All posts tagged pecans

monday bites: toasted coconut + pecan bread.

by shannon on February 18, 2013 in breakfast, brunch with 26 Comments

toasted coconut + pecan bread.

It’s official: my annual brunch obsession has started. I experience this every year, and I think it’s because I begin thinking about Easter. I host it every year (party alert!) and it gets very brunchy around these parts. I know some people eschew the idea of brunch as ridiculous, but I have always been a big fan of the breakfast/lunch combo, especially when it’s well thought out and gives a nod to both meals equally. Don’t give me a bunch of lunch stuff and some eggs; alternatively, keep your full breakfast spread with some salad thrown in for good measure away from me. A good brunch should blend the best of both meals together; it’s not always to do, and that’s why my planning for Easter begins early.  Continue reading →

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cracked wheat + pecan waffles | spiced butter | cranberry maple syrup.

by shannon on November 2, 2012 in breakfast, brunch with 20 Comments

It’s November already; can you believe it? Don’t fret. Sure, an onslaught of holidays are coming up in the next few months. You only have a few weeks before you see your Aunt Beatrice and she reminds you in her special way that your house could use a good dusting and, now that she mentions it,  a little tidying up at the exact time as you’re attempting to wrestle a giant turkey into your oven. Continue reading →

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seven-layer bar crunch.

by shannon on October 18, 2012 in snacks with 26 Comments

It’s true; I enjoy turning things into other things. This compulsion is why I made the cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookie into an ice cream. Or a favorite fall salad into a pizza. In my hands, beloved snickerdoodle cookies transform into ice cream vessels. Other times, I shove classic chocolate chip cookies into a muffin tin. Whatever. But it’s about time I take on something much more serious: turning the mythical seven-layer bar into a snack mix.

Fair warning: many of the photos in the links above, as well as some of these original seven-layer bars, are gross. I was just learning about light and food photography back then, and it basically looks like I took my pictures in a cave during a massive thunderstorm. Forgive my early blog photo attempts; the food is good, but the pictures don’t, in all cases, do it justice. Continue reading →

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the chocolate chronicles, part three: chocolate chubbies.

by shannon on June 6, 2012 in desserts with 22 Comments

I know, right? Hard to resist that title. We may as well get the giggles out of the way now, because the name of this cookie is one of the reasons this cookie stood out to me. The recipe lives in the pages of the Sarabeth’s Bakery Cookbook, which I received as part of my Mother’s Day gift this year. In a twist of irony, I also received a top-of-the-line jogging stroller. It is my favorite thing ever right now, because the weather here is beautiful. I requested it (don’t worry; Mr. Table is still with us) because one of the cons of food writing is sneaky weight gain, and I do what I can to counteract it. After all, I don’t need these cookies to become my ‘signature cookie,’ if you know what I mean.  Continue reading →

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maple butter cupcakes + honey apricot frosting.

by shannon on January 27, 2012 in breakfast, brunch, desserts, snacks with 4 Comments

I think I hold the world record for “number of times a grocery list is made and then left on the table.” I love lists. I make lists about everything; what my plans are each day, any appointments I have, what I’d like to accomplish around here every day (sometimes broken down by topic and/or room). It makes me feel better. calmer. like I’m not winging around here forgetting something at one time I deemed important. Lists make me confident that nothing will slip through the cracks of my day.  Continue reading →

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mexican wedding cakes. (or, the family cookie.)

by shannon on December 22, 2011 in desserts with 1 Comment

If our family had an official cookie, it would be the mexican wedding cake. I think we’ve made at least one batch of these every December since I was born (so, 35 years and going strong), and it’s the one cookie every single person loves. Not an “eh, it’s just okay” in the bunch. We gobble them up like   bar nuts and it’s embarrassing how fast we manage to run out of them. Thankfully, they’re so simple to make that we never have to be without them.  Continue reading →

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