The Bread Cone DIY

Ladies and Gents, I give you the bread cone. This rolled up carb loaded goodness is perfectly crafted with your Thanksgiving feast in mind. You can use it as a cornucopia of leftovers or as a creative way of shoveling food into your mouth.

You’ll need:

• pre-made seamless pizza dough
• around 10 cone shaped paper cups
• aluminum foil
• an egg
• and a few pinches of salt

First, preheat your oven to 400°F. Then wrap each cone shaped cup in aluminum foil. Be sure every bit of it is covered (it’ll be going into the oven later).

Roll out the pizza dough and cut it into strips lengthwise. Then lightly grease a cookie sheet and the outside foil of each cup.

Carefully wrap the dough around the foil wrapped cups. Start at the pointy end and work your way down. Coat the dough in a light egg wash and sprinkle with a dash of salt.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Now you’re ready to chow down. Have fun!

DIY Bacon Hearts

If you’re scrambling for something to make for Valentine’s Day, treat yourself or someone you love to these simple and delicious bacon hearts.

All you really need is bacon, a knife, a pan and an oven. For easier clean-up, use parchment paper. For extra fancy hearts, throw in some chocolate.

• Get some bacon.
• Cut it in half.
• On a baking sheet, shape one half of the heart and then the other, letting the two sides overlap just a bit.
• Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven and the thickness of the bacon.
• Drain off the grease and serve immediately, on their own or as a special breakfast side.

OR if you want to be extra decadent…

• Drain off the grease and let the hearts cool on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl. Start on half power, stirring often so it doesn’t get funky or burn.
• Drizzle the chocolate over the hearts or just dunk them right in there.
• Let them cool and enjoy!

Some tips…
Floppy bacon is best. Thick-cut bacon is delicious, but doesn’t shape as well.
Your baking sheet should have sides, unless you want a fire-y mess.
If you choose to cover your bacon in chocolate, it works best if you make your hearts nice and crispy.
Don’t worry if the halves of your heart come apart while dipping. You can stick them back together with melted chocolate.
Watch out for cute dogs underfoot. Your kitchen will smell amazing!

 

xoxo,
Laura

 

Floriole Olive Oil Granola Recipe

With fall just around the corner, it’s raining pumpkin seeds! Sandra Holl, from Floriole Cafe and Bakery in Chicago, shared her recipe for a killer fall granola. It’s so tasty, you’ll hardly believe it’s good for you.

What you need: 
3 cups of rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1 cup of pumpkin seeds (a.k.a. pepitas)
¼ cup of flax seed
¾ cup of grade B maple syrup
½ cup of olive oil (if your olive oil has a strong flavor, use ¼ cup of olive oil and ¼ cup of neutral oil like grapeseed or sunflower)
¾ tsp. of fine sea salt
½ tsp. of cinnamon
½ tsp. of ground ginger
½ cup of dried cherries
¼ cup of chopped dates
¾ cup of toasted pecans
(serves 8)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or oiled parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine all ingredients except for cherries, and dates. Mix until homogenous.
3. Spread mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and stir. Bake 20 minutes more and stir again.
5. Let the granola cool for 20 minutes. Scrape into a large bowl.
6. When it’s cooled completely, add cherries, pecans and chopped dates. Store in a sealed container in a cool, dry place for up to a month.

Sandra is wearing: Carhartt Women’s Minot Shirt, 1889 Slim Double-Front Denim Dungaree, & Rapid City Utility Work Apron.

 

 

Forget the Desk Job– I Make a Mean Chocolate Croissant

 

It’s fair to say that most people would prefer an early morning routine of rolling out fresh chocolate croissants to a 9 to 5 desk job. But how do you get there? How do pin down your dreams fast enough to make a career out of them?
After realizing she wasn’t cut out for the daily grind of cubicle life, Sandra Holl decided to buckle down and follow her heart by attending culinary school. At that time, she knew she wanted to be her own boss and make the food she wanted to make. Seeing the opportunities at Chicago’s Green City Market, Sandra decided that opening her own booth would be a low-risk way of starting a business. There she and her husband, Mathieu, used it as a venue to test out their rustic, French pastries and built a name for themselves. Eventually, a brick and mortar space was next step. In 2010, Floriole Café and Bakery’s doors opened in Chicago’s quaint Lincoln Park neighborhood.
When I asked Sandra what the most rewarding part of her job was, she replied,

“I love that I have a family business. I work with my husband and can bring my daughter to work with me. She sees how hard I work and is so proud of her mama. She often tells customers, “This is my mom’s bakery.””

There is no greater feeling than to bring creativity and light to the world through the smile a chocolate hazelnut cookie can yield, while inspiring your own daughter and nudging her along to the discovery that she too can do the same with a little elbow grease and determination.

Here are a few tips from Sandra for anyone striving towards a similar path:
1. Find a chef you admire and work with her or him. Absorb as much of their knowledge as you can, then move on and learn more.
2. Perfect the basics before you get creative. No one really wants a wasabi curry cupcake but everyone wants a perfect slice of peach pie.
3. Everything breaks. Learn how to fix things yourself.
4. Know that you will work seven days a week. Even when you are off, you will run errands for the business, answer calls and emails and when the security alarm goes off in the middle of the night, you will go make sure that it was only a false alarm.

Sandra is wearing: Carhartt Women’s Minot Shirt, 1889 Slim Double-Front Denim Dungaree, & Rapid City Utility Work Apron.

 

DIY: Pumpkin Seed Trail Mix

If you saved your seeds from making pumpkin bowls yesterday, you’re ahead of the game. If not, grab a pumpkin and get started. This fall trail mix is great to have around the house for friends and family that are visiting. The perfect mix of sweet and salty is key in a snack. The mix of cranberries, garlic toast, Reese’s Pieces, and pumpkin seeds is so good! Give it a try. Get creative and add in some of your own ingredients.

grab this outfit for yourself: Carhartt Women’s Norfolk Henley, Carhartt Sweatshirt, Straight Fit Jeans, & Wellington Boots 

DIY: for Dad’s Day

The way to your dad’s heart is through his stomach. With Father’s Day just around the corner, give him a tasty treat the whole family can enjoy– whiskey BBQ sauce, made with love. If you’re Dad likes to grill, let him cook up a storm. Or you can go the extra mile and fire up the grill yourself.

shop this look: Women’s Force Performance Tank, Straight Fit Slim Jean, Dearborn Belt, Wellington Boot

What you need for the sauce:
3/4 cups of honey whiskey
1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of Sriracha
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 a sweet onion
2 cups of ketchup
4 garlic cloves

1. heat the onion, garlic, and whiskey in a pan for 10 minutes
2. separately mix the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire, brown sugar, Sriracha, salt and pepper
3. combine the two mixtures in the pan and simmer for 20 minutes (stir occasionally)
4. can it, refrigerate it, and give it to your pops!

Hannah from Biercamp in Ann Arbor

Biercamp, a specialty meat shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has the best bacon around. Hannah and her boyfriend left New York to open up their own artisan food shop. I admire Hannah for making the gutsy career switch from the fashion industry to running a specialty meat shop. If you share in my affection for bacon, sausage, or jerky, you need to swing by Biercamp, give Hannah a high-five, and eat some tasty food. Your tummy will thank you.

Britin from All Good Bakers

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s time for turkey, baked treats, and fellowship. Britin from All Good Bakers in Albany, is a master in the kitchen. She and her husband run the co-op kitchen, and farm-to-table dinning is their specialty. Everything they serve is baked from scratch. I loved being in their restaurant. I can still remember how tasty the baking pumpkins smelled.

Check out their website here for more information.

Mama’s Nuts!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Adrienne, the founder of Mama’s Nuts. Over a few cups of coffee, she told me how the business all started. Growing up, Adrienne’s mom made the most delicious homemade recipes of flavored nuts and brittles. As a way of preserving and sharing the treats, Adrienne began Mama’s Nuts.

I was blown away by her dedication to maintaining the craft of handmade confections. She makes small batches, only a few at a time, to preserve the homemade feel. Each one is covered in delicious goodness and handled with care. They are some of the tastiest treats I’ve ever eaten! (My favorite being the Provencale Garlic Nuts with the Coconut Curry Cashews at a close second, but honestly they are all so good!) If you ask me, it’s the perfect gift— especially with Father’s Day around the corner. I have a few flavors that I’m sending to my dad this year.

If you’d like to get some of Mama’s nuts, click here for more info!