One of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to bring more “vacation” to everyday life – to purposefully take time to make the ordinary weeks feel special, and to develop little rituals of self-care and fun to break up the week. We’ve been trying to get in bed early to snuggle up with our books instead of mindlessly watching TV or scrolling through Instagram. We’ve been making more homemade cocktails to fancy up our Saturday night dinners at home. And perhaps my favorite new little ritual is that we’ve been having lovely little Sunday brunches – nothing fancy, usually just at home, but just taking the time to make a nice meal in the morning and linger over coffee and the newspaper. Somehow, dedicating time to cooking a real meal for myself and Brad on a slow weekend morning feels like the most decadent, lovely way to honor the weekend and make it feel special.
Category: Recipes
Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
Happy December! We’re officially smack dab in the middle of the happiest, coziest, most butter-and-sugar-filled month of the year – and I couldn’t be happier about it. Although I’ll always miss living somewhere that snows during the holidays, the weather in the Bay Area has been semi-cooperating with lots of rain and gloomy days, so I’m feeling fully in the cuddly Christmas spirit!
Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus
Whew. What a week, huh?
I never talk about politics, or anything too heavy really, in this space because I truly don’t think that’s what it’s for. This is supposed to be a happy place, where we can all come together and celebrate the amazingness that is butter and sugar and bread and bacon. I would never want a single person to come to my blog to check out a recipe or learn a new food trick, and find themselves feeling uncomfortable or alienated by anything I write here. But I think we can safely say this week was hard, disappointing, and aggressively eye opening, no matter what side of the aisle we’re on, right?
So while I won’t ever get overly political, I also don’t believe in pretending everything is happy-go-lucky when there are really serious, devastatingly divisive issues facing this country right now and I think everyone is feeling a little wonky this week. I strongly believe that education is the first step towards understanding and discussion, so personally, I’ve been reading every article I can get my hands on and am planning on working through this list to learn everything I can about what happened and what’s next for our country. And I can honestly say that I’ve never looked forward to Thanksgiving more than I am this year. I think we all need a day of eating, drinking, and holding the people we love most really, really tight right about now!
Sweet + Salty Candy Bar Blondies
What’s the only thing better than candy on Halloween?
That would be candy inside of blondies on Halloween, of course!
I love making fun, festive treats for basically any holiday, and Halloween is no exception. While it’s always the best excuse to eat copious amounts of candy straight-up, I always have fun finding new ways to fancy up the Halloween treats situation around here. And to me, the highest calling of your excess-Halloween-candy stash is baking it into something rich, buttery, and truly more than the sum of its cookie + candy parts.