Pixelated Crumb

I don’t think I had ever paid any attention to the Kentucky Derby until maybe five years ago when Joseph and I just happened to be in Brooklyn the same weekend as the Derby. We were staying with Mark and Jordan, my brother-in-law and his wife, and they didn’t yet have their two beautiful little girls. Some of Jordan’s family comes from Kentucky and the Derby is a pretty big deal for her – I would guess sort of akin to St. Patrick’s day for my family. They were throwing a small party in its honor and I’m sure they had some really great food, but to be honest, I don’t remember it. What I do remember are the mint juleps.

Just as I had never watched the Kentucky Derby, I had never had a mint julep. The idea of mint and bourbon seemed just a little strange to me (who knows what I was thinking because I do like mojitos), but one sip and I was completely sold. And one minute of watching all the hats and hoopla of the Kentucky Derby and I was sold on that too. And so a tradition was born. Now every year I sit with my mint julep and watch the hats, um, I meant the horses.

I actually took these pictures last year, before Joseph got me my great Boston double old fashioned glasses. I was excited to share my love of mint juleps, but then I realized that there was really no point in sharing a recipe for mint juleps after the Kentucky Derby. This year I’m just barely getting it in in time, but hopefully you can still grab some mint and bourbon and enjoy!

Continue reading

A few years ago my sister posted something on Facebook about the bourbon brownies she was making and I’ve been kind of obsessed with the concept ever since. Chocolate and bourbon united together in brownie form? What more could you ask for? How about this: they’re only 150 calories a pop!

Joseph and I have a couple of sporting wagers with my sister and her husband a couple of times a year, but the big one is March Madness. I’m not sure why that’s the big one since the three of them are all really into college football (personally I’d pick a good movie or an episode of Breaking Bad over most games regardless of the sport), but for March Madness we have the Mad Cow Cup. It’s literally a just coffee mug that Joseph customized online with a cartoon cow face and with “Mad Cow Cup” written over it, but it’s a big deal because the winning couple gets the cup and bragging rights over the losing couple.

Continue reading

Since my sister and brother-in-law were driving all the way from Philadelphia to Boston just for Apple Day, I figured I may as well get the celebration started early and I decided the best way to do that was with a recipe from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Jessica and Adam were the ones that first introduced me to her ice cream back in June, after all, and are huge fans. I was intrigued by Jeni’s Baked Apple Sorbet both because I don’t think I’ve ever seen an apple sorbet before and also because I was looking for something pretty easy.

I knew I wouldn’t have time to make something the night they arrived, and the night before they arrived I was out at the America’s Test Kitchen launch party for their new Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook. I could not possibly have been more excited to get that invite, so there was no way that I was going to peace out early just so I could go cook alone in my own kitchen. No, I had to live it up in the most impressive kitchen I have ever seen and chat with Julia Collin Davison (excuse the gushing, I’m a big dork and a huge fan). This sorbet was easy enough that I was able to go home after the party, throw the apples in the oven and whirl the mixture together in the blender and throw it in the fridge overnight to chill.

Continue reading

Ok, so I already shared the Watermelon-Cucumber Refresher, which is the first drink that I made with my sister and brother-in-law from DIY Cocktails, and now I’m jumping to the third and last drink (I’m saving the second drink for my next post because once you try it, you may just forget about all other drinks for a while).

The thing that excited me the most about this recipe is that you actually make a liqueur – a peach-honey liqueur, and you don’t need to think ahead 5 days to do it. Not only does DIY Cocktails tell you how to make the peach-honey liqueur, it explains how to make any fruit liqueur, giving instructions for both the regular method and the “last-minute” method (the peach-honey liqueur is the latter). Just think of all the fruit liqueur possibilities!

Continue reading