A Day from Scratch

Concierge cooking - Tailored nutrition

Grilled Peaches with Goat Cheese, Honey and Basil

by Filed Under: Recipes, Snacks, Sweets Leave a Comment

Do you ever find yourself using weird descriptive words?

Like who was the first person to say “totes?”

Or where did “da bomb” originate from?

If you find out, let a sister know.

Lately I have been catching myself using the word “kryptonite.”

Like “oh, this glass of red wine is my kryptonite.” Or “I can’t help it; pizza is my kryptonite.”

But seriously y’all these peaches ARE. MY. KRYPTONITE!

IMG_3812I just can’t even begin to tell you how much I love these little buggers.

This morning as I drug myself out of the house to hit up a barre class, I was thinking about how I would grab a fresh juice afterwards and that would be something to look forward to. A reward if you will.

Cut to half-way through class as I was on the verge of sweaty death it hit me like a freight train…

I was grilling peaches when I got home!

Y’all think about food while you work out too, right?

Don’t answer that, let me pretend I’m normal.

IMG_3816I couldn’t heat the grill up fast enough.

I picked some basil from my garden, got some local honey and goat cheese out for garnish and I was well on my way.

I told y’all that these are my kryptonite, didn’t I?

 

Ingredients: For 1 peach, 2 halves

1 ripe peach, halved and pit removed

1 Tablespoon goat cheese

A few fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

Honey as desired for drizzle (you could also use organic maple syrup… ah yea)

Recipe:

Start by heating your grill or grill pan. Cut the peach in half and remove the pit. Grill the peaches for 8-10 minutes.

Once the peaches are done, crumble some goat cheese on top, drizzle with honey and top with some basil.

Bada bing, bada boom!

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Chocolate Chip Blondies

by Filed Under: Recipes, Snacks, Sweets, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

For the past five days I have been taking care of my sweet cousin Frank while his parents went on a little vacay.

Frank, as some of you know, is a very special boy.  He brings such joy to our family and continuously reminds me to stay young at heart. Frank has special needs, but that’s not what defines him. He is a special olympics athlete, he LOVES all things sports, there’s nothing better than a Disney musical in his eyes, unless it’s ice cream and diet coke.

When I babysit Frank, the list of activities is endless. We went out to dinner, we watched movies, we went to an Astros game, we did a little shopping and I think his new favorite activity- helping me out in the kitchen.

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Saturday night we had a little BBQ. We made sliders and homemade french fries, but the star for Frank was definitely the chocolate chip blondies. IMG_3775
The chocolate chip blondie is the quirky sister to the brownie.

Can’t you just imagine the little blondie being like “gah brownie, there’s enough room for both of us on the dessert plate”

and the brownie being like “nah uh”

and the blondie being like “yea huh”

Gosh they are just so cute.

IMG_3786The best part about these blondes though is that they are chef tested, but Frank approved!

Ingredients: makes about 16 small blondies

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup chocolate chips

1 stick butter

1 egg

1 2/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe:

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add to the brown sugar in a bowl. Stir until well combined then add the egg, vanilla, salt and stir again.

Add the flour and gently combine, making sure not to over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25- 30 minutes or until the blondies are golden brown.

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4th of July Cocktails

by Filed Under: Sweets Leave a Comment

My obsession with fun holiday cocktails runs deep!

I love a good poinsettia, old fashion, paloma, gin and lychee fizz, sangria…

I just love love love ’em

and what’s better than celebrating the 4th of July than with a cocktail?

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This is what I like to call a hand-me-down, can’t-go-wrong-with, scrum-diddly-umptious cocktail.

It has been handed down from my family friends and super fun gals, Jane and her daughter/ my amiga Julia, to my mom and I. Dubbed a “bullfrog,” this is one of my favorite Summer cocktails; it’s refreshing and festive and adds a little sparkle to any poolside/ BBQ event.

aaaaand it’s super easy to boot

aaaaand it’s perfect for the 4th of July!

So while you are sporting your red, white and blue garb and munching on burgers, dogs and dips; make sure this is what you’re sipping on.

“Bullfrog” Ingredients: makes one pitcher

1 can of frozen limeade

1 cup vodka (rum or tequila would be yum too)

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup sprite

2-3 cups ice

Recipe:

Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until slushy consistency.

Enjoy my friends and Happy 4th of July!

*Don’t forget to please drink responsibly!

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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

by Filed Under: Recipes, Sweets 1 Comment

Hello my name is Elizabeth and I make mistakes in the kitchen.

All together now, “Hi Elizabeth.”

Last week I was cooking for a client, when I got the brilliant idea to take my carrot cake recipe and bake it in a loaf pan. What was supposed to be a simple carrot loaf turned into a crummy blah loaf. The first go around out of the oven, I turned the pan over onto the counter and the middle of the cake came out raw.

Um gross. So put the loaf back into the pan, wrapped it in foil and tried to salvage it.

Bad idea. It just came out dry and sad.

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What came next was panic. I was running out of time to get this put together. So after the fastest trip to the grocery store and speedy gonzales cake baking, I was back on track.

IMG_3394I do have to say I have never baked a cake at 10 o’clock at night, but if all cakes come out like this one I am going to change up my routine.

Loaf cake = dry on the outside, fine on the inside, not pretty and sad.

Triple layer cake = fluffy cake bread, tall and happy.

The cream cheese icing isn’t half bad either.

 

Ingredients: for one three layer cake

Cake:

3 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups corn oil

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1 1/2 cup grated coconut

1 1/2 cup shredded carrots (about 6 medium boiled first until soft)

3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Cream cheese icing:

2 8oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature

2 sticks butter at room temperature

6 cups confectioners sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups walnuts, chopped

 

Recipe:

FOR THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350°F Grease the bottom of three 9-inch, round cake pans with cooking spray, line with circles of parchment paper, and grease the paper with cooking spray.

With an electric mixer, cream the sugar, oil, eggs (1 at a time) and vanilla in a bowl. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture. Add the walnuts, coconut, carrot puree and pineapple. Beat until smooth.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool the layers in the pans for about 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of each pan and turn the layers out onto wire racks that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Cool the layers completely before frosting. (Note: After the layers have cooled, cutting will be much easier if you wrap each cooled cake layer in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.).

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: Combine the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time and continue beating until fully combined. Add the vanilla.

Frost the bottom slice then add the next layer. Continue until the entire cake is frosted.

Press the chopped walnuts into the sides of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Much better than the sad loaf cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watermelon Mojito Popsicles

by Filed Under: Recipes, Snacks, Sweets 3 Comments

Let’s make to something groovy for the weekend, and what’s more groovy than a watermelon mojito popsicle??

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Now we all know how much I love a bevy of bevy’s, but freezing a bevy into a pop?? Mind blown!!

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Let’s rewind a bit. My gal Erin just moved to Austin from living in Italy for 10 months. Remember when I went to visit her??

Well, when Erin moved back to the states she spent some time in Jersey with her Dad and step-mom. Her step-mom made them some yummy watermelon margaritas one afternoon and when she made one for me when she got to Austin I knew we were on to something.

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Changing out the tequila for rum and adding some mint syrup the watermelon mojito was born. Then freezing that bad boy- whoa baby!!

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Now since the weekend is a few hours away and it’s a bazillion degrees outside I highly recommend you get these babies in your freezer today so tomorrow you can enjoy a cold treat!

Watermelon Mojito Popsicles: makes 12 pops

10 oz (3 cups chopped) seedless watermelon

3 oz fresh lime juice

1 1/2 oz mint syrup (see below)

10 oz bacardi

16 oz perrier, I used the lime slim can

Recipe:

Place chopped watermelon in a blender and pulse until watermelon is juiced, it will be a little bit pulpy, but that’s ok.

To the watermelon juice add lime juice, mint syrup and pulse a few seconds. Fill popsicle mold, or thin glass, 3/4 of the way up with mixture. Fill remaining popsicle mold with club soda and stir to combine.

Freeze for about 2 hours or until mixture starts to solidify enough to hold a popsicle stick upright. Insert popsicle sticks and finish freezing popsicles overnight. To release popsicles run hot water on the outside of popsicle molds for a 2-3 seconds.

Mint Syrup 
(You will have more syrup than you need. Save for other cocktail uses)
·

1/2 cup water
·

1/2 cups sugar
·

1 cup mint leaves, loosely packed

Recipe:

Place sugar and water in a pot over heat until sugar dissolves. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature and place mint leaves in mixture and muddle. Allow mint leaves to steep for 20 minutes. Strain and discard leaves.

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PB&J Empanadas

by Filed Under: Recipes, Snacks, Sweets 1 Comment

Let’s have a chat about peanut butter- you know that old childhood favorite that marries the jam and bread to make the perfect sandwhich. Well, peanut butter wasn’t only a staple of my childhood. I eat is pretty consistently as an adult.

Am I an adult? Me thinks not!

Anyways, I decided to take a break from eating crunchy peanut butter right out of the jar and actually USE it.

Shall I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Um, no! PB&J empanadas is where it’s at!

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Starting the dough the day before allows it to rest and makes the perfect flaky dough.

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I used Justin’s peanut butter and some of Confituras’ local blackberry jam.

Stephanie at Confituras makes incredible jams, jellies and preserves using local and seasonal ingredients and I am a HUGE fan. Stop by the farmer’s market on Saturday mornings and make sure to pick up a jar or 6.

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These made my giddy with happiness, it’s like an adult pop tart!

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They couldn’t bake fast enough. This would also make a really yummy 4th of July appetizer if your feeling groovy.

Just make sure you make these, stat!

Ingredients: makes about 15 empanadas

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup full fat cream cheese

1 cup all purpose flour, sifted

1 cup of your favorite jam

1 cup peanut butter- brand of your choice

1 Tbsp raw sugar

Recipe:

Day before baking: cream the butter and cream cheese together in a mixing bowl until smooth. Blend in the sifted flour. Turn the dough out onto some parchment paper and form into a ball, then wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Baking time: remove dough 30 minutes before use and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out the chilled dough thin. Cut into small circles with a 3-4 inch cookie cutter. Place a small spoonful of jam and peanut butter in the center of the dough circle and moisten the edges with egg wash (1 egg whisked with about 1 tbsp of water) or just water. Fold over and press the edges together, and crimp with a fork, then with a sharp knife cut a tiny slit in the top to let the air out.

Bake 15-18 minutes and then immediately sprinkle with a pinch of raw sugar.

MMM MMM MMM SERVE EM’ UP!

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Homemade Granola Bars

by Filed Under: Home, Sweets, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

I love a good granola bar, they are perfect for a grab and go snack, and in my crazy life right now that is perfect. The only problem with store bought granola bars is that they are full of chemical crud and ingredients that our bodies don’t need. Aside from that there are the expensive-organic bars, but who wants to shell out money on that; I’d much prefer to spend mine on a bottle of vino. So, I thought, why wouldn’t I try and make homemade granola bars. There are so many different variations you could choose but I decided on a “superfood” granola bar.

What you’ll need: 2 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats, 3/4 cup whole raw almonds, 3/4 cup dried cherries (not pictured,) 3/4 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut, 1/2 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds, 2 Tbsp. Flaxseeds, 1/2 cup of honey, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and coconut oil.

 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix the oats and almonds on a large baking sheet and bake, stirring once, until they are golden brown.

 

When they are just about done, add the sunflower seeds to the pan to allow them to slightly roast.

 

Once everything is golden brown, remove them from the oven and let them cool. Turn your oven down to 325 degrees.

Meanwhile, brush a large bowl generously with coconut oil. Place coconut, cherries, and flaxseeds (I used ground because it’s what I had, but if you have whole those would work great too.)

 

 

 

Once the oat/almond mixture is cool add them to the bowl as well.

 

In a medium saucepan bring 1/4 cup coconut oil, honey, sugar and salt to a boil.

 

Only let it boil for about 1 minute and then immediately pour over the oat mixture.

 

Using a heat proof spatula, stir the mixture until everything is evenly coated.

 

With coconut oil, grease down a baking pan 13×9 and carefully pour the mixture and spread evenly. Make sure there aren’t any gaps.

 

Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees, after 10 minutes rotate the pan and bake for another 10-15 minutes. When they are done your kitchen is going to smell deliciously sweet from all of the coconut. Mmmm Mmmm

 

Let it cool COMPLETELY, you want to make sure that everything holds together. Once they are completely cooled take a sharp knife and slice down into bars. I swear these are better than any store bought granola bar I have ever made. You could also crumble it up and just have plain ole granola to top over some yogurt. Just store them in an airtight container at room temperature.

 

Happy eating!

Peach Crisp in Fredericksburg

by Filed Under: Gallivanting, Recipes, Sweets 2 Comments

When I was about seven years old my grandparents moved from the big city (Houston) to a small German town in Texas, called Fredericksburg. They bought a lot of land with a little shack on it and my grandpa, being the engineer that he is, drew up some blueprints and began building his and my grandma’s dream house. For many years now Fredericksburg has been a cherished place for my family.

This past weekend my mom, her oldest sister Stephanie, and my cousin Frank headed from Houston to Fredericksburg for a little getaway weekend. Being that Austin is so close to Fredericksburg, only about an hour and a half drive, I decided to head on over Saturday afternoon and spend the night with them.

We spent the evening watching football, playing chicken foot, drinking some wine and relaxing.

If you don’t know, Fredericksburg peaches are DELICIOUS! They are sweet and juicy and down right perfect. So with some of Grandma’s peaches we decided to bake up a scrumptious peach crisp.

What you’ll need: 5 fresh peaches, sliced, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 a stick of softened butter, 1/2 orange, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 cup pecans chopped.

Mix together the peaches, orange juice, a touch of the brown sugar and vanilla together and add to a small cast iron skillet.

In a mixing bowl add your dry ingredients, this is going to be reserved for the “crisp”

Then with a spoon add in the softened butter and mix well.

Chop up the pecans and add them to your dry ingredients. We used fresh pecans from Grandma and Grandpa’s pecan trees and beat them up with a mallet. Don’t mind my un-manicured hands…

Now start sprinkling the dry mixture over the top of the peaches.

Once it is all topped, cover the skillet with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Then remove the foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes until the topping is crisp and brown.

Let it rest for just a few minutes. Top it with some whip cream or ice cream of just eat it as is, just be sure to serve it warm. It is so delicious and perfect for a fall desert. Mmmmm Mmmmm

Make this soon, you’ll be glad you did!