Mehan's Kitchen

I think that's actually a spinach blueberry pop, but you get the idea.  Now that the weather is warmer I'm finding myself preparing cooling treats for my toddler to enjoy after we come in from time outside.  I saw the idea for these frozen Greek yogurt drops on this food blog and loved the concept.  I never buy flavored yogurt because of the additives, but accidentally picked up some honey vanilla the other day, so I turned those into the drops pictured.  Usually I'll just take some plain, full fat, Greek yogurt and stir in some honey until it's slightly sweet.  You could easily blend in some fresh fruit as well.  Scoop about a cup into a pastry bag, and squeeze out drops onto some parchment paper and freeze for a few hours.

These cupcakes scream spring, and they were a lovely addition to an Easter dinner party.  I'll be honest though, this isn't the fastest dessert to whip up, you'll have lots of dirty dishes, and there are a few things I'd change next time.  Of course when you're 8.5 months pregnant and making a dessert for a dinner party perhaps you're just tired and cranky and everything and anything seems like too much effort.  That being said, don't be discouraged, these are fun and delicious and I mean, cake.

I'm not sure why I'm calling this a Sunday Pot Roast when you can make it on a Saturday as well.  It's not really a weekday kind of a dish even though it braises in the slow cooker, mainly because no one wants to sear meat first thing in the morning.  This is more the Italian style of pot roast, with tomatoes and red pepper, and though the picture doesn't do it justice, we created a lovely sauce with an immersion blender.

Ok, so may be I am turning into a hippie mom that makes everything from scratch, but in all honesty, I was craving Cheez-its and I was so curious about this recipe I had to try it.  I'm not going to lie to you like all the other bloggers out there and tell you these tasted exactly like Cheez-its, though to quote my husband when I said they weren't quite like the boxed kind "yes, because they taste like actual cheese, not like salty, cheese flavoring".

I've never been the type to wake up and make a proper breakfast.  I'll have a cup of coffee, a green smoothie, and I'm good for a few hours.  But now that I have a toddler things have changed as I am forced to assemble a proper breakfast each morning.  Freshly chopped fruit and smoothies are always on hand, and then I usually go with scrambled eggs with pesto or some french toast.

I was in Trader Joe's yesterday and walked by a boxed mix for blondies.  I stopped, stood, stared, and realized I had to have blondies.  Soon.  So, I came home and baked a batch.  Lately I've been baking things like beet and butternut squash muffins for my daughter so it felt incredibly indulgent to be baking something exclusively for my own craving.  I looked up a few recipes which all seemed to be about the same, and decided to follow Smitten Kitchen's template with the addition of pecans.

I love a great loaf of challah, don't you?  The texture, the flavor, the way it makes the best french toast out there.  My daughter loves challah as well and since we've been going through a lot of the store bought I decided it was time to make some at home.  I made homemade challah years ago, for a cooking club gathering, and it's not a difficult bread to make, even with the braiding.

I swear I'm not turning into a hippie mom that doesn't buy anything store bought but instead insists on making everything from scratch.  At least I don't think I am.  And frankly, I never liked the original, but these are killer cookies, my friends.  Just the smell of the filling of dried figs and honey was intoxicating, I was immediately transported to Turkey.

Where have I been?!!  I know, it's been ages since I've posted.  I've been busy!  I've got a toddler now, we've been traveling a lot, and I'm expecting again (hence, the missing muffin that I ate immediately after pulling those out of the oven).  But things are hopefully quieting down now, just in time to start preparing for our newest arrival, but I promise to bring you a recipe from time to time.

I feel as though many of us are on this life long quest to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.  And I dare say I think I may have found mine (though I totally could have come up with a more creative and enticing photograph, but I was feeling lazy).  Previously, Cook's Illustrated, with their brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe, had me convinced their technique was the best, but I may have changed my tune thanks to Jacques Torres.