The Lovely Bits

I hope everyone had a fun weekend. We went out to brunch with some great old friends on Saturday and then were stuck indoors most of yesterday due to the rain. When is the rain going to stop? It is looking like another week of thunderstorms and rain which means being stuck inside with a toddler for days on end. No good. Yesterday morning I had a feeling we weren’t going to be able to get out much, and I thought that it would be a perfect excuse to make this Peach Glazed Braised Brisket recipe. I saw these gorgeous peaches at the farmers market the other day and have been wanting a big peach flavored meal and then was looking through my new cookbook, Smoke and Pickles, and saw the brisket. It was kismet. So, the short one and myself trekked out to the grocery store to get the ingredients we didn’t have before it really started getting wet outside. I miscalculated and got caught for the last twenty minutes walking home with grocery bags hanging off the stroller all over the place and just getting soaked from all the rain. Luckily, I got home and nothing was soggy or ruined, so I guess it worked out alright.

I am not going to lie, this is a task to make. Not difficult, but there are a lot of ingredients (although, look through and you may find you have most of it at home already) and the whole thing will take about 8 hours from start time to being put out on the table. However, don’t be put off, a lot of that time is just letting the meat cure in the refrigerator and then actually letting it braise in the oven for 4.5 hours.

In our house, Sunday dinner usually comes with some sort of home made dessert, and so why not just overload on peaches and make a peach crisp. I actually did a search for peach cobbler and found the recipe for this Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce (um, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as maple cream sauce, hello!) from the Pioneer Woman and was sold. This is my new favorite dessert. The crisp is good enough to eat the whole batch on it’s own, but then add the maple cream on top and it is just perfection. Seriously, you have to try this out if you like peaches. Or maple syrup. Or dessert in general. Just try it. Pretty simple to make too. View full post »

Rain Room at the MOMA. I really want to take Rose to go run through the installation this weekend. So cool.

Healthy Chocolate Fudge Sauce that uses dates for sweetness and can be made Vegan. Fruit just got a new best friend.

6 Tips for photographing your child.

A 4th Grader’s short documentary about school lunches in NYC. What a cool kid.

French food for baby.

21 Day June Cleanse. Love this site’s healthy food recipes, so I’m sure the cleanse will be good too.

These netted bags are so pretty! Makes me want to go to the farmers market and carry this around collecting produce and maybe swing a sunflower in the other hand.

The storage coffee table in the second picture is so cool and fresh.

Cheap sandals for summer that will go with everything.

And little minis for the bebe.

Honest swim diapers are the cutest things ever. Love the little whales.

Birthday Cake Cocktails. Such a cute idea.

I think I am late to the party, but I just got the cookbook Smoke & Pickles by Edward Lee. The dishes are sort of a Korean Barbecue meets fried southern cooking and Mr. Lee rights the book so that I was actually laughing out loud at some of the recipes. I got some strange looks from the hubby… Anyways, I am so excited to try them out. I’ll share more later on. For now, how about you get yourself to the liquor store and try this concoction out this weekend. I feel like this would be perfect for an afternoon at a rooftop bar. Or, I guess just climb up on your home roof and try that out. Hopefully the neighbors won’t call the police.

Enjoy!

Jalapeño-Spiked Bourbon Julep

Mint juleps are a part of the Derby celebrations, and everyone partakes in the ritual. But, to be honest, most juleps I’ve had are overly sweet, cloying, and hard to finish. This is my twist on the julep: It’s minty and verdant, with a kick of spice at the end that makes you want another sip. Serve this in pewter or silver julep cups, and drink it outside on a porch sheltered by a magnolia tree.

Makes 1

• 4 to 6 fresh mint leaves, plus a sprig for garnish
• 1 ounce Jalapeño Simple Syrup (recipe follows)
• Crushed ice
• 2½ ounces bourbon
• Splash of club soda
• A jalapeño slice for garnish

Place the mint leaves in the bottom of a julep cup, add the simple syrup, and gently bruise the leaves with a wooden muddler or a wooden spoon. Add enough crushed ice to fill the cup almost two-thirds of the way. Add the bourbon and stir gently, then fill the cup almost full with more crushed ice. Top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with the mint sprig and slice of jalapeño and serve immediately.

Jalapeño Simple Syrup

Makes 1½ cups

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 jalapeño peppers, chopped (seeds and all)

1. In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and peppers and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn off the heat and let steep for 20 minutes.

2. Strain the syrup and allow to cool. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

 

Have you ever tried making granola at home? It’s so good and better than store bought. Plus you can customize it to fit your tastes or dietary needs. This batch I made using Kamut Flakes instead of oatmeal. Kamut flakes sort of have a peanut buttery taste to them and are more crunchy than regular oatmeal. If you ever see them at the store you should try them out. But, back to the granola. Have you ever had maple and coconut together? It is such a good flavor combo. Add in a few chocolate chips and this tastes more like dessert than a healthy grain that you sprinkle over yogurt in the morning. As I’m finding out with a lot of homemade food that we usually just buy in the store, this is actually so easy to make at home. The measuring can be sloppy and you can swap out ingredients and at the end you will still have a tasty home made version of a snack thats good for adults and even picky kids. Try it out. You probably won’t buy store bought ever again.

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