my favs of 2013

peanutella [chocolate peanut butter]

i eat a lot of peanut butter atop ritz crackers and apples dipped in peanut butter. one of my all time favorite snacks is to melt equal parts peanut butter and chocolate - the darker the better - in the microwave until smooth. while it's nuking, core and slice a crisp, juicy apple. dip until your heart's content. that was one of my favorite snacks when i lived alone and something i still eat relatively frequently now. until i made this chocolate peanut butter. i think of it as a much better tasting version of my bachelorette snack.

peppermint yule log

last year was the first and only year that i have hosted christmas. granted there were only four of us, including a six month old, but it was still the first time jason and i cooked christmas eve and christmas dinner at our house. while we decided early on to have ham for dinner, i became slightly obsessed with finding the perfect christmas dessert. my mother has made what we affectionately call chocolate log - chocolate sponge cake filled and covered with chocolate buttercream - for years, i have never made a rolled cake before. luckily i had been around more than once to help prepare the chocolate log and learned her trick to prevent any rolled cake from cracking. and while this is a bit late for your christmas gathering, it would be perfect for a new years eve party as it can easily serve a lot of people or your new years eve dinner.

cheesy artichoke bread

this bread is a simpler and easier way to both make and eat one of my favorite party foods - artichoke dip. instead of baking the dip in a dish, it's spread on loaves of crusty italian bread. not only is it easy, it's delicious. since we aren't much of the partying type anymore - with all the duplos, little people, talking dinosaurs, and dump trucks hanging around - ours accompanied dinners of fish and salad. with a whopping five minutes of prep, this bread could be a side any night of the week.

fish in crazy water

one of our default every-other-week dinners is baked tilapia with lemon and rice. it's delicious, quick, and easy. and boring.