friday links

Did you hear that interview on NPR with writer Jonah Lehrer on his book "Imagine: Fostering Creativity in the Workplace"? It's about how innovative thoughts originate and explains how some companies are now working to create environments where they're more likely to occur. He delves into why certain scenarios work (instantly) for the brain to be more creative. Very interesting, and of course we all knew that being less stressed let's the creativity flow better.



More terrarium love. How cute? Right.

From uncommon goods.


Bubble terrarium from sprout home.

Are you getting enough Vitamin D? Here's a good summary on it: the why, the what, and how.


I just love when I find gorgeous websites about famous gardens from around the world--well lost gardens actually. This one is The Lost Gardens of Heligan.


These 'french sneakers' are becoming popular. I may have to get a pair. What do you think? Like or ? They are called french sneakers or bensimon sneakers?


I want this bag. From Swell.com. One of my favorite sites.


Or this bag. A little market bag aka bamboula.


Colbie ballerinas. Perfect for spring. I love you anthropologie, but your prices have to come down a bit.


This dress is so cute. A sundown crochet maxi from anthropologie.


cute right? another one from swell.com


The striped tee dress from madewell. Super comfy looking.


A studio sweatdress is just what I've been looking for to pair with leggings. Cute. From madewell.com


Sombrero style sheets from anthropolgie. I mean seriously, these are so fun. Check out the detail in the pillowcases--those little sombrero's! Click on link for larger, more detailed photos. I think I have to get these.


Tell me this lush landscape quilt won't brighten up any room? Fabulous! From anthropologie.

Mad Men is back this Sunday. Do you watch? There is already a Mad Men Cookbook out! It's kind of wild. Did anyone get this book yet?


Personally I would LOVE this vintage cocktail book instead. Now this looks fabulous.


How about the ultimate Mad Men Playlist from Rolling Stone?

Make me Mod! Top 10 Mad Men Essentials. From a fun collectors website.


Are these not fabulous for summer grilling? Love love love. From crate & barrel.

One of the best things in life (to me) are those first few days of spring in new york city. I just love the energy, the weather, the streets opening back up, the people are in good moods. I think this article does and says it best with it's words and photos.

You know those peanut butter granola bars by Nature's Valley? The new ones that have a pb coating on them? I found a recipe on how to make that pb coating.

Cleaning my cast iron pan. Well, it never happens, then I have to take it to the carwash to sandblast it with water. No, not really, but almost. Here's a good tip for cleaning cast iron and how to re-season it.

There are now apps (I did not know this) for helping you decorate your house or room. Fascinating. When I have money to decorate AND to buy an ipad, I will definitely get this!

Gourmet magazine has some of the best tips I've seen in a long time for homemade sushi rolls at home. Super simple. I've seen tips before that were just awful and cumbersome. Not this one.

Jen over at Use Real Butter has made the ULTIMATE california roll burger. I swear this woman is genius.

I was wondering when this would happen. Grilled cheese doughnut.

Grilled cheese hard boiled eggs. That's bananas and I would totally try it!

And use those bananas to help ripen your avocados!

Have a wonderful weekend! What are your plans? I plan on going here, a lot.



Hang with these guys for a while.




Loving the summer-march in the northeast.


cape cod national seashore (my favorite place to chill)

wordless wednesday (turkey-avocado pizza)

print recipe

peanut flour-buttermilk pancakes stuffed w/ bacon

Why yes I always serve a side of bacon along side my pancakes that are stuffed with bacon. Don't you? Sunday mornings are meant for bacon overdose.
These fabulous pancakes are made with peanut flour. Since I'm still on my peanut flour kick, I thought why not use it in pancakes? The flavor of peanut butter is not overwhelming at all. I thought it would be, but it is not. Hence my idea to serve along side it a nice dose of peanut butter-maple syrup. Perfect topping. One could easily serve a nice warm jam too--I think that would taste just as good if not better; kind of like pb & j pancakes with a dose of bacon.
The photos are not the best--this is not an easy dish to photograph, but it sure does taste delish.











peanut flour-buttermilk & bacon pancakes
print recipe

2 cups peanut flour
1 cups all-purpose flour
4 TB white sugar
3 ts baking powder
1 ½ ts baking soda
1 ts salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup whole milk
3 eggs
1/3 cup + 2 TB butter, melted

Extra butter for frying up the pancakes
About 10-12 slices of cooked bacon

Peanut butter-maple syrup
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
1 cup (or more of maple syrup)

Cook notes:
Those pancakes don’t cook up like normal pancakes they are a lot thinner. So you might be tempted to over-pour the batter onto the bacon—don’t. Pour just under enough and watch it spread out on its own. Your best bet is to do a test pancake so you can see how the pancake sets up. This pancake also takes a bit longer to brown than your normal pancake does.
The next time I make these I will add in a touch of vanilla extract; just to boost up the sweetness inside the pancake. Make sure to grease up the pan for each batch of pancakes, unless you have nonstick pan. To make pouring of the batter easier I put batter in a measuring cup that had a spout, but it might be really beneficial to use a squirt bottle with large opening.

For the pb-maple syrup:
Mix both ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over low heat. Stir to incorporate. Don’t let it burn, just keep it warm.

In a large bowl, combine the peanut flour, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a separate bowl mix the buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter.
You must keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook!
Heat a lightly butter-greased griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and mix until just combined. DO NOT overmix; lumps are good and a must!
Place a slice of cooked bacon on pan, pour just enough pancake batter along the length of the piece of bacon; adding just enough as this batter does spread a lot. Fry until side is browned and crisp, then flip over. The first one might be crooked, mine was; you get the hang of it as you go along.
Keep cooked pancakes warm in heated (150-200 degree oven) on a jelly roll pan until all are done.
Serve pancakes with the warmed pb0maple syrup sauce or plain old maple syrup.

Should make about 10-12 pancakes; depending on size you make them

friday links

What's everyone making for St. Patricks Day?

I found a few ideas for you.
First one is my favorite: hoisin glazed corned beef with hoisin-ginger reduction, served over spicy sauerkraut relish. Don't let the long name scare you into thinking it's hard to make--its not! A very tasty dish, AND the leftovers make incredible sliders with a nice creamy coleslaw.



Maybe a reuben calzone?



Maybe some reuben bread from recipe girl? With step by step instructions?



Or how about corned beef grilled cheese sandwich with Guinness caramelized onions! From Kevin at Closet Cooking. Man, that's just insanely good looking. I think I'm making this one just for the Guinness caramelized onions.



Guinness-chocolate pudding! Let's have dessert first.



How about a sweet & salty Guinness chocolate pie from SprinkleBakes.com ?



I adore iced oatmeal cookies when it's a think, crispy cookie with generous amounts of iced frosting. From Bake-Aholic.com



If you ever have leftover donut munchkins, here's a great way to use them up: Donut Chips! Love this idea. From Kate over at framedcooks.com



Need a step by step guide on how to make "the perfect Irish Coffee"?

Cheddar-chive Guinness Bread.

An easy recipe for homemade colcannon soup from she's in the kitchen.

Here is a great way to naturally dye Easter eggs. None of that awful food coloring needed! This is great for kids.

I had to share this one: sweet little lumbar pillows for your office chair. I'm defintiely getting the black one from Brookstone--it looks like it's perfect for my chair. How many times during the day do I take my arm and rest on the backside of my lower back because of pain.

List of the best narrated audio books. I would love to listen to Tina Fey's "Bossypants"

Brownie Roll ups!

Cauliflower crusted pizza.

A mock tuna salad? Made with chickpea's. Fabulous idea.

Need to ripen an avocado fast?

Rocker Gene Simmons opening a chain of restaurants? Rock & Brew.

Want to increase your Twitter followers? Here are some excellent tips.

Cupcake nail art. Not for me, but still cute; gotta admire the attention to detail.

New human species? Could this be true? Not homo sapiens nor neanderthal. Very interesting.

Easing eye strain with "optical aerobics"

What I'm curiously reading these days.....what do you think of the whole Paleo craze? Work for you?



Top instant noodles from around the world. Some of them are very odd indeed.

On my "to create" recipe list: Black Pepper Tofu (it's the photo that captured my attention).

Want to know about food, drugs, health, market withdrawals, and other recalls? This is a very handy little website.

Cruelty free beauty products. LOVE THIS.

Have a great weekend kids!

peanut butter cookie crusted brownies

Pet peeve #307 Soggy bottom brownies.
You know those brownies with that nice crisp layer on top, then a disappointing soggy bottom? Oh I hate those. I need to have a crispy top, crispy bottom, with a semi-gooey/fudgy center in my brownies. Is that why the end pieces of brownies are so popular? Because they have both crispy top and bottom AND sides? Probably.
Well, if you're like me, I have solved this problem. Use an almost or completely flouress cookie dough--this should yield a nice crisp bottom. Makes all the difference in the world.

This Baked brownie mix is hands down one of my favorites. It's like a high-quality chocolate bar. Well, in essence it is since it has chocolate from Guittard and Callebaut in there. If you're going to have a brownie have one that has high quality cocoa in there--better taste wise and mood wise (higher quality chocolate really does improve your mood).
Have you tried this brownie mix from Baked yet? You really should. To be honest, I was kind of blown away at how rich, dense, and fuggy it tasted since it comes from a box. I truly thought it would be just another boxed brownie mix; one naturally assume when it comes from a mix it's going to be OK.
I was so dead wrong. This mix literally tastes like those fancy brownies that take a while to make--you know the ones you see on food network or PBS that have a 1000 steps?
Very easy to make. All you have to do is add butter and eggs.


I've always wanted to create a cookie/brownie mix. And for me, peanut butter and brownie go so well together, why not put them together. Sure you've seen this combo before, but this one really tastes good as we used a lower flour peanut butter cookie--just like my "almost flourless" pb cookies.

If you want to try these brownie mixes, (deep dark chocolate, blondie, and peanut butter), head over to Williams Sonoma.

I think we all should convince the Baked guys to offer up a giveaway for these fabulous brownie mixes? Don't you? Tell me and I'll tell them.

peanut butter cookie crusted brownies
print recipe

for the peanut butter cookie base:
3 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter (not too oily though, drain some out)
1 ½ cups + 2 TB dark brown sugar (not packed)
3 eggs
2 ts baking soda
6 TB flour
1 ¼ ts sea salt

for the brownie base:
1 mix of Baked deep dark brownie mix (or your own favorite brownie mix; enough for a 9x13 pan)

For the pb cookie base:
In a small bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt; and mix, set aside.
In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugar until well combined.
Crack open eggs in a small bowl and beat.
Add egg to the cookie mixture, then add in the flour mixture, by sprinkling it over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till combined.

Grease up a 9 X 13 inch pan; using either Pam nonstick spray or butter and flour method. Press the peanut butter dough mixture into pan, making sure to get all the corners as well. Place in fridge and chill, until ready to use.

for the Baked brownie mix:
Follow mixing instructions as stated on the back of the box.

When the brownie batter mix is mixed and you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Take out the peanut butter pan from fridge, and pour the brownie mixture on top. Smooth out batter, evenly, over the top, making sure to get the corners. Gently tap the pan to remove any air. Bake in oven for about 55-65 minutes; making sure to rotate pan a few times during baking. If you don’t want fudgy brownies, you can bake a couple minutes longer.
The brownies will be fudgy, dense, thick and a bit gooey; this is good. Look for a nice crisp/crusty top on the brownies. Inserting a cake tester in middle, will yield a few small crumbs, not complete dough.
You need to cool brownies in pan for at least 45 minutes, then transfer to fridge to help set up the brownies. I left the pan in the fridge for about an hour.
Using a sharp knife, loosen edges and slide out mixture onto wooden board. Cut into squares. Should yield about 24+ squares, depending on how you cut them.

friday links

Here on cape cod we've been blessed with a good amount of gorgeous weather this winter. The complete opposite of last winter, which was full on snow and no sun. This winter we've had above normal temps. good amount of sun and about four inches of snow so far. Last year at this time we had already received over 57 inches of snow. Crazy extremes. When the sun is out I do my very best to get to the beach as much as possible.
One day I was lucky enough to tag along for clamming.




Steamers for dinner!


This is north chatham, ma.



Off in the distance is the infamous Nauset Beach, but before that, there is the small island sanctuary called Tern Island. And yes, this is the same Nauset that hooks up with other end of Nauset Beach down by the national seashore. Nauset Beach, used to be one long piece of beach, but a few winters ago a part of the beach broke/breached. For those who love history of beaches (like me) you can read more about the breach, and history of the beach click here. There are summer homes over there, no electricity or power. The homes are few, and very minimal. From what I've heard from the natives, it's like going back in time over there; gas lanterns, fishing poles, books, and minimal furniture is about it. One four wheel drive vehicle for the island and people to use to drive around in--no other cars there. Hard to rent one that's for sure. I hope to get a ride over there one day this summer--fingers crossed. I haven't found much info on Tern Island though....still looking....

Around the web:

Speaking of cape cod, I've become obsessed with these giant oat cookies, aptly named: Salty Oats made by Kayak Cookies. Almost a quarter pound cookie that is oatmeal cookie with raisins and a touch of salt. Heavenly cookie indeed. They are made here on cape cod (originally started in DC) and are sold in most businesses on cape cod and almost all whole foods in Massachusetts. Growing in popularity simply because of their taste and short list of wholeness ingredients. I've already started my quest to make a suitable clone. Have you tried these cookies?



After my post about the peanut flour peanut butter cookies a couple people asked about other uses for peanut flour. For me, I just look at what recipes that use flour, can we use peanut flour instead? A few other tips found here too.

My latest salad dressing obsession can be found here.

Did you know you can clean copper with lemon and salt? I didn't.

Linen sheets have always gotten a bad, scratchy rap. But apparently not here. Do you like them?

Do you compost? Here's a helpful guide.

My latest cookbook obsession?


At first I was a little intimidated by this book thinking it might be too hard because it is from an acclaimed Norwegian pastry chef Sverre Sætre, but no actually the recipes are very easy to follow.
And as a little treat they show you how to make your own marzipan--and guess what? It's super easy. I never knew. Chef Sverre has 50 recipes in side and each recipe has it's own color photograph. For me, that's the most important part--I need to see the finished product and am really not fond of cookbooks that give you only a handful of photographs. This Norwegian cookbook is a treat, if you've ever wanted to step out of your comfort zone and try a few Norwegian delicacies, this would be it, as it's not hard to follow and won't have you running around town looking for crazy ingredients you can't find or pronounce.



Many women are low on iron. Did you know that liver is very high in iron? LOL I knew that, but I still won't eat it.

Have any of you started canning? I remember a few of you said you were doing some this winter. How about pickled carrots? They actually sound really good.

I do love that kneadless bread is all the rage. Especially when it's got cheese in it.

Have you ever wondered what a day in the life is like for a location scout? Fascinating.

And for those who are still curious about canning. Here is a well-written beginners guide, with a brief history too.

Onion and black pepper scones. Gluten free too!

The kettlepizza. I really want one of these, just in time for summer. What a great idea.

Foodie pick up lines. Cute very cute.

Need new slippers?

Ways to boost up your salad dressings.

Have a great weekend!