. Cut 4 small slits in top crust to allow steam to escape (if you did not cut a design into the crust before layering it on to of the fruit).

Beat egg and brush on top of pie.

Place the pie in the oven and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes, covering edge of crust with foil, if necessary, to prevent overbrowning.

Remove pie from the oven and let cool on wire rack. Serve warm and enjoy!

“Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton, Bags by Bloom and  Harvard Common Press”

Whoopie pies seem to be popping up everywhere now, and after having one of West Egg Cafe’s amazing red velvet whoopie pies, I haven’t been able to get them out of my mind.

With such a fun name, I wondered where whoopie pies got them namesake… so, I did a little research:

“According to food historians, Amish women would bake these desserts (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in farmers’ lunch pails or lunch boxes. When farmers would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout “Whoopie!” It is thought that the original Whoopie pies may have been made from cake batter leftovers.” – Wikipedia.

These whoopie pies combine a slight hint of pumpkin pie with the texture of cake. You can make them a day ahead of time and bring them to a tailgating party. Just make sure to grab one before they all gone!

I made these pumpkin whoopie pies from this recipe by Bon Appétit. I halved the recipe and ended up with 12 pies. And even though Paul and I could have easily eaten all of them on our own, I decided that 6 pumpkin whoopie pies each, might be a bit much.

So we did what any suburban family would do. We brought some goodies over to our new neighbors, a sweet couple who had just moved to Georgia from Houston with their two adorable dogs. And I came across yet another fun discovery, the wife is a big foodie! Ahhh, I see many dinner parties in our future.

I wonder if I can talk her into starting a blog?

I have an overabundance of homemade pumpkin purée.

It was probably dangerous for me to discover how easy pumpkin puree is to make.

Now, I have the happy task of trying to figure out what to do with all this pumpkin. I have already made a savory dish and a great condiment, so today it is on to a great use for pumpkin puree in an easy breakfast or brunch recipe.

My favorite thing about this recipe (aside from eating it) was that I already had all the needed ingredients in my pantry and refrigerator at home.

I enjoyed the combination of pumpkin, cinnamon and cranberries in my Pumpkin Butter with Cinnamon Cranberry Biscuits so much, I decided to try out those same flavors in this crisp, adapted from Marla’s recipe at Family Fresh Cooking.

Pumpkin Coconut Cranberry Crisp (2 servings) adapted from Family Fresh Cooking
Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Let’s Bake:
Preheat oven to 375˚F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, agave nectar and vanilla extract. In another mixing bowl, combing the rest of the ingredients.

Divide the pumpkin mixture between two 6oz oven proof ramekins. Then top the pumpkin mixture with the oats mixture. Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!