Earlier this week, I told you about one of my old favorites I made over the weekend, the amaretti. The other yummy cookie I made to go with our coffee for the week was a biscotti. Biscotti is one of my favorite morning coffee accompaniments, but I usually buy it at the store. I’ve seen it made on cooking shows, and after reading through my cookbooks, I found a rather simple recipe for an almond biscotti. (more…)

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Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert by Courtney

This weekend I decided to take the time to create plenty of homemade goodies to enjoy during the work week. One of the things my husband has been wanting since getting the espresso maker is “tiny cookies” to go with his morning cappuccino. So this weekend I decided to make one old favorite and something new as well.

The old favorite is an amaretti cookie. I discovered these in the A16 cookbook. It’s one of the desserts that looked fairly simple, so I tried it, and while my first batch had issues, I finally figured out the trick to getting the perfect amaretti cookies every time (so the recipe below is updated accordingly). (more…)

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Breakfast, Brunch, Dairy free, Dessert, Gluten free, Italian, Vegetarian by Courtney

Continuing with the tapas this week, the Spanish tortilla is a super-duper easy dish to make, and it can be served warm, cold, or room temperature. One of the best things about the tortilla is I usually have all of these ingredients on hand – eggs, onion, garlic, potatoes, olive oil – all staples in my kitchen. The key to a good tortilla is making sure your potatoes absorb a lot of flavor from the spices and garlic/onions. (more…)

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Appetizers, Brunch, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Spanish, Vegetarian by Courtney

With peach season in full swing, I decided it was time to make a favorite of mine (and really, when a sparkler is added, when is it not a favorite?), the bellini. As I’m sure you already know, the bellini was invented at Harry’s Bar in Venice. It’s a blend of white peach puree and prosecco, two sweet items. While I think it is a grand marriage of two yummy things, I always like adding a bit of liquor to any of my champagne/fruit juice cocktails. It cuts down a bit on the sweetness, which is perfect for me. As you can imagine, this caused tremendous confusion at Harry’s, me toying with their decades-old drink. (more…)

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Brunch, Dairy free, Drink Time, Gluten free, Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian, World traveller by Courtney

This morning I have a little hair of the dog for your morning brunch. It’s no secret champagne is one of my favorite drinks, but when it comes to brunch, once I had a Mr. Funk mimosas were over for me. The Mr. Funk of New Orleans is a champagne cocktail from Brennan’s (also of New Orleans). My first visit there, I had this with my brunch, and I was hooked not only on Brennan’s, but the cocktail with the funk-y name.

The Mr. Funk is simple to make – it’s a blend of champagne, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice. Mix one up for yourself and ring in the new year right! (more…)

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Brunch, Dairy free, Drink Time, Gluten free, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney