Recipe: Bananas Foster Bread Pudding "Cupcakes"

Earlier this month, my dad threw my mom a huge surprise birthday party. My brother, sister and I all love food and entertaining, so we volunteered to plan the menu. Though we nailed down most of the elements pretty quickly, we were stuck on what to serve for dessert. Birthday cake was out of the question - I've never known my mom to get particularly excited for cake. In fact, she's notorious for skipping dessert altogether! None of us wanted to see her skip dessert at her own party; we wanted to come up with something she would truly love.

Recipe: Mint-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

As I think I mentioned in this post, mint-chocolate chip ice cream was among my favorite childhood summer treats. I like my ice cream to have a little texture to it, and the crunch of the frozen chocolate is such a perfect counterpart to the cool, creamy mint. Since we frequently missed (or hid from, ahem) the Schwann's man on his weekly route, I don't remember actually having mint-chocolate chip ice cream in our freezer that often. Instead, I would order it whenever we went to dinner at Mrs. Lady's in Okoboji. It was a special treat for us to eat at Mrs. Lady's, but the most exciting part was being allowed to order ice cream cones for dessert. There was a mind-boggling variety of flavors to choose from - with particular aversion, I remember a horrifyingly pink and chewy bubble gum ice cream - but I always went for the mint chocolate chip.

Recipe: Easy Rosemary Roasted Beets

In the last couple of weeks, I've been playing with different ways to use beets from the farmer's market. Inspired by how well beets and rosemary worked together in last week's glorious beet hash browns, I decided to roast them in foil this time with rosemary, garlic, and olive oil.  The trick to roasting beets is not cooking them too long - otherwise they'll turn to mush - but just until they can be easily pierced with a knife.

Recipe: Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Anytime I lack the time or energy to make a full-on meal, I tend to fall back on pasta. It's quick to make, and even better, nearly foolproof to execute.

Of course, just because it's easy doesn't mean it has to be boring! If you have fresh tomatoes on hand, you can make homemade sauce in less than ten minutes. It'll take at least that long to boil the water and cook the pasta, so why not make fresh sauce instead of opening a jar?

Recipe: Beet "Hash Browns"

A somewhat shocking fact: I have never in my life eaten a beet until this week.

Last Saturday, I was intrigued by all the beets I saw at the farmer's market. At one particular stand, they were so ruby red and vibrant that I couldn't help buying a bundle of them. What was I going to do with them? Well, I would figure that part out later.

Recipe: Sauteed Beet Greens

I've recently become a big fan of beet greens. I bought a bunch of beets last weekend at the farmer's market, and I was thrilled to find that the greens are just as tasty as the roots - it's so nice to be able to use the beets for one dish and the greens for another without throwing anything away.

Wilted, garlicky greens couldn't be easier to throw together, and are especially good if you have some extra vegetables on hand to throw into the pan. I like to add carrots for a little sweetness, and French breakfast radishes for crunch. (French breakfast radishes are sweet and mild without the acidic tang of traditional radishes - I like them raw, but if you cook them lightly they'll lend a nice crisp texture to a dish like this one.)

Recipe: Brown Sugar and Banana Ice Cream

Just a few short weeks ago, I unexpectedly found myself in possession of a "vintage" ice cream maker (read more about that here), and immediately started researching recipes. When I read this article on the ReadyMade website, I knew I'd found a recipe worthy of my first batch of ice cream. The article is packed with great flavor combinations, but I instantly zeroed in on the Brown Sugar and Banana Ice Cream recipe. Anything that's described as "a delightful variation on Bananas Foster" is right up my alley.