BBQ Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

categories: Posts, Recipes, Snacks

BBQ Pumpkin Seeds

My favorite brand of mixed nuts is Al-Rifai – a Lebanese company with branches in Jordan. I usually buy myself a few kilos at the airport before my outbound flight home. There’s really no comparison between salted or roasted mixed nuts here in the U.S. and the ones Al-Rifai has to offer. They’re roasted to perfection and the bag never lasts as long as I want it to. Once I get started, I really can’t stop myself from devouring 4 or more servings.

I’ve had roasted mixed nuts here at home. But they’re just not the same. Al-Rifai has some sort of delicious secret ingredients they use to make their mixed nuts irresistible. You won’t believe me until you try it. So the next time you find yourself in Lebanon, Jordan or any of Al-Rifai’s other branches, do not pass up the opportunity to get a mixed bag of nuts. (more…)

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Pumpkin Jam

categories: Breakfast, Desserts, Posts, Recipes

Pumpkin Butter_2

Can we talk about Pumpkins for a minute? From the day after Labor Day through Halloween you can’t escape pumpkins. They’re everywhere – the grocery stores, the malls, the 7-11, people’s porches – everywhere. Come the beginning of November and magically we’ve transformed from pumpkin everything to Christmas two months early. It’s not to say I didn’t enjoy pumpkins during the season with my pumpkin spice coffee creamer, pumpkin cheesecake and a day trip to the Pumpkin Farm. I’m all about enjoying what every season has to offer. What I do find frustrating is when on November 8, I’m looking to make a from-scratch pumpkin recipe, I get to my local grocery store and there are literally no pumpkins in sight. What is a girl to do?! I may or may not have had a slight panic attack and called none other than my mother (because as we all know, moms have the answers to everything). Lucky for me, she reminded me that there’s a nursery not too far from home that had a ton of pumpkins left. In that moment I was saved from having to use canned pumpkin puree for my homemade pumpkin jam. (more…)

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Pumpkin Cheesecake with Cinnamon Pecans

categories: Desserts, Posts, Recipes

Pumpkin Cheesecake_2

The last few weeks have been a complete whirlwind between work and travel. From the slow days of summer, to the non-stop early mornings and late nights at work post-vacation, it’s been hard to find time to blog. No excuse is a good excuse, but there you have it – why I haven’t posted in a few weeks.

In an attempt to use up the last slow days of summer, I decided I needed to get out and breathe some new air (that would be my foreign translation of change of pace) and visit some people that are near and dear to my heart. Where did I go? Amman and Paris for a 2 ½ week eating tour, basically. All I did was eat. I made sure to get all my Arabic food cravings satisfied in Amman – falafel, knafeh, fresh figs… just to name a few. And I pretty much lived on pastries, bread and cheese in Paris. (more…)

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Eggy Avocado Toast

categories: Breakfast, Posts, Recipes

Eggy Avocado Toast_2

Avocados are the best thing that’s happened to food since bread. Once a very California thing has made it’s way over to the East Coast and we’re loving it. Salads, sandwiches, eggs, pastas…you name it, I’ll add avocado to it. So when Sunday rolled around and I wanted something brunchy, but not too heavy, I upped the avocado toast game. (more…)

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Old Bay Shrimp Boil

categories: Posts, Recipes, Seafood

Shrimp Boil

Writer’s block. You’d think being a Communications Specialist would mean that words come easy to me all the time. Yes, I can express myself so much better through writing—because there’s that added benefit of proofing and editing your work—But some days I hit a serious writer’s block. It’s the worst. Namely when I’m trying to post my latest and greatest new recipe and nothing comes to mind. Nothing. (more…)

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