Christmas is just around the corner and with it comes some of my favorite things to shop for – gifts for the foodie, baker or entertainer in your life. This year I’ve listed ten of my favorite things that are functional, beautiful and sure to make anyone on your gift list smile.
I love playing with pie crust designs. From a classic lattice to cutout shapes there are so many designs to play with. I also love pie crust – it is the best part of pie! This rose crust technique requires a LOT of crust. In fact you need two crust portions just to make the roses. It is a little time consuming but gorgeous. Instead of a typical recipe I wanted to share with you the technique I created to make this. I want to wish all of you a fun, happy Thanksgiving filled with friends, family and delicious food!
Thanksgiving is next week, can you believe it?! It crept up on me so quickly this year. I have rounded up 15 of my fall favorites below. From Thanksgiving side dishes to crazy weeknight comfort dinners you’re sure to find at least one to try soon.
I looked at the calendar today and could not believe that October is nearly over! October always seems to pass quickly for me. With several friends and families birthdays, my wedding anniversary and fall festivities I never remember where the time went.
I have to admit something. I made this back in September when I had fresh peas but decided it should go in my end-of-the-year roundup as a fail because the photographs did not turn out how I wanted. Today I saw the pictures and wanted to make this salad again because it was so yummy. I thought to myself, who cares if it doesn’t look awesome? I have to share this with my readers! So here you are. A delicious pasta salad that comes together in less than 30 minutes with only 5 ingredients…assuming of course you have olive oil, salt and pepper.
You know how much I love sharing the joys and frustrations of cooking with you. Let me just tell you – these mini apple pies are nothing but pure delicious joy. They are so easy to make and only took me about 10 minutes to throw together thanks to my favorite baking season cheat.
If you are a regular reader of mine you may recall the pumpkin explosion that happened on the blog as soon as fall was here last year. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but apparently some people don’t love pumpkin. Can you believe that? I was as shocked as you are. I do not know any of these people myself but apparently they do exist and spew their anti-pumpkin propaganda all over social media. Okay, maybe I am slightly exaggerating here. I decided instead of smacking you all in the face with pumpkin spiced love again, I would share another fall favorite – soup!
Summer is almost over and fall is close to being in full swing. You know what that means – pumpkin everything, soups and stews and slow cooker recipes will be on the rise soon. I just couldn’t let summer end though without celebrating the end of season tomato bounty.
It has been over a month since I last posted anything to the blog and I have been beating myself up over it. I have always been very goal driven in certain aspects of my life and I have many goals for this blog that I have not been able to live up to and it eats at me.
In the corner of the notebook I write all my recipe testing notes I have the following goals listed for 2015:
After my back surgery I was still able to do number two from the comfort of my bed during my initial recovery. I also posted fairly regularly despite pushing through pain while being in the kitchen. Little by little I would work on making things and getting pictures and write about them at a later time once I was rested.
When June rolled around our family was slammed with the news of hospice for my father in-law and everything came to a halt. I spent every moment I could with him before he died in July and I would not trade it for the world. My surgery recovery also took a turn and has become a long drawn-out battle I am still struggling with every day. I am in Physical Therapy twice a week still and exercise 6 days a week but still it is a challenge to go shopping or put dinner on the table – much less photograph and blog about it.
I struggle to not beat myself up over the lapse in reaching my goals. I know there is a reason for everything and maybe this is just not my year to reach those goals, but I am going to keep trying. Thanks to all my readers and blogging buddies for your emails, Facebook messages and comments over the past few months!
Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Tart
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
10 oz. lemon curd
1.5 cups blueberries
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
I am getting personal on the blog today. There are no food pictures and no funny stories of my latest kitchen disaster. Today I would like to express my feelings for someone who has made an incredible impact on my life, my father in-law Paul. He is a strong man who has been fighting Multiple Myeloma for six and a half years. Aside from some down days he has maintained his positive attitude the entire journey. He has been through a battery of transplants, clinical trials and assorted chemotherapy concoctions while maintaining his determined spirit. This past week, with the support of his doctors and family, he decided it was time to stop fighting the cancer and choose to enjoy the time he has left.
How do you express your feelings to a person who is dying? How do you explain the magnitude of what they added to your life? I guess there is no correct answer for that so I chose to do it in the best way I know how – in writing.
Dad,
The first memory I really have of you was at a time in my life when I felt lost and alone. I was 22 years old and was told by my then stepfather that my family was moving out of state in two weeks and they were taking the car I used for work and school. I had no idea how to buy a car, what to look for or how to even go about paying for one. Patrick took me to look at them and asked you to come along to guide my naive younger self and help me make a sound decision.
We found a used car at a great price and I was on my way to signing my first car loan when we ran into a snag – I was required to pay some sort of down payment. I was embarrassed not only due to my lack of knowledge but also because I could not scrape any money together. Only seconds after the sales person left to “give us a minute” you turned to me and said you would loan me the $500 required and I could pay it back in installments over time. I sat there, dumbfounded that such generosity existed. I am pretty sure I began crying because let’s face it, I am a crier.
Generosity of spirit was the first of many lessons I learned over the 12 years I have been blessed to know you. The first Christmas that passed with my family out of state, I was welcomed into your home and shown the same graciousness. You have never hesitated to show me unconditional love, you never hesitated to make me feel part of the family and you never hesitated to teach me life’s lessons and assume the father figure role I so desperately needed in my young life. I will never be able to thank you enough for the role you have played in my life. I am forever grateful to you. I love you.
I decided to get personal today not to search for sympathy, but rather to honor my father in-law in the best way I knew I could offer. I cannot express how grateful I am that we have been blessed to have him with us for as long as we have following his diagnosis. It does not make the process easier in an emotional sense, but it does allow us to celebrate his life in the way he wishes and allows us the opportunity to reflect on our memories together and express our appreciation for what he has added to our lives.
This Father’s Day we will have steak and sweet potatoes as dad requested, along with his favorite desserts, Key Lime Pie and Carrot Cake. Life is too short – two desserts should always be involved.
My Grandma’s Carrot Cake
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1½ cups vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups shredded carrots
1 tsp. salt
1½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
8½ oz can diced pineapple, drained
Hi! I’m Jolena. Author of this blog and lover of all things chocolate. Join me on this journey of the joy and mishaps of cooking.
The Ruby Kitchen 