Have you seen anything prettier? These lovely little flowers are  amazing. All of that detail like the dots in the center and the lines around it happens naturally when you dry the flowers. I think they're stunning, and I love to put them on hummingbird cupcakes and carrot cupcakes. Apparently they taste really good, too, although I would never try them because I'm not a fan of pineapple. So picky!

I'm not going to lie and say pineapple flowers are the easiest thing to make. However, they are not the hardest either. They just require a sharp knife and some time. As is true with most things, the more you make them, the easier they get (and the better you get at making them). So here we go.

Here's what you need:

• Pineapple
• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Small measuring spoon, paring knife, or veggie peeler
  
• Muffin tins
• Sheet trays lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper
  

Cut the top off the pineapple and slice the rind off. The first time I did this, I sliced the rind off along with a lot of the pineapple. I highly recommend you don't do this. Instead of cutting straight down, follow the rind or you'll have some tiny flowers. You really don't want tiny flowers.

Use a small measuring spoon, small paring knife, or the point of a vegetable peeler to pop out the eyes/seeds on the pineapple.

Lay the pineapple on its side, and get ready to cut with your sharp knife.

Make extremely thin cuts through the pineapple. You should be able to see your knife through the slice (which is why you want it to be extremely sharp). Don't worry about having mistakes. There are a lot of my slices that were too thick or I only got half a slice. The more you do it, the better you'll get. Even my slices at the beginning were too thick but then better at the end of the pineapple.

If your pineapple is really ripe and juicy, you'll want to press the slices between towels before you place them on the baking sheets. What we're doing is drying out the pineapple, so any moisture you can get rid of before you dry them in the oven will speed up the process.

Place the slices on a baking sheet lined with a baking mat or parchment paper.

Bake them at 225 degrees to slowly dry them out. Baking times vary, but you'll want to start with 30 minutes, then flip the slices over, and then bake for another 30 minutes. The slices should shrink and be almost completely dry. The little dots in the middle of the flower happen naturally when they dry.

If they aren't dry after the hour, bake them for 5-10 minute increments and keep a close eye on them so they don't get too brown.

Place the flowers in muffin tins so they curve like a flower and let them dry overnight so they retain their shape.

Print this tutorial

Source: From Annie's Eats/Martha Stewart

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I had never heard of hummingbird cake until I saw a post on Annie's Eats a couple of years ago, and I was mainly intrigued by the beautiful pineapple flowers. Apparently, hummingbird cake is a very southern thing, which explains why I had never heard of it or tried it. Think banana nut bread meets coconut and pineapple. Sold yet? Surprisingly, I am. I am not a fan of either coconut or pineapple, but these are pretty dang good. I've made them a few times now, and everyone loves them. They have a great crumb, moisture factor, and texture. 

I like to pair these with a marshmallow cream cheese (amazing!) and when you top them with the pineapple flower, you can't go wrong. They're pretty and tasty. And, you can make them without a mixer. In one bowl. I love recipes like that. The other bonus is that this recipe works perfectly for me at high altitude. No adjustments needed!

Wondering about those pineapple flowers? The tutorial is coming this week! If you don't have the time or desire to make the flowers, these cupcakes are fantastic without them.

Hummingbird Cupcakes Recipe
Makes 24 cupcakes
Print this recipe

For the cupcakes:
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
2/3 cup shredded coconut

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup melted marshmallows or marshmallow cream
1 pound powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake liners in your muffin tins.

To make the cupcakes, in a large bowl combine the butter, sugar and vanilla and whisk until combined. Whisk in the eggs. Once incorporated, add in the mashed bananas and whisk in. Mix in the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Whisk in the flour. With a rubber spatula, fold in the crushed pineapple, nuts (if using), and coconut. Once combined, fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full (or about 1/4 cup of batter).

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. In a mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add in the melted marshmallows or marshmallow cream until combined. Mix in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and creamy. Pipe on top of the cupcakes. Add a pineapple flower on top (if using).

Cupcakes barely adapted from Annie's Eats, originally from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Frosting fromPaula Deen

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First of all, thanks to all of you who participated in my Facebook poll yesterday. Next week I am feeding 88 people, and I'm starting to get extremely nervous about it. Panicky nervous also would be a good description. Mainly because I have no idea how much food that should entail and I haven't figured out how to serve it yet. We are serving pasta with marinara, pesto, and Alfredo. Should I serve the sauces separate from the pasta or together? I know that I would love to see them separate, but what about what's easiest...and if I'm going to serve pesto as a real sauce, then I'd have to thin it out with something because it's not exactly a sauce that you should drown a pasta in. These are the questions that are swirling through my brain at an alarming rate...especially when I try to sleep.

So here's where I should say that this bread calms me or that I'm serving it with this pasta next week. But, it doesn't and I'm not. I'm serving sourdough and ciabatta instead. That's not to say that this baguette isn't amazing. It's great. I love it. It's pretty easy to make your own baguettes, too. Just know that you'll never get a bakery-size baguette out of your own oven because your oven isn't that large. You'll want to put it on the biggest cookie sheet you have, and I usually angle it on the sheet so it can be even longer. Did I mention it's only four ingredients? That's right. Easy peasy. So you don't have to worry about it when you're trying to sleep. We all need some of that, right?

Baguette Recipe
Makes 4 loaves
Print this recipe

2 pounds bread flour (6 1/2 cups)
1 pound, 6 ounces warm water (2 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve the yeast in the water in the bowl of your mixer. Add in the flour and mix on low using the paddle until combined. Wait five minutes and then add the salt. Switch to the dough hook and mix on low until the dough is smooth and tacky (about 5-8 minutes). It should not stick to the sides of the bowl. Remove to a clean bowl that is sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, divide it into four pieces. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Working one at a time, shape it into a rectangle. Start with the small side and tightly roll it up. Pinch the edges together and use your hands to rock or roll it out to make it as long as you can make it to fit on the baking sheet. Place the loaf on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 500 degrees with plenty of steam in the first 10 minutes. I use a spray bottle filled with water to spray the oven walls and loaves to create steam. Be careful to not spray your oven window or it could shatter. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Let them cool for about 30 minutes before you tear into them. 

Source: Cook Street School of Culinary Arts

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Last year for St. Patrick's Day, I tried to make you guys a great Irish pot pie. Irish in that it had Guinness in it. It was so good except for one thing. It was crazy bitter. Like barely choke it down bitter. I took some great pictures (or what I thought were great at the time since I was just starting this take pictures of your food thing), and I was all set to post it. But then I thought and I thought, and I tried it again, and I couldn't. It was too bitter, and I didn't really understand how it came to be so dang bitter.

The week after St. Paddy's day last year, I was watching an episode of Chopped on the Food Network, and one of the basket ingredients was a porter beer, like Guinness. I believe it was Alex Guarnaschelli who said that you couldn't cook that beer for too long or it would turn out really bitter. I was so happy to hear that, and I tucked away that nugget of information for almost a year and finally made this stew.

The beauty of this stew is its simplicity. The only seasoning other than salt and pepper? Bay leaves. I found that the veggies, beef, and Guinness gave it plenty of flavor. I cooked this stew for about five hours and added the beer after three hours. I think you could trim that down to about three hours total and add the beer for just the last hour. You really only need to cook the stew long enough for the veggies to soften and the meat to tenderize. And the valuable lesson is that you definitely don't want to cook that beer for too long. Trust me on that one!

Irish Beef Stew Recipe
Serves 4-6
Print this recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound stew meat
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Salt and pepper
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 small carrots, diced
8-10 baby yellow potatoes, cut into small chunks
4 ounces mushrooms, quartered
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
3 cups beef broth
3 bay leaves
1 can Guinness draught

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large zipped bag. Add in the stew meat and shake until the flour is coating the meat. Set aside. In a large saucepan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat until hot. Add in the onion, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms and cook until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Remove the vegetables to a bowl or plate.

Add the other tablespoon of olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add half of the floured stew meat to the pan and let cook for 2 minutes without moving so it can brown. Then stir it around and let it brown on all sides. Repeat with the remaining meat, adding more oil if needed before browning. Pour about 1/2 cup of the broth into the pan and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add in the rest of the broth, the can of tomatoes, cooked veggies, beef, and the bay leaves. Let simmer for 2-3 hours or until the veggies are soft and the meat is tender.

One hour before you are ready to eat, add in the can of Guinness draught and let simmer on low heat. Serve hot.

A She Makes and Bakes recipe

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Do Wheat Thins come in a rosemary Parmesan flavor? If not, they should. Show of hands, when you hear wheat thins, do you automatically think of Stewie in the Family Guy Wheat Thins commercial? Whhheat Thins. Or is that just me? I swear. Every.time. Now that's good marketing!

I love making crackers because they're shockingly easy and extremely adaptable. I was in a rosemary mood, so I took Deb's recipe and added in some of that flavor. And since everything is better with cheese, I decided to add in some Parmesan, too. And it totally worked. You should ignore the amount of kosher salt I have on top of my crackers though. I love salty things, but this was a bit too much. I highly recommend you have a lighter hand with the salt shaker.

If you want a plain wheat cracker, you can leave out the rosemary and Parmesan with great results. Or you can substitute other herbs. Either way, these are bound to be a hit. Plus, you know exactly what's going in them!

Rosemary Parmesan Wheat Thins Recipe
Makes about 3 dozen
Print this recipe

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2-1 teaspoon rosemary, minced
1/4 cup cold water
Kosher salt for sprinkling

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt, paprika, cheese, and up to 1 teaspoon rosemary (depending on how much you like rosemary) until combined. Cut the butter into small cubes and add it into the processor. Pulse until it is evenly combined into the flour mixture.  With the machine running, slowly add in the cold water until it forms into a ball. You may need to add another 1-2 tablespoons of water to get the dough to come together but it should not be a sticky dough. Once it's formed into a ball, remove it from the food processor and place on a well floured counter.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Divide the dough into two pieces and roll it out very thin. The thinner you can roll them, the better they are. Be sure that your dough isn't sticking on your counter, and add more flour if needed. Use a pastry wheel to cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch squares (it doesn't have to be perfect). I use a pastry wheel and a ruler, but I'm pretty OCD. Poke each cracker with a toothpick several times so they don't puff up when they bake. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Transfer the crackers to a cookie sheet and leave a little bit of space between each one. Bake until crisp and brown about 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on them because the time to bake correlates directly with how thick or thin they are. Cool before eating.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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Last June, my husband and I were lucky enough to visit Ireland. Let me just say that if you ever have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. Not only is it a beautiful country, but the Irish are some of the nicest people I've ever met. Ever. For example, a taxi driver let us borrow his GPS for a week. The first week when we were in Dublin, he took my husband back and forth from our hotel to various golf courses. So he kind of knew us, but not that well. Certainly not well enough to offer us a fairly expensive electronic. Everyone was so nice and kind and helpful. I plan to go back, and one of the main reasons is because of the people.

The food, unfortunately, is not all that incredible. Irish breakfasts leave a lot of be desired. Every hotel we stayed at had the same breakfast, and by the end of our two weeks we just couldn't choke it down anymore (blood sausage anyone?). I had brought some homemade granola bars and crackers, and we would snack on those instead. Also, I learned that the land of potatoes equals the land of french fries. We got fries with everything. One day I was eating lunch by myself near the prison in Dublin (a tourist attraction by the way), and I ordered a piece of pizza at an Italian restaurant. When they brought it to my table, I was shocked to see it was half of an 8-inch pizza with a side salad and french fries. Mmmkay. I also learned that I am in no way a fan of Irish soda bread. You definitely won't see that recipe on here.

When we were in Dublin, we made our way to the Guinness factory (of course). We both were excited to do the tour, but my husband was about 1000 times more excited that I was. I'm not a big Guinness fan, but he loves it (even more so now). Since we went to the tour during my lunch break, I made sure to have some of their food, too. And one of the things I ordered was a Guinness brownie. Holy crap. I could not even eat the entire brownie because it was so rich. This.never.happens. I love rich brownies. This brownie was incredible. I can't say that my version is like theirs because I sadly don't remember fully. However, my version is pretty dang good. It is rich, it's extremely fudgy, and it has a faint taste of Guinness. You can taste it, but it's not overwhelming. And it's great, even if you aren't Guinness obsessed. So, make these brownies and celebrate your inner Irish until you can get over there!    

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Show of hands...who else feels like there are not enough hours in the day? I know I'm not the only person. In fact, I'm sure there are people out there who think I have it easy. All I know is that I was never this busy when I had the 9-5 (er...7:30-3:30) desk job. But I also wasn't this happy, and that's what really counts. However, being busy equals boring photos because I don't have the time to pull in various props and pretty colors. So hopefully the food can speak for itself.

So today I took the afternoon off. It was 65 degrees and sunny today, and I sat out on my front porch and read a book. It was sublime. I didn't sit inside on the computer (although I had plenty of work to justify that). I sat outside and took a moment to smell the roses. Or the melting snow and the crocus. It was exactly what I needed. Refreshing.

Sidebar...did you guys know that there's a TV show on now that has both Charles in Charge and Hanging with Mr. Cooper? My head exploded when I saw this. I have no idea if it's any good because I spent time reliving Charles, Buddy, Mark Cooper, Vanessa, and my golden years. Back when I thought life was complicated and busy. Ha!

Oh...the muffins. They're incredible. They're juicy and full of blueberries. There's a crunchy topping of cinnamon sugar that somehow pulls everything together and makes it the perfect breakfast, lunch, snack, or dessert. I feel like I say a lot that things are perfect, but at least you guys know that I enjoy eating the recipes that are posted on here.

Blueberry Muffins with a Crunchy Cinnamon Sugar Topping
Makes 15-16
Print this recipe

Note: If you’re making these at high altitude, simply adjust the baking powder to use the * amount.

For the muffins:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons (*1 3/4 teaspoons*) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

For the topping:
Heaping 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the vanilla, baking powder, and salt and mix on low until combined. Mix in half of the flour with the mixer on low, pour in the milk and let it mix, and then add in the rest of the flour. Once combined, stop the mixer and fold in the blueberries by hand. If you're using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them first.

Separate the batter into muffin liners, placing about 1/4 cup batter in each cup. Make the topping by mixing together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter using a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove from the pan to finish cooling.

Barely adapted from Taste of Home

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I heard an extremely exciting piece of information on the news this morning...it's daylight savings on Sunday! I'm pretty sure this is the one day a year that I look forward to the most. Is that strange? And it wasn't just when I became a food blogger and needed more daylight. I've always been really excited about this day in March (or April, like when I was a kid). I've just always hated the dark I suppose. I'm sure we could psychoanalyze that one, but let's move on. 

The other amazing thing about daylight savings is that it means spring is here. Well, to me, at least. Spring is my second favorite season because things start to grow and turn green and it's pretty and warm and just lovely. Can you guess what my least favorite season is then? (brown=death=yuck.) Anyway, we made this cake for Valentine's day, but I love it for this time of year. It's fun, cheerful, and bright. It's spring in a cake.

Normally I do this cake as chocolate with chocolate frosting and regular Kit Kats. However, the client wanted it to be white and pink. So we found these cookies and cream Kit Kat bars at Cost Plus and made it a vanilla cake with pink buttercream. You can do whatever you want--I've even made this cake in a heart pan. Pictured is an 8-inch cake, but I highly recommend you do a 9-inch, two-layer cake instead. The cake layers were too tall for the Kit Kats, so we had to pipe a row of pearls on the bottom to fill in the space. It's pretty, but if you're looking to avoid any piping details, go with the niner. (Did I hear a niner in there? Were you calling from a walkie talkie?)

I love baking from scratch, but use your favorite cake recipe (or box cake mix). Here are my favorite vanilla and chocolate cake recipes, adapted for high altitude. Here are my favorite vanilla buttercream and chocolate frosting recipes, too. 

Basket of Berries Cake Recipe
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Two 9-inch round cake layers
Frosting
12 Kit Kat candy bars (1.5 ounces each)
2 pounds fresh strawberries, halved
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 pint fresh blackberries or blueberries
2 tablespoons apricot preserves

Place your first baked and cooled cake down on the plate or cake board. If it is domed, slice off the dome part so it's flat (do this on both cakes). Spread frosting over the first layer. Place the second layer on top of the frosting and press down lightly. Spread frosting over the cake, making sure the sides and top are completely covered. You don't have to worry about it looking perfect because the candy bars and fruit will cover it up.

Unwrap the candy bars and use a knife to separate the bars from each other (instead of snapping them). Place the candy bars side by side around the cake. It will look more like a basket if you stick the side with the writing to the cake, but we didn't do that because we wanted the white side to show.

Arrange the fruit on top of the cake and pile it on. Warm the apricot preserves and brush it on top of the fruit to give it a shine. If desired, wrap a ribbon around the cake. Store in the fridge, but bring it up to room temperature before serving.

Idea from Taste of Home

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I never really thought I was a big fan of cinnamon rolls until I started making different varieties. And then I was hooked. I've done pumpkin cinnamon rolls, apple pie cinnamon rolls, and now these strawberry cinnamon rolls. These are perfect when you want something that's a little more light and refreshing. 

These are also pretty simple to make after you take care of the dough (which isn't hard to do). Just use a good quality jam for the filling and doctor it up a bit with some cinnamon. Sprinkle on some fresh strawberries, roll it up, slice and bake it, and viola! Perfect breakfast! I'll be adding these to my list of weekend breakfasts, that's for sure! 

Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Makes 18 rolls
Print this recipe

For the dough: 
6 1/4 cups all purpose flour (794 g/28 ounces)
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons sugar
5 teaspoons instant yeast
2 cups + 2 tablespoons lukewarm milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the filling: 
1 1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced strawberries

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons milk

To make the dough, mix the yeast with the sugar and warm milk and let sit for about 5 minutes. Measure the flour into the bowl of your mixer, add in the yeast mixture and oil, and mix with the paddle until everything is incorporated. Add in the salt, switch to the dough hook, and mix on low speed until a smooth, tacky ball of dough forms. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise until doubled, about 1-2 hours.   

When the dough is almost done rising, stir together the jam and cinnamon. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

To assemble the rolls, divide the dough in half. Roll it out on a floured surface into a long rectangle, about 15x25 inches or so. The dough will be thin. Spread half of the jam mixture onto each rectangle.  Sprinkle the strawberries on top. The berries won't cover the entire rectangle, but you want to make sure they're evenly spaced. Roll the dough up from the long side and then cut it into 2-inch pieces. Place the slices into greased cake pans, cut side down. Let sit for about 15 minutes to rise. Bake for 25-30 minutes until browned on top and cooked through. 

After the rolls have finished baking, make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and almond extract. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the glaze is a pourable consistency. Pour over the cinnamon rolls and serve.  

Dough recipe from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

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Chocolate and peanut butter. Is there any better combination? I don't think so...although I guess brownies and peanut butter is even better, right? I've had these in my back pocket for some time, and they're pretty stellar.

I had never heard of an edible Buckeye until I started dating my husband, who is an Ohio State Buckeye. An edible buckeye is a candy that has a soft peanut butter filling and is surrounded by chocolate (an inedible buckeye is a poisonous nut). It's awesome (the candy one of course). The only problem is that they can be a pain to roll and then dunk in the chocolate. So turning them into a bar is pure genius. I adore these buckeyes...and my buckeye.

Buckeye Bars Recipe
Makes a 9x9 pan
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1/2 cup butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped
3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

For the filling:
1/2 cup peanut butter
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 pan with aluminum foil, leaving a few inches hanging over the sides (this foil will turn into handles to lift the brownies out of the pan later). Spray the foil generously with nonstick spray, paying special attention to the corners and sides.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate and butter. Microwave for 30-second intervals until melted and smooth, stirring in between. Add the sugar and vanilla into the bowl with the chocolate and whisk until incorporated. Add in the eggs and whisk until thick and glossy (about a minute). Stir in the flour and salt until just combined. Fold in the chopped peanuts if using.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Whisk together the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk until smooth and spread over the brownie batter in the pan. Drop the remaining brownie batter on top of the peanut butter by spoonfuls. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the center is set. Let cool before serving.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

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