Despite what the sweets on this site may suggest, I’m a bit of a health nut. I bake because it soothes me, makes me feel happy and gives me a creative outlet. But after one slice, bite or piece is eaten by me, I typically take those baked goods and gift them off for others to enjoy, both because I like to share my baked goods and because I don’t trust myself with an entire cake, pie or dozen … Read More
Buckwheat-Greek Yogurt Pancakes
I’ve posted before about my ambivalent relationship with pancakes. How I never really crave them and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve made them in my own apartment. But fall weather has that way of doing funny things to your taste buds, and this week I found myself wanting, craving even, a warm stack of pancakes. But, alas, when I really got down to making them it wasn’t a stack of white fluffy pancakes that I … Read More
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
You all had to know another pumpkin recipe was waiting in the wings. After the great pumpkin hunt last week I could hardly wait to start cooking and baking up all sorts of pumpkin-related goodness. Not long after the pumpkin pasta, three days to be exact, I baked up a batch of these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. And since I like to send J on his way back home with a treat for the car ride, I packed theses babies … Read More
Peanut Butter Spice Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream
One of these Mondays I’m going to be able to post about my relaxing, leisurely weekend where I got lots of sleep, painted my toenails, caught up on laundry and read all my untouched magazines cover-to-cover. But that day is not today. I’ll spare you the details only to say it was a crazy, whirlwind of a weekend and I’m still scratching my head wondering where Saturday went. In addition to traveling eight hours in the car on Saturday to … Read More
Rigatoni with Pumpkin Cream Sauce
Wednesday night a craving for pumpkin hit me hard. It had been creeping up slowly, after weeks of seeing recipes for pumpkin french toast and pumpkin oatmeal pop up on some of my favorite blogs. And then there was the incessant talk about the return of Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte that rang throughout the Twitter universe. Seems like I wasn’t the only one who had pumpkin on the brain. So when Wednesday’s pumpkin craving hit me like a Mack truck, … Read More
Favorite Veggie Sandwich with Parsley-Curry Hummus
There are few things in life that bring me as much peace and satisfaction as a fully-stocked fridge. Call me weird but the ritual of cleaning out the fridge and filling it with colorful produce, milk, Greek yogurt, and yummy extras is just so settling. Maybe it’s knowing that I won’t starve if all the grocery stores in Des Moines abruptly close. Or maybe it’s because I know that I’ll be able to make sandwiches like this. Don’t let the … Read More
Homemade Larabars
A couple weeks ago after a trip to Florida, I wrote about healthy eating strategies for traveling. And since J. lives in Illinois, it seems like I spend a whole lot of time traveling, eating on the go, and trying my best to stick to a healthy eating schedule. Not an easy thing to do! Larabars have fast become one of my favorite nutrition bars, and it takes only a quick look at the ingredient list to know why. Most … Read More
Roasted Confetti Corn Salad
I’ve got a pile of clothes waiting to be folded, laundry running, dishes washing and a whole lot of packing to do before hitting I-80 tomorrow afternoon for a trip to Illinois (again!). But before I take off for a much needed three day weekend and break from technology, I’m going to fulfill a request from my mom at the beginning of the summer: a fun, light, summer salad. Well, it’s not exactly a salad, per say. It’s more of … Read More
Berry Shortbread Cobbler
Anyone want to join me while I go and stick my head under a rock and pretend summer is going to stick around forever? Summer with its juicy berries and crispy veggies, lots of sunlight and dresses-no jacket required. But as the nights get shorter and September comes rushing in, there’s no denying fall, and winter, are on their way. What to do when you can’t stop summer’s departure? Develop a strategy for survival through the cold, winter months and … Read More
Breakfast Enchiladas
Oh goodness gracious, what a weekend! A weekend that was about ten steps away from what I had planned. For more details on that and a little lesson in getting up and brushing yourself off visit the Kitchen Confidential tab above, where I’ll be blogging food musings every now and again of the off-the-record variety. Aside from the things that can’t be counted on, like when you stack cake on top of cake on top of cake, there are a … Read More
Video Tutorial: Marzipan Flowers
http://www.youtube.com/get_player Today Espresso and Cream is getting a tech-savy update with the addition of my first video tutorial on how to make marzipan flowers, like the ones pictured on these cupcakes. I’ve been planning on doing a series of videos for the site as long as I’ve been blogging. Planning being the key word. Despite my good intentions, for some reason I’ve avoided filming any tutorials every time I’ve considered doing so. I’ll blame it on bad hair days. But from now … Read More
Strongbow Hard Cider Cupcakes
Let’s get one thing straight: I am not a passionate beer drinker. In fact, I’m not much for alcohol in general, and when J. and I sit down to have a drink, a half glass of anything is enough to satisfy my tastes. What I am is a Strongbow drinker. Strongbow, as in the English hard cider, my favorite alcoholic beverage, and pretty much the only drink I ever really have a craving for. It’s crisp, and bubbly, and slightly … Read More