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There are few desserts that make me think of carefree vacation days filled with sunshine and warm ocean breezes more than key lime pie. It has a smooth, light texture and is packed with a lime punch. The flavor of citrus – be it lemon, lime, orange, etc. – always makes me think of sunny [...]
For all of the new recipes that I make, I love going back and making the recipes that I grew up eating. They’re the recipes that come from my mom’s old plastic recipe books that have index card inserts. They’re stained, handwritten and come from a variety of sources – friends, family members and church [...]
We’re into the second half of June and if you’ve planted a garden this year, I’m guessing that you’re starting to see some zucchini plants blossom. Last year, my mom and I planted a raised bed and were a little overzealous with our plants. As a result, we were swimming in zucchini for much of [...]
Happy Saturday! Can you believe it’s already the middle of June! I’m at that odd paradox where it feels like time is flying by, yet standing still at the same time. Crazy talk, right?! I’m planning on some low-key around the house projects today, and then we’re celebrating Father’s Day with my Chief Culinary Consultant’s [...]
1. A day that starts with a complimentary mimosa and basket of scones is bound to be a good one, right? 2. I recently found a new-to-me hair and makeup blog which I love – The Beauty Department. I’ve never been one of those girls who is a natural at putting everything together when it [...]
I promised you lots of ice cream this summer, and I’m determined to keep my promise! Which means I have the difficult task of churning up and taste-testing limitless flavors of homemade ice cream for you. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it, right? I kicked off the 2013 ice cream season [...]
Although it’s one of my all-time favorite places for breakfast food, I typically don’t get the opportunity to eat at Cracker Barrel more than a couple of times a year. My taste buds and my hips are arguing over whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. One thing is for sure – after [...]
This past Sunday, my Chief Culinary Consultant and I went to brunch with his parents. Any Sunday that begins with a complimentary mimosa and a basket of fresh scones with assorted butters is bound to be a good day. The meal got me craving scones. My mom and sister frequently request my dark chocolate chip [...]
With Memorial Day weekend having come and gone, summer is (unofficially) here, and there is no better excuse to whip out that ice cream maker and churn up some of your favorite frozen treats! Ever since getting my ice cream maker in late 2008, I have been addicted to trying new flavors and am constantly [...]
Happy weekend! I can’t believe that another Saturday has already rolled around. Our days have been jam-packed with impromptu shopping trips, endless organization and taking care of some minor house projects. I have a feeling that the house projects will never end Our main priority this week was narrowing down some wood samples for flooring. [...]
1. Einstein is slowly getting acclimated to the new house and finding lots of new sun spots. He’s also loved running around after tennis balls in his new fenced-in yard. Now we just need to get him to sleep in a little bit! 2. Now that most of the boxes have been unpacked, I’ve moved [...]
I first began hearing about Nanaimo Bars a few years ago, when they started popping up on some food blogs and all over Pinterest. They were new to me, and I quickly learned that they are a Canadian dessert, made popular in the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia, by a local housewife who submitted the [...]
Even though I grew up in a very Italian family, when I think about going out to eat or ordering takeout, Italian is usually one of my last choices. Instead, I tend to gravitate more to Asian and Mexican dishes (and pizza, of course). It’s just one of those things – it’s terribly difficult to [...]
Do you remember waaaaaay back in the early 2000′s (which is like decades ago in Internet years), there were recipe exchanges via email? I don’t remember exactly how it worked, but there was a list of people in an email chain… you sent a recipe to everyone on the list and you got a recipe [...]
With Memorial Day weekend behind us and a few sweltering days under our belt, I think it’s safe to say that summer has finally arrived. While I enjoy ice cream all year round and don’t need much encouragement to bust out the ice cream bowl and try a new flavor, summer is so full of [...]
Happy Saturday to you! With all of the moving, packing, unpacking and shopping that we’ve done in the last two weeks, I’ve totally lost track of days. Needless to say, my Chief Culinary Consultant and I have been busy getting ourselves settled into our new home, although the to-do lists seem to multiply like rabbits [...]
1. My Chief Culinary Consultant and I are officially in our new home! We closed and started moving last Wednesday, so it’s been 9 days now in our new digs. To say it’s been hectic and exhausting is an understatement. We still have quite a bit to move and get organized, as well as some [...]
While I sometimes make ice cream during the colder winter months, I really kick my ice cream-making into high gear once spring rolls around. I feel like I’ve made so many ice cream recipes, but my list of recipes I want to try continues to grow. That means you can expect a healthy dose of [...]
I am so excited to share this coconut shrimp recipe with you today. You may remember me talking about the Christmas Eve traditions in my mom’s family. My grandma always adhered to the Italian “seven fishes” tradition, and for a long time she made all of the old-time fish: eel, smelts, baccalà, calamari, etc. We [...]
I’m an open book when it comes to things that I like and don’t like. You know that I don’t turn down much of anything if it includes peanut butter. Especially if it’s a cookie… That also includes chocolate… And salty pretzels. For as often as I make chocolate chip cookies, I feel like I [...]
Happy unofficial first day of summer! Although the calendar states that the first official day isn’t until June 20th, I think most of us see Memorial Day weekend as the beginning of summer. To kick off the season, I’m sharing a plethora of my favorite summer recipes from the site. Summer typically means grilling, picnics, cook-outs, [...]
We’re on the cusp of a holiday weekend which means one thing: food! Well, for me this year, it means carrying and unpacking a never-ending mountain of boxes (yay new house!), but for pretty much the rest of the country, this weekend is the unofficial start to summer. It’s time for the grills to get [...]
I am a total kid at heart when it comes to Rice Krispies treats. I’ve always loved the gooey, crispy treats and never turn them down if I have the opportunity to eat one. Recently, I had lunch at Noodles & Company where I always, always get one of their enormous snickerdoodle cookies. Last week, however, [...]
Crab dip always makes me think of summer – warm, breezy days sitting somewhere near water and enjoying a meal without a care in the world. When my Chief Culinary Consultant lived outside of Washington, D.C., we did a lot of eating out at restaurants when I would visit for the weekend. Crab dip was [...]
I tend to think I’m a “regular Joe” when it comes to the type of desserts that I enjoy. You’d be surprised how many times I steal a handful of chocolate chips from a bag, eat a chocolate-covered pretzel left over from my last birthday, frequent the local soft serve establishment, and enjoy otherwise very [...]
Happy Saturday to you! Are you geared up for your weekend? Doing anything fun? I’m spending the bulk of the weekend getting things organized, purged and in order for our move this week!! So excited, but so much to do! I am looking forward to getting in, unpacking, and getting settled. Next week’s Weekend Dish [...]
1. I’ve always wanted to take photos of water droplets with my macro lens and a few mornings ago I saw some picture-perfect droplets sitting on leaves. I grabbed my camera and got a few good pictures. I take so many pictures of food, that sometimes I have to remind myself to expand my photography [...]
I have nearly a dozen recipes here on Brown Eyed Baker that call for marshmallow creme… things such as fruit dip, homemade Hostess cupcakes, six-layer chocolate cake with toasted marshmallow filling and malted chocolate frosting (yes, it’s a doozy!) and homemade Snickers bars, among others. Marshmallow creme is one of those things that I admittedly [...]
I have been a habitual drinker of diet pop (or soda, for everyone not from Pittsburgh) for a long, long time; probably since high school. I’m that person who will go through a drive-thru just to get a Diet Coke. I have never been a coffee drinker, so my Diet Coke fixes have long been [...]
Back when I was in college, fried chicken was just as much a “thing” as pizza, wings and (for some) Chinese. My freshman year, a girl that lived on my floor worked at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken, usually the night shift since she had classes during the day. On the nights that she worked, [...]
I was first introduced to the Katharine Hepburn brownie recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours. The book includes many brownie recipes, and this was one of them. I’ve since seen the recipe in dozens of places online, in books and magazines. This brownie recipe was originally shared in the New York [...]
Happy Saturday! How has the first week or so of May treated you? Here in Pittsburgh, it’s been sunny, warm and the flowers and trees are finally blooming. Yesterday it even smelled like summer. Isn’t it crazy how you can smell seasons? My absolute favorite is when I get that first sniff of fall air [...]
1. Springtime is so pretty. I love that I live in a city that gets to celebrate all four seasons of the year. 2. Does anyone use Sulia? I’ve been poking around on it, but I’m not sure I get it yet. It seems like a cross between Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Is anyone using [...]
I owe you a thousand apologies. For a large chunk of time, I thought that I had this – my very favorite recipe for homemade vanilla bean ice cream, which I make countless times per year – here on the website. I recently received an email from a reader looking for my vanilla ice cream [...]
During the summer when I was a kid, dessert on Sunday almost always meant angel food cake, strawberries and whipped cream. It was one of my favorite treats; even better were the Sundays when a pound cake magically appeared on my grandma’s table, along with the standard strawberries and whipped cream. We never had pound [...]
It may come as a surprise that I don’t have a very long history with homemade waffles, even though I now adore them. Growing up, my grandma had a few standard breakfast options available when I’d sleep over at her house that we never had at home. They were, in no particular order: Brown Sugar-Cinnamon [...]
This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day (already!), so this week I’m sharing recipes that I think would be perfect for celebrating Mom. First up is this amazing chocolate pavlova. A couple of years ago, I shared a traditional pavlova recipe that was served with fresh whipped cream and fruit. It was unlike anything I had [...]
Happy Saturday! Are you planning to watch the Kentucky Derby today or celebrate Cinco de Mayo this weekend? I always enjoy watching the pomp and circumstance of the Kentucky Derby, along with the beautiful horses. I also don’t need any encouragement when it comes to eating insanely large amounts of Mexican food, so I’m ready [...]
1. Tuesday was my sister’s birthday (Happy Birthday, sister!), so we all enjoyed a nice dinner out to celebrate. We went to 1947 Tavern in Pittsburgh, where I devoured that mac & short ribs dish you see above. Ordering that (with the helpful encouragement of my Chief Culinary Consultant!) was probably the best decision I [...]
The close proximity at which the Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo fall in relation to each other means an agonizing array of decisions must be made. For instance, bourbon or tequila? Derby hats or sombreros? Dainty tea cake sandwiches or chips with salsa and guacamole? If all else falls, throw your hands up in [...]
This coming Sunday is May 5th, Cinco de Mayo… the day that makes it perfectly acceptable to consume nothing but chips, salsa, guacamole, and margaritas for all the live long day. Quite a lovely foodie holiday, isn’t it? I’ve wrangled together a list of recipes that are perfect for celebrating this very festive Mexican holiday. [...]
Raise your hand if you’re doing something to celebrate Cinco de Mayo this coming weekend. Maybe you’re going to make a Mexican-themed dinner… treat yourself to a margarita (or margarita cupcakes)… or sit down to watch your favorite show with a bag of chips and a jar of salsa? This year, I finally made it [...]
Back when I started on this food blogging journey, I was still making making a lot of casseroles for dinner and relying heavily on packaged foods for most of my meals. Over the last six years, I’ve enjoyed stretching my kitchen muscle into areas that were both unfamiliar and uncomfortable. I’ve learned more than I [...]
Happy Saturday! I hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods and that you have some fabulous things in store for you this weekend. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been working on some spring cleaning of the online variety – getting my email inbox in order, streamlining my Twitter lists [...]
1. A beautiful spring day called for a nice long lunchtime walk in the park with my favorite furry buddy this week. We both enjoyed getting some much-needed sun and fresh air! 2. I have really been craving Mexican food this week. It’s a good thing Cinco de Mayo is next weekend; I’ll have a [...]
Black and white cookies and I have not always been the best of friends. To make a long story short, nearly five years ago I was tasked with making black and white cookies for a function for a family member. Easy enough, I thought. Turns out, I thought way, way wrong. The recipe I used [...]
Buttermilk pie first popped up on my radar a little over a year ago. I read about it on a few different websites and, honestly, was a little perplexed by it. I wondered if a pie that was flavored primarily by buttermilk could be all that great to eat. Sure, I love to bake with [...]
Believe it or not, I made it the whole way through college without ingesting any Chinese takeout. Maybe it was just the group of girls that I hung out with, but we were always way more interested in pizza than Chinese. I tasted it once or twice after that, but it just never did anything [...]
Cheesecake is one of my great loves. Given the choice between it and a myriad of other desserts, I will choose cheesecake everyday and twice on Sunday. I’m sure you’re not too terribly surprised, seeing as how I bombard you with more than my fair share of cheesecake recipes. I just can’t help it; I’ve [...]
Happy weekend! I’m not sure that I’ve ever been so relieved to usher in a Saturday. It’s been an emotional roller coaster of a week with all of the events that have transpired in Boston. I’ve consumed more ice cream in the last five days than I have in the previous five months. Whatever it [...]
