Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Weekend Dog Blogging #48

August 21, 2006 · Narrative

I have a few catering jobs this week, so it will be a good chance for me to revisit some old favorites, as well as try out some new recipes. For a few days this week, I’ll be providing breakfast and a cookie tray for a small group. For the breakfast portion, my eye is on keeping it simple and not messy, since the group is attending a course.

I ran through the Sweets category in the Recipes section of my web site and decided to go with Barbara’s Watch Hill Sour Cream Coffeecake for breakfast. I haven’t made this one before, but I had it back in November, when one of the women brought it to Supper Club. Coffeecake is ideal for breakfast meetings since it’s easy to eat, and not overly sweet or heavy. Since this recipe originate from a bed-and-breakfast, I knew it would be perfect. I also wanted to add fresh fruit and went with Champagne Grapes. I’ve never seen these before (have you?) and don’t know how they got their name, but it’s certainly quite fitting. They’re like tiny little bubbles of sweetness that burst in your mouth … so, so good, and they’ll look perfect around the coffeecake.

And for the cookie tray … I’ve been craving Oatmeal Raisin Cookies lately, and this was a perfect opportunity. I made a batch of those, and even have enough to send a small tray into Nicholas’ Summer Camp tomorrow. For the second cookie, I went with Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies, a new recipe. I happened to be going through some mail and came across an envelope of recipe cards, a free offering from Time Life. Described as the “giant cookies you can find at your local bakery or gourmet shop,” I knew these would be perfect. Slightly crispy on the outside, with a soft center, even though the recipe says it only yields 12, I got 18 out of it, and they are plenty giant.

I promised The Husband I’d include a salad tonight with dinner tonight, and when we were at the grocery store, he was petitioning for his new favorite lettuce, red leaf. He winced when I grabbed a head of iceberg. I promised he would like the salad, and whew!, it passed muster. I didn’t have any doubt, since we have had it plenty of times before … Chopped Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Salad. Both he, my stepdaughter and Nicholas gobbled up their portions. Hey, with crispy bacon as a main ingredient, you can’t go wrong. We finished out the meal with another tried-and-true, John Zaccaro, Jr.’s Penne with Vodka Sauce. This is a recipe I got from Karen Duffy’s A Slob in the Kitchen cookbook, and it’s one of my go-to recipes. Quick and simple, it’s perfect comfort food and my favorite penne with vodka sauce recipe.

OK folks, all for tonight. On with your Weekend Dog Blogging roundup. Until tomorrow…

A year ago today… Eli and a delicious pasta salad.

The tiny, not-even-five-pounds Rocco from Is It EDible? in sunny San Francisco, California:

Mr. Woofy from Kitchen Wench gave me my laugh-of-the-day with his trio of tongue shots (always my favorite!) – go check out the site for the other two:

The clan from Dispensing Happiness have the right idea … stay INSIDE to keep cool.

Looks like Ziggy from Soul Fusion Kitchen has been cheating a bit on his diet:

The pups from My Very Own Eating San Diego Blog spend some time at the beach:

And last, but not least, our camera-shy Eli:

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe courtesy of Time Life

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (11.5 oz) chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars on low speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Beat on medium-heat for 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add chocolate chunks and pecans. Mix just until combined. Use 1/4 cup measure or medium sized ice cream scoop and fill the measure to heaping. Place 6 balls of dough 3 inches apart on each of the prepared baking sheets. Place baking sheets on two center racks of oven. Bake 14-16 minutes, switching the cookie sheets, top and bottom, halfway through. Cool cookies on baking sheets for 1 minute before lifting them off with spatula.

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Posted In: Narrative

Comments

  1. Randi says

    August 21, 2006 at 12:43 pm

    I believe that champagne grapes are the ones used to make champagne, but I could be wrong. And yes, they are very cute and sweet.

    Reply
  2. Lexi says

    August 21, 2006 at 3:50 pm

    again…
    how do I join wdb???

    Reply
  3. Cate says

    August 21, 2006 at 3:54 pm

    Randi – LOVE them!

    Lexi – Sorry – didn’t see your first request. You find everything you need to know here … hope to see you next weekend.

    Reply
  4. Annie says

    August 21, 2006 at 4:03 pm

    Yum. Those cookies are calling for me!

    Reply
  5. Shaun says

    August 26, 2006 at 11:40 pm

    I am new to all things blog. I would like to add a pic for the dog-blog, cat-blog and herb-blog, all at their respective sites, of course. How do I add a pic to my comment? Love those yummy pics on your site…

    Reply
  6. Cate says

    August 28, 2006 at 1:13 am

    Shaun – to join in the Weekend Dog Blogging, read the info here. You can also find the links for the other Weekend events there as well.

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    August 28, 2006 at 1:28 pm

    Payton loves Champagne grapes. We jsut bought them again last night.

    The Neighbors

    Reply

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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