Chocolate raspberry tart

I used linzer cookie dough to make the tart shell.  I had no clue what I was going to fill it with until I spied some chocolate and a quart of raspberries in the fridge.  I also ended up using some of the grenadine I made way back when to glaze the top of the tart.  The result was yummy as hell.

Food for the outside of your body

I went into a bath and body type store recently looking for a body scrub and noticed that the prices were obscene.  This particular brand featured salt from the dead sea and all that jazz.  The product works great, but you can't tell me that salt and some oil is worth $30 for a small jar.  I decided to make my own out of things in my kitchen.

Lavender-Candied Pecans and a Delicious Dessert

I know, it sounds weird, but I assure you these are absolutely delicious!  I wanted to make candied, spiced pecans to top a dessert I was making and spied a jar of lavender in my spice rack.  I thought "why not?"  I came up with this little recipe and it was part of a dessert inspired by Silan (date honey from Israel.  Read on for the recipe and the final dessert :-)

Pickles!!

 I wanted to try and make pickles using the traditional method of fermentation.  It is so easy, requires very few ingredients and they're super-yummy!  You can also play around with the flavors to get the kind of pickle you want. 

Ending my Lazy Streak...with a somewhat lazy post

Ok....so I admittedly dropped the ball on writing in my blog, but I'm back with a wonderful cookbook recommendation.  This book was a gift from my wonderful friend Morgan, and I think it is not only beautifully illustrated, but the food in incredible.  The book is called The Food of Thailand.   It includes appetizers, soups, curries, desserts, street foods, etc. I showed it to my friend from Thailand once and she gave her seal of approval to the recipes so I trust it.  Thai cooking is complex and requires a lot ingredients, but don't let that intimidate you.  I started off just making basic curries, and tonight I branched out ever-so-slightly to make a Chicken in green curry, coconut sticky rice, and a mushroom tofu dish.  It came out pretty tasty.  This book has yet to fail me and it is a great way to try something new.  Next time I'll have a recipe for you all but for now, here are pictures of the meal I prepared:-)