All wedding pictures in this post are by our very talented photographers, The Spragues. These photos cannot be used without their permission.

Almost a year later, I have finally managed to sit down and write about our wedding. It was largely a DIY affair, brought to life by many, many helping hands. We celebrated with a small group of 40 people – just immediate family and close friends – at my parents’ house in Maine, where Trevor and I have been going together since high school. Insanely, wonderfully, my parents built a barn on the hill above our house to host our reception. By hand. I know, we are incredibly spoiled. It took many weekends of labor to bring the boat barn to fruition, but in some ways building the barn was the part of the wedding I loved most of all. Working alongside both sets of parents to build a structure to house our friends and family felt purposeful and unifying. And walking up the hill that day to see the barn filled with our handmade oak farm tables, tables covered in copper vases and pink flowers, candles and string lights filling the whole space with warmth… it was so incredibly beautiful. I don’t really have a photo that adequately captures the magic of that space, but these come close.

I don’t remember the day in that much detail, but what sticks with me the strongest is our ceremony. Standing under the pine trees clinging to Trevor’s arm, my brother welcoming our friends, my mother standing at my side, and the teary-eyed faces of so many of the people that I love staring back at me, I felt a truly powerful surge of love and wonder. We spent the weeks leading up to the wedding writing our ceremony, which was difficult, but important: when we stood up there, we knew exactly what we were saying and why. My brother officiated, and standing in the basement in a bit of a panic moments before the ceremony, hearing my friends laugh as he stood up there joking with the crowd was truly what calmed me enough to get myself out the door.

And then, we were off. People stood in clusters on the lawn drinking white wine and playing lawn games, or sat on the dock watching the light change over the lake. As the sun started to set we were seated at the long farm tables and the toasts began, making me cry, for the first time that day. Then we ate, and laughed, and talked, and it felt exactly like the wonderful dinner party we were envisioning.

After dinner, the evening devolved, as we had hoped it would, into tequila shots and dancing barefoot on the lawn, friends sneaking off into the woods and out on the canoe, sitting around the campfire and eating s’mores. This is less a memory and more a blur of mental snapshots. Immediately after the wedding I felt devastated by the fact that I couldn’t remember each moment, but a year later, I’ll take the happy blur. Happy blur is what we were going for, after all.

As for the details, for those of you who get into this kind of thing: the ceremony benches were planks of white oak milled from trees on the property. The tables, too, were made by hand and painstakingly finished to showcase the beautiful wood. I did the flowers myself, with the help of my bridesmaids, using homegrown dahlias, garden roses, astilbe, eucalyptus and hypericum. Plus cosmos, Queen Anne’s lace, and leucothoe borrowed from a neighbor’s garden two days before the wedding when it turned out one of the flower companies I had ordered from was a scam. Those missing flowers were the only near disaster of the whole DIY affair, and the day was promptly saved by my incredible friend Veronika, who bought all the roses at Wholefoods before she left Boston, and several generous neighbors. Cosmos and Queen Anne’s lace have a special place in my garden now.

And, since this is a food blog, the menu: for the happy hour, ceviche, buttermilk fried chicken bites in a waffle cone, and sliders (at the bride’s insistence!) with blue cheese and candied bacon. Dinner was family style, and heaping platters of espresso-rubbed flank steak, lemon rosemary roasted chicken, sweet corn succotash, and smoked gouda mashed potatoes made their way up and down the length of each table. We skipped the cake and instead went for mini pumpkin cheesecakes, blueberry pies, and banoffee parfaits. Everything was incredible and our caterers, Bar Harbor Catering Company, did a truly fantastic job. Not only was the food delicious but the event planning and coordination that they provided was just really game changing. Last but far from least, The Spragues captured everything perfectly, while somehow managing to seamlessly  join our guests in the party.

Beyond these pictures and memories, I have one more thing to share with you: our signature cocktail recipe. We wanted something that was autumnal without being overly cozy, to suit that in-between season of mid-September in Maine. We ended up with the Liquid Ditty: bourbon, dry hard cider from Bantam, Calvados, and honey-sage syrup. (An aside, Trevor and I just engaged in a rigorous debate about what to name this cocktail. A search on “Golden Apple” led us down a Wikipedia rabbit hole through Greek mythology to recently discovered dwarf planets. “Apple of Discord” was deemed unfit for a wedding cocktail, and I couldn’t convince him that “Apple of Bliss-chord” was hilarious. We considered “The Spitz,” named after the Esopus Spitzenburg apple tree in our front yard., but ultimately, we’ve settled on the “Liquid Ditty.” It’s a reference to Poe’s poem “The Bells,” which Trevor strongly associates with our wedding day. Plus, it’s catchy. Alternate name suggestions still welcome.) Nearly a year later, I’ve mixed up another batch to drink on the porch with Trevor. It’s just as delicious as I remember it – crisp and appley with just a hint of sage. We’ll be drinking these all September.

The Liquid Ditty: Bourbon, Calvados, and Cider Cocktail

A crisp and refreshing cocktail for the season in between summer and fall. Hard cider, Bourbon, Calvados, and honey-sage syrup come together for a chilled autumnal sipper. We came up with this drink to celebrate our wedding and now it’s a September favorite.

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door

Ingredients

For the honey-sage syrup:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 15 leaves fresh sage, roughly chopped

For each cocktail:

• 1 part Calvados
• 2 part Bourbon
• 1 part honey-sage syrup
• 1 part chilled hard dry cider, such as Bantam Wunderkind
• 1 sage leaf, for garnish
• ice

Instructions

For the honey-sage syrup:

Bring all ingredients to a simmer. Let simmer for 3-5 minutes, until sage is bright green and syrup is foamy. Remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes.

For each cocktail:

Stir together Calvados, honey-sage syrup, and Bourbon to combine. Pour over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Top off with cider, garnish with a sage leaf, and serve.

The post Our Wedding // Liquid Ditty Cocktail appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I just spent the loveliest six weeks at home. It’s the first time this year that I’ve been home for more than a few weeks at a stretch and boy did I need it. I leaned hard in to the rhythms of being home: cooking dinner, evening runs, couch time with Trevor, grocery shopping, sleeping in, long yoga sessions, learning a new sonata on the piano. I have always been a creature of habit and a bit of a homebody – a few weeks of chill is a type of bliss for me. Travel makes the pleasures of being home that much sweeter.

Since getting home, I turned 29. Trevor turned 29. I got my first pair of glasses, and was amazed by the clarity of trees in the distance, and of our TV. The fruit trees bloomed and faded in a whirlwind few days. Our garden turned from a patch of dirt with a handful of lonely daffodils into a plot bursting with green potential. The first rose opened, and the irises are brilliant in full bloom. Every day we get a few perfectly ripe strawberries – whatever the pesky robin doesn’t get overnight. We had a rainy mother’s day brunch by the fire that turned into a brilliantly sunny walk in the woods an hour later. My best friend from high school got married in the Boston Public Library on a chilly grey day filled with love and champagne. It’s a beautiful time of year to be in Boston and I’m so grateful to be home for it!

For each of our birthdays I made a cake. For mine, a vanilla sponge with strawberry jam and strawberry buttercream. For Trevor, an earl grey sponge with honey-fig buttercream. Both cakes disappeared without a problem, but Trevor’s earl grey cake was truly special. Pretty cakes are not my strong suit (a buttercream expert I am not) but this tasted so good that I covered it up with fresh figs and flowers and snapped a few pictures so I could share it with you. I can’t take credit for either recipe component, only the combination. The earl grey cake is from Liv for Cake and the Italian meringue fig buttercream is from Sticky Spatula. I struggled a bit with the buttercream splitting after a night in the fridge, but the flavor was beautiful and paired perfectly with the cake. If you have a special occasion coming up that calls for subtle flavors and a bit of refinement, I highly recommend this cake!

Earl Grey Cake with Honey-Fig Buttercream

A beautifully-flavored and moist Earl Grey Cake topped with an Italian Meringue Buttercream flavored with fig jam. Elegant and refined for a celebration. This makes a 3-tier, 6-inch cake.

Cake recipe adapted from Liv for Cake. Frosting recipe adapted from Sticky Spatula.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 bags of early grey tea, divided
• 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

For the buttercream frosting:

• 1/2 lb. ripe figs
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 4 TBS honey
• 3 egg whites at room temperature
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For decorating:

• 6 fresh figs
• honey

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Microwave the milk on high until steaming, about 60-90 seconds. Add three of the earl grey teabags to the milk and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove the teabags, pressing any extra milk out of them with a spoon. and discard the teabags. Set earl grey milk aside, allowing it to come to room temperature.
2. Add the butter and the sugar to a mixer and beat with a paddle attachment on medium until it is pale, creamy and very smooth, about 2 minutes. Turn off. Add one egg and beat on low just until the egg is incorporated. Repeat with the remaining eggs, one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to ensure that all the ingredients are being evenly mixed.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk togther the flour, baking powder and sea salt. Cut open the remaining earl grey tea bag and pour the tea into the flour mixture. (If the tea is in very large pieces, pulse it in a coffee grinder before adding to the flour). Whisk to combine.
4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter and beat on low just to incorporate, about 30 seconds. Add 1/2 of the earl grey milk and beat just to incorporate, another 30 seconds. Repeat twice more, ending with the final 1/3 of the flour mixture. You should have a smooth, spreadable batter without any lumps.
5. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of three, 6-inch cake tins. Cut a round of parchment paper to fit into the bottom of each tin and use this to line the bottom of the each tin. Divide the cake batter between the tree tins, using a spatula to evenly smooth the batter out. Batter should fill a little more than half-way up each tin. Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes. They are done when the cake surface springs back when lightly pushed down, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the inside of each cake tin and invert to release the cake. Let cakes cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Wash and quarter the figs, removing and discarding any remaining stems. Place in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of the sugar and the honey. Gently mash the figs with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer, stirring often, until the figs are soft and jammy, about 15 minutes. Strain the jam through a mesh strainer, setting the thinner jelly aside to add to the frosting. Save any remaining fig chunks for another purprose (or just eat them!).
2. Place the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar in a saucepan. Add the 1/4 cup water and stir to fully moisten the sugar, taking care not to get sugar water on the sides of the pan (which may cause the syrup to crystallize). Bring the sugar water to a boil over a medium-high heat. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and bring the sugar to 240F. As soon as it reaches this temperature, turn off the heat.
3. Add the egg whites to the bowl of a mixer. Beat on high until they are white and frothy and form soft peaks. At this stage, continue beating while very slowly and carefully drizzling the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the egg whites. Pour in a thin stream until you have used all the sugar syrup up – egg whites should be glossy and hold stiff peaks.
4. Continue beating the egg whites on medium speed until it is room temperature with no warmth felt through the bowl. At this stage, begin adding the butter 1 TBS at a time. Butter should incorporate into the frosting smoothly. Once all the butter is incorporated and the frosting is smooth and glossy, add the fig jelly to the buttercream and beat until incorporated. If you’re having trouble with the buttercream, try reading some of the tips in this article.

For assembly:

1. If necessary, use a serrated knife to cut any domed top off of each cake so that both the top and bottom of each cake is flat. Use a dab of frosting to stick the bottom layer cake to a cake stand. Smooth a thick layer of buttercream on top of the bottom layer of cake, then top with the next layer of cake. Repeat until you have three layers of cake with two layers of buttercream between them.
2. Smooth a thin layer of buttercream all around the cake. If the cake is crumbling into the frosting, pause here and refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat, then continue frosting so that you have a smooth, thick layer of buttercream on all sides of the cake. Top with fresh figs, sliced in half, and a drizzle of honey.

The post Earl Grey Cake with Honey-Fig Buttercream appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’ve learned by now that there’s really no way around my post-lunch chocolate cravings. I’ve tried ignoring them, or substituting something healthier, and sometimes that works for a few days, but it inevitably ends in a huge chocolatey binge at some point.  I’m just a person who needs chocolate, and that’s that. But since I’m determined to rein in the travel-driven overeating of the last few months, I’m currently searching for less-bad-for-you, more-portion-controlled chocolate treats.

For the past few months my chocolate fix has been to go down to the lobby shop and fill a bag with chocolate covered almonds, chocolate covered raisins, and white chocolate pretzels. This is a bad, bad habit, because even if I tell myself a lot of times that the bag of chocolate-covered goodies will last me all week, I always eat it in one sitting, staring at my computer screen, during that 3pm work slump. (Is that a universal thing? It seems to be at my office). And then I usually feel sick, because I usually overfill the bag.

So taking inspiration from this habit, I came up with a recipe that hits the same notes but is a bit less indulgent: Chocolate Almond Granola Bites. Using oats, rice cereal, a mix of Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Almonds, almond butter, honey, and of course, chocolate, I whipped up a batch of these bars, and then cut them into very manageable pieces. They are still chocolatey and satisfying but the almonds, almond butter, and oats give them more staying power and nutritional value. I also used unsweetened chocolate, which made me feel extra virtuous. I’m not saying that eating one of these is the same as eating a bag of chocolate covered pretzels… but it does the trick!

This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. All opinions are honest and my own.

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Chocolate Almond Granola Bites

Makes 16 bars.

• 1/4 c. almond butter
• 1/2 c. honey
• 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 1 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 1 1/2 c. puffed rice cereal
• 1/2 c. Blue Diamond Sea Salt Almonds
• 1/2 c. Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate Almonds
• 16 white-chocolate covered pretzels

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the almond butter, honey, and chocolate. Stirring, melt the liquids over low heat until the mixture is smooth and even in color. Remove from the heat
3. Add the oats, rice cereal, and almonds to a large bowl and stir to combine. Pour the chocolate-honey mixture over the cereal and stir to thoroughly coat the cereal with the chocolate. Let cool to room temperature, then press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan. Press the white-chocolate covered pretzels on top of the mixture, spacing them evenly.
4. Bake the granola bites for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.

The post Chocolate Almond Granola Bites appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: It’s been a while since I’ve done a new cookbook review, but with the height of cookbook season coming up in September and October, it’s time to dive back in. One book that I’ve been sitting on for most of the summer is Daniel Galmiche’s Revolutionary French Cooking. I’m a big fan of both the concept and execution of this cookbook, which has more novel and inspiring but not out-of-reach recipes than I’ve seen in a new cookbook for a while. The book is structured around three concepts that define modern cooking in chef Daniel Galmiche’s view: liberté, classics released from the constraints of tradition; égalité, humble ingredients elevated into starring roles; and fraternité, classic combinations of ingredients made new through innovative techniques and preparations.

Whether or not you buy into the national motto of France as a corollary for modern cooking styles, the recipes in each section are exactly what I’m looking to make these days: creative, ingredient-focused, but approachable dishes. They do maintain a very French feeling, but in a fresh sense – in a way, they aptly capture the “New American” vibe that many restaurants are going for these days, a recipe style that is very much anchored in French bistro cooking, but brings in spices and flavors from Latin and Asian cuisines. Some dishes in the book are remarkably simple, like the three-ingredient stuffed tomatoes, while others are more complex, but most fall solidly into a middle category of difficulty, the kind of dishes I would make for dinner on a night when I’m not in a hurry and feel like sitting down to something hearty and different. And I have to mention – the photographs are gorgeous, the kind of images that make me hungry, with lots of rich tones and a palpable juiciness in each picture.

The Food: The recipes in this Revolutionary French Cooking scream fall to me – wild mushrooms and cider-braised roasts and creamy gratins abound. If I hadn’t already delayed writing this review for as long as I have, I’d be tempted to wait another month just to feature one of the incredibly enticing autumnal recipes with you. There are a handful of savory summer recipes that struck me, like the Tomato Confit Tartlets and the Smoked Chicken and Zucchini, but where the summer recipes really shine is on the sweet side. Almost every dessert in the book features fresh fruit – peaches, plums, strawberries, raspberries, oranges, pineapple, mango – they all get a chance to play a starring role. So in a nod to the cooler weather we’ve been having but without diving full force into fall ingredients, I decided that Honey-Baked Figs with Sweet Ginger Slices was the recipe to try from this book. It’s a fairly straightforward recipe: drizzle a bit of honey and cinnamon on quartered fresh figs and roast for 10 minutes, then make a quick sabayon from egg yolks and the roasted fig juices, pour over the figs, and broil. For how elegant it seems, there’s relatively little time involved in preparing it. To be completely honest, I wasn’t head over heels for this recipe, but I think that’s a combination of the fact that we don’t get particularly sweet figs around here, and that I just don’t like figs as much as I want to. I’ve really tried to love figs, but in my book, they’re just OK. So I’m not letting it reflect poorly on the book, but I probably wouldn’t repeat this recipe.

Note: the recipe calls for serving the figs with a small piece of ginger or spice cake, which is sliced thinly and then baked at a low temperature until it is dried out. Since ginger cake is not something you can buy pre-made this time of year, and I didn’t feel like baking a cake just to dry it out, I decided to make a quick batch of ginger lace cookies instead. In my mind it’s the same idea – something thin and crispy with the flavors of gingerbread. I’ve included the recipe as written below, but know that I did make this change and that it’s an option if you also don’t have ready access to spice cakes.

Recipe Shortlist: Chicken Pot-Roasted in Cider and Paprika; Venison Bourguignon with Dark Chocolate and Star Anise; Pineapple Beignets with Mango Carpaccio; Lentil Bacon Soup with Mushrooms and Thyme Cream; Snail, Fennel, and Almond Casserole in Red Wine Sauce; Pan-Roasted Duck Breast with Spiced Peaches; Smoked Chicken, Zucchini, Garlic, and Rosemary Casserole; Early Grey Rice Pudding with Blackberry Marmalade

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Revolutionary French Cooking from Duncan Baird Publishers, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Cinnamon and Honey-Baked Figs with Sweet Ginger Slices

Serves 4. Recipe from Revolutionary French Cooking.

• 3 1/2 inch piece of ginger cake or other spice cake, frozen until almost hard
• 12 firm purple-black figs
• 2 TBS honey
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 5 TBS plain Greek yogurt
• 2 egg yolks

1. Preheat the oven to 275°F. Cut the cake into 8 thin slices, and lay on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a second sheet of parchment paper and a second baking sheet so the slices are held flat, then bake for 6-8 minutes. Carefully lift off the top baking sheet and paper, then return the cake to the oven and bake 3-4 minutes longer so the slices dry out. Remove from the oven and let the slices cool.
2. Turn the oven up to 350°F. Slice the figs into quarters from the top down, slicing only about halfway down so the figs remain attached at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet, cut side up, and drizzle with the honey and 4 TBS of water. Sprinkle with the cinnamon, then bake for 12-15 minutes until they are soft. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and pour the roasting liquid into a bowl. Pour half of the liquid into the Greek yogurt and stir to combine.
3. In a large heatproof bowl, beat the two egg yolks to combine, then beat in the other half of the fig liquid. Bring a pot of water to a simmer, then place the bowl with the egg yolks over the simmering water, being sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Beat the eggs vigorously as you hold the bowl over the simmering water, until the mixture becomes thick and pale yellow, and forms ribbonlike shapes when you lift the whisk out of the eggs. This should take about 5-8 minutes of vigorous whisking. Spoon the sabayon over the figs. Turn the oven up to broil, and broil the figs for 2-3 minutes, just until the sabayon is golden brown. Remove the figs from the oven and serve with the Greek yogurt and ginger slices.

The post Book Club: Revolutionary French Cooking // Cinnamon and Honey-Baked Figs with Sweet Ginger Slices appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Hey! It’s Friday! And in honor of Friday, I have a nice fizzy cocktail for you. Actually, it’s a riff on a cocktail I had on Monday (because starting the week is as hard as ending it is relieving) at Coppa, where I enjoyed Trevor’s birthday dinner while he died of allergies across the table from me. I couldn’t recreate the duck prosciutto or the liverwurst platter for him to try with renewed, allergy-free tastebuds, but I could make him another lemony Italian cocktail.

This drink is made from amaro, honey-lemon-rosemary syrup, and a good splash of cold prosecco. I first discovered amaro only a few months ago, but since then I seem to be noticing it on cocktail menus all over the place. It’s an intensely flavored, dark, semi-sweet Italian liqueur that is great when mixed with lighter alcohols and flavors. Trevor said this was the best drink I’ve ever made for the blog – it falls right in the category of dark, not-too-sweet, fairly strong drinks that he likes best. It’s easy to whip up, so get to it – happy hour is almost over.

Roman Holiday Cocktail

Serves 4.

• juice from 3 lemons (about 3/4 c. total)
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 4 shots (1.5 oz) amaro
• 1 bottle chilled prosecco
• more rosemary, to garnish

1. Mix lemon juice, honey, and rosemary together in a small pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then immediately remove from heat, stirring to dissolve honey. Let sit 5 minutes, then refrigerate until chilled.
2. To make each cocktail, add 1/4 c. of the lemon-honey syrup and 1 shot of amaro to a tall glass. Top  off with prosecco, garnish with rosemary, and serve immediately.

The post Cheers, It’s Friday // Roman Holiday Cocktail appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

After 11 days of vacation, I had to go back to work… for all of 5 hours. Then we had our first Nor’easter of the year, they closed my office, and now I’m back on vacation for another 3 days. So far, 2014 hasn’t been too strenuous. Sadly, Trevor had to drive off into the snowy wilderness to go to work today, but he made this nice warm Russian drink and wrote this post for you to help those of you who are in the same boat warm up:

I’m especially pleased with the way Christmas and New Years came in 2013. It’s been like having a string of one day weeks for us around here, and work has been pretty low-key for everyone. I feel like I’ve had enough large meals and beer to hibernate at least through to March, and the bitter cold has kept us reading in bed until late in the mornings for quite a few days in a row. That being said, work is starting again in earnest, and most Bostonians are battling the first Nor’easter of the new year. For me, when I’m shoveling in the dark after a long day of work, the thought of a nice warm (alcoholic) beverage is pretty much the only thing that makes it bearable. [Edit: I swear Trevor isn’t a sad, lonely alcoholic. Also, I sometimes help with the shoveling.]

I discovered this drink while looking for ideas for the Captain’s Table Challenge, that Katie and I have been participating in (results for the second round are imminent).  With Katie traveling to Russia so often, it seemed like a good place to look for bracing beverages for the darkest depths of winter. At any rate, Sbiten, (according to the internet) it one of Russia’s versions of the hot, spiced, mulled winter drinks that cure what ails you. It stood out to me because the use of jam and honey make it so thick and hearty and give you a lot of control over the flavor. I’ve tried the recipe using a red wine base, as well as a rum-water base, and both turned out very nicely.

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Sbiten: Russian Mulled Rum

Serves 2.

• 1 c. water
• ½ c. spiced rum (plus one shot, optional)
• 2 T jam of choice
• 1 T honey
• ½ t ground ginger
• 1 t ground clove
• ½ t ground cinnamon
• ½ t ground nutmeg

1. Heat the water and ½ c. rum over medium heat in a small pot. When the mixture is just boiling add the jam and honey and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the spices, and stir to mix. Strain into mugs and add a dash of rum to each, if desired, for a stiffer drink.

Note: For a red wine-base, replace water and rum with ½ c. water and 1 c. red wine.

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I’m excited to announce that for the next few months, I’ll be participating in the Captain’s Table Challenge that Captain Morgan is running this holiday season. Along with 14 other food bloggers, I’ll be creating six recipes – three cocktails and three sweet or savory dishes – using Captain Morgan. The first official recipes will be coming at you later this week, just in time for Thanksgiving, and then later on there will be some Christmas treats, and something snacky and craveable for the Superbowl. Hugh Acheson, of Georgian restaurant and F&W Best New Chef fame, will be judging the challenge, picking a winner for each holiday, and an overall winner at the end of the program. I’m looking forward to getting creative with rum, and also taste-testing everything –  because a little extra rum in the cold winter months never hurt anyone.

Besides free rum for me and a lot of rum-based recipes for you, there’s another great aspect to this program – every time the #CaptainsTable hashtag is used on social media this season, Captain Morgan will donate $1 to Why Hunger. So break out your rum, get cooking/mixing, and share your recipes and entertaining tips using the hashtag, because drinking is even better when you’re drinking for a cause.

Since I know you guys mostly come here for the food, I didn’t want to leave you hanging with no recipe today, so I have a bit of a bonus recipe for you. Trevor and I were both feeling a little rundown this weekend, although we did manage to put in a respectable showing on the dance floor at our coworkers’ wedding Saturday night. Come Sunday, all I wanted to do was lie on the couch and avoid going out into the “feels like 4°F” weather.  While I was laying there, bundled up and half-asleep at 4 in the afternoon, Trevor sat down next to me with a steaming cup of sweet, herbal rum. He’d been toying with the idea of a sage-based rum cocktail all weekend, and I’d been kind of a hard sell, but one sip of the drink changed my mind. Hot, soothing, sweet from the honey and rum, but balanced by the meyer lemon and sage, it really did make me feel better. This is probably completely a placebo effect, but my mom was always a proponent of hot toddies (just a teeny splash of whiskey) when we were sick, and who am I to argue with my mother’s wisdom? Side note: is Trevor not the best boyfriend of all time? I’m pretty sure he is.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Captain Morgan, who provided me with product samples and monetary compensation in exchange for my participation in this program. All opinions are honest and my own, as always.

Meyer Lemon and Sage Hot Toddy

Serves 1.

• 1 TBS honey
• 1/2 c. water
• 4 sage leaves, washed
• 1 small meyer lemon
• 1 1/2 oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum

1. Add the honey, water, and sage leaves to a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until sage is fragrant and honey is dissolved, about 4-5 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the syrup from foaming up, and do not let it come above a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat, remove and discard the sage leaves, and pour the syrup into a pre-warmed glass.
2. Cut the lemon in half, and squeeze 1-2 tsp of juice into the glass. Cut a slice of the remaining lemon for garnish. Add the rum and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

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I started an “Ingredient of the Week” feature earlier this year, challenging myself to make the most of a particular in-season ingredient by posting a creative recipe starring that ingredient for 5 days in a row. I managed to feature rhubarb and green peas, and had grand plans for doing blackberries and peaches and zucchini and tomatoes by the end of the summer, but the summer sort of got away from me. Still, just because home grown produce isn’t as bountiful now as it was in August doesn’t mean that there aren’t seasonal ingredients worth celebrating. This week, I’m celebrating one of the last vegetables we were able to harvest from our garden – the carrot.

While not as popular as another sweet, orange fall vegetable (although I do feel like the pumpkin mayhem is a little more under control this year), the carrot is a humble, under-utilized little root. Usually, when I think of carrots I think of them as part and parcel with onions and celery for starting out a soup, or as stubby little dippers for hummus. But they’re so much more versatile than that! Cakes, sauces, juices, roasts – if you take a minute to think about it, you’ll realize that carrots add sweetness and depth to many different meals.

Whenever I kick off an ingredient of the week feature, I first spend an evening sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of cookbooks, searching for the most interesting recipes I can find. Once I have a big list compiled, I choose the four or five recipes that I think are the most unique and delicious-sounding. The most interesting recipe from this weekend’s cookbook research comes from a new member of my collection, Maria Elia’s Full of Flavor. In her “roots” chapter, amidst more typical presentations like carrot and herb salad and spiced carrot puree, I found this recipe for a savory carrot, feta, and almond baklava. I’d never had a savory baklava before, and loved the idea. The carrots are thinly sliced and stewed with cinnamon, lemon, caramelized onions, and dill, before a portion of them are pureed. Layered with feta and crushed almonds between butter-soaked sheets of filo dough, they are then baked to crusty perfection and drizzled with honey. I loved the sweet and salty play of the honey and feta cheese, and think these would be a great (if a little messy) vegetarian party appetizer at any time of the year. A good start to carrot week, if you ask me.

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava

Recipe adapted slightly from Full of Flavor. Serves 8-10.

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• 2 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 small bunch fresh dill, including roots, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 c. chopped dill)
• 1 TBS ground cinnamon
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• sea salt
• 9 sheets filo pastry (about 3/4 of a package)
• 6 TBS butter, melted
• 2/3 c. whole almonds
• 1 2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
• 4 TBS honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the sliced onions. Caramelize the onions over medium heat until dark and sticky, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This should take 15-20 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic, carrots, dill, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice, and season with sea salt. Cook for another 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 3 cups of water, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Process the almonds in a food processor until they are the consistency of a coarse breadcrumb, then set aside in a bowl. Mix the feta cheese with the ground almonds. Add 1/3 of the carrot mixture to the food processor and process until smooth, then stir back into the whole carrots.
4. Unfold the filo dough, and cut to the size of the baking sheet you will be using (ideally around 9×13. Save the extra dough. Cover the sheets you will be using with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out as you work.
5. Brush the baking sheet lightly with melted butter, then lay one sheet of filo dough on it. Brush the filo with melted butter, and top with another sheet of filo. Repeat to have three sheets of filo in the first layer. Spread half the carrot mixture gently on top of the filo, pushing it out to the corners. Sprinkle half the feta-almond mixture on top of this, pressing down lightly to smooth. Repeat the filo-butter process with three sheets of filo, then spread the remaining carrot and feta mixture on top. Finish the baklava with another three sheets of butter-brushed filo. Before brushing the top sheet, score gently with a sharp knife to cut the pastry into diamonds. Then brush with the remaining butter and sprinkle with cold water. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before drizzling with the honey.

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Even though my roommates make some variation of roast chicken breasts probably 80% of the nights that they cook, I almost never think to do the same.  I’m more of the one-pot-soup or pretend-healthy-pasta type.  However, after seeing this recipe in Melissa Clark’s In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite and realizing that it was perfect for Greatist (easy, quick, and healthy), I decided to join my roommates in their nightly chicken-baking routine.

Only partly through, I got distracted.  See, the reason I don’t usually make roast chicken is that, well, I don’t really like it.  To be 100% honest, chicken freaks me out a little bit, even though I think it tastes good.  But something I do like is fried chicken, especially when it’s in the form of super kid-friendly chicken fingers, which my 13 year old brother basically subsists on.  Whenever he makes them, all of my other family members, including me, sneak them from the baking tray when he isn’t looking, which causes him much angsty 13-year-old wrath. So as I was laying the lovely chipotle and honey marinated chicken strips in the roasting pan, I couldn’t get the image of hot, crispy, crunchy fried chicken tenders out of my mind, even though fried chicken is a decidedly un-Greatist-friendly recipe.  So I compromised, and made both – the first half of the chicken got baked with the sweet potatoes, the second half of the tenders got dipped in flour mixed with panko, then shallow-fried in canola oil, because I  believe in satisfying cravings.

I had some of both versions – baked and fried – for dinner that night.  And I can say with honesty that both were very, very good – the spicy-sweetness of the marinade gave the chicken a surprising and interesting flavor.  So I feel comfortable recommending the healthy baked version, for which you can find the full recipe over at Greatist.  However, if you’ve got ‘dem fried chicken cravings, go ahead and indulge.  You won’t regret it.

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So it’s Thanksgiving.  And the food blogosphere has been inundated with sweet potatoes, cranberries, pie crusts, and 4-day turkey brining processes.  Which is all great and mouthwatering and exciting, except that I’m not in charge of Thanksgiving.  And I’m the kind of person who actually loves Stove Top stuffing and plain old mashed potatoes once a year.  So I’m not contributing any fancy new dishes to our table or experimenting with pie fillings or scouring cookbooks for stuffing recipes.

Instead, I’m going to do whatever my mother tells me I can do to help.  And the first of these things was to help her with the shopping.  Which I did.  But then amongst the acorn squash and fresh cranberries and bags of shallots, I found endives.  For a price that was significantly less than the ridiculous $4 a piece they cost in the Durham Wholefoods.  And since I’ve been meaning to share this endive recipe pretty much since the creation of this blog, I decided to buy them.

And that, my friends, is how it came to pass that I’m sharing a light, summery appetizer with you on the day before Thanksgiving, completely bucking national food blogging trends.  Although they would make a good cocktail party appetizer.  And it is kind of the start of cocktail party season.  And candied pecans are actually pretty seasonal too.  So maybe I’m not as far off the mark as I thought.  Either way, I really enjoy these.  They’re simple, and elegant, and well-balanced, and infinitely variable too.

A few notes about candying nuts: I fell in love with candied nuts in Prague, where you can buy them on every street corner as soon as the weather turns cold.  I’d frequently run down to the square between classes for a little paper packet of sugared almonds and a cup of hot wine (man, talk about living the life, right?)  As a result of this, I ended up craving them all the time, and so I’ve experimented with several ways of getting the perfect, warm, crispy, sugared nut.  You can either do them on the stove top or in the oven: they’ll be done more quickly on the stove top, and you only need water and sugar, but your technique is more important – if you don’t stir constantly you’ll end up with a caramel mess and soggy nuts.  They take longer in the oven, your results will be consistently good.  I think I prefer the end result of the oven roasted nuts better, so if you have the time, do them in the oven!

Elegant Endives

Recipe from epicurious.  Serves 6-8 as an appetizer.

• 2 belgian endives
• 4 oz. crumbled blue cheese
• 3/4 c. candied pecan pieces, see recipe below
• honey

Slice off the bases of the endives.  Remove small and damaged outer leaves.  Carefully separate leaves from the base so that they remain intact.  Fill the white part of the endive with crumbled cheese and pecan pieces.  Arrange on platter and drizzle with a small amount of honey.

Candied Pecans

Technique adapted from AllRecipes.

• 2 c. pecan halves and pieces
• 1 egg white
• 1 TBS water
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 TBS butter

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.  Use butter to grease a baking pan.
2. Beat egg white with water and vanilla until frothy.  In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Mix pecans with egg white mixture until they are all moistened.  Then transfer to the sugar mixture and stir until pecans are fully coated.  Spread pecans on greased pan in a single layer and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

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