Treats for appetites of every size
This is a big day: it’s the very last SMiLes by Meg post. I started this blog in 2013, fresh out of college and about to start a two year teaching job in New Jersey. I had no idea what I wanted my life to look like yet, and TFA was a way that I could push off that decision a little longer while doing something that felt important and meaningful. And because I was in a new place starting a new phase of my life, it felt like the right time to also get more serious about a new …
Guys, I don’t know if I’m ready for DC summer. It’s June 6 (the official kickoff of my birthday week) and over 90° out. It’s already too hot for me. So I obviously wanted to make popsicles this weekend. And the popsicles I wanted to make were cucumber elderflower tequila popsicles, because that sounded like the most refreshing thing I could have in this weather. Unfortunately, no one sells elderflower syrup around here, or at least I couldn’t get my hands on any fast enough to make popsicles this weekend. I have now ordered some on amazon, but that means …
This week we went to Cate and Jonathan’s house for the first time since moving to DC! It’s wild that the pandemic has meant that I’ve been here for 9 months without getting to just have dinner inside with friends, but now that we’re all vaccinated, we’re making up for lost time. When Cate tasked me with dessert, I wanted to make something a bit more elaborate than I’ve been making recently, and I wanted that thing to be out of an Ottolenghi book, since Cate is the one who introduced me to his restaurants/recipes. I picked three options and …
Snuck up to Duxbury for the weekend, which of course means my mom and I baked something coconut. Her birthday is this week, and Mother’s Day was two weeks ago ish, and I’m now officially fully vaccinated, so visiting this weekend made a lot of sense. We had a great time and laughed a lot and generally enjoyed what felt like a return to almost normal. Plus, we made some cookies that “are a cross between coconut macaroons and oatmeal cookies and SO GOOD.” (Quote from my mom.) Start by mixing together the coconut oil, brown sugar and egg in …
There aren’t many things that can compete with S’mores when you’re trying to decide what to bring as a dessert on a camping trip. They’re a perfect dessert, sweet, salty, gooey and crunchy, plus you get to play with fire. So when I was trying to decide on a recipe to make for Erik’s colleagues this weekend, who we just spent the last few nights camping with at Cape Henlopen in Delaware, my original thought was some kind of S’mores-inspired dessert. I wanted something easy to bring with us, so it couldn’t be too fussy, and I feel like I’ve …
Get ready. This blog is about to become very popsicle-focused. Also, more importantly, Happy Mother’s Day! Mom, when you come down to visit, I promise to have perfected a coconut version of these. Last week I saw popsicle molds at Whole Foods and, in possibly my best impulse buy of the current phase of the pandemic, decided I needed them. I like cold desserts for the summer, but ice cream is kind of fussy, mostly because of how many egg yolks it takes. Popsicles, however, are quick, require no egg yolks, and even get Erik approval (since they’re basically frozen …
We had a very full weekend, and I’m very tired. We spent a lot of time biking around, in the sun, generally enjoying the outdoors, which means I’m sunburnt and ready to go to bed early. But also means I had so much fun, and there’s lots more to come – we’ve got camping trips planned for the next two weekends! So for baking, I was kind of craving some kind of breakfast sweet all weekend. I thought about making pancakes, but then realized this was a blog opportunity, and ended up pulling out my Magnolia Bakery cookbook to see …
I know I still haven’t shared my go-to sourdough bread recipe yet, but I make it so often it almost feels like cheating to put it on the blog. Instead, this week I’ll share a different recipe from the same cookbook (Artisan Sourdough Made Simple). It uses sourdough starter, but also the wonderful ingredients of Nutella and dulce de leche. If you don’t have sourdough starter in your fridge yet, and you live in DC, let me know – I’m happy to provide some of mine. It’s great to have, very hard to kill (unlike my house plants), and I …
These cookies have been on my “I want to try that” list since I got Weeknight Baking for Christmas a couple of years ago. I just never was able to find matcha at Whole Foods, which is where I assumed I would be able to find it, and I didn’t want to order it from Amazon, even though there are actually a couple of specialty items I should just order at this point since I haven’t been able to find them anywhere. Then, last week, I found matcha at Whole Foods! I never go down the aisles full of random …
When I told Erik I was making cream cheese ice cream, he told me it sounded revolting. But I wanted to make ice cream, and BraveTart doesn’t have any bad recipes, so I decided to give it a go. This week was in desperate need of ice cream, especially with some Matzo Crack crumbs left to serve as a topping. Cream cheese ice cream may sound not super appealing, but think of it more as a tangy ice cream. If you like cream cheese frosting on cake, this is the ice cream equivalent. Definitely pairs well with lots of toppings …