My New Favorite Breakfast: Baked Eggs

I've never been one to eat a lot in the morning, but I do believe in having a delicious breakfast to start your day off right.  I tend to like things that are a savory and nothing can really beat a well-prepared egg dish.  This is a simple way to enjoy eggs that also gives you a lot of freedom to add whatever you like.

Make Your Own Tea Blends

Making your own tea blends is easy, and you can do it with things lying around your kitchen.  Ok, you might have to buy a few things, but it's still pretty easy.  I like to make my own herbal tea blends I can have at night without worrying about caffeine keeping me awake.  It helps with digestion and is a nice treat to give yourself at the end of a long day.

Salted Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookies

I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but needed something different to set them apart.  I ended up tossing in some toasted hazelnuts which, when combined with the chocolate, gives the cookie an almost Nutella-like flavor.  I also sprinkled some sea salt on top just before baking and that really makes the flavor of the cookie stand out.  These cookies are hard to resist, so why even try to?

Disappearing Peanut Butter Oreo Brownies

At the supermarket the other day I found something amazing: Peanut Butter Oreos!  That's right, Oreo cookies with peanut butter filling.  I knew I had to buy a package and I immediately had plans to make something with them.  I decided to take my brownie recipe and toss a few of the Oreos into the mix.  The result was a gooey, yummy brownie that had people helping themselves to second, third, and fourth portions.

Beet Risotto with Feta and Sage

I loooove beets.  From the outside a beet looks like your average root vegetable.  Then you slice into it and see the deep purple-red color that's marbled with an almost wood grain pattern to it, and you can tell it's something special.  Raw, a beet has a slightly bitter aftertaste that I think is a little like the dirt it was plucked from.  Roast it and it becomes sweet, but not cloyingly so.  The one drawback of working with beets is that it will dye everything it touches, so be careful to wear gloves and choose carefully what surfaces you allow it to touch.  This "negative" trait is also a positive one when you want to make a food dyed red (like red velvet cake...ew) without using artificial colorings.  I bought some beets from a farm stand they have in my neighborhood and knew immediately what I was going to make with them: beet risotto.

Egg and Spinach Sandwich

This is a super easy meal that is healthy, flavorful, and quick to prepare.  It's a great lunch/brunch item that doesn't require a lot of time or fancy ingredients.  You can also substitute the spinach for any vegetables you happen to have in your kitchen.  I made this as a lazy, rainy day lunch, but it can be enjoyed anytime.

Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is one of those things that is simple to make, but also very easy to screw up.  The most common issues are not cooking it enough, or cooking it too much so the eggs scramble.  Pastry cream is very versatile and you can flavor it however you want.  This is a recipe for basic vanilla pastry cream that I made with vanilla beans I bought from a farmer while walking along the rice paddies in Ubud, Bali (sounds romantic doesn't it?).