Butter

Cashew Butter

Cahew Butter

Move over almond butter, there’s a new kid on the block. Like all things, fashion and food alike, we go through phases of fascination – or fads. We went through the carb-free Atkins phase, the “I must be allergic to gluten” phase, the cupcakes are the new dessert phase; we’re still in the gourmet donut phase, Pho everything phase, and don’t forget about the Nutella and Biscoff phases. Like all great food phases, we indulge until there’s something better. (more…)

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I’m not even 1% Irish, but I love anything worth celebrating. And hey, why not! The DC Metro area is currently covered in snow. Yes, Mid-March and spring doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight (minus the gorgeous 65F day we had on Saturday). Though the federal government is closed for the day, I threw on my favorite pair of jeans, a comfortable top and topped the festive look off with a green headband, then got to baking. (more…)

Ghraybeh [Arabic Butter Cookies]

 

Ghraybeh

One of my favorite Arabic sweets is Ghraybeh [غريبة], with all of its sugary, buttery goodness. Honestly, the best ones I’ve tasted are the ones in Amman that come in a little “s” shape. I can devour an entire box in one sitting — they’re that good. Shatila comes in at a close second with their ghraybeh, except for the fact that each piece is massive, and they (sadly) post the calorie content of each piece, making it impossible to eat more than one without feeling guilty. Oh, the struggles of not being skinny. (more…)

Peach Cobbler

 

Peach Cobbler

 

There seems to be a recurring trend in my house, fruit on the verge of going bad. It’s awful, I know. See, it all starts when I go to the grocery store hungry (read as: when I go to Whole Foods starving). I see fruits and veggies that no one really eats, but for some reason in my state of starvation, I think that I’m going to make all these amazing foods. That’s never the case. Even when I make a list ahead of time, I end up picking up the most random items. And what do you know, I end up snacking on a bag of “low-calorie” chips and the food goes right into the fridge never to be seen — or eaten. (more…)

Baked Apples

Baked-Apples

Every year it seems like the seasons change too quickly for me to keep up. It had to be late July when everyone seemed to be excited for the fall. I hadn’t even had my fill of the summer when I started getting pre-fall sale emails featuring sweaters and jackets. And then, once September rolls around, the pools close and kids go back to school and all of a sudden we’ve skipped August altogether and moved straight into pumpkin-everything season.

It’s early September and it’s still 80 degrees out in DC – warm enough for the pools to stay open, but who am I to make the rules. And yet, Starbucks has already started selling their pumpkin spice lattes! There we go skipping all of September and jumping straight into October. Some of my friends have already started picking up said pumpkin spice lattes on their way to work … but I refuse to let go of the summer and indulge in my favorite fall coffee until it’s at least cool enough to strut a sweater and my boots. (more…)