Author: Kristy

Wine Writer & Influencer

It’s Dinner Time Honey

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This week we’re wrapping up our culinary tour of Wales, and we’re going out in style. We haven’t done an elaborate meal in a while, so we took advantage of the gorgeous, lazy day with nothing on our calendar. We went back to our Welsh cookbook and found a recipe for Honeyed Welsh Lamb. Honey, rosemary, lamb and roasted goodness sounded perfect for this crisp fall Sunday.

We made lamb a while back, when we were sampling some New Zealand recipes and Mr. N ate his shank literally to the bone. Today he was on hand to help season our six pound leg of lamb with salt and pepper.

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Quest for the Best Banana Bread – Sprinkled to Perfection

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This past weekend we made a trip to our old home in Minnesota. It was our first trip back since we moved and it came with some mixed emotions. I knew it was going to be hard to see our old house. We have so many memories there – three years of little Mr. N, many great friends, weekend adventures, tons of wildlife and of course, bringing home baby Miss A. It was very hard for me to leave the very first place I truly felt at home as an adult with my new family. (Not to mention my old kitchen – gosh, do I miss that room. 😉 ) 

That said it is a beautiful part of the world and my sadness didn’t last long. It was quickly ushered out when we saw a buck standing outside our old house, hiked to the top of a bluff with our good friends, enjoyed a play date with Mr. N’s old friends at our favorite park, watched a bald eagle soaring overhead as we kayaked, and ate several meals at our favorite sandwich place. Continue reading →

Apple Thyme

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We just returned home from a short (but wonderful) visit back to our old home town in Minnesota, so we’re going to keep this one brief. Along with our Gruyère Stuffed French Toast the other day, we  made another recipe from Washington. This one comes from the Washington State Potato Commission and is a twist on the typical hash brown side dish. You guessed it – Apple Hash.

We started by heating onions, salt, pepper and olive oil over medium heat. After a few minutes we added some chopped Yukon gold potatoes. 

We cooked the potatoes for about 10 minutes and then tossed in some apples, butter and fresh thyme. Continue reading →

Apple of My Eye

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It’s state night again. Time to get out the United States puzzle for Miss A. She loves puzzles. Before making her selection, she first took the puzzle apart. Then put it back together. Then took it apart, asked me to put it back together and then pointed to the big purple state in the Pacific Northwest, Washington.

Washington is known for lots of fresh produce and seafood – apples, potatoes, berries, and salmon. Given the time of year, we’re going to focus on apples, the McIntosh to be precise. We came across this recipe in our most recent issue of Cooking Light Magazine and had set it aside as one to make for breakfast soon. Little did we know that it would come in handy for our Washington adventure. So, without further adieu we give you what we’re calling Gruyère French Toast with Warm Apple Syrup.

We started by thinly slicing our McIntosh apples. Continue reading →

All Warm and Toasty

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After our good and filling Welsh duck dinner last weekend, we wanted our next recipe to be a bit healthier, and a bit less labor intensive. After flipping through our cookbook, Favourite Welsh Recipes by A. de Breanski Jr., we came across this recipe for Monmouth Pudding and knew it would make for a great breakfast.

The recipe is described in the book as one that was often served in Victorian times and was ideal for children and adults with “delicate digestions.” It’s basically a bread pudding that incorporates strawberry preserves. Traditional Monmouth pudding will reveal red and white stripes when served; however we opted to pick health over beauty with this one. While using white bread crumbs would no doubt make this a striking dish, the whole wheat bread crumbs don’t have quite the same aesthetic effect. That said, despite its lackluster appearance, it’s really a more healthy alternative. Continue reading →

Pass the Salt

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Now that all the birthday festivities are over, we’re back to our international cooking adventures. For the next two weeks we’re going to be cooking recipes from Wales. It was my pick this time. Wales has a place close to my heart. Not because I’ve been there. I know very little about the country on the south-west side of the island of Great Britain.

My love for Wales goes back to when Mike and I were dating. On one of our early dates, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the display of Christmas trees decorated from various countries around the world. While walking around, we came to the tree from Wales and leaning against the tree was a sign written in Welsh. Mike promptly began reading me the sign to which I was completely taken aback. This guy knew Welsh! I mean, who knows Welsh?!

We went on with our date and saw several more of the museum’s exhibits. It wasn’t until a few hours later that Mike owned up to the fact that he didn’t know Welsh. We both got a good laugh out of that one and enjoyed the rest of our date. Then I went home mortified – he must think I’m terribly gullible – but I hatched a plan. I went back to school (we lived several hours apart at the time) and composed a letter to him written entirely in Welsh. I painstakingly translated each and every word using an online Welsh-English dictionary. I’m sure the grammar was awful, but that didn’t matter. I sent the letter in the mail (yep – used good ol’ snail mail) and waited.

Mike received the letter, immediately knew what it was and ran right out to buy a Welsh-English dictionary. He spent hours deciphering the letter and called me instantly. The rest as they say is history… Continue reading →