Tag: Recipes

As you may know last week I promised I would show some fun pics from my dinner party this past weekend. Today I will share the Dessert I made. First my good friend and I made Pistachio Macarons Friday night. Now, we hvae made macaroons many times and the outcome is always mixed. If you have ever attempted them you know they are hard. But this time we tried a recipe with the Italian Method vs. the French Method. And they turned out perfect. I only recently found out there are two different methods to macaroon madness. The french is harder because you have to beat the egg whites and get perfect consistency just by mixing. The Italian delivers more consistent results because the meringue is made partially over the stove and so the egg whites are less volatile.

I found this blog – Love and Macarons. And followed her instructions for Pistachio Macarons with Pistachio Custard Butter cream (Italian meringue recipe).

Next I made this Lime Basil Sorbet that I found on Cooking Light. I love sorbets, they are easy, refreshing and perfect in the summer. I sprinkled with blueberries. It was tart but very good.

This weekend I did lots of good cooking. I got Ina Garten’s “Foolproof” cookbook for one of my wedding showers and have to say I love it! This was the second time making this recipe, and highly recommend. The celery root adds such a nice flavor to standard mashed potatoes. A great fall/winter dish!

I am a sucker for fall food, although it isn’t always the healthiest I just can’t resist. This weekend I tried this Food Network Cheddar Broccoli Soup. Yum! To not feel as bad about it I added in 2 zucchini’s with the onions. It was a perfect way to add extra servings of veggies without hurting the taste. It is fun to try and hide extra veggies in…I feel like zucchinis are perfect for that.

Try it!

I was very excited about my dessert for my dinner party this weekend. First I made this Southern Living Raspberry Buttermilk Sorbet! This recipe was super easy.

 

 

It was my first time using my new ice cream attachement from my shower. I loved it! So fun.

Next I made this Martha Steward Lemon Pound Cake. Heaven! I also made the lemon glaze. I saved some of the glaze and drizzled some over the sorbet and the cake. Delish!

Both were a huge hit! I would for sure make these again!

This weekend I tried two new recipes for my sisters bachlorette party. They were both a huge hit.

The first was No Bake Cake Batter Truffles from the blog: Chef in Training. They are delicious! My friend Mary made them two weekends ago for my birthday party and they were such a hit I made them this past weekend. The best part: they are SUPER easy!!

Next, I made Mac and Cheese Bites from the blog: Annie’s Eats. They were also a huge hit. The macaroni was so delicious – it makes an amazing basic macaroni recipe too if you are looking for that. Otherwise it is a fun alternative for an appetizer.

Try them out!

For brunch on Sunday my friend Mary helped me make Macaroons. I have to say a couple months ago I tried to make them and they turned out less than mediocre. Although they tasted good they weren’t perfect. So Mary had a bit of experience and this time they turned so much better!

The first lesson was that the first time I ground my own almonds in the food processor to make the almond flour. Did you know you can just buy almond flour instead? It is much better. This helped make sure our flour was nice and smooth instead of lumpy.

Next make sure that your eggs whites create a nice thick texture.

Add some food coloring and pipe out on a pan. Remember to let them sit until the batter gets tacky (which for one of the batches was an hour!). When you touch it the cookies should feel sticky and not come off on your finger.

Voila! Don’t they look great? Next time I have to work on making them all the same size and testing new flavors. But for my second batch they were a hit!

(and they looked great on the table too)