Cupcakes and cookies

Ming Thompson, a Harvard grad student with a sweet tooth, created this rad website with cupcake and cookie recipes. The recipes are all super creative, with ingredients like Guinness beer, figs, and lots of sour cream. Double thumbs up!

Mushroom crepe cake

Wow, this mushroom crepe cake would be impressive to bust out at a brunch. It looks so airy and delicious -- can't you almost taste it? If I were more ambitious in the kitchen (i.e., made anything other than omelettes and burrito bowls), I would give it a shot.

(By Smitten Kitchen)

Guest Post: A Few of My Favorite Things

+ Sun-kissed freckles. Not only are they adorable, they give me an excuse to go easy on the makeup all summer long.

+ Architectural salvage yards. I have this dream of living in a modern home, sprinkled with rustic details, like this sliding barn door.

+ Being feminine.

+ Big, thick, oversized glasses. I crush on a new pair every week.

+ Hats. My mom had me in all sorts of different styles from an early age. Right now I'm enamored of a classic fedora I picked during a trip to Sonoma, California.

+ Boy things, like flannel, hiking boots, oversized watches, broken-in jeans, and super soft T-shirts. I'm always stealing my fianc 's clothes!

+ Cats that do human things. Like this one.

+ Cheeky accessories. I'm a true nerd at heart, with a soft spot for dry humor. I love these playful mittens from Kate Spade. Gotta find a pair on eBay!

+ The best days start with two slices of avocado toast.

+ Designer Paul Rand. Get to know his work here.

-- By Kate from Wit + Delight

Cheese wedding cakes

For you cheese enthusiasts out there: How amazing are these stinky cheese wedding cakes?! I wish I had known about these when we tied the knot!

cute presentation for veggie appetizers at a

Cute presentation for veggie appetizers at a wedding reception.  Don’t you agree?

Deep dish cookies

Ooooh, yes please.

(Thanks, Kathryn)

ombre striped wedding cake

Ombre striped wedding cake

Big City ♥

Coupla things I’ve been craving… (25 photos)

1

Cookie Dough Birthday Cake [RECIPE]

2

Roast Chicken with Lemon & Basil [RECIPE]

3

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad [RECIPE]

4

Gumbo [RECIPE]

5

Stacked Greek Salad [RECIPE]

6

Mini Apple Pies [RECIPE]

7

Crock Pot Chicken Chili [RECIPE]

8

Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate [RECIPE]

9

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies [RECIPE]

10

Crispy Seared Chicken Breasts with Garlicky Kale & Seared Shiitake Mushrooms [RECIPE]

11

Braised Lamb Shanks with Citrus-Mint Gremolata [RECIPE]

12

S’mores Red Velvet Waffle Stacks [RECIPE]

13

Mason Jar Lid Tarts [RECIPE]

14

Quinoa Cakes with Red Sauce and Poached Egg [RECIPE]

15

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Kahlua Brownies [RECIPE]

16

Simple Sweet Cr pe with Berries and Chantilly Cream [RECIPE]

17

Whole Wheat Vegetable Lasagna [RECIPE]

18

Buttery Honey Beer Bread [RECIPE]

19

Barbecued Blackened Rockfish [RECIPE]

The Best Roast Chicken You'll Ever Have

Whenever I eat roast chicken, I remember the book A Year in Provence, where Peter Mayle talks about how his friends would invite him to a leisurely outdoor lunch every Sunday, featuring lemony roast chicken and lots of wine. Herbed, moist, almost buttery--roast chicken can be such a treat, as well as a perfect weeknight meal. Here, the genius Caitlin from Roost shares her favorite roast chicken recipe...
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taco tuesday

Taco Tuesday!

mini cookie wedding cakes

Mini Cookie Wedding Cakes

modern wedding cake inspiration

Modern wedding cake inspiration…

Motherhood Mondays: Toddlers in the kitchen

This weekend, I read two fantastic posts (by a mom whose child goes to a Montessori school) about toddlers pouring their own drinks and making their own snacks. A basic Montessori motto is "help me do it myself," and I see how by encouraging toddlers to help in the kitchen, we help them build confidence and feel a sense of accomplishment. And why not? Toby is two and a half, and I've always just poured his water, washed his strawberries, and peeled his bananas myself without thinking twice. But of course he can help with those things. Mama forehead smack!

Inspired this weekend, I got out a small pitcher and Toby poured water into his glass by himself. When he spilled a bit, I handed him a tea towel, and he happily mopped up the water himself.

Then Toby and I made these two-ingredient cookies (bananas + oats!), and they were a HUGE hit with both Toby and my thirty-year-old brother who stopped by that night:) Toby loved helping peel the bananas, pour the oats, add a few handfuls of cranberries just for fun, squish everything together, and eat the dough.

Do your kiddos help in the kitchen? Any recipe suggestions? Guacamole might be fun? This book, Kids in the Kitchen, is now on my wishlist.

P.S. In other news: French kids eat everything.

(Top photos by How We Montessori, and cookie photo by The Burlap Bag. Thank you for the huge inspiration, Kylie!)

hedonism

Last weekend I celebrated my birthday in Detroit. I didn't take a ton of photos--I usually like to forget about the camera when I'm having fun--but I took some.

This is me in front of Zingerman's Road House (in Ann Arbor, en route to Detroit), pointing at a bone on the ground. I think it was a rib bone. What I thought was funny about this is I'm standing in the parking lot near the barbeque smokers, and I was just picturing a hungry employee snatching a rib off the smoker to eat, and then tossing the bone into the parking lot. Who could blame them?

I think this ironic photo has probably been posted a billion times since the oil spill, but I still had to take my own.

Here is Stephani in front of Ferndale's Ringwald Theatre. She recently saw that production of Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy, and gave it two thumbs up.

All dressed up for cocktails and dinner at Michael Symon's Roast. I covet those boots Stephani is wearing. She is lucky her foot is two sizes smaller than mine.

I love this photo Stephani snapped as I hurried out of the cold back into her house.

Food and drink highlights of the weekend: The Subtle Smoke (Plymouth gin, Laphroaig, Sauternes, Lemon Twist) and Golden Gate (Bulleit bourbon, Benedictine, rhubarb and Angostura bitters, lemon twist) cocktails at Roast. (The Golden Gate reminded me--in a good way--of old furniture. I need to get some Benedictine so I can create one at home.) The rosemary fries at Roast (which my oh-so-refined palate correctly detected were fried in pork fat). The macarons that Nikki bought us from cup.cake in Royal Oak. Stephani's chicken piccata! The Balvenie served to me at the very cool, slightly dive-y, Deco-era Bronx Bar.

And of course, as always, Slow's BBQ.

xoK

Lemonade-stand season

A few years ago, for New York Magazine, I interviewed kids about having lemonade stands in New York City. They were so hilarious and crafty! Their tricks to increase sales included purposefully misspelling "lemonade" on their signs and telling people's fortunes. One brother-sister team made $240! Read the story here, if you'd like.

And these photos by photographer Joanna Ebenstein made me laugh. She passed two boys in Park Slope, Brooklyn, selling bacon panini, of all things! And at $3 a pop. Haha, only in NYC.

how fabulous is this pearl wedding cake

How fabulous is this Pearl wedding cake!

The Best Crème Caramel You'll Ever Have

Have you guys ever had cr me caramel? The chilled custard flan (in a pool of caramel!) is a delicious French dessert, which my mom used to make every time we had guests. "When we moved to France, I took cooking lessons at a French woman's apartment, and she showed us how to make it," my mom told me. The recipe for cr me caramel may look tricky but "it's really cool to know how," she says. "Once you master the caramel, it's not hard." Well, lucky for us, the gorgeous blogger Mimi Thorisson, who lives the French countryside with her husband, kids and fourteen dogs (!), agreed to share her all-time go-to recipe...
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