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Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

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Best Foodie Things of 2019

January 26, 2020 By Laura 4 Comments

Burger Barn burger with tater tots

My annual list of best things I discovered in 2019 that have anything to do with cooking or baking, including cookbooks. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing. View from outside of Lovell, WY, home of the Burger Barn I have had a bulleted list for this post for forever… 

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Filed Under: cookbook, cookbook reviews, cookbooks, End of year "best" lists, products, reviews, Tools Tagged With: best cookbooks, sustainable, sustainable kitchen

Stamped Sugar Cookies: #CreativeCookieExchange

March 19, 2019 By Laura 5 Comments

Stamped Sugar Cookies

Stamped Sugar Cookies have the heft and chew of a classic bakery style drop sugar cookie, but thanks to cookie stamps they are also super cute and fun! Keep reading to see what other stamped cookies the Creative Cookie Exchange came up with. I had some frustration with these cookies but really I have a… 

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Filed Under: blog events, cookies, reviews, Tools Tagged With: #CreativeCookieExchange, convection oven, cookie stamps, cookies, Creative Cookie Exchange, ovens, sugar cookies

Spritz Cookies with Browned Butter and Chinese Five Spice

September 5, 2017 By Laura 14 Comments

Spritz Cookies with Browned Butter, Chinese 5 Spice and Apple Brandy!

Spritz Cookies with Browned Butter and Chinese Five Spice are unique, autumnal and delicious–and perfect for a bake sale inspired by #CookiesforKidsCancer. I received some tools from OXO for the purpose of reviewing them and promoting Cookies for Kids Cancer. Because I already own their fabulous cookie press, I have given it away to a… 

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Filed Under: blog events, Boozy Desserts, browned butter, Cookie Press, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, reviews, Spice Blends, Tools Tagged With: #CookiesForKidsCancer, apple brandy, brandy, browned butter, chinese 5 spice, Chinese five spice, cookie press, cookies, Cookies for Kids' Cancer, spritz cookies

Red Cooked Pork: Review of Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees

September 13, 2016 By Laura 22 Comments

Red Cooked Pork (Chinese Braised Pork Belly)

Red Cooked Pork is succulent, delicious and easier than you think–and a great example of the traditional Chinese dishes to be found in Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees. A copy of the cookbook was provided to me in exchange for an honest review; cookware from Anolon was provided to me for use in this review…. 

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Filed Under: blog events, Chinese, cookbooks, pork, reviews, stir fry, Tools Tagged With: braising, Chinese, cookbook, cookbook review, pork, pork belly, red cooking, scallions, soy

Hot Chocolate from Scratch

February 28, 2015 By Laura 10 Comments

Hot Chocolate from Scratch: rich, creamy and easy to make with basic pantry ingredients!

This hot chocolate from scratch is rich, creamy and very, very chocolatey. It is easily made with ingredients from any well stocked baker’s pantry. The sauce pan that I made the hot chocolate in was provided to me by OXO as part of their Blogger Outreach #OXOCookware campaign. Affiliate links were used in this post… 

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Filed Under: Boozy Desserts, chocolate, drinks, reviews, Tools Tagged With: Bailey's, chocolate, cocoa, dessert, drinks, hot chocolate, hot cocoa, kahlua, sauce pan

Top 14 Foodie Recommendations of 2014

January 3, 2015 By Laura 8 Comments

Kids using OXO cookie press

It’s that time again! I love coming up with these annual lists–I like that I don’t limit myself–anything that comes back to food is included–and it can really make me appreciate the year.  Sometimes the item is not even a true recommendation, just something that made me happy. Affiliate links have been used to link… 

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Filed Under: blog events, cookbooks, End of year "best" lists, misc, reviews, Tools Tagged With: 2014, annual review, best cookbooks, year end lists

Olive Oil Pound Cake with Saffron and Cardamom

September 29, 2014 By Laura 4 Comments

Saffron and Cardamom Olive Oil Pound Cake: moist, long lasting, and perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!

Subtle and alluring saffron and cardamom enliven this long lasting and moist olive oil pound cake. This post is sponsored on behalf of Staples to drum up enthusiasm for National Coffee Day. So this is a sponsored post, but it is not, for me anyway, a typical sponsored post. Not that I do many sponsored… 

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Filed Under: blog events, cakes, reviews, Tools Tagged With: #CoffeeBuzz, cake, cardamom, loaf cake, olive oil, pound cake, saffron, sponsored

Piped Vanilla Spritz Cookies: OXO Cookie Press & #CookiesForKidsCancer

September 23, 2014 By Laura 3 Comments

Simple recipe for piping Vanilla Spritz Cookies--great basic recipe to flavor to taste

Piped Vanilla Spritz Cookies are easy, fun and delicious; the OXO Cookie Press, which I received for the purposes of a review and to help promote #CookiesForKidsCancer, is simple to work and comes with loads of fun shapes to press out. Affiliate links have been used to like to items I am discussing in this… 

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Filed Under: blog events, Cookie Press, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, reviews, Tools Tagged With: #CookiesForKidsCancer, cookies, OXO, piped, spritz, vanilla

Slow Cooker Mulligatawny with Beef and Mushrooms

January 19, 2014 By Laura 6 Comments

Guys! I have so much to tell you that I don’t know where to start! I realize that to you I may not have gone anywhere, but the last 3 posts were all written almost 2 weeks ago. In that time I have gotten a tan, sailed on my first cruise, taken my children to… 

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Filed Under: beef, beef chuck, beef stew, curry powder, Indian recipes, mushrooms, peas, potatoes, slow cooker, soup, split peas, stews, tomatoes, Tools, travel Tagged With: Anglo-Indian, beef, Cozumel, cruise, Disney, Indian, mulligatawny, peas, potatoes, slow cooker, soup, stew, tomatoes, travel

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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