Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Prior to blogging, I rarely made muffins. OK, I never made muffins. Now I find it difficult to go a week or more without baking some. There are so many things to love about muffins: They're easy to make. They're endlessly versatile. And, unlike many baked goods, they're portion controlled. (That is, as long as you don't eat two or three per sitting.)

While I enjoy baking traditional muffins like my Mom's Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins, I really love to play around with ingredients and concoct unique muffins such as Fresh Apricot and Kiwi and Coconut.

Up until a few weeks ago, however, I had never made muffins with red grapes. I mean, red grapes in muffins? Is that natural? Oh, it's beyond natural. It's extraordinary. I should know. I have made them three times within the past few weeks, including for a brunch, where they received rave reviews.

What is better than good old-fashioned sausage gravy over buttermilk biscuits. This recipe for sausage gravy goes perfectly with the buttermilk biscuits posted yesterday.

This gravy recipe also has bacon in the mix, giving it an amazing flavor and texture with a twist. We loved it. The bacon drippings also add to the overall flavor....a big plus!!!

What a breakfast we had with this gravy over the warm, flaky biscuits. Heaven.

You’ve seen recipes for triple chocolate cookies, right? Well, why not triple peanut butter cookies?

I come from a long line of peanut butter-lovers. My uncle was so consumed with the creamy, sticky stuff, he named his dog Skippy. My mom made sandwiches with peanut butter so thick, each bite would take several minutes to finally swallow, let alone try to get a word out.

I grew up on my mom’s peanut butter cookies. They were crunchy and sweet and the little criss-cross marks made with a fork on the top of each cookie glistened with crystals of sugar.

Of course, I married a peanut butter-lover. Nothing makes him happier than a bag of chocolate peanut butter cups.

When I discovered the bags of Reese’s mini peanut butter cups at the store, I knew at least one bag of the adorable, bite-sized p.b. cups would go home with me to get chopped up and stirred into cookies. And how easy it is to do, because the tiny chocolate peanut butter cups come unwrapped.

I’m not sure why I always through crumbles needed to be sweet. Is it because I’m usually eating them weekly smack dab in the middle of summer? Probably. But last month in Paris we stopped by a lovely little shop and café for lunch where Adam ordered a Zucchini Crumble, a small dish of tender eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and onions topped with a savory buttery topping and a sprinkle of fresh herbs.

Its simplicity astounded me, its flavor surprised me. And the door to enjoying a different type of crumble was opened and we’re already looking forward to repeating this dish with autumn’s delicious butternut squash or even tender roasted root veggies. It’s simple, satisfying, and makes a wonderful lunch.