Vanilla Is So Sweet

Homemade vanilla extract is one of the sweetest smelling things ever.  So simple too.  Here is what you do:

Home Infused Vanilla Extract 

Supplies

Vodka 

Vanilla Beans

Small Glass Bottle 

Steps 

1. Fill bottle with vodka, leaving about 1/2 inch of space at the top.
2. Add in vanilla beans, about 1 bean per 8 oz of vodka.
3. Seal tightly and store in a cool, dry place for 3-6 months before using.
4. Bake into your favorite snacks!

So beautiful.

Happy Baking,

EM

In A Pickle

This summer I have been blessed with an abundance of cucumbers.  Last year my only cucumber withered up before it was even big enough to pick.  So this year I decided to celebrate these cucumbers by canning pickles.  I had never made them prior to this, however I had purchased a crinkle cutter for my veggies at some Pampered Chef party when I was 12.  So it must have been my destiny to, 11 years later, make bread and butter pickles.  The process was simple and I used a recipe from the Ball Complete Home Preserving Book, which is an amazing resource for canning.  The only thing I think I would do differently next time is to add in pickle crisp because the pickles were a little softer than I prefer.  

Perfect Pickles

While looking through the canning book I also found a tasty looking recipe for salsa.  I had been lucky enough to be gifted a large bag of velencia tomatoes from a friend's CSA and this salsa recipe looked like the perfect fit for them.  

This summer salsa recipe is mild and very refreshing.

Before canning pickles I had only canned fruit jams.  Now that I am on this savory canning streak I can't wait to make more this fall.  I am thinking of making sun dried tomato jam and herb jelly.  

Till next time!

EM

I Cook My Bacon In The Oven

Last week I decided to experiment with dinner.  I tired cooking bacon in the oven.  It turned out deliciously crispy and the clean up was incredibly easy. In the past I have tried cooking it in the microwave and it never worked out well.  Here is what you do:


Oven Roasted Bacon 

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Line cookie sheet with tin foil.
3) Place a cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet.
4) Lay bacon on top of cooling rack/sheet combo.
5) Cook for 30 min (for regular bacon) to 45 min (for thick cut bacon) or until crispy.

Bacon, getting ready for the oven.

Enjoy!
EM

ROAD TRIP!!!

Last weekend Abby and I headed off to Hadley, MA.  Why?  To grocery shop.  Yup, grocery shop.  Sure, we have places to do this that are a lot closer...however we don't have a Trader Joe's.  Abby is a avid fan of Trader Joe's coffee.  As for me I was a newbie.  This trip is totally worth the hour and a half that it took to get there.

We stopped at Whole Foods on the way there (about 30 seconds up the road...I want to live here).  Yum.

Abby, trying vegan food for the first time.  This was promptly followed by her placing the food on my plate.

Behold. The Awesomeness.

More awesomeness. 

Trader Joe's makes it easy to bridge the gaps between affordable, easy, healthy, and fun.  Oh, and also delicious.  Already on the shopping list for next time are Trader Joe's: boxed mac and cheese, frozen meals of the indian variety, pizza dough, and chocolate carmels.  When I went up to the checkout I was really excited and I told the guy that it was my first time shopping there.  To top off an great trip he gave me stickers and rang a bell.  I literally skipped all the way from the door to the car.

Happy Shopping,

EM

Tutti Insieme

          That is what my great grandmother Emilia would always say before dinner.  It means "All Together" in Italian.  As part of a beautiful project my mother put together a family cookbook.  This cookbook is filled with family photos, sayings, and mouth watering recipes.  I laughed, I cried, I bookmarked a million recipes that I am going to try and cook in my humble kitchen. 

         One of my favorites is my Aunt Bertha's Struffoli, deep fired honey balls covered in...well, honey...and colorful nonpareils.  Usual served in two large aluminum trays at Christmas time.  Yum.

To see the rest of the recipes, check out the online version here.

Buon Appetito my friends,

EM