Springtime in the Southwest is a woefully short season. Usually my meals transition from hearty soups and pot pies, directly to popsicles and cooling fruit sodas with nothing much in between. Thankfully, this year we’ve had a gorgeous springtime, so I’ve been in the mood to whip up a seasonally appropriate meal. This salad is something I’ve had in my mind for a ridiculously long time, … Continue reading grilled salmon niçoise salad
Oh, springtime… or as we know it here in Arizona, the not-so-hot time of year before our endless summer. We’re blessed with some truly gorgeous days this time of year, where the sun is warm but the air is still cool — It’s a great time to throw together a berry pie! In my experience, even the best pie crust lacks in flavor. Sure, they taste … Continue reading berry streusel pie with graham crust
It’s that time of year again. Time to grab your friends, buy your tickets, take a ride on the ferris wheel, and scarf down some junk food. Yep, it’s time to go to the fair!
Though most other fairs happen in late summer and early fall, the county fair where I grew up always came through town in April. I still remember seeing the ferris wheel at night all lit up from a distance, and imagining the smell of cotton candy and funnel cakes galore. And what about those bricks of curly fries? So good.
As a kid, every year when springtime would roll around, there weren’t many events more anticipated than the county fair. Fun nights spent with your friends, winning some stuffed animals at the midway, and gorging yourself on fried foods until you were sick — it was like a dream come true!
It’s a three day weekend! Hooray for Memorial Day, and the start of summer, and having something to celebrate. Will you have a slice of this yummy pavlova and celebrate with me?
This sandwich was never supposed to happen.
My initial goal for this recipe was to make Cobb salad stacks à la the wedge salad stacks in Deb’s Smitten Kitchen cookbook. It’s a wonderful, smart way to make a wedge salad, and I thought I could employ the same techniques when making a Cobb salad. I found out a fun fact along the way: Romaine lettuce doesn’t really like being sliced into rounds. Since the leaves aren’t as large as ones on a head of iceberg lettuce, the rounds just sort of fell apart. So, that idea was scrapped.
You know what I like better than salads, anyway? Sandwiches.
Continue reading “cobb salad sandwiches with chicken, bacon + hard-boiled egg”
If you’re not from Mexico or the US southwest, chances are you don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo. If you do, it’s a great reason to celebrate and have a party! Now’s the time to roll out your best margarita recipe, and definitely your favorite salsa. Looking for a few more ideas? I’ve got you covered. You gotta have drinks at your Cinco de Mayo parties. … Continue reading ¡cinco de mayo!
When it comes to Easter candy, what’s your favorite? Are you a jellybean fanatic? Are marshmallow Peeps more your jam? What about those egg-shaped malted milk balls? 
For me, nothing even compares to the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg. Can we just talk about how glorious these things are? It’s like a regular peanut butter cup on steroids. Everyone knows the best part of the peanut butter cup is the peanut butter filling. I don’t know anyone who likes that awful, waxy chocolate. The wonderful part of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg is the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate. You get like three times the amount of peanut butter filling, and hardly any of the chocolate coating. My favorite way to eat them is to put them in the fridge first so they get nice and chilled. I first made these peanut butter squares at Christmas time cause I needed one more item to round out the jars of sweets that I was gifting to family. They came together in no time, and holy crap, were they ever good. They’re far superior to the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg, and that’s saying a lot. Continue reading “crispy chocolate peanut butter squares”
It’s Easter time again! Time for little bunnies and chocolate candy and the smell of vinegar mixing with dye tablets (we always made way too many colored Easter eggs when I was little!). It’s the perfect time of year for a bright, cheerful cake. After most of you have slogged through a winter packed with snow and ice, don’t you deserve a springtime-y cake filled with meyer lemon curd, covered with fresh strawberry frosting and topped with fresh flowers?
Yes, you most certainly do.
Continue reading “spring flower cake with meyer lemon curd + strawberry frosting”
Looking through my blog, you can find plenty of recipes for desserts, snacks, main dishes, and pretty much anything else. There’s one area where oven&apron is slacking off, though, and that’s in the beverage department.
You may remember my honeyed peach aguas frescas from last March? I must get a craving for sweet, fruity drinks around the end of wintertime. This drink is similar in idea, but a little less sweet and more complex. I’ve always been enamored with the flavor combo of cherry and lime (and who doesn’t love the Cherry Limeaid from Sonic?) Consider this drink the older, more mature cousin of Sonic’s fruity, overly sweet version.
It’s that time of year again! Time to crowd into the courtyard at the Phoenix Art Museum, nearly elbow to elbow with other valley dwellers, all in the name of some damn fine food and drink. Let’s go to Devoured!
Tickets to this 2-day event sold out long ago. Luckily, I was able to snag a staff lanyard as an employee of Urban Cookies Bakeshop! So, I made my way to the museum with my foodie friend Dusty in tow, and we made a day out of stuffing ourselves with some of the Phoenix area’s finest eats.
Devoured Food + Wine Classic is held this year in the first weekend of March. This is Devoured’s 5th year, and boy is the event going strong! There’s no better place to try such a varied bunch of local restaurants all in one place. Last year was my first time attending Devoured, and it was my most favorite food-centric thing I did all year long. Could you say I was excited to attend this year? Oh yes.
oven + apron 