There’s nothing better than gathering with friends for some cocktails and a handful of fun appetizers. In this collection you’ll find my favorite recipes to share before dinner, football game or before a holiday meal. I hope you don’t miss the Five-Spice Cranberry Sauce that has been on my Thanksgiving table for almost two decades (and is amazing on a turkey sandwich), as well as the Bacon Cheddar Chive Petite Scones and the Whipped Goat Cheese Gougères.
Think of this Five-Spice Cranberry Sauce as regular cranberry sauce but with mega jazz hands! It has all of the notes your looking for in cranberry sauce: classic sweet and tart flavors, with everything amped up with a bit of Chinese Five-Spice powder to keep things interesting. Origin of The Recipe This is the recipe that started it all! I’ve…
Friends, welcome to your new favorite dessert: Super Simple Cranberry Tarts with Rosemary Honey Drizzle! Every component of these tarts is make-ahead making these perfect for all of your holiday entertaining needs, and we have many. These little wonders are the perfect combination of tart from the barely sweetened cranberries, sweet from the honey, buttery from the Monterey jack cheese…
We need a new party snack, don’t we? These little nuggets remind me of a very sophisticated bar snack. Something that would be equally at home next to a glass of champagne or watching football. Which sounds a little bit how I’d describe myself if we threw in a propensity for lounging and Netflix binges. And yes, I think they…
This Creamy Roasted Walnut Tahini Dip post was done in collaboration with Diamond of California. A big thank you to them + you for supporting the brands I work with! xo Nut milk…nut creams…ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for nut dip. Yep. It’s happening. I was really hard-pressed to not just feature roasted in-shell nuts. They remind me…
Why haven’t we all been making our own crackers? This is the easiest (dare I say, foolproof?) dough that you will mess around with. It’s completely flexible…you pick the nuts, the cheese, the flours and make it your own. Crackers are one of those things that I never seem to have a fresh box of when I want them (does…
I have been playing with this recipe for Diamond of California for quite some time. I wanted to start with a dough that was nice and yeasty, full of life. I wanted it to be easy: a dough we could through together on a Wednesday, stash in the fridge and then come Friday or Saturday we could quickly roll it out…
{This post is sponsored by Maille} I hope you have lots of festive occasions coming up this month and if so, I have the perfect holiday appetizer to share with you. I use one of my favorite doughs as a base (it’s a brioche dough with eggs and butter and lots of richness) and then fold in Parmesan, fresh thyme…
I love love love to add Chinese five-space powder to warm up baked goods and treats and it is no less stunning in this Five-Spice Fig Jam. I’ve been making it for years with plums (thanks to two plum trees) but found it was equally fabulous made with figs. And so dang good on a cheese board! If you love…
The thought of making cheese never entered my mind. In fact, making this type of cheese (labneh) seems somewhat fraudulent…like it really isn’t cheese…but it is…and it’s so amazingly luscious and delicious you will never not (love a double negative) have it in your fridge. At all times. It’s true, I like to dazzle people with food. I like it to…
four cheese caramelized onion tarts with truffle honey There’s lots happening here…but it’s oh-so-easy and oh-so-make-ahead. We start out with some thawed puff pastry (easy enough)…we give them a quick blast in the oven to puff them up a bit. Then, using a spoon (or fork or other device) we press down in the centers to make a bit of…
Anytime I can throw bacon, cheese and onions in something, I will. I wanted to dabble in savory scones for quite some time but just hadn’t found the time or occasion. So when I had the opportunity to cater a large lunch recently, I knew my time had come. I didn’t put these bacon cheddar chive scones on the proposed…
persimmons what to do…what to do… Every fall my persimmon tree turns the most gorgeous shade of orange. It overflows with fruit and then it seems that, within weeks, it’s a naked and barren Charlie Brown-like tree. It all feels very quick. And every year, I haven’t the foggiest idea of what to do with my persimmons. The tree is by far…
{ fresh tomato crostata } Three years ago I started with two raised planter beds for veggies and I ushered in this growing season with nine. That’s right, nine. I had visions of bed after bed of tomatoes. More tomatoes than I could possible eat or can. And then I went seed shopping. I was so compelled by tomatillos and…