It’s Burger Time…

I’ve had several recipe requests for the turkey burger photo I posted on instagram recently (@tastingpretty – follow me!), and with the warm, sunny long weekend ahead, I don’t blame you. It certainly feels like the beginning of burger season.

Normally, turkey burgers kind of turn me off: tasteless, fatless, boring, blah. But, I had a pound of frozen ground turkey in my freezer, bought on sale (I’m a sucker for low-priced, qualitymeat), so I figured it was time to give turkey burgers another shot. I searched for a recipe, and this one caught my eye; I love all the flavors it mentions, and the combination seemed pretty enough to overpower the turkey blahs.

The resulting burgers were a total success: savory, sweet, salty, tangy, cheesy. I think they might even be up there with the grass-fed local beef burgers I’m so fond of come summer time.

Can Health Food and Fried Be in the Same Title?

I’m a big fan of quinoa. The tiny, little, protein-and-amino-acid-packed power grain is a pantry staple in my kitchen: Healthy. Gluten-free. Hearty. Flavorful. Quick to cook. How could it get any better?

For Valentine’s Induced Sugar Cravings…

It’s Valentine’s Day, which means we all officially have permission to binge on chocolate bon bons and mushy, gushy romance stuff for a few days. In public. Which is fabulous.

The ginormous chocolatey store displays that are everywhere must be working, because I’ve been craving some sort of sweet thing for a couple weeks now. But, I haven’t quite been able to put my finger on what my tummy has been wanting. Cookies felt too sweet. Macarons seemed too risky to try this weekend. Brownies are out since I kind of OD-ed on them over the holidays. But, chocolate cake? That sounded just about right. But, to find one that is satisfying and gluten-free: Now, that’s a challenge.

Enter one of my new cookbooks, Béatrice Peltre’s La Tartine Gourmande. This recipe caught my eye when I first flipped through the gorgeous pages. Oh my gluten-free gods of goodness, it’s delicious, and it feels at least a little bit healthier than the typical box mix. So, if you find yourself suffering from a Vanlentine’s candy display induced craving attack tomorrow, whip yourself up one of these; it’s easier than it looks, I promise, and you can truly say, “I made it from scratch”…

The Return of Rice Pudding Season

Since the nights are turning colder, I’ve gotten the urge to feather my nest for the long winter hibernation ahead. You know; give everything a good scrubbing, maybe make some festive decorations to add some sparkle, throw a simmer pot together to get those pretty smells floating around. I’ve been looking forward to getting started this weekend. But, apparently, my body had a different idea: I got the flu.

As soon as the backaches and fever-y chills started yesterday, I immediately retreated into bed, armed with sweatpants, a good book and my fleecy earflap hat. The amazing Andy brought over a sick kit filled with Garlic pills, Emergen-C, ginger tea and oscillococcinum. My fuzzy kitty buddy, Bode, kept me company by snuggling beside me and purring constantly (it’s so weird how pets just “know”, right?). I hunkered down, and fought the good fight.

And today, I actually feel pretty good. No fever. Minimal body aches. And most importantly, my appetite is back. So, in celebration, I thought I’d bring back my favorite wintertime recipe: Rum Raisin Rice Pudding. Sweet. Creamy. Chewy. Heaven. And most definitely not just for sick days.

Say Goodbye to Summer Cakes

Although autumn may officially be here, it’s been so damn hot and sticky lately that I figure summer isn’t going out without a fight. To honor that valiant effort, I thought I’d bake up one last summery treat to say farewell to my second favorite season.

I spotted this recipe it in some spare copy of Food & Wine back in July and when I saw St. Germain listed in the ingredients, I just had to make these (A little note: if you’re my friend and don’t know about St. Germain yet, we may need to reconsider our friendship…). My little kitchen is currently lacking a food processor, so I kept putting this recipe back in my “to make” pile. But, this weekend I think the humidity was giving me crazier ideas than usual, and I thought I’d improvise by trying this recipe out in the margarita blender instead. And guess what?

IT WORKED; they were delicious. Even the overcooked ones were amazing bites of spongey, sweet, citrusy, cool awesome. They were so good, I maaaay have licked the icing drippings and crumbs off the counter as I cleaned up. And bonus: they are wheat free (just make sure you get a wheat free almond paste!!).

Since I don’t want to pick up bad blog karma early on, I feel that I should send you here to pick up the recipe before we go further. Did you click on the here, yet? Good.