Franchising: 2017

End of Year Round-Up 2017

Happy holidays friends! I'm taking a little break this week, by which I mean I'll be working on finishing loose ends, catching up on paperwork and doing lots of planning for 2018. Yeah, I know, but I have a hard time letting go completely. Regardless, it's a peaceful week around here and I'm getting some much needed rest.

I love looking back at the past year to see what you all really enjoyed

Raspberry Champagne Cocktail (and Apartment Tour)

Happy holidays, friends! I'll have an end of the year recap for you next week but this cocktail is my last recipe for 2017. Clearly it needed to be a festive one. Drink it at Christmas, on New Year's Eve or every night in between so that we can properly close out this year and get a fresh, if slightly hung over, start on the new one.

You can just scroll to the bottom for the recipe. But

Smoky Beer Battered Cauliflower

In between batches of holiday cookies, I thought I would take a quick veggie break and indulge my love of cauliflower. I'll eat it pretty much every way there is but I have to admit that my mother's crispy breaded and fried cauliflower was and still is my favorite. So, so good but maybe not so good for me if I'm trying to minimize the cookie damage.

So how about the flavor without the

Gingerbread Shortbread Cookies

Wait, is it gingerbread or shortbread? What did you make us here, Anita? Well, the answer is a combination of both. Since it's mid-December, I'm definitely feeling the gingerbread vibe. But I have a soft spot in my heart for shortbread. I found a bunch of recipes for ginger shortbread and even some packaged versions from cookie companies I really like. But they taste like ginger, not

How to Build a Dessert Treat Board

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the visits and get-togethers with friends. There's just something about that whole time between Thanksgiving and New Year that's perfect for gathering. And it's the time of year when I find myself creating a lot of cheese boards and various fun appetizers but somehow I get stuck thinking dessert has to be more formal. Why? I love eating

Cheesy White and Sweet Potato Latkes

Hannukah is about a week away so my mind has been drifting to classic holiday favorites like latkes and doughnuts. It's a celebration of oil, after all. But you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate fried potato pancakes anymore than you need to be Christian to eat Christmas cookies.

I grew up with a purist latke maker. My mother grated dozens of potatoes by hand, on the smallest blade

Honey Apple Gingerbread Cake

I'm normally a fan of easy desserts and I stay away from anything that looks too fussy or elaborate. I want you all to actually try making my recipes so I keep it simple. But the holidays deserve at least a little bit of a fuss. And it's hard not to want to wow your guests. Best of all is when I can create a wow looking dish that's actually not hard to make.

This cake has a few steps -

Chocolate Fluffernutter Martini

Did you grow up with fluffernutter sandwiches? Do you still sometimes make one for yourself? Come on, tell the truth. It's overly sweet, way too sticky and...we still love them.

My obsession with peanut butter is still running high but I don't usually have a jar of fluff in the house unless there was a batch of whoopie pies being made. So, you guessed it - there was a recent batch of

Loaded Breakfast Pot Pie

The holidays are probably the only time I even remotely consider entertaining guests for breakfast. I don't mean that I invite them over for a breakfast party, a la Barefoot Contessa. Ina Garten is my hero but I really can't get it together before, at least, brunch. But if family and friends are visiting, possibly staying with me, it's nice to give them something a little more special than a

Thanksgiving Pie Round-Up

So, it's Wednesday. The day before Thanksgiving. And you've done your shopping and set your table and prepped all the various bits and parts of the epic feast. But you haven't made the pies. Not sure what flavor to make? Nervous about becoming involved with pie dough? Hoping dearly that all your guests will declare they've given up sugar? Nah, you've got this.

Here is a list of some of my

Roasted Honeynut Squash Salad with Candied Pecans

I feel like the only food I eat lately is tastings of cake and cookie batter. OK, that's possibly a slight exaggeration but I was feeling like the fresh greens took a back seat once the temperature started dipping.

My Saturday morning trip to the farmer's market yielded plenty of great roasting veggies but not so much in the way of something crisp for lunch. Until, that is, I was filling

Maple Glazed Autumn Spice Treat Cakes

OK, I confess that I have very little ability to resist baking pans with adorable autumn themed shapes. My problem extends to cookie and pie cutters, too. Fortunately, this recipe can be made just as well in large muffin cups or even mini bundt molds. So you don't have to buy this particular baking dish although, clearly I couldn't resist it.

Regardless of baking pan preference, I really

Cheesy Spaetzle and Mushroom Bake

It's been such an unusually warm autumn in New York that I almost didn't notice that somebody pulled the winter switch somewhere. I stepped out the other day to walk my dog, wearing the light jacket that's been my staple this past month, and suddenly had to run back upstairs to grab a winter coat, gloves and scarf. Going from 70 degrees down to 20 is just not right, Mother Nature.

OK, OK,

White Bean Stew with Bacon

Confession. When the weather is chilly and I don't have to feed anyone but myself, I pretty much live on soup for dinner. Just give me a slice of crusty bread and a big bowl of hot, preferably creamy, soup and I'm good till breakfast. Is that weird?

It does help, though, if the soup has some substance because I doubt that a cup of plain broth would quite cut it. So soup with stuff is the

Roasted Cauliflower Gratin with Crispy Shallots

Let's talk vegetable side dishes. Whether you're planning the meal for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any entertaining in between, I'm upping my roasted cauliflower game big time.

I love cauliflower pretty much any way there is and roasting it with a bit of olive oil and maybe some Parmesan cheese happens here on the regular. I tend to leave the heavy gratin dishes for special occasions but,

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Crumb Babka

Growing up in New York, babkas were a part of my life. They're sweet, yeast risen cakes common in Eastern Europe (and, obviously, New York) where they were typically filled with dried fruit. The Jewish version is more common now and filled with chocolate and cinnamon, twisted into a loaf shape. If you're a fan of the old Seinfeld show, you know that Jerry considered the chocolate version

Baked Polenta with Bacon and Gruyere

Let's get the basics out of the way before we dive, face first, into this pan of deliciousness. Is it cornmeal or polenta? What's the difference? What should I buy? Why does one bag say cornmeal and the other bag say polenta? So, polenta is the name of the dish and cornmeal is the stuff it's made out of. Easy, right? You can use regular, medium or course ground cornmeal to make polenta but

Caramel Pear Bourbon Cocktail

The weather is finally chilly in New York and that makes me want to drink things like bourbon while wrapped in a cozy throw blanket by the fire. Um, except that I don't have a fireplace and the dog is currently using the throw blanket as her own. But bourbon I have plenty of!

I still brave the chill on Saturday mornings to head to the farmer's market because I need all the pumpkins and

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Crumb cakes never last long in my family. Or, rather, I should say that the crumb topping itself has a shorter life span than the actual cake. The cake will eventually get eaten as well but it will likely be missing a lot of it's crumb by then. It's so bad sometimes that, a crumb cake left on the counter almost needs a guard posted to protect it. Assuming, of course, that the guard can be

Autumn Squash and Smoked Gouda Mac

October, aka my favorite month, is here - check. Cooler weather is here - check. Market full of pumpkins and squash - check. Bring on the comfort food! Creamy, extra cheesy homemade mac and cheese clearly qualifies as comfort food. And even if you're a purist who doesn't like extra vegetables snuck into the mac, I would argue that squash is an exception. It adds a creamy sweetness that's just

Sweet Pumpkin Fritters

You want these, don't you? Admit it. You know you want them. Hot, fried balls of sweet pumpkin flavored dough. Just a touch of spice, without overwhelming you, and tossed with glorious powdered sugar. It's everything we love about summer street fair food but at home, autumn style.

I'm not a big deep fryer at home and am much more likely to experiment with baked doughnuts or bake a batch

Vegetarian Tortilla Pie

In case you all were wondering what the most popular dish on my blog is (I'm 100% sure that none of you were wondering this), it is my Mexican Tortilla Pie. It's crazy good, has been featured in a magazine and is served for dinner on repeat in my house. It uses ground beef but I decided to make a vegetarian version of it for non-beef eaters and for any meatless Monday dinner makers. Also, I

Loaded Turkey Sandwich with Sweet and Spicy Mango Honey Sauce

Is it back to school time where you are? Or do you just have a need for a good desk lunch, day in and day out because that's definitely the case for me. Either way, you've probably got sandwiches on repeat.

Turkey with mayo, turkey with mustard...on repeat. I needed something different. Since I generally like cracked pepper turkey, there's definitely room for something sweet. Something

Roasted Pear and Arugula Salad with Toasted Walnuts

I was in the park the other day, chatting with a few of my neighbors while our dogs played, and we all said how we felt this was a long summer. Maybe due to life events, maybe because it was such a hot one but either way, we were trying to decide if we were happy to see it end. We're not looking forward to snow and early sunsets but we're still a few months away from that. For now, we're kind

Thick and Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

I still remember the first time I was told about Costco's gourmet chocolate chunk cookies. They were raved about with so much passion but, never having tasted them, I wasn't that excited. How good could they be from a package? Of course, I changed my tune the first time I actually tasted them because...wow. Hello new addiction.

The only thing I didn't like was the ingredient list which

Taco Meatballs

I'll admit that I don't eat tacos all that often but, every time I do, I ask myself why not. They're easy to make and fun to eat so it's a win-win situation. What I do make quite often is meatballs because I like how versatile they are. With a few changes in herbs and spices, I can create completely different flavors. So, it was a natural thinking progression to taco meatballs, right?

Roasted Corn Fritters with Tzatziki Sauce

For me, there's always been something about the last two weeks of August. Historically it's the time when most New Yorkers take their vacations, even if it's just to head out to the beaches of Long Island. The temperatures get more comfortable and the city empties out slightly. I mean, this is New York so truly empty is never an option but it's still a noticeable difference. And there's a

Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Skillet Tarts

In the realm of favorite food smells, it's hard to top the aroma of onions caramelizing in a pan. Not only does it bring me right back to childhood, because my mother believed sauteed onions made everything better, but it makes me instantly hungry. All onions are capable of doing this but it would be such a shame to pass up the sweet summer onions while we have them. I want to caramelize them

Bourbon Peach Shrub

Do you associate certain smells with certain times of the year? I definitely do and, although the smell of summer, to me, is the smell of the ocean, August has it's very own aroma. Peaches! For the past few days, whether I'm at the produce section of the grocery store or at the farmer's market, the air is perfumed with peaches.

Clearly I can't just walk past that heavenly scent without

Brownie Bottom Cherry Swirl Cheesecake

It's that time of the year again. The time when I celebrate my birthday (tomorrow) and my lifelong love of cheesecake. And yes, I am one of those people who makes my own birthday cake because I take my cheesecake very seriously.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great cheesecakes out there. I'm a sucker for the classic steakhouse New York style strawberry topped version. You can usually

Blueberry Lemon Galette with Labneh Whipped Cream

Galette is the French term for a flat pastry but I just consider it a nice way of saying lazy pie. As in, I found some beautiful blueberries in the market and I really feel like eating blueberry pie but I really don't feel like dealing with crust crimping. No problem, just make a galette!

I normally make a simple all butter crust for my pies. But, this time I decided to add a couple of

Frozen Mint Lychee Daiquiri

I get very happy when each seasonal fruit I love finally appears in the market. The first cherries, mangoes, figs, etc. are all cause for celebration and recipe planning. And lychees definitely belong in that category. I can never resist those little rough looking pinkish orbs.

Last week I was shopping at one of my favorite gourmet stores and overheard a conversation between two employees

No Bake Cheesecake Mousse with Cherry Compote

It's been kind of quiet around here, hasn't it? You might have wondered where I've been for the past few weeks. Well, I'm going to tell you and get a little personal today. Or, if you've got enough on your own plate, just skip down to a simple and perfect treat recipe.

The Friday evening before Memorial Day weekend, my mother was rushed to the emergency room with a sudden and devastating

Black Bean and Vegetable Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles

In my life I've met some pretty amazing homemade tomato sauce makers. But I'll admit this is an area where I'm more likely than not to get a little help from the store. Still, it's got to be good and I want to be able to pronounce all the ingredients. I also really want any sweetness to come from ripe tomatoes and not a pound of sugar. Fortunately, the selection of good store bought sauces has

Lemony Angel Hair Pasta with Carrots and Zucchini

I'm in summer recipe planning mode these days and definitely going for dishes that are light, easy and quick to make. Because I want to be outside in the warm sunny weather and not in the kitchen chained to my stove. Bonus points for dishes that taste good at room temperature as well as hot. Extra extra bonus points if I can work a few veggies into it.

Usually when I think summer pasta

Pan Roasted Smokey Potato Salad with Corn and Bacon

We are officially two weeks away from the unofficial start of summer. Yup, Memorial Day weekend is when I've always considered it the beginning of the season because that's when summer time shares typically start, summer work schedules go into effect and I start to want grilled food and potato salad every weekend.

Every year I try to find new twists to my traditional summer recipes and

Watercress Salad with Honey Sauteed Apples and Almonds

Can we talk about my favorite new healthy green that's not kale? When I say new I mean new to me, of course. Watercress has been around a long time and I had heard of it but I'm ashamed to say I hadn't tried it. Somehow I had this idea that it was super bitter or something so I kept buying spinach and kale and passed it by. Not anymore!

Thanks to the good folks at B&W Growers, my stubborn

Baked Pine Nut Falafel Sliders with Hummus Slaw

It's time, once again, to celebrate one of my favorite foods. Yes, this coming Saturday, May 13th, is International Hummus Day and it totally makes me happy that hummus is so widely appreciated.

Sabra hummus is one of those staple items you're likely to find in my refrigerator at all times. It's my healthy impromptu snack and my preferred sandwich spread. It's also what I serve when people

Corn and Bacon Fritters with Apricot Yogurt Sauce

I am all about the sweet and savory together. Yes, that's why I love chocolate covered pretzels but it's also why I like apple tarts baked with cheddar cheese, sweet fruit compotes over brie and maple syrup on bacon. And I know just where I get this particular set of taste buds, too. Yup, just like mom. So it makes sense that I make a sweet and savory treat for her for Mother's Day, right?

Cherry Blossom Cocktail

I've always been completely obsessed with cherry blossoms and eagerly wait for them every year. They bloom for such a short period of time and I check the city parks regularly to make sure I don't miss them. For the record, I get like this in the fall, too, when I'm planning a road trip to see the leaves turn and monitor the foliage report like a stalker. Anyone else?

Apart from my

Smoked Gouda Pretzel Cheese Dip

Serious pretzel lover here! Not the hard, crunchy ones you snack on. Wait, I mean, yes, those, too. But I'm talking about the soft, bready ones. Is bready a word? Let's just say it is. Pretzels are all my New York childhood memories of getting the big salty ones from street vendors when my mom and I went to watch the ice skaters at Rockefeller Plaza. Pretzels are my jam.

Cut to years later

Liz's Shabbat Apple Cake

Today I have the pleasure of sharing a recipe with you that comes from my friend Liz's new book, The Ultimate Jewish Shabbat Dinner. Liz writes the blog, The Lemon Bowl, and she shares many recipes from her Jewish and Syrian childhood. Given my passion for Middle Eastern cuisine, I'm obviously a fan.

The new book, though, is a collection of her grandmother Ljuba's Jewish recipes. I was

Potato Hash Shakshuka

The first time I saw shakshuka on a restaurant menu, I flashed to my first experience of huevos rancheros, the popular Mexican breakfast dish. The two aren't really similar at all except for the tomato sauce but, since my first huevos experience wasn't good, I kind of mentally banned eggs and tomato sauce, no matter the cuisine. I know better now, of course.

Fortunately, I was persuaded to

Strawberry and Honey Oat Scones

I'm always fascinated by cooking / lifestyle programs that talk about entertaining over breakfast. I mean, I love entertaining. Come for lunch, come for tea, come for dinner or drinks. It's all good. But please don't come for breakfast. Unless you either enjoy cold, half eaten toast or like having your breakfast around Noon. I just can't fathom it any other way.

So, that's the bad stuff.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Pretzel Bagel Balls

Being a native New Yorker, I'm used to a bagel with a schmear (of cream cheese) as a given. Every deli has it as the morning special with coffee, as do the street vending carts that offer breakfast options in midtown. It's our thing. Our delicious thing. The only question, really, is what kind of bagel you want with your schmear.

But, a few years ago, I started seeing bagels with the

Chocolate Crumb Snack Cake

Last weekend I was home, wanting a beautiful spring day but, instead, watching it snow outside. I was alternating between watching that giraffe cam and snuggling with my dog (my own personal petting zoo). Are you guys into the giraffe thing? I have no idea how I got sucked into waiting for a giraffe to give birth but now I'm involved so I'll wait it out until she has that baby and then go on

Loaded Egg Salad Bagel with Honey Roasted Bacon

What's that expression about, if you're going to do something then do it right? Well, this is a breakfast sandwich done right. More of a weekend project for me but definitely a special Sunday morning treat. Maybe even an amazing brunch for two after a good long sleep.

I can't lie and say the most extra special part of this special breakfast isn't the honey bacon. There are over 300

Middle Eastern Potato Snack Platter

I'm impatient for spring to arrive. It always happens to me around this time of year. I feel like I've endured two months of freezing cold and snow and now I want cherry blossoms and warmth. Soon, I know, but not quite yet. So, while it's still cold and bleak, I'm catching up on my streaming movie watching and that requires snacks.

In the interest of keeping the snacking on the healthy side

Smokey Black Bean Burgers

The other day I was looking through my refrigerator and cupboards and pulling out ingredients to make lunch. No particular plan. Just seeing what I have and what I could make with it. My own personal episode of Chopped?

Sadly I needed to go shopping so the vegetable crisper was a little bare except for a bag of shredded carrots and micro arugula left over from another recipe. I guess salad

Tex-Mex Potato Nachos

It feels like I haven't been in my kitchen for weeks but, actually it's more like one week. One whole, incredibly long week of being flat on my back with the flu. Yes, that plague that's been going around since the new year finally caught up to me and all I can say is that it's evil. And I need a serious break from chicken soup for a while. Oy.

This potato nacho recipe was one I was playing

Heart Shaped Chocolate Cherry Mini Cakes

It all started when I decided to make some Valentine's treats for friends and neighbors. I figured I'd do something fun and colorful but my baking cabinet was sadly out of red or pink sprinkles. So I headed to the store to restock and saw heart shaped sprinkles (what??) and red candy melts and heart shaped cutters and I bought them all without even knowing what I was going to do with them.

Red Velvet Swirl Bundt Cake with White Chocolate Ganache

So the Superbowl is over, right? And one of the teams won, correct? My lack of interest is showing, isn't it? In fairness, I'm a big fan of football food. I just prefer eating it while watching puppies playing with a ball. But that's not important now. What is important is that we all stuffed ourselves with copious amounts of game day snacks and now it's time to focus on the sweets. Yup,

Soup and Salad Wraps Dinner

I think I've made it known in the past that I'm obsessed with soup in cold weather. And by cold weather, I mean starting right after Labor Day. And by "made it known" I mean multiple times per year going back forever. So, it's a soup-fest around here for most of the year.

I definitely like making my own soup when I have the time but, life is busy and, if you open my cupboard, you'll also

Game Day Eats Ideas and Finds!

I'm back today with more game day food ideas but with an eye toward convenience. Let's face it, sometimes you've just been cooking too much and too many folks are coming and you need some shortcuts. Or, at least, recommendations for good products to buy to supplement the snacks you've made yourself. So here then are some items I've tried lately that deliver on flavor, convenience and quality.

Southwestern Chorizo Filled Potato Poppers and Pineapple Salsa

I'm deep in game day recipe mode around here. Between regular Sunday sporting events on TV and the big game coming up soon, it's a bit of a snack fest around here. And the cold rainy weather outside is not doing anything to remove the desire to eat yummy food in front of the TV inside, if you know what I mean.

I definitely like serving a variety of different foods, some cold, some hot, so

Ultimate Crispy Topped Cheddar Mac and Cheese

Superbowl is almost here. Are you getting really excited? Are you cheering for your favorite teams and planning a big get together with lots of great snacks? Me, too! Um...OK...maybe just the food part. Seriously, I have watched football (the things you do for men), I understand football (sort of, in the sense that I know the rules of the game) but I'm really just here to eat.

So, let's

Spiralized Root Vegetable Pasta with Crispy Chickpeas and Walnut Pangrattato

This recipe title is a mouthful, I know. And it really should be even longer because it's technically a walnut gremolata pangrattato. Ouch. So many big words for such a simple and easy to make dish. Healthy, filling, delicious and on the table in 30 minutes. Let's discuss, shall we?

Gremolata is a combination of minced garlic lemon zest and parsley that's usually served with meat, to cut

Southwestern Black Bean Salad with Sweet Potato Wedges

Happy New Year, friends! I have to say that I love when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday. I mean, I'm all for resolutions and new beginnings and all that. But to go from chugging a bottle of champagne (I admit nothing) to presenting yourself at the gym the next morning on a bowl of high fiber, whole grain cereal, is a little daunting. By which I mean, it ain't happening. So this way, we kind