Today I am thrilled that my dear friend Lori of Recipe Girl has stopped in to chat about her awesome new cookbook. I have been a huge fan of Lori’s for years. Her website is gorgeous and she is has a truly extensive recipe database. Her new book is equally as wonderful. It is chock full of Recipe Girl favorites, and a whole bunch of new recipes too! If you want your own copy of her book she is generously giving one away…details below!
One of my favorite parts about summer is casual family gatherings. I love the spontaneity of getting together with a family or two, having some casual eats and kicking back. Last week we did just that before we left for our annual summer trip to Cooperstown. My neighbors and I picked a back yard to meet in, loaded up the coolers with some drinks, and all contributed a few eats to the buffet. Since the gathering was mostly kids I decided to make an old summer favorite, a chocolate cookie icebox cake.
I am taking a little break from the regularly scheduled food programming today to talk fitness. I am in the middle of a fairly intense fitness regime to lose the baby weight and get back in shape. It is going well, but I still have a little bit further to go. My goal is to be comfortably back in my skinny jeans by Thanksgiving. It takes a while for the bod to bounce back post-baby! The good news is that I have lots of reasons to stay motivated. I love it when my clothes fit a little better each week, plus I have a few killer workout outfits I feel good wearing. My most recent fave is from this cool company that focuses expressly on women’s fitness and swimwear called Albion Fit.
I know, I know, here I go with the rhubarb again. What can I say, I am addicted. I have a problem with stewed, sweetened rhubarb. This decadent breakfast treat came about last weekend when I was eating my strawberry rhubarb skillet jam out of the jar with a spoon. I wanted to eat it for breakfast on toast, but my daughter wanted french toast, so I decided to combine my ideas into one dish and make Strawberry Rhubarb Stuffed French Toast. Yes, sometimes I even amaze myself at my 7am culinary capabilities.
One of the things I buy the most at our local farmer’s market is berries. Strawberry, blueberries, raspberries, you name it, I love them. Since the season is fairly fleeting in the Northeast I buy as many as I can and preserve a whole bunch for winter. I also freeze a few bags worth, and then eat the rest! Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Alison Sweeney about blueberries and how she incorporates them into her active lifestyle. I really like Alison and her positive, healthy message on behalf of her work with the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council which is why I am sharing it with you today.
We have weather two mega heatwaves so far this summer and it is only the end of July. Eeps! To get me through I’ve been turning on the oven very little and only using the stovetop as needed. There has been a lot of gazpacho, sandwiches, and ice cream on our dinner table. Yes, the ice cream has been put right on the table alongside our dinner because it is practically part of the main course when it is so hot out. I am still trying to lose the very last of the baby weight, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t enjoy a small scoop at the end of the meal. I just tell myself it is in the name of staying cool.
Every so often I like to share one of my favorite kitchen appliances with you. Remember the milk frother from last winter? I swear, that baby got me through infant sleep-deprivation like it was nobody’s business. Needless to say, I’ve put that away for the summer and have become devoted to the Magimix Vision Toaster. Magimix by Robot-Coupe makes the highest quality kitchen appliances. Remember the food processor from last year? It is the gold standard in food processors and, like that appliance, the Vision Toaster is the highest quality toaster I have never used. In fact, I love it so much I’ll be giving one away in September.
