A little side note before I jump into this post: The photos you are about to see are the result of a freakin' miracle. I was dutifully trying to get ahead in my blog work, so I decided to block off a Sunday to cook and photograph all my December post recipes in one day. I've done this before and, while it's exhausting, it's extremely helpful in terms of freeing up time later on. I had three recipes scheduled for that Sunday, but I was only able...
One of my favorite things about this time of year is how much baking I get to do. With Thanksgiving, my husband’s December birthday, and the Christmas season all within six weeks of each other, my oven is seriously put to the test. Cookies, cakes, bars, brownies, cheescakes -- you name it, I’m probably baking it. By the time I reach December 26, I’m admittedly a little baked out. Which brings me to the overabundance of baked goods every...
Not going anywhere for awhile? No, this is not a recipe for homemade Snickers bars. But, this is a recipe for All Day Apple Butter, which, you may have already surmised, will take you all day to make. We’re talking 10-12 hours, people. However, there’s only about 30-40 minutes of active cooking time, and the rest is all passive time until you’re ready to blend and jar the finished product. So, winter storm have you holed up inside? Make...
Fig and Pepper Bread is the easy, homemade, artisan bread you never knew you wanted this fall. Get ready to fall in love, Tartlets, as I take you on a bread-making adventure. Why is Fig and Pepper Bread the book-inspired recipe for First Frost? If you've read First Frost, you know why I picked Fig and Pepper Bread for this book-inspired recipe. For those of you who haven't read the book yet: Get on that. It's a great book. Fig and Pepper Bread...
I'm super excited to introduce you to the matchmaker -- Whoops! I mean, the cake of the year: The Man Catcher Cake.
Why is Man Catcher Cake the book-inspired recipe for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo? This book-inspired recipe for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was kind of a no-brainer. Evelyn Hugo goes through seven spouses. Clearly, she's a knock-out who needs no help catching a man. Or, a woman for that matter. But everyone needs...
If you were going to eat your very last meal, what would it be? A lot of people probably aren’t as morbid as I am and therefore have not given this concept much thought. I, however, have thought about it extensively, and despite all the possible scenarios under which this “last meal” might occur (alien invasion, being on death row, brink of world annihilation, etc.), my selection remains constant: penne vodka. Penne vodka is my favorite...
Lavender Honey Cookies are my ode to the small bits of loveliness found in Lying in Wait. There’s so much that’s ugly in this book that it’s a surprise when you stumble upon something beautiful, which can range from the simple, like pretty lace curtains hanging in the window of a drab, grey house, to the more complex, like a happy relationship between two suffering people. Or, y'know...a lovely garden in the back of a manor house...with a...
When we first meet the titular character of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, she is traveling through dreary Ingolstadt, Germany to find her friend Victor. Even though the adventure is shrouded in creepiness, author Kiersten White’s vivid description of the medieval city made me nostalgic for Germany – particularly, for its desserts, which I believe are some of the best in the world. Since the novel is mostly set in Germany and...
These Chai Latte Bars are an ode to my best friend. Why are Chai Latte Bars the book-inspired recipe for The Ever After? The recipe inspired by The Ever After had to be based around a latte. It had to. After all, that’s what started the story. Main character Josie was waiting for her husband to bring her a latte when she discovered the incriminating texts on his phone. If it weren’t for that fateful latte from Starbucks,...
Hands down, this is the BEST coconut cake recipe you will EVER come across. During my years upon this earth, I have made the important discovery that coconut is a very divisive flavor. As a coconut lover (some may say fanatic), I can't fathom how anyone could despise this magical ingredient. One of my favorite treats growing up was a coconut FrozFruit popsicle that I would get from the snack bar at the town lake. That cool, creamy taste and...
