The Great Black and White Cookie Hunt of 2014

The Husband and I just celebrating six magical years of marriage this past Saturday. We didn't save the top of our wedding cake for our first year (first, it kind of grosses me out to have old frozen cake, second, the cake was so good, there wasn't any left over!). So instead to celebrate, we got a Black and White cookie; they were the favors we had at our wedding. We were fortunate while we lived in Chicago, we had found this adorable grocery shop in our neighborhood, Olivia's Market, that got Black and White cookies shipped in from New York every day.  For our first five years, I didn't think a single thing about our tradition. Every April 26th, I went to Olivia's and picked up a cookie for us.

Now that we live in Pittsburgh, Olivia's Market isn't right down the block. So a few weeks before our anniversary, I started hunting for Black and White cookies. I called our friends here, asking if they knew great bakeries, I drove all over the city (I went to a northern suburb and a southern suburb in one day...we ate a lot of baked goods that day), I called every bakery in and around the Pittsburgh area, and either they didn't have them, they weren't good, or they weren't real Black and White cookies (one place had a chocolate chip cookie with black and white frosting!).

The Peanut Butter Crazy Train

I apologize for not posting as much. Since the new year, I've been on a eating healthy kick, and while eating healthy is really good for you, it doesn't exactly give you the exciting recipes to post about. I mean, would you rather read about foie gras or vegetable soup? Don't get me wrong, I love a good vegetable soup, but it's not nearly as crazy as making my own Cadbury- Creme Eggs.

Two Tacos and a Mexican Coke!

Lucy ordering tacos from our mudroom. She's obsessed with them

As you have seen from my many recipes, I have a love of all Mexican Foods. Back in June (a lifetime ago!) The Husband and I had some friends over as a Good-Bye Dinner. I decided I was going to make tacos. As we have a few vegetarian friends, and I can't just make one dish, I decided as our final time hosting a meal in Chicago, I was going to go all out. Guacamole, Cojita cheese, Crema, Picked Cilantro, Warmed Corn Tortillas ect. The dinner was a total hit, and I've gone back to those recipes more than a few times here in Pittsburgh.

And of course, each time I do something more elaborate. Most recently I made two different salsas (Verde and a Roasted Tomato), pickled my own red onions  and made "Big Star Sauce" which is essentially Crema mixed with Sriracha. Yes, it is as delicious as it sounds, and so easy, I don't even need to give you a recipe. 

So Much Delicious Chocolate

I should start this post with a disclaimer: All of the items I am speaking about in my post today were given to me by Hotel Chocolat.

I have a good friend from Business School, I've written about her before, she is the genius behind my Buffalo Mac posting. The Ex-Pat lives in Scotland and does Marketing for a fancy company, who works with Fancy Companies. One of those Fancy Companies just so happens to be Hotel Chocolat. A bit back, she asked me if I would be interested in testing some of their products and then writing about them. Of course, being a lover of Fancy Companies AND Chocolate, I couldn't resist.

A Little More Thomas Keller in the Kitchen

A few weeks ago The Husband sent me a link for Buzzfeed's Roast Chicken Tournament. They started with eight Roast Chicken recipes, and as with all Tourneys, there can only be one winner. In this case, it was Thomas Keller. To make it easy for everyone,  they gif'ed snip-it's of him trussing the chicken.

I'm always looking for new recipes, and this one looked delicious and amazingly simple. The key, is a roasting pan and rack. Oddly enough, for all of the kitchen gadgets I do have, a roasting pan/rack was never one of them. We've never had enough people for Thanksgiving over to warrant more than a few Cornish Game Hens, and none of my other recipes made it abundantly clear that I needed one. But if I wanted crispy, delicious chicken, I was going to have to get one.

A Spicy Broccolini Fettuccine, eh!

I've been trying to make less pasta recently; I realized that we have a whole lot of it. It's such an easy fall back, and really it's comfort food. I say that, with the follow up of, but I found this great new recipe and The Husband and I both love it.

I was on the hunt for some new soup recipes and I came across a Food and Wine recipe for a Spicy Broccoli Rabe pasta. Of course I went to the store and could not for the life of me find any broccoli rabe. So I did what I do best, and improvised. I picked up some broccolini and made adjustments. My final dish wasn't really much like the original recipe, other than a few basic ingredients. But it turned out really spectacularly. To the point where The Husband requested it again, soon. It's really easy and just involves a lot of chopping more than anything else. 

Sugar High

The Husband and I are staying in PGH for Christmas. He has to work in the Cardio-Thorasic ICU and our families have too many moving parts to be able to get out to us. So, since we weren't celebrating with family and we were in a totally new place, I decided that I was going to make this the most Christmasy-Christmas yet.

Living in a one bedroom loft in Chicago, we didn't have space for a Christmas Tree. However, now that we live in a house, we do. So while The Husband was working one of his many, many, many long days, I went out and picked us a tree. Our car isn't the most reliable, so he requested no farms out in the country since he worried that the combination of the tree of top of the car and the mountains in this weather wouldn't be the safest for me. Begrudgingly, I agreed. And as it turns out, I got lucky and while I went to a place in the city, it did snow a fair amount while I was picking the tree. So that made up for the lack of farms and hot chocolate.