friday links

Happy Friday!


As seen on the Massachusetts state highways starting today.  I love it.

Saw these birds in west barnstable (what are they, not sure?).


I am in love with this tasty little snack mix by Bhuja.

A little treat for myself. I can't afford the bottles so I get the rollerballs, much cheaper.
I am in love with this scent.  Found at Sephora.

Every spring I get so excited at the arrival of the giant blackberries from Driscoll Berries.
I just wish it wasn't such a short season. (found these beauties at Whole Foods).

Speaking of Whole Foods, Cape Cod is FINALLY getting their own Whole Foods.
They open next week 5/14/14. I am so excited. Follow them on Facebook!
I was lucky to get a quick sneaky peek of the inside of the new Whole Foods in Hyannis, MA.

Had no idea how big the store is.  It kind has the same giant, open, free and easy shopping as the flagship store in Dedham, MA.
There is going to be a walk up waffle bar!
I very big seafood market in the back of the store (finally!).

Really nice outside sitting areas. A long row this way and another long row behind this photo.
Cape peeps and anyone else interested in coming to the grand opening (from Whole Foods Hyannis):

"Grand Opening May 14. We invite you to our grand-opening celebrations where we'll be "breaking bread" at 9:45 a.m, with special guest speakers. Can't make it to that? We'll have raffles, live music, on-air DJs, caricatures and so much more all day long! Come join us!"

I am so excited to finally have a whole foods on cape cod.  I'll report back with more photos!
Like Whole Foods Hyannis on Facebook for upcoming events, deals, specials, etc...

As seen at Marion's Pie Shop in Chatham, MA




Absolutely loving the weather here on cape cod.
No snow, no blizzards, no nor'easters, no torrential rainfalls....just heavenly.
Feels good to be outside again.

around the web:

easy ways to get protein
mom's diet mirrors child's food allergies?
a better lipstick (would love to try this)
what happens when you pee in the pool?
18 reasons chefs are better at life
citrus drop cookies
copycat krispy kreme donuts
9 weird things running does to your body
coconut crusted ganache pie
from GRIT farm: live baby chick cam (so cute!)
rice bun burgers
foods to balance your hormones
rhubarb-cream cheese hand pies
does an apple a day really keep the doctor away?
bacon smores in burrito form
6 reasons you NEED more sleep!
black bottom oatmeal pie
what mel brooks eats for breakfast
creamsicle chiffon pie
dangers of microwave popcorn
cold chocolate snacking cake
sallie mae under fire for death-induced defaults
baked boston cream donuts
mediterranean udon salad
omega-3 deficiency predicts faster brain decline
iced coffee popsicles
chocolate-cardamon muffin cakes
sweet cream vanilla coffee cake
indian style coleslaw
chewy dark chocolate chip cookies (Paleo!)
DIY natural insect repellent spray
chocolate milk & cookies ice cream
Top Chef is coming to Boston!
how to avoid GMO's when dining out
hair care super line?
got gas? it could mean you've got healthy gut microbes
Adam Walker swimming the oceans gets a little help from the dolphins
happiness & laughter are natural immune boosters
5 easy ways to make yourself highly attractive (it's not what you think)
clean eating: coconut cream pie
tangerine-coriander sorbet
handy baking conversions chart

Have a wonderful weekend!

nutella pound cake

Do you watch CreateTV on PBS?
Cooks Country show is on there (where this recipe comes from).
That is the show that is like America's Test Kitchen but just has a different name.
Wait is there another show just like ATK?  Wasn't there three of them?
There is Cooks Country, America's Test Kitchen from Cook's Illustrated and....?
CreateTV recently added Martha's Cooking School. I get so envious of Martha' kitchen on there; she has every pot and pan imaginable; an All Clad lovers dream to say the least!

Whatever happened to GlobeTrekker? Do they still make new episodes? I loved that show.
Watching it truly made me want to drop everything, check out of life, and just travel.
This pound cake recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. To me, it really is the best pound cake recipe I've ever come across. The use of cake flour in the pound cake truly lends itself to a nice softer pound cake, not as hard and dense.
Of course it's great on its own, but I had a craving, a yearning to put a little nutella in there as well as some crunch. Keep this recipe handy for the summer, as this pound cake (plain) is fabulous with marinated strawberries or blueberries, and freshly whipped cream.
In the recipe they say to place cake in cold oven, I didn't do this, just plum forgot, and it came out fine.
A little puffy and uneven on the top, but with poundcake in a bundt pan you never see the top since it's inverted.
I added a nice layer of nutella to the middle along with some pecans. You can skip the nuts if you want to, but I used them to help keep the nutella from sinking.

At this point, I know it would induce a sugar coma, but I was tempted to get a spoon and dig in.


Even if you don't want to use the nutella, save the pound cake base recipe for future uses, it's a really good recipe.  The cake flour makes all the difference in texture-taste wise.

nutella pound cake
pound cake base from Cook's Country
print recipe

3 cups cake flour
1/2 ts baking powder
1 ts salt
1 cup whole milk
2 ts pure vanilla extract
20 TB (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs

nutella filling:
about ½ cup nutella
couple handfuls of chopped pecans (or walnuts)

glaze:
½  cup powdered sugar
1 TB +/- whole milk or buttermilk

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Grease and flour 16-cup tube pan. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Whisk milk and vanilla in measuring cup.
With electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined.
Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of milk mixture. Mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds. Use rubber spatula to give batter final stir.
Pour half the batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
Sprinkle on a handful or two or chopped pecans, then using two spoons, place a layer of nutella around the entire middle.  Make sure not to let nutella go to the edges as it will leak onto the outside.
(I placed this in a preheated oven, 325 degrees and baked it for about 60-75 minutes.  They say to place in cold oven, then heat to 325 degrees; I forgot this step.)
Place cake in cold oven. Adjust oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake, without opening oven door, until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 65 to 80 minutes.
Cool cake in pan for 20 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack.
Cool completely, about 2 hours.
If you want a glaze: just mix about ½ cup of powdered sugar with 1 TB of whole milk or buttermilk; whisk until smooth, and pour over bundt.

lemon tart

I love lime and lemon custard tarts that have that right amount of 'twang'.
The kind of twang that hits your tongue on the first bite, then gets smoothed over with the creamy sugary custard.  Such a clean, light taste.
A rich, deep tasting custard made with heavy cream, butter, egg yolks, and then a nice hefty dose of lemon juice & zest--to me, is possibly the best way to cleanse the palate after a meal.
The perfect lemon tart is light in taste but rich texture; one only needs a small slice to be satisfied.
Sure custard tarts are a bit of work, and by work I mean, pre-baking the crust (worth it) and zesting 4-5 lemons (even more worth it).
That's it really, not much else hard work to do when you look at it.
And what makes tart baking even easier is having a good, sturdy tart pan with removable bottom.
Make sure to invest in a removable bottom tart pan, they come in handy when you've done all that prep work and really want the last step of removing from pan to happen--effortlessly.


Tart pans can also be used to my infamous ginger crunch bars.  Remember those?
I also made a lemon crunch version too!
This lemon custard tart recipe I got from the book:  Say It With Cake by Edd Kimber.
Truly fabulous.  This recipe calls for a hint of almond meal in the crust, no zest or lemon in the crust either, which is good; we don't need to overpower the whole tart with lemon, just the custard.
I can't recommend this cookbook enough.

I don't have any pie weights and I don't have a 9-inch tart pan, so this recipe was quite adaptable.
I used a square 8 or 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.
You could try this in a pie plate, but make sure you grease it up well.

I would love to try this with key limes and meyer lemons.
But meyer lemons here on cape cod are hard to find, and if you find one prepare to shell out
$2.00 for one!



And then there was one....these bars will not last long.


similar recipes:
ginger crunch bars
lemon crunch bars
mini peach cheesecake tarts

Lemon Tart
From Say It With Cake
print recipe

crust
1 cup +2 TB flour
2/3 cup almond flour
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
hefty pinch of salt
5 TB unsalted butter, diced & kept cold (I would use 6 TB)
1 egg yolk, cold
1 TB ice water
½ ts vanilla bean paste

filling
Finely grated zest of 4 lemons
2/3 cup super fine sugar (if you don’t have it, just use regular sugar)
½ cup real lemon juice (not bottled)
4 eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream

my cook notes:
I would use an extra tablespoon of butter for the crust dough, but that’s me.
I do not have pie weights and therefore skipped that step, and pre-baking the pie crust came out fine. Pay close attention to whisking the uncooked pastry cream; you don’t want to over-whisk and have too much air in the custard. These bars, as with any custard based tarts do not keep long--a day at most then the bottom gets soggy.

For the crust, place the flour, almond flour, confectioner’s sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Mix the egg yolk, water and vanilla bean paste together and add to the food processor. Pulse until the dough just starts to come together. Tip out onto a non-floured work surface and gently knead until the dough comes together into a uniform mass. Press into a flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour.
Lightly grease a 9-inch fluted tart tin (preferably with a removable base) and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out the pastry and place in the prepared tart tin. Refrigerate for 15 minutes until the pastry has firmed up again.
Line the tart shell with parchment and fill with a layer of baking beans or rice.
Bake for 20 minutes then remove the parchment and baking beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until the pastry has started to turn golden. Allow the pastry case to cool whilst you make the filling.   Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Place the zest, lemon juice, sugar and eggs into a medium bowl and gently whisk together until smooth. Pour in the cream and again gently whisk to combine. You don’t want to incorporate air so be careful to whisk nice and gently.
Pour the filling into the part baked tart shell and bake for 30 minutes or until the filling has just set. Allow tart to completely cool before serving. (I let it cool for 20 minutes, then 10 minutes in fridge).

Tip from Edd:
If you worry about a tart with a soggy bottom, allow the part baked tart shell to cool completely, then brush with an egg yolk and allow to set.
This creates a seal to prevent moisture from the filling making the pastry soggy.

friday links

happy friday!

Have leftover Cadbury or Reese's Eggs?
Stuff 'em into brownies or cookie cups.


With the arrival of spring, so comes my salad cravings.
Leftover falafel, feta, tomatoes, avocado and spinach.


More avocado cravings lately...


Quite possibly the thinest chocolate chip cookies I've ever made.
Recipe here.


What cookbook I'm loving right now...Taco Revolution.  Literally your everything taco craving in one cookbook!  Everything from creative taco's with leftovers, fish, beef, chicken, waffle, potato taco, thanksgiving taco, vegetarian and so much more!  Included are also sides, sauces and seasonings to use.
In photo: cheeseburger taco, rueben taco and chicken tikka taco.


We've been blessed with lots of sun lately, a bit cooler than what spring should be, but hey, no blizzards, no snow--I'll take it!


Ice cream season has started!


around the web:

how many minutes on the treadmill to burn off that Cadbury Egg?
bubble gum frosting cupcakes (amazing work)
DIY homemade jelly beans with peanut butter
'love ever after' a series by lauren fleishman
honey badger houdini
how smell sticks to your memories
wonderful baking conversions chart (bookmark this!)
haagen-dazs unleashes vegetable flavored ice cream in japan
mexican corn on the cob
10 things to make with rhubarb
DIY marzipan veggies (excellent tutorial)
best travel cameras
where the Boston Marathon awards are made (that's my friend Iain in video)
rice good for your daily diet?
7 things you had no idea gut bacteria could do
how to sew a petticoat
gluten free tart crust recipe
blood of world's oldest woman holds clue for life limit
all day eating for a good nights sleep
countries with the longest life expectancy
pet treats with heavy metals & toxins
asparagus, basil & cream cheese tart
sneaky names for MSG
woman wakes up during simple operation (I can't even imagine how terrifying this is)
thai iced tea
4 skin care ingredients to avoid
top 6 alkaline foods to eat everyday for health
earth cake filled with candy rocks
Roll Recovery!  Please send! The best invention for sore/tight muscles, dying to try this!
ADHD: scientists discover brain's anti-distraction system
DIY vellum 'thank you' bag
how to make italian sodas
foods that are great for natural weight loss
DIY rosemary-lavender bath salts
how to tailor a skirt
excellent tips for making perfectly shaped cake balls
how to make flavor extracts
banh mi pizza!
melon granitas!
Gabi attempts the world record for longest held plank

Have a wonderful weekend!

coconut melt aways

So I was hoping to have a 'coconut melt away' story to go with the post, but I have none.
My thoughts are with the Boston Marathon today; praying that everything goes just right.
The weather in Boston is perfect for a marathon!  We've got blue skies, full sun, about a high of 55-60 degrees, and very little wind--a runner's dream really.
I pray that God watches over every single person at the marathon today.
So excuse me if I don't have a lot to say, my mind is elsewhere....

I've been on a coconut kick lately, so expect more--a lot more coconut recipes to come.
I know I have a few fans that are in love with coconut just as much as I.

As you read through the recipe you'll see a little bit of crushed white chocolate was added.
I did this to help "brighten" the coconut flavor.  Just a little bit.
Of course you don't have to do this, you can leave it out.
If you do, maybe add a bit more toasted coconut into the dough (1/4 cup).
I also point out in the cook notes (below) that I made an extra batch of these with the addition of fresh lemon juice. Really good with lemon juice, but not as coconutty (sp?).
Reminded me of the key lime melt aways I made back in 2012.




coconut melt aways
print recipe

13 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
¾  TB pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup crushed white chocolate chips
1 ¾ cups of toasted coconut
2 TB cornstarch
¾ ts salt

cook notes:
Make sure to crush the white chocolate chips into fairly small bits.
Why do this? It makes the chips dissolve into the melt aways better, so there are no large chunks, and it’s not over sweet, letting the coconut really shine through.
I just crushed them in a plastic bag using a hammer or you could use a food processor.
Make sure to really toast the coconut to a nice golden brown.
I also made a batch of lemon-coconut melt aways and they were just as good.
If you want to do this, simply add in the juice of one large lemon into the cookie dough.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl beat butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy (if adding the lemon, this is when to add it in). Add the vanilla and beat the mixture until fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined—once you add the flour do not overmix.
By hand, fold in the crushed white chocolate and toasted coconut.
Ready a two 8"x12" pieces of waxed paper or parchment or plastic wrap—whichever you’re more comfortable using.  Divide the dough into two equal portions and roll into two 1.25" diameter logs.
Wrap the dough tightly in the waxed paper or parchment.  Once they’re wrapped, I just roll them gently to get them more circular.  Chill for at least an hour before baking. If wrapped tightly, they can be left overnight.  But I wouldn’t go past 24 hours as the dough might start to dry out.
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Slice the cookies ½ -inch thick and place on the baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating halfway through baking, until the bottoms take on some color.
The tops of the cookies will not brown, but the bottoms will.
Should make 25-35 cookies depending on how you slice them.

Congrats to the winner of the CakeSpy contest: #17 Colette Joseph!