Happy Monday, friends! I’m working on getting back in the saddle following a little spring break adventure over the second half of last week. There’s a really funny story there about a toddler who refused to sleep and cried for seven hours in a car only to then hate living in a hotel, but we’re going to save that one until I’ve recovered a bit more. Ha! In the meantime, let’s talk about these breakfast pastries. Because it’s Monday and by Monday I’m already thinking about weekend brunch.
Recipes
Over the last few years I’ve seen several people share their favorite items from Trader Joe’s, and while I love Trader Joe’s as much as the next gal, the one nearest to us is an hour away. When we’re in the area we usually have a long shopping list of stuff we want to stock up on (we love their coffee and I’m crazy about the dried baby sweet pineapple), but we only make it there every month or two. Instead, I do our daily shopping at Aldi. I just started shopping there regularly less than a year ago and since then, I’ve become a huge fan. I think Aldi has a bit of a weird, mixed bag reputation (even though it’s owned by the brother of the guy who founded Trader Joe’s), which is why I kind of always avoided the place. The truth is, they have some incredible stuff at really unbelievable prices.
Happy Monday, friends! I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend. After a long, gray week of nonstop rain, we finally had an abundance of sunshine this weekend and it felt incredible. And now it’s the run up to Easter! Naturally no Easter festivities are properly complete without a killer deviled eggs recipe, so today I’m serving up just that. To be honest, my mom tends to be the deviled egg maker in our family, but we love to make them at home from time to time, too.
When I started making chocolate bark (first Halloween candy bark and then Christmas chocolate bark), I was pretty sure I’d started something I wasn’t going to be able quit. Fast forward a few months, dump bags of my favorite Cadbury Mini Eggs on every store shelf and, well, I was right! This, friends, is Easter candy bark.
With Easter coming up next week, I’m admittedly in full-on brunch mode. Actually, because I consider any day ending in y a perfect reason to do brunch, Easter may well not have anything to do with it, but regardless, brunch has been on my mind a lot lately. So, too, is the promise of warmer days in the coming months, all of which has converged to inspire this trio of homemade lemonade recipes! Made with Truvia Natural Sweetener, they’re a delicious reduced sugar alternative to the traditional, and completely worthy of serving your family alongside Easter brunch.
Is anyone else living for the weekend this week? And I know, I know it’s only Thursday but I am kind of counting the hours on this one. Plus, by Thursday at lunchtime Bob and I are usually brainstorming dinner ideas for the weekend. I generally do the majority of the weekly grocery shopping and errands on Thursdays and Fridays, so a little mini menu planning session on Thursday goes a long way.
Hey, friends, it’s my birthday week! On Saturday (which, yes, is April Fools’ Day) I’ll be turning 34. (That happened fast!) That day will also mark the 28th year that my mother has made me the same birthday cake. As she tells it, my sixth birthday was the first time I had a party with some of my little friends from school and she wanted to make a really special cake. She knew I loved strawberries so she decided to make a strawberry poke cake, since apparently poke cakes were all the rage back in the 80s. Who knew? Since then she’s made me this cake every single year, even when I haven’t lived in the same city, even if it’s a week before or a few weeks after my actual birthday.
At our favorite Irish pub here in town, they serve an Irish coffee that is the stuff that warms the soul on a cold winter day. Dark, rich coffee steaming hot with big splashes of whiskey and Irish cream. Topped with whipped cream and a little dusting of cinnamon, it’s basically dessert meets cocktail meets some kind of heaven. Is Ireland heaven after all? It may just be, friends, it may just be.
Friends, it’s St. Patrick’s Day week! In addition to making this super cute DIY sequin shamrock shirt to sport the requisite green come Friday, you should also probably consider eating an overload of Lucky Charms. Because it seems like everyone else is doing it, so why not us? In all seriousness though, I kind of love this trend of adding Lucky Charms to basically any and everything to create the most festive of St. Patrick’s Day desserts and treats. Sometimes you just need a little bit of childhood nostalgia in your life and these recipes will give your day just the right kind of whimsy. Scroll through for seventeen of the best Lucky Charms recipes – from ice cream to cookies, from donuts to cannoli! Don’t forget to pin ’em to save them for later.
Bob and I have this little tradition of making what we call “fancy grilled cheese sandwiches” for dinner on Friday nights. Not every Friday night (far from it actually), but for some reason a great grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of homemade tomato soup is the perfect way to end the week when you’re too tired to want to cook up a more involved meal, but want to attempt something a bit more than delivery. This sandwich is one of our favorite variations! A grilled cheese made with caramelized onions, dill pickle, havarti and munster cheese all on inside-out ciabatta bread.
An alternative title to this post could easily be, “Best Ever Vegan Tomato Soup.” Because it is indeed the best ever and it is indeed vegan. It’s also about the easiest thing to make that there ever was, even if you wanted to make a big pot on a weeknight. The basis is a bunch of roasted tomatoes, onions and garlic. Drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and bursting with flavor. I like a variety of tomatoes (such as tomatoes on the vine, cherry tomatoes and little heirloom tomatoes) for little extra depth of flavor, but truly you can use whichever kind of tomatoes you have on hand or that look good in the grocery store. A big bowl topped with French bread croutons makes a meal unto itself or the perfect accompaniment to a grilled cheese sandwich. (I’ll be sharing one of my favorite grilled cheese recipes next week! Yum!)
Friends, this easy cheesy broccoli cornbread recipe is seriously incredible. Have you ever made cornbread with Jiffy mix? Because that’s the basis of this recipe! One of my friends made her version for our chili cook off Super Bowl party a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit, so naturally I had to give my hand a try at giving it my own twist and serving it up for you guys.