a fancy treat: blood oranges with rosemary infused honey

some winter days i just need a taste of summer, you know? this is the lightest, most simple and yummiest treat for those days when summer feels oh so far. you’ll forget for just a second that it’s cold outside. or serve it for dessert at your next dinner party, your friends will be impressed, it’s one of those dishes that tastes so sophisticated even though it’s incredibly simple.

the what:

{makes 4 servings}

6 blood oranges  

1/2 cup honey

3 tablespoons of water

3-4 rosemary sprigs plus extra for garnish

the how:

-use a small sharp knife to cut both ends off one orange. stand on board and run the knife from top to botton, cutting away the peel until just the juicy fruit is showing. place orange on side and slice into rounds. remove seeds and arrange oranges into little stacks, adding rosemary for garnish.

- pound rosemary with a rolling pin or the side of a large knife until the rosemary is bruised and extra aroma and flavor has been released

-combine water, honey and rosemary in a pot and heat on very low setting (avoid boiling).  let mixture cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. 

-remove honey mixture from heat and let sit for 10 minutes

-remove rosemary from honey mixture and drizzle onto orange stacks.

eat up!  or, you can refridgerate the orange stack sand set the honey drizzle aside, and bust it them out to impress your guests later

*recipe interpreted from My Favorite Ingredients by Sky Gyngell

 

floating white shelves

last week lou installed some new floating shelves in my office (I helped too, and for once we didn’t want to kill eachother halfway through!). i finally have the perfect place to show off this amazing painting of the bean that our friend matt stallings painted. isn’t it great how he captured her sass?! i smile every time i look at it. check out matt’s work here, i just want to live in his imagination. *shelves from here, and they were easy to install {says the girl whose biggest responsibility was passing along the tape measure}

another inspiring story of a complete recovery through dietary changes

please take a minute to watch this video. marisa overcame 7 years of struggle with ulcerative colitis and healed herself with a macrobiotic diet, just the way i did. it’s so inspiring!  i promise, this can work for anyone! read more here.

tested and loved: red lentil coconut soup

just yesterday i was saying that i don’t often bust out a recipe that requires more than two pans or that i have to grocery shop especially for. but this recipe from 100 cookbooks was on my pinterest board, calling to me, for months. so i finally made it and our mouths are so, so happy i did. it was easy. and delicious. best of all, lou loved it too! so i guess i’ll be adding coconut milk and tomato paste to my pantry staples and throwing this one into the rotation. i give it 4 out of a possible 5 stars in the “things that make me want to eat until my pants don’t fit” rating system i’ve been developing since I was 3. make it, you won’t be sorry. (ps- i added extra golden raisins, preferred it with about a 1/4 cup more than the recipe called for and substituted earth balance vegan butter for regular butter)