Happy Hump Day- and Valentine’s Day (and belated Gal-entine’s Day), everyone! For those of you who are partnered up- I hope you have special, romantic, and fun-filled plans with your significant other- and for those of you who are single- live it up! Enjoy your own company or the company of friends who are also on the prowl for a good time. That’s what I plan on doing tonight with some of my girlfriends after I leave the office. There’s a glass of wine with my name on it somewhere!
Whatever your relationship status- we can all agree that tomorrow is the REAL holiday when all the Valentine’s Day candy gets marked down, right?
Speaking of candy. I thought I’d share a quick, easy, chocolate-y and festive dessert for those of you who might be looking to whip something up for your own Valentine today/tonight. It only takes a handful of ingredients and about 40 minutes of your time!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
Four 9-inch refrigerated pie crusts (not in a shell)
16 DOVE Dark and/or Milk Chocolate PROMISES Squares, unwrapped
1 large egg
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
READY? HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one pie crust until it is about 10 inches in diameter.
Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut 8 hearts out of the pie crust. Repeat with the remaining pie crusts.
Transfer half of the heart pieces to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them evenly. Place a piece of Dove chocolate in the center of each heart.
Brush around the edges of each heart with cool water. Top with one of the remaining hearts and use a fork to press and seal the edges all the way around. Repeat until you’ve topped every heart.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon water to combine. Lightly brush the egg wash over the top of each heart and then sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Cut a small line into the top crust of each piece to create a vent.
Bake until the crust is golden brown, 17 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.
I served these to a recent date with some strawberry puree and whipped cream to mix up the flavors a bit. The pie crust was crispy and lightly sweetened- and the chocolate was a warm, melty bit of heaven. Needless to say- these went over really well!
I’m off to my final meeting of the afternoon at work before I can break free and go have myself some single girl shenanigans- and I hope you all have a great holiday!
Happy Friday, everyone! Today is my last day at work before I head off to Las Vegas overnight- and we’re all celebrating with a little pre-Super Bowl food day/party before Sunday’s big game. I admit, it’s going to be a bit strange not being in Boston to watch it at any of the usual bars or pubs- but I’m hoping I can find some Patriots fans in Sin City to party with. We’ll see how that goes!
Before I head off to the airport, though- I wanted to share a 15-minute recipe for those of you who may be heading to Super Bowl parties of your own this weekend and are looking for something quick, easy and delicious to serve up to your friends (or rival fans).
Behold, the pulled buffalo chicken sliders- a spicy and fun take on traditional cheeseburger sliders. If you love buffalo sauce or blue cheese as much as I do- then these are for you!
The measurements below make 8 servings, so modify as needed depending on how many people you’re going to be feeding!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅔ cup buffalo sauce
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
16 slider rolls, halved
¾ cup blue cheese, crumbled
6 leaves butter lettuce, roughly torn
READY? HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:
In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the buffalo sauce. Remove from the heat.
In large bowl, toss the chicken and celery to combine. Add the sauce and toss to coat.
Build sliders with the chicken mixture, blue cheese and lettuce.
An incredibly simple recipe that doesn’t require a ton of ingredients and still serves up a ton of fantastic flavors? Yeah- this is definitely one of my favorites. As much as I enjoy stuffing my face with wings and nachos- these are a bit more filling without leaving sauce or grease all over my face and fingers (or the feeling of guilt when I’ve eaten one too many.)
Here’s wishing the best of luck to the Pats. I’d love nothing more than to return home in time to head back out to my city’s celebratory Rolling Rally if they can pull off another win!
Enjoy your weekend, everyone. I’ll be back to regular posting next week- and feel free to peep my INSTAGRAM to follow my adventures from Vegas! It’s shaping up to be a blast- and I’m just happy to be returning somewhere warm and sunny for a few days!
The past few days have been filled with a lot of champagne. January is a pretty big month for birthdays (including my own)– so between New Year’s Eve and today- there’s been nearly a handful of celebrations that have involved toasting with some bubbly!
Of course, there’s usually some left over by the time my friends and I are done partying- and I hate to see any of it go to waste- so I found a really fun, super tasty- and rather sparkly-looking breakfast treat to whip up that requires just a small amount of some of that flat champagne so you can take your brunch to the next level and wow everyone!
Best of all? These doughnuts are baked- not fried- so enjoying one or two on your cheat day shouldn’t make you feel too guilty.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
FOR THE DOUGHNUTS:
Nonstick spray
¾ cup light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅔ cup whole milk
⅓ cup Champagne (Yes, I used canned champagne. I am NOT stepping out in the frigid temperatures to pop the cork on a new bottle!)
FOR THE GLAZE:
1½ cups powdered sugar
⅓ cup Champagne, or more as needed
Shimmery gold sprinkles, for finishing
READY? HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:
Make the Doughnuts: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease two 6-cavity doughnut pans with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, butter and oil. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk well to combine. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
Whisk in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the milk and Champagne and mix until the batter is smooth.
Divide the batter between the doughnut pans, filling each about halfway full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a doughnut comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
Let the doughnuts cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the pan onto a cooling rack to cool completely, 45 minutes more.
Make the Glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and Champagne (add more Champagne as needed to achieve a pourable glaze).
Spoon the glaze over the doughnuts and decorate them with sprinkles.
Relish in your title as the BOSS of brunch!
These were so, so good- and the champagne gave the doughnuts an unexpected and pleasantly delightful flavor that paired really well with the sugary glaze! Also- I am all about edible glitter. It just makes dining much more festive and fun!
I have another brunch scheduled for this weekend with some friends before I leave for California next week- and you best believe I’ll be whipping up a second batch of these to bring to the table with me!
Good Morning, everyone! It’s great to be back- in a brand new year, no less- and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend welcoming 2018 in a fun, memorable way!
I spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in New Hampshire with my best friend Sean. The whole thing was planned at the last possible minute, really- but we’ve been fortunate in past travels/adventures where just winging it and rolling with the punches has worked out in our favor- and this most recent weekend was (thankfully) no exception.
We hung our hats at The Silver Fountain Inn in Dover- which is about 15 minutes away from Portsmouth. The property is both an inn and a tea parlor that hosts private parties and murder mystery dinners- among other events. Sean and I went halves on an already reasonably priced rate to get ourselves the Boudoir Room for a night- and it might have been one of the nicest rooms I’ve ever stayed in- ever. If you’ve ever visited any of the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island- then you’ll understand me when I say that this room gave me that vibe. I felt like royalty in here!
We were free to explore the rest of the inn- including the rooms that weren’t occupied- at our leisure, and the entire house looked just as gorgeous as our room was. From an amazing dining room with still-festive decor, a spacious sitting room, and a spiraling grand staircase that worked it’s way up three floors- there was a lot to take in!
Below are some of my favorite shots I snapped while we were stretching our legs and grabbing some complimentary tea from the dining area.
I could live there forever- no questions asked!
Of course, we had to briefly leave the comforts of our palace-for-a-night and head out into the bitter, brutal Northeastern cold (seriously- it was actually painful being outdoors for more than a few minutes at a time) to grab dinner and count down to midnight.
After pausing to VERY quickly appreciate some celebratory ice sculptures in downtown Portsmouth- Sean and I headed over to Fat Belly’s Bar & Grille to grab our annual “end of the year, face-stuffing cheat meal” where we just ingest the greasiest/most fattening/carb-loaded dishes, desserts and snacks we can before it’s back to square one on January 1st. I enjoyed a bacon cheeseburger with fries, while Sean had some over-the-top BLT. Fat Belly’s can always be counted on to deliver the goods (hence their name.)
Following dinner, and with a couple of hours to spare- Sean and I did a bit of bar-hopping until we found one that we felt comfortable in, and that wasn’t charging a ridiculously overpriced cover to scam people who were simply looking to come in out of the cold. We popped into The Portsmouth Brewery and ended up staying there for the remainder of our night out on the town- counting down to midnight with a room full of fun, enthusiastic people in their downstairs lounge area.
After milling about for another hour or so, saying our goodnights and best wishes for the New Year to everyone around us- Sean and I bundled up once again to brave the Arctic Tundra temperatures to get back to my car and from there- back to Dover so we could get some much-needed rest and relaxation in our room. I fell asleep almost immediately- the bed was so comfortable.
The next morning, bright and early and feeling rejuvenated- Sean and I enjoyed a breakfast prepared by the innkeeper, Pam. We had initially been a bit indecisive on what we wanted- so Pam made us a little of everything: a Mexican scramble, a buttermilk & strawberry pancake, bacon and English Toffee coffee. It was delicious- and when other guests who had stayed the night eventually came in to join us- we spent the better part of our meal getting to know one another and laughing about our favorite suspenseful TV shows over the years.
It was a really great environment and energy throughout the house- like we were catching up with old friends instead of strangers- and I was admittedly pretty sad when it came time to check out and head back to Massachusetts later on that morning. I’d really love to travel North and stay at the inn again- but definitely for more than just one night next time.
To get back to Melrose, Sean and I opted to drive down the coast as far as it would take us before heading inland to get home. We made a stop at Hampton Beach to enjoy just a couple of minutes of salty, freezing air- and marveled at the braver people who were getting closer and closer to the tide.
I heard every January 1st there’s a “Polar Plunge” (where people jump into the freezing water as a means to ring in the New Year) in Hampton- but I am 100% all set without doing that. I’ll just stick to my heated car and watch from the shore, thank you.
We also made one other stop at the Heart and Soul Cafe in Ipswich for lunch (avocado toast all day, every day!) before we eventually made it home to binge-watch some TV and play some video games before it was time to get my meals and wardrobe in order for the work-week ahead, pencil time into my schedule to hit the gym every day, unpack my bag- and try to get a good night’s sleep.
Overall, I had such an extraordinary and magical experience in New Hampshire for New Year’s- even if it was much colder than I’d expected or hoped for. Everyone remained in good spirits and seemed intent on helping each other out in terms of offering warm places to sit/stay. It was a very pleasant, peaceful way to begin 2018 and I’m very grateful it all worked out on such short notice!
Later on this week, I’m going to be sharing my tips/tricks to overcoming any gym anxiety for those who are looking to get back into the workout game and stick to your resolutions. I’m really excited to be partnering with the creators of a particularly helpful app for that very purpose- and I can’t wait to share the details with you all!
When I was a kid, my mother used to have a handful of recipes she’d fall back on around the holidays to serve guests or bring with us when we attended family Christmas parties. One of those recipes were thumbprint cookies. My mom would typically make a couple dozen of them at a time and then proceed to fill in the center indentation with melted chocolate or lemon custard. They were always popular and were always one of the first snacks/desserts to disappear once our actual dinner was finished.
And now, years later- I’ve found an updated version of the recipe that incorporates two popular desserts into one bite-sized treat: sugar cookies and cheesecake. With 30 minutes of prep/cook time total- this recipe makes 24 cookies in all- which means you’ll have plenty of them to feed everybody and not have to worry about spending all day in your kitchen!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar
⅓ cup sugar
1 egg
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 crackers)
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
FILLING:
5 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
⅓ cup sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup jam
READY? HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
MAKE THE COOKIES: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and mix to combine, 1 to 2 minutes more.
In a medium bowl, stir the flour with the graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt to combine. Add to the mixer and mix just until fully incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough and roll it into a ball; repeat with the remaining dough. Transfer the balls to the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each one slightly, then use your thumb to make a deepimpression in the center of each cookie.
MAKE THE FILLING: In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese with the sugar, egg white and vanilla extract to combine.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of each cookie. Top each cookie with 1 teaspoon jam and then use the tip of a knife or a toothpick to swirl the jam into the cream cheese filling.
Bake until the cookies are lightly golden brown at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!
Not only were these cookies really pretty when they were done, but they tasted incredible, too- and definitely took me back to my childhood while I was eating them. I’m really looking forward to surprising my mother with a batch of these for her birthday this coming Christmas Eve. I know she’ll appreciate the tradition being passed down!
Blondie Birdie 