Sarah Hearts

This week I will be sharing simple gifts you came make for all your fooide friends. Like some of the gift ideas from last week, these will be easy to make and be very affordable.

Today’s gift was inspired by a recipe I discovered in the current issue of Everyday Food. This citrus-herb seasoning salt uses pantry spices to make a very versatile seasoning that can be used as a meat rub, a bread dipping sauce, popcorn or nut flavoring, salad dressing mix, and even a veggie dip.

After making this simple seasoning, you can print out the gift tags I made (shown above and below). They include serving suggestions and a place for you to write the expiration date.

Since the seasoning contains fresh lemon zest, it will last 3 months when stored in an air-tight container. Glass jars with a rubber seal work perfectly for gifting this.

Ingredients:
• 3/4 cup coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 4 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 3 teaspoons dried thyme
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Supplies:
• Glass jar with an air-tight rubber seal (I got the one above at Home Goods for only $1.99)
• One sheet of card stock
• Home printer
• Ribbon or string (I used baker’s twine I had on hand)
• This Citrus Seasoning Salt Gift Tag Template

Combine all ingredients in a bowl then place in a clean jar. Wrap jar with string or ribbon and add gift tags. Be sure to write in the expiration date, which is three months from that date you made it. Happy gifting!

Cost: $1.99 per gift

I love fall. The leaves change color and the air gets cooler… ok… maybe not in Florida. A girl can dream right? One thing I do love about fall is the season foods. You know, things with lots of spices and pumpkin (one of my favorites!). My friend Jaclyn is sharing one of her favorite fall-inspired recipes.

Happy September, friends!

It’s hard to believe that fall is upon us already…hasn’t this year just flown by? Perhaps here in Florida it doesn’t quite feel like autumn, but I think the weather might be starting to come around just a little. It’s not quite as humid, the afternoons have been lovely and windy, and dare I say that the evening air has the slightest hint of a chill.

Even if fall isn’t quite in full-swing, I’m going to do my best to will the weather to cool down even more. Baking autumn-inspired desserts is my way of getting into the spirit of the season, even if it’s still pretty warm outside!

When I think of the onset of autumn, the first thing that comes to mind is apple cider. What could be a more perfect beverage for this time of year? From September right on through the end of November, there’s nothing better than apple cider in my book.

Right now, we love enjoying it ice cold, preferably in a frosty mug. When the weather finally decides to cool down, I love setting a pot of cider on the stove and letting it mull with spices for hours.

Know what else I love doing with apple cider? Baking with it!

This apple cider crumb cake is everything I could ever want in a fall dessert. The cake is deeply flavored throughout with the crisp tartness of apple cider, and the crumb layer on top is, in a word, gigantic. I’ve always felt that the crumb topping is the best part of a crumb cake, but most recipes leave you with a disappointing crumb to cake ratio. Well, I decided to remedy that by making a crumb layer that’s the exact thickness of the cake layer. Trust me, you’ll find that there’s plenty of crumb topping in this cake!

I topped this crumb cake off with a simple apple cider glaze, and kicked it up a bit by adding some applejack to the glaze. The resulting dessert is simple, rustic and incredibly satisfying!

It goes without saying that this apple cider crumb cake is best enjoyed with a tall glass of–what else? apple cider!

I hope you have a lovely September, friends!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
food + words.

{Click the image above for the delicious recipe. Photos and recipe by Jaclyn}

My in-laws were in town last weekend from Baltimore. We had a great visit and I always enjoy hanging out with them. We got  My mother-in-law gave us a jar of her homemade blueberry jam. It’s made from blueberries she purchased are her local farmers market in Maryland. It’s not overly sweet and has the perfect tanginess of the berries. She suggested using it on toast of a warm, flaky biscuit (yum!). I’ve been wanting to get around to making muffins so I thought why not combine both of them? The result: super simple vanilla muffins filled with her homemade blueberry jam. It’s my muffin-but-tastes-like-a-cupcake recipe so it’s ok to eat them for breakfast. They would be equally yummy with a scoop of vanilla or berry gelato and severed warm as a dessert.

I based the recipe for the muffins on this one. I used 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of cake flour. I love how cake flour makes muffins fluffier. In this case, fluffy is good because it creates lots of “pockets” for the jam.

I used a cupcake filling tip (does anyone know the official name of this?) and placed the jam in a pastry bag.

I placed the metal tip in the center of the muffin and filled each one with about one generous tablespoon of jam.

I let the muffins cool on a wire rack for about 15-20 minutes before I started filling them.

For a pretty presentation, I recommend not piping much jam on the top of the muffin. It will run, much like ink runs on a wet paper.

And that’s it! Super easy and so yummy! You can whip 2 dozen of these up in less than 45 minutes.

{All photos above by me}

Happy August, everyone!

I can’t believe that fall is almost here! Well, it doesn’t exactly feel that way at all here in Florida, but I’m hoping the heat and humidity will subside soon and cooler temperatures will be on the way. Wishful thinking, huh?

Since we’re in the process of melting here, there’s really only one remedy for a hot day: ice cream, of course!

A couple of weeks ago, I did a weeklong series of ice cream recipes, since July was National Ice Cream Month. Sarah asked me to do a post on mint chocolate chip ice cream, and though I had every intention of making a batch happen, I got a little burned out on frozen treats.

Apparently I only needed a two-week break from ice cream before I was ready to get in the kitchen and whip up a new batch. Oh ice cream, I can’t stray from you for long!

I wanted to mix it up and make something a bit more unique, so I settled on ice cream bon bons! They’re pretty much the cutest things ever. I saw a recipe for them in an issue of Food & Wine, and tried making them a few months ago. Sadly, they were an epic failure; the melted chocolate completely liquified the ice cream, and there was nothing stabilizing the chocolate to make sure it set up and hardened.

This time around, I took my time to ensure that these bon bons would be much more successful! I’m happy to report that these ice cream bon bons are so simple to make, and impossible to mess up! Kids would love to get in on the fun of assembling them, and what could be more fun than enjoying a little frozen bon bon on a hot day?

The mint chip ice cream is deeply flavorful, and reminds me of my childhood; visits to the ice cream parlor around the corner for waffle cones stacked tall with minty, chocolatey scoops of ice cream.

If you don’t want to make your own ice cream, you could easily use a store-bought ice cream to make these bon bons in any flavor you like! You could also top the bon bons with sprinkles or crushed peanuts before the chocolate hardens for an extra fun touch!

Ice cream bon bons: the sweetest (and definitely most adorable!) way to beat the summertime heat!

See you next month, with a delicious recipe that’s perfect for ushering in the beginning of Autumn!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
food + words

{The yummy recipe and gorgeous photos were created by Jaclyn, thank’s lady!}

I have been on a blogging hiatus this past week. And if you were just asking yourself, “Yeah, where have you been, Sarah?” here all the details. Well, most of them.

Kevin and I spent the 4th of July holiday visiting my family in Miami. I will share our 4th of July picnic menu with you later this week. We had a great time visiting family and friends.

Last Wednesday was my 25th birthday! Yes, I turned a quarter of a century old. Nothing much has changed and it doesn’t feel different. I am proud to say that I can now rent a car with paying all those extra fees for being under 25. So that’s a plus.

Then on Saturday it was Kevin’s 26th Birthday! You may remember that we were planning a little birthday shindig (the mint and yellow party board may jog your memory).  I made paper straws with custom little flags on them. If you would like to make some for your party or wedding, you can find the tutorial here. I also made little toothpicks with our silhouettes and ages on them. They were so easy to make! I will post a tutorial and a printable template later this week if you would like to make them.

About an hour before the party I whipped up a bunch of paper garland. This was also easy, inexpensive, and so cute! I still haven’t taken the decorations down because they are just so charming.

I spent almost the entire day Saturday cooking small bites and sweets for the party. Here’s what I made:

Black bean and pineapple salsa with tortilla chips
Almond stuffed dates wrapped in bacon
Herbed garlic pinwheel pastries
Antipasto skewers with pesto dip
Carrots, snap peas, and cucumbers with feta dip
Turkey burger sliders with all the fixings

Red velvet cake (My favorite cake and I used my favorite recipe via Bakerella)
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (I used a Martha Stewart recipe. Loved the cake, didn’t love the frosting. Do you have a creamy chocolate frosting recipe?)
Chocolate brownies

Everyone brought drinks but I did make a delicious peach sangria with prosecco and peach brandy

We put my camera on a tripod and made a little photo booth. It was so  much fun! Next time I will encourage more people to use it. Perhaps by making some props. We moved one of our tv’s to the den and placed it in front of the “photo booth” so people could use it was a view finder. I am going to do a little more research and see if we can have it preview the images as well. Anyone have an expreience with this?

I made the photo booth background quickly using this awesome tutorial via Sugar and Charm.

Thanks to all our friends who attended. It was a great birthday for both Kevin and I.

Happy Fourth of July!

Well, almost! I know I’m a little early, but if you’re anything like me, you’ve got the upcoming long weekend on the brain. I’m looking forward to spending time with good friends, setting off fireworks, and of course, eating!

Fourth of July is one of the biggest days for cookouts, and when the flames from the grill begin to die down, it’s time for everyone’s favorite summertime treat: s’mores!

Oh yeah. S’mores are the greatest, don’t you think? Warm, gooey toasted marshmallows, melty chocolate and crunchy graham crackers, all in one portable package. Pretty much the perfect bite!

Well, unless you’re me. You see, I’m pretty messy. I seem to spill things on me pretty often when I eat, and I’m always covered in crumbs. When it comes to s’mores, I have the uncanny ability to completely coat myself in melted marshmallow and drippy chocolate in five seconds flat.

No matter how dainty a bite I take, or how many napkins I use, it’s just one big hot mess of an experience. You know how a baby smashes cake and gets it everywhere on their first birthday? That’s me, with s’mores. Every time.

That doesn’t change the fact that the s’mores flavor combination is delicious and addictive, so I decided to reinterpret this classic campfire delight: a s’mores mousse tart!

Graham cracker crust, thick and fluffy chocolate mousse, and a plethora of tiny toasted marshmallows on top. S’mores you eat with a fork! It’s perfect!

This s’mores tart can be made in lots of different styles: a classic round tart, a rectangular tart pan like I used, or you could even make it in a standard square pan!

Any way you slice it, this s’mores tart is sure to win you over. It’s a grown-up version of the childhood classic that we all know and love, plus you won’t have sticky fingers after you’re done eating! Everybody wins.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
www.foodpluswords.com

{Photographs and recipe by Jaclyn. Collage by me. Click here for the recipe.}

Last week one of my manager’s at the “fruit stand” gave me a kitchen torch! I had been wanting one for awhile and she said she had 3, so she kindly gave me one. So that weekend, while I was at Home Depot picking up a few things for the house, I purchased a can of butane. The first thing I wanted to try with my newly acquired torch was choclate creme brulee. I used this recipe as was impressed with the consistency and texture.

After chatting with Jaclyn, she recommended I coat the custard several thin layers of sugar, burning the sugar between each layer. This resulted in a thick “crust” and made the classic crunch noise when I hit it with a spoon. Delish.

Here’s a great recipe that I’m sure you’ll love. Cheesecake in a jar. Seriously. No baking involved, just layer the “crust,” the cheesecake filling, then top with fruit, cookies, or candy and you’re done. So easy and it looks like something straight out of Martha Stewart Living. I cannot wait to make these when we get back in town. I think they would be perfect to take to a picnic or to dinner at a friend’s house. Imagine all the combinations of flavors you can make!

Images 1 & 3 via I Am Baker (a great recipe can be found here too), Image 2 via Babble. I found the jars here.

I try to save a few bucks every week and take my lunch to work (also know as “the fruit stand”). My lunch usually consists of some type of sandwich, fruit, and grain crackers. I’m getting tired of this combination so I’ve been on the lookout for new lunch ideas. I stumbled across this a recipe for mango, avocado, and goat cheese quesadillas in Everyday Food. I love grilled sandwiches and quesadillas but they are impossible if you’re packing a lunch. So I adapted there recipe into a wrap. It’s delicious!

Here what I put in my wrap. It was so good! The cilantro and onions added a lot of flavor. And the mango and goat cheese was excellent. You should try it!

Hey, it’s May!

Spring is right around the corner! Here in Florida, we’ve been getting our fare share of April showers, although they arrived a few days early. Hopefully that means that beautiful sunny days and lovely flowers will arrive that much sooner!

When I think of springtime, inevitably I think of Easter. Growing up in North Dakota, I was the only Jewish chid in my entire elementary school. Crazy, huh? When it came to major holidays, I always felt a little left out. My parents were awfully supportive, and they invented a few ‘faux’ holidays to help me feel not so out of the loop. One of those ‘faux’ holidays was Bunny Day.

Bunny Day was a celebration of a certain spring bunny with a penchant for giving children baskets of treats and hiding plastic eggs full of candy on the lawn. Sounds eerily similar to another springtime celebration, no? That’s what my parents were going for; they wanted me to have the fun of the holiday with the other kids, and I always appreciated that. It felt nice to not be left out of holiday parties and celebrations in school.

One of the things we always had on Bunny Day was carrot cake, naturally. My parents always said that carrot cake was a favorite of bunnies, and the best way to celebrate bunnies on their big day was to eat their favorite kind of cake!

I’ve been baking carrot cakes, not always for Bunny Day for a while now. My favorite version keeps it very simple, and very focused on the star ingredient. I’ve tried lots of different versions that include nuts, coconut, pineapple…they’re delicious in their own right, but nothing can beat the classic, simple carrot cake.

Rather than mask the subtle sweetness of the cake with a too-sweet cream cheese frosting, I used a Swiss buttercream, which is lighter on the sugar and a creamy, light texture. I added mascarpone cheese, a grown-up, slightly more sophisticated take on the classic cream cheese frosting. Finally, I candied some carrot strips, baked them in the oven to dehydrate them, and crumbled them on the sides of the cake. They’re surprisingly sweet and flavorful, and add a great textural note to this dessert.

Whether you celebrate Easter, or Bunny Day, or just want to make something delicious, this carrot cake is the perfect springtime treat!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
www.foodpluswords.com

Click the delicious images above for the recipe!