Chive Flower Vinegar

I saw this recipe on food gawker. It caught my attention because my chive plant was is bloom. I never thought of using the flower for anything. Once I picked them, I smelled them and they had a distinctive chive smell!

The recipe says just put them into vinegar  in a jar and shake everyday. Eventually discard the blossoms. 

The recipe said you could use whatever vinegar you prefer. I just used some extra plain white vinegar I had in the cupboard and threw it into an old jelly jar. 

Here is the results after a few days.  

The vinegar takes on a light pink hue.  Think I will let it brew a bit longer.  The recipe suggested using the vinegar for salad dressings.  

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe used all the staples already on hand in my pantry.

Plus the inspiration: an over-ripe banana!

First combine brown sugar and coconut oil, the add egg, vanilla, and banana.

Incorporate dry ingredient until just mixed and then fold in chocolate chips. 

 

Scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheet and bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Cookie success! I made these for my coworker's last day tomorrow! :)

Granola

Homemade granola! 

I bought some nuts, seeds, dried fruit and oats. The other ingredients I already had on hand. 

 

Mix the dry ingredients:

4 c. Oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup nuts

1/2 cup seeds

1/2 tsp salt 

Then add

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup honey 

1/2 cup coconut oil

I warmed both the honey and coconut oil so they would be more liquid when I mixed them into the oats. 

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes. Stir and then bake another 11 minutes.

Let cool on baking sheet completely, then break up into pieces. 

Peanut butter jelly cookies

Behold the wonder that is peanut butter and jelly in cookie form!

Recipe from Martha:

http://www.marthastewart.com/316916/peanut-butter-and-jelly-thumbprints

First blend the butter and peanut butter.

Add egg and vanilla. Then gradually add flour mixture

Roll dough into balls, then roll in sugar

Half way through baking you pull the cookies out and create the indentation that will hold the jelly. 

The recipe said to warm the jelly, but I just spooned it in and it was fine.

Blue velvet cake

I was stumped on what dessert to make for Mother's Day.  My sister suggested this recipe for blue velvet cake. It was unique and looked good so I couldn't resist!

Ingredients included most of the usual pantry staples + blueberries. 

First mixing butter and sugar

Separately mix dry ingredients. Recipe only had 1 Tbsp cocoa powder so chocolate taste was pretty much nonexistent!

I kept adding blue food coloring, but it never got very saturated. 

Gently fold in blueberries. 

Bake in 2 9" cake pans. 

First cake layer on plate 

Next the cream cheese frosting!

Layer of frosting. 

Add second round of cake. 

Frost sides and top of cake. 

I thought it looked too plain so I decorated with some jasmine flowers. 

It reminded me of a blueberry muffin. The cake was not too sweet. Also this made a huge cake so be prepared for leftovers unless you have a huge crowd of people to feed.

Liege Belgian Waffles

I'm surprised it has taken me this long to make these waffles! I first experienced this style of crunchy caramelized waffle at The Waffle Window in Portland.  It was a life changing experience. Anyways, the secret to these waffles is Belgian pearl sugar.

This brand- available online- makes life easy and includes a recipe on the back.  It didn't however give you info on how many waffles the recipe makes.  It made I think 5 waffles-but giant and rich. You could definitely split in half. 

Another secret ingredient was yeast. Just mix into warm milk, then incorporate into flour mixture. 

Then you let the dough rise for about 30 minutes and it should double in size. 

I covered it- which was it mentioned in the recipe, but I felt like it is part of the normal procedure in letting dough rise. 

While we wait for the dough to rise.. Just thought I would showcase my new table cloths that my grandma made for me before they became covered in maple syrup.

Ok dough has risen. Last step is to mix in the pearl sugar. 

These came out really good!  Crunchy exterior that stayed crunchy even after they cooled down.

Brunch success! Waffle weekend!