caramel corn two ways

in the last two years , i have attempted caramel corn at least half a dozen times with zero success. i was determined to tackle it this year, so much so that i added it to my 11 in 2011 list. first i burnt the popcorn (bad enough that have a pan dedicated to stovetop popcorn). then i mastered the popcorn and burnt the caramel. and the last few times, i mastered - or so i thought - the popcorn and the caramel, only to have it turn to sand once the popcorn was coated and cool enough to eat. the only thing worse than taking a big bite of sand coated popcorn, is a bite of actual sand.

secret recipe club: simple almond sandwich cookies

it's time again for the secret recipe club! i was still on a banana high after last month's banana rum cake, and had to seriously pull myself away from anything banana. which brings me to one of my favorite ever flavors: almond.

garlicy BLT

i'm hubs-less this week. jason took the week off and headed down to oklahoma to spend the week with his mom. which leaves me with a week's worth of cooking for one, which unexpectedly has me thinking about my single girl days.

see, before we lived together, i lived in my own apartment for two years. it was one of the best things i ever did for myself. i had my own routine, my own place for everything, and didn't have to answer anyone. those of you who have lived by yourself - in your own space - know exactly what i mean. but once you live with someone, in a place that belongs to both of you - not his, not yours, but ours - it's different. not bad, just different. so as much as i love him and can't wait for him to come back on saturday, everyone could use a little time to themselves. i'm filling mine by hanging pictures, planting my garden, and cooking. lots of cooking.

portobello risotto

i haven't yet figured out this summer's weather. it started out cold and rainy for a few weeks. then we had a week or so of heat and humidity, so much so that we turned on the air conditioning already. and now we're back to cold, overcast, and threat of rain every day for the next week.

blackberry swirl ice cream

i know, i know. i really should have saved this one for this year's blackberry week, but i just couldn't wait that long. last week, i just happened to have some blackberry juice leftover from making this cake for my sister's bridal shower - which i filled with blackberry curd (more on that later). and since the weather has finally decided that it's summer, skipping right past the 70s and 80s and hitting record-breaking 90s, i already had ice cream on the brain.