January 2015 – Long Distance Baking

Remember that time I had a bunch of fresh homegrown California lemons? Well…I still have them. So get ready for even more lemon desserts! I kind of forgot panna cotta existed. That is until Liz at Floating Kitchen made some a few weeks ago and I suddenly remembered how delicious this dessert is. If you’ve never had panna cotta before, it can be a little hard to explain. The translation from Italian is “cooked cream” and is essentially just that: sweetened cream with a little bit of … [Read more…]

Well, I did it. I took the plunge into the online dating pool. 2015 is my year… on second thought, maybe not. I decided late last year, after a few nudges from friends and family, that I would start online dating in 2015. I would return from wonderful, amazing, beautiful Ireland and sign up for online dating. So my first night back in the states when my time clock was still off and I woke up wide awake at 3am, I made a profile. Here are some interesting things I have found since … [Read more…]

Guys. Have you made your own croutons before? Because you should. Every few weeks we splurge and buy a nice loaf of bread for dinner, usually if we’re having a hearty pasta dish or a homemade soup. But seeing as there are only two of  us, usually the last quarter of that bread goes to waste. But not anymore! No way Jose. I will forever be making homemade croutons from my extra bread. A) it takes 10 minutes B) you’re using up leftovers and eliminating food waste and C) THEY’RE SO … [Read more…]

So when I went to Ireland, I not only fell in love with the country, the scenery and the people, but I also fell in love with a Hot Whiskey or a Hot Toddy as it is also called. And if you haven’t had one yet, you will too. I’m not a big tea drinker but I’ve recently acquired a taste for certain types: green, chamomile, vanilla, and of course hot whiskeys. Because, you see, the best way to describe a hot whiskey is that it is an adult herbal tea. Therefore, by my precise logic, hot whiskey … [Read more…]

I’ve wanted to make homemade granola forever. When I told the BF I was making some, his exact words were “you’ve said you’re going to make that forever”. Clearly I talk things up then never follow through. This cinnamon raisin granola reminds me of my freshman year in college. Living on campus I ate all my meals in the school cafeteria (and surprisingly did not gain the freshman 15). I’ve always loved raisin bran cereal, and I was convinced all that year I was just eating an off brand of … [Read more…]

This is the final installment of my Ireland trip. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 for a recap! Day 9: Naiomi and I got up early on Day 9 and headed to Dublin. We dropped off our car at the airport and checked into our hotel around 11:30. We stayed at the Castle Hotel, it was recommended in Rick Steve’s Dublin guidebook and it was fantastic! I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Dublin and would stay there again. After checking in, we hit the streets of Dublin. … [Read more…]

For a recap on Ireland Parts 1 & 2, check it out here and here! Day 7: After staying up until 6am the night before for New Year’s, it was a little rough waking up and hitting the road at 10am. But with a four hour drive ahead of us, we wanted to make it on the road at a decent hour to make it to Belfast before dark. This was the dreariest drive the whole trip since it rained consistently the whole way. To top it off, by the time we got to our hotel in Belfast, we were exhausted and … [Read more…]

For a recap of Ireland days 1-4, check it out here! Then read parts 3 (Belfast) and 4 (Dublin) next! Day 5: We got up early from Killarney and headed to The Cliffs of Moher, the number one thing on my list to see in Ireland. Thanks to some trusty research and our handy GPS, we took a chance and headed north to take a ferry across the Shannon Estuary. This shaved about an hour and half off our travel time plus we bypassed Limerick, which according to our travel book, Ireland was voted one of … [Read more…]

Cheers! I’m baaaack 🙂 Thank you, Steph, for holding down the fort and posting some amazing recipes! I was jealous that I could not make this Jalapeño Popper Dip for New Years. It’s seriously my favorite so if you haven’t done so yet, make it soon! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll have notice that I just spent 9 days in beautiful Ireland with my cousin. It was AMAZING!!! So this week, it’s Irish week here on LDB as I share some of my Irish adventures with you and hopefully … [Read more…]

Have I mentioned I’m sad the holidays are over? If not, you could come over and see my decorations still up. I have to take them down in phases or else I think I would go into some soft of post-Christmas-depression. To keep the holiday feel going, I remade a drink my family had at Christmas. This Pomegranate Raspberry Fizz both looks and tastes festive; we were drinking it all weekend! My mom is obsessed with pomegranates, so anything with them in the name she wants us to try. The … [Read more…]