April 06, 2013

Artisan Cheese Board

April 06, 2013/ Mary McDonald

It seems my head is still stuck in Petaluma, or at least nearby Santa Rosa. Last weekend we had a chance to stop by Matanzas Creek Winery for a picnic lunch. This is a great boutique winery we visit any time we're up in Sonoma, they grow lavender as well so it's especially nice in June when everything is in bloom. They have plenty of picnic spots so it makes for a great afternoon to bring some sandwiches and pick up a bottle of wine, and they have the most beautiful live oak trees on the property.

March 20, 2013

Cherry Lemon Buttermilk Scones

March 20, 2013/ Mary McDonald

Waste not want not? What does that mean? All I know is I have a lot of buttermilk on hand and it must be used! As I was saying earlier from the baked egg recipe buttermilk is unique to our refrigerator, so I wanted to take advantage of this obscure ingredient.

March 13, 2013

Basil Ice Cream

March 13, 2013/ Mary McDonald

Basil ice cream is so refreshing. I love the subtle flavor of basil under a rich creamy ice cream. And after so many healthy dishes lately I felt it was time for a treat! I made this ice cream about a year ago and it hasn't been forgotten, so I thought it might be a nice dessert to share on this blog.

March 05, 2013

Vanilla Chocolate Mini Cakes

March 05, 2013/ Mary McDonald

It's March in California, should be nice and warm right? Nope. It's cold here this week in San Francisco, we live on top of a hill and today the wind has a strong pacific ocean chill to it. Warmer days to come, but a good day for baking. And chocolate.

March 03, 2013

Ginger Honey Roasted Almonds

March 03, 2013/ Mary McDonald

And this is part two of the roasted almond adventure, the savory almonds turned our really well this weekend and now it's time for a sweet snack. We have a LOT of raw almonds on hand so this has been a great way to make use of them. I've seen many different ways of roasting nuts, sometimes first in the oven then stove top, or all oven, or candied on stovetop.

March 02, 2013

Savory Roasted Almonds

March 02, 2013/ Mary McDonald

I've been craving roasted almonds recently so I started digging around for a good recipe, I wasn't sure about sweet or savory so when I asked Jeff if he had a preference and replied "yes", both it will be, so this is blog post part one of the roasted almond adventure.