Let's make some cheese…

April 01, 2013

I grew up next to this quaint little working farm in the Hudson Valley. I spent many days here as a child making bread and mint jelly, getting my shoes nibbled on by goats and watching baby pigs run around chasing each other.

And many years later, I still try and visit as often as I can. But it has changed and grown quite a bit since those days...they have tons of summer camps and programs now, some new animals and a big beautiful creamery. The cheese maker, Colin, is a wonderful guy who can rock a plastic hair net better than most. He loves cheese more than any other person I've ever met and really, it's amazing. Seeing someone as passionate as him about their job is so refreshing.

Colin let me come in and photograph him make their award winning cheese. How lucky am I?

Cheese making is truly an incredible process that requires so much more than we think. And if there's one thing that I learned from this...it's that in many many ways, more so than one...cheese making is NOT for the weak, you guys. I came home reeking of aging cheese and milk with my pants soaked up to my knees...and I didn't even do any of the cleaning or vigorous work that requires those cheese making muscles. But don't get me wrong, it's all still awesome!

To read more about the process, how awesome Colin is, get the recipes below and learn more about Sprout Creek Farm check out my story in the Spring issue of FOLK Magazine.

Colin's Mac n Cheese:

Savory Goat Cheesecake:

Happy Spring!!

Lemon Herb Marinated Chicken Kebabs

July 12, 2012

My computer is all fixed and has finally been returned to me. After a quick little trip to the beach and some serious, anxiety-induced cleaning and reorganizing of my house I am back to work! I've been wanting to share these lemon herb marinated chicken kebabs with you for a while. Lemon, thyme and basil is my favorite marinade combination. I used it to marinate chicken because lemon and chicken is another favorite combination of mine but this also works great for fish.

If you've never had grilled lemons I have to tell you that you are truly missing out. They hold such a magically sweet, refreshing and slightly tart flavor when you stick them on the grill. Between bites of the chicken I found myself sucking on the grilled lemons, something I could never do with a regular one, my sour tolerance isn't so high. But these were just so good that I couldn't waste any of their juices!

These chicken kebabs make for a lovely, light appetizer at a party, a delicious Sunday lunch with wine or a perfect summer BBQ dish. This lemon herb marinade has lots of tangy, bold flavor, especially if you marinate your meat overnight to really let the flavors infuse.

I'm off to go catch up on editing. Enjoy!

Click for the recipe

Fourth of July Berries & Cream Tartlets

July 03, 2012

The fourth of July is my favorite holiday. The BBQs, fireworks, sparklers, s'mores, red white & blue desserts...all of it, I love. It happens to be my favorite time of year as well and I have such fond memories of fourth of Julys from the past.

Each year my family makes a different red, white & blue dessert. This year we made these little, patriotic berries & cream tartlets. It's my second recipe that I've made from my new Martha Stewart pies & tarts cookbook (here's the first). Being the chocolate lover that I am, I simply had to make a chocolate version of the crust by substituting a 1/4 cup of the flour for a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder. The cocoa tastes so good with the berries, and it's not too overpowering-ly sweet. The vanilla cream filling is just the same, a perfect hint of vanilla with a creaminess that marries the crust and berries in perfect harmony.

You can use any berries that you desire and if you're like me, you can go crazy designing different berry combinations and patterns for each tartlet!

I wrote all about my love for the fourth of July in the July/August issue of FOLK Magazine (which you can pick up here) and included another favorite red, white & blue recipe of mine. I have a couple of big blog posts coming from the past weekend and a new project I'm working on. But first, I have to send out my computer to be worked on, so while that's happening I'm off to the beach for an extra long weekend where I will be catching up on my reading and fitting in one shoot of a beach house! I hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July and get to see some fireworks!

Martha Stewart's Berries and Cream Tartlets Recipe

Fudgesicles

June 27, 2012

I couldn't remember the last time I had a fudgesicle. Awful, right? So the other day I had to do something about it. I went searching for a good recipe and wasn't really satisfied with anything that I was finding. If I was going to make fudgesicles from scratch I wanted them to be better than the store bought ones. They had to be extremely fudgy and creamy... no watery or icy fudgesicles allowed. I didn't want chocolate flavored ice pops. I wanted chocolate in the form of an ice pop. Am I making any sense?

Maybe not, but I am happy to say that after experimenting and taking random bits from countless other fudgesicle recipes I finally put together one that is exactly what I wanted! These are fudgy, creamy, extremely chocolate-y and best of all...irresistible.

These are by far one of my favorite sweet snacks of the summer (second to s'mores of course) and they're so easy to make. Stirring in mini chocolate chips after the mixture has cooled adds an extra surprise to these fudgesicles.

Go have a fudgesicle, you deserve it!

Making Basil Lemonade

May 28, 2012

I've had my eye on this recipe for quite some time. And really, I couldn't have picked a better weekend to make it than this past one. It was hot. So, very hot. The kind of heat that gets you as soon as you walk out the door. This lemonade was the perfect bit of relief.

Now you might think that basil and lemons sounds a little weird together because honestly, they do. But I assure you, it is a most magnificent combination when it comes to lemonade. If you only want a small hint of the basil use something close to 13 leaves, but if you love it like I do, use 20 or even more leaves. I'm making this again and putting in more basil because the lemon is quite strong. I also want to try a version substituting the basil for mint- we have tons in our garden.

This was my first time making my own homemade lemonade and it was ten times better than any other I've ever had. The lemons made my house smell incredible, especially combined with the basil. When I tasted the syrup that you make with the water, sugar, lemon zest and basil I knew right away that it was going to be delicious!