Category: eat

i am thankful for many things this season, and among them is a little thing called the caramel brulee latte.  muchas gracias, starbucks, for bringing it back again this year.  treat yourself to one this weekend.  i plan on it!

last week, i decided i would make an extra special treat for no particular reason – because sometimes you just have to do that.  i followed this recipe, and i’ve gotta say, these little suckers were pretty amazing – and great-looking too.  there are a lot of steps, but it’s totally worth every bit of work.  the only change i made was substituting fleur de sel for the smoked sea salt (because that’s what i already had), and that little bite of salt tempers the super sweet caramel.  make sure you cut them pretty small – they’re very rich – and that way you’ll have more to share.

{graham cracker crust – step one, done!}

{making the caramel – almost there!}

{the finished product}

a friend of mine gave me a few butternut squash (thank you jennifer!).  she has a friend who grows them and she had had all the squash she wanted, so she donated a few to our house.  i haven’t cooked a ton with squash – mostly because i’ve always been intimidated by them – but let me tell you, they are super easy to work with and delicious!  i followed this recipe from my girl, giada, and it yielded awesome results.

i love summer for many reasons, but one is the bounty of berries.  i love them all, and every time i visit the market, i feel the need to buy more, whether we really need them or not.  this light dessert is such a treat, and it’s easy on the waistline too.  hey, it’s swimsuit season!  i like to save more indulgent desserts for winter, when i’m covered up in many many layers.  the ingredients are simple – strawberries, blueberries, cool whip (i use fat free), and chocolate chips.  and there’s no recipe – just as much of everything as you want.  a great ending to a warm summer night.

{i may or may not have added more chocolate chips after i took this picture}