Comfort Foods and Indulgences

This Sunday night is the Oscars, the night when millions of Americans will tune in to see which actress is wearing the ugliest gown. Since this event will drag on for hours, you'll need lots of snack foods, like my Maple Walnut Popcorn. This New England inspired popcorn is everything a snack food should be: sweet, salty, sticky, and crunchy. Since the Oscars are at least three hours long, you might want to make a double batch.

Maple Walnut Popcorn
Yields 10-12 cups

3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.  Coat two large rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray.

2. Pour oil in a large saucepan over high heat and cover. After 1-2 minutes, toss a couple of kernels inside. Listen for the shimmering oil as it heats up, then drop a couple of kernels in the pan. When they start sizzling and spinning, the oil is ready. Add remaining kernels. Cover the pan, and give it a couple of shakes so the kernels get coated with oil. Now listen for the popping. Once it really starts popping quickly, listen carefully. Remove the pan from the heat once the popping slows down to every few seconds, or it could burn quickly. Pour popcorn into a big bowl coated with cooking spray, and add nuts.

3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring maple syrup, butter, and salt to a boil. Cook 1 minute. Lower to a simmer for 2 minutes. Pour syrup over popcorn and nuts, stirring to coat. Transfer popcorn mixture to prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Break into small clusters.

– Recipe courtesy of Food Blogga

When I awoke bleary-eyed at 12:15 am last night, I rolled over to Jeff's side of the bed to discover a still-warm, empty spot. Fearing he was ill, I immediately walked to the bathroom. Empty. I walked into the kitchen and there he was, standing in the darkened room lit only by the bluish glow of the refrigerator light. His cheeks were bulging, and he was holding a big slice of leftover eggplant and caramelized onion pizza.

"Watcha doin'?" I asked.

"Noffin," he said, trying unsuccessfully, to hide the ball of pizza stuffed in his mouth.

"Doesn't look like nothin'," I said, "Looks like pizza."

"You're dreaming. Go back to bed," he said.

If ever there was a pizza worth getting up in the middle of the night, it's this eggplant, caramelized onion and prosciutto pizza with smoked mozzarella.

In hopes of starting the year with a sweet and steeped memory, I hurried into my kitchen to whip up a quick tea–infused treat. Faced with several perfectly ripe pears, chocolate chai tea and whole grain flower (that never made its way into holiday cookies), I decided to give a basic muffin a delicate, tea-infused twist.

The perfect breakfast bite, these Whole Wheat Pear & Chai Crumb Muffins are slightly addicting (I dare you to make more than 6 and see how long they last…I say that while typing with crumbs that are dangerously close to finding their way into my keyboard crevices).

Fragrant pears are mixed into the somewhat savory whole wheat batter to add a hint of natural sweetness. The chocolate chai tea adds a pop of warming spices to the basic crumb topping, the real star of the treat (but don’t tell the pears).

The first bite reminded me of soft yet satisfyingly hearty cornbread with a dainty dab of spiced pear jam. But maybe that’s just me. You’ll have to take a bite while it’s still warm from the oven (with just the tiniest bit of unsalted butter) and tell me what you think. And if you add a chocolate chai latte to the mix, well, you’re just spoiling your taste buds.

Is there a dish you make that gets your family a little excited for mealtime? At my house, it's gnocchi. When word gets out gnocchi is showing up for dinner, everyone starts milling around the kitchen...just waiting. Thank goodness this pasta only take a few minutes to boil.  

Gnocchi is a wonderful comfort food, and a blank canvas to shape into any combination of flavors. We recently had some amazing homemade mushroom gnocchi while in Hawaii, and still haven't stopped talking about that meal. Making homemade gnocchi is definitely on my culinary bucket list...I will get to it. Sooner than later I hope.

Making a bechamel sauce for this dish is also really easy. If you have never made this creamy sauce before, don't worry. The great thing about a bechamel sauce is once you know how to execute it, you'll be able to whip one up for a variety of dishes. It's simple to change the flavor to go with almost anything. You will never be at a loss when it comes to needing something creamy for one of your recipe creations.