allspice & black raspberry muffins with brown sugar pecan streusel

muffins-

Last weekend, we decided to stop by Green City Market in Lincoln Park. Green City is cool, I guess, but damn is it crowded.

Mostly, Green City is cool because it’s right next to the zoo. I love the zoo. You should not go to Green City without walking the extra 15 feet it would take to check out the GIGANTIC bunny they have in the farm-y part of the zoo. I mean, this rabbit is ridiiiiiculous.

(Can you tell I like animals, much?)

giant bunny small

Sorry you can’t really see him there. Bad lighting and an iphone camera.

Anyway. Continue reading →

homemade ginger beer

close pour-

This should be your project for the week. You can start it on Thursday night or Friday morning, and it’ll be ready in time for you to make a fancy cocktail to enjoy while you watch Mad Men on Sunday.

You can google cocktails that use ginger beer, if you want. The first two that come to mind are a Dark & Stormy and a Moscow Mule. Or, you could do what I do, and just make something up. I think it’s also delicious with lemonade. Continue reading →

oatmeal pecan cookies

oatmeal pecan and milk-

I am a sucker for all things oatmeal, with one exception. I completely fail to understand why anyone ever decided it was a good idea to put raisins into oatmeal cookies. Oatmeal raisin cookies are just…not my thing. I feel okay about raisins, generally speaking. But once you put them in a cookie, I’m out.

I won’t even waste my time picking the raisins out. Nope. No thanks.

This recipe, from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, was made specifically for someone else who also hates raisins in their cookies. Obviously, I was interested. I didn’t expect anything earth shattering, just a decent oatmeal cookie. Continue reading →

chocolate toffee & mixed berry rugelach

rugelach rack edited-

I’m going to DC later this week! This has nothing to do with the cookies above…I’m just excited and felt like sharing.

I bet you’ve had rugelach before. It (or some variation of it) is generally a staple at most bakeries. Basically, what you’re looking at is a butter and cream cheese-based pie dough, wrapped around some kind of filling. Super easy. And a really good way to use up leftover jam, fruit, nuts, and/or chocolate. They’re basically a one-bite (maybe two) cookie, which is sometimes a really nice thing to have. You know, in case there were ever a time where you didn’t want to look like a total fool with crumbs down the front of your shirt/on your lap/everywhere. Continue reading →

french apple tart with bourbon vanilla creme anglaise

Tart slice edits 1-

Would you trust me if I told you this is pretty much guaranteed to be the most delicious apple tart you’ve ever had?

(The correct response here is “YES!”)

If you’re skeptical….I dare you to make this. And everyone knows you can’t back down from a dare. Continue reading →